With evidence growing that a worrisome new coronavirus variant is highly contagious, health officials issued warnings that vulnerable people should not travel.

Omicron Variant, in at Least 20 Nations, Spread Earlier Than Was Known

A 15-year-old sophomore was taken into custody with a semiautomatic handgun that was bought by his father four days before the fatal shooting.

3 Students Are Killed in Michigan School Shooting

In “Looking for the Good War,” the West Point scholar Elizabeth D. Samet argues that an idealized narrative of America’s actions in World War II has colored our beliefs about warfare in detrimental ways.

Has the Myth of the ‘Good War’ Done Us Lasting Harm?

To plan for safe travels and gatherings this holiday season, here are some simple ways to take your Covid-related health data with you.

How to Carry Your Covid Health Data on a Smartphone

San Cheng bought toy guns online as props for video game design. Then the police arrived, and he was jailed under China’s strict but messy gun laws.

A Game Designer in Beijing Bought Toy Guns. China Imprisoned Him.

Some lawmakers from both parties argue that when social media sites boost the performance of hateful or violent posts, the sites become accomplices.

Lawmakers Target Big Tech ‘Amplification.’ What Does That Mean?

In a wealthy suburban Philadelphia district, schools are struggling with shortages of all sorts. Behavioral problems have mushroomed. “We are in triage mode,” one teacher said.

While Politics Consume School Board Meetings, a Very Different Crisis Festers

A mainstay of the internet is regularly used to build audiences for people and organizations pushing false and misleading information.

Those Cute Cats Online? They Help Spread Misinformation.

Taken together, the provisions in the social policy bill represent the biggest step toward universal coverage since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Democrats’ Bill Would Go Far Toward ‘Patching the Holes’ in Health Coverage

Upstarts including Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Chloe Bailey and the Kid Laroi grew up on the internet, admiring the artists who are now their contemporaries.

Gen Z Pop Stars Made Their Mark in 2021. Beware, Millennial Forebears.

“The Shape of Things” confronts current issues of identity and injustice that the artist has been exploring throughout her 40-year career.

With Armory Show, the World Is Catching Up to Carrie Mae Weems

With epics like “West Side Story” and biopics like “King Richard” in contention, Oscar voters have plenty of choices in a category that’s now set at 10 slots.

Which Films Lead the Biggest Best-Picture Race in Years?

Steve Simon said Wednesday that the women’s tennis tour would not stage tournaments in China, including Hong Kong, because he has been unable to communicate with Peng despite repeated attempts.

WTA Suspends Tournaments in China Over Treatment of Peng Shuai

Many public health experts were opposed to a boosters-for-all approach. The new variant is changing some minds.

Omicron Prompts Swift Reconsideration of Boosters Among Scientists

The network said it was pursuing a “further evaluation” of evidence regarding its star anchor’s efforts to help stave off a sexual harassment scandal that his brother, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, was facing.

CNN and Chris Cuomo Face Difficult Questions After Anchor’s Suspension

Kim Barker, an investigative reporter for The Times, discusses the challenge of getting officials in Alabama to release video of a police stop that ended in violence.

‘It’s None of Your Business’: Fighting for Body-Cam Footage

Investors are considering the risk of a new variant of the coronavirus, and its potential impact on the global economy, and are grappling with a shifting outlook for interest rates.

Stocks and oil drop again, as Omicron’s arrival in the U.S. whips markets.

December’s materialism can feel perfunctory.

Is Holiday Gift-Giving Really Worth It?

While ankylosaurs are already known for their armor and club tails, this specimen from South America had a unique way of fighting predators.

This Dinosaur Found in Chile Had a Battle Ax for a Tail

The Belfast-based Array Collective stages carnivalesque interventions at political rallies. Now the group has won Britain’s major art award.

This Year’s Winner of the Turner Prize? A Group That Performs Protest.

Quotation of the Day for Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

Quotation of the Day: As Passengers Flew, Fear Ran Around World

We hope that a corrupt political system that relies on unfair advantages can be replaced by a functional democracy.

My Group Can Save Haiti. Biden Is Standing in Our Way.

An international survey found that the pandemic had enhanced public faith in researchers and science, up from 2018.

Trust in Science and Scientists Increased Globally, Poll Finds

A former Christie’s executive has joined cryptocurrency experts to create a company that purchases art and sells the fragments as NFTs.

Cutting a Banksy Into 10,000 (Digital) Pieces

New research published in the journal Nature suggests that the prints, discovered in Tanzania in 1976, were left by an unidentified hominin, or early human ancestor, more than 3.6 million years ago.

December 1, 2021

Headlines from December 1, 2021

Omicron Variant, in at Least 20 Nations, Spread Earlier Than Was Known

3 Students Are Killed in Michigan School Shooting

Has the Myth of the ‘Good War’ Done Us Lasting Harm?

How to Carry Your Covid Health Data on a Smartphone

A Game Designer in Beijing Bought Toy Guns. China Imprisoned Him.

Billboard 200

30

Red (Taylor's Version)

Certified Lover Boy

An Evening With Silk Sonic

Dangerous: The Double Album

Historical Context for December 1, 2021