The Daily Folgen

The story of the Omicron variant began a week ago, when researchers in southern Africa detected a version of the coronavirus that carried 50 mutations. When scientists look at coronavirus mutations, they worry about three things: Is the new variant more contagious? Is it going to cause people to get sicker? And how will the vaccines work against it? We explore when we will get the answers to these three questions, and look at the discovery of the variant and the international response to it. Guest: Apoorva Mandavilli, a reporter covering science and global health for The New York Times.Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: South African scientists have said that while they need more data to be sure, existing treatments and precautions seem to be effective against the Omicron variant.Mutations can work together to make a virus more fearsome, but they can also cancel one another out. This phenomenon, called epistasis, is why scientists are reluctant to speculate on Omicron.Almost two years into the pandemic, finger-pointing, lack of coordination, sparse information and fear are once again influencing policy.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

This episode contains strong language. Heading into deliberations in the trial of the three white men in Georgia accused of chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, it was not clear which way the jurors were leaning. In the end, the mostly white jury found all three men guilty of murder. We look at the prosecution’s decision not to make race a central tenet of their case, and how the verdict was reached. Guest: Richard Fausset, a correspondent based in Atlanta. Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: How a prosecutor addressed a mostly white jury and won a conviction in the Ahmaud Arbery case.“It’s good to see racism lose”: The murder convictions were praised by many. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

After a landslide re-election in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s control over India seemed impossible to challenge.But a yearlong farmers’ protest against agricultural overhauls has done just that, forcing the Indian prime minister to back down.How did the protesters succeed?Guest: Emily Schmall, a South Asia correspondent for The New York Times.Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The protesters received foreign and domestic financial support, kept their camps organized and looked for ways to be seen while trying to avoid violence.How a bungled response to Covid and a struggling economy have hurt the governing party’s standing in India.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.