(Want to get this newsletter in your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.1. Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of helping to recruit, groom and sexually abuse underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.A federal jury in Manhattan found Maxwell, a 60-year-old British socialite, guilty of sex trafficking of a minor — on which she faces a maximum sentence of 40 years — and four other charges against her. She was acquitted of one count of enticing a minor to travel across state lines to engage in an illegal sexual act. Here are live updates.The trial was widely seen as the courtroom reckoning that Epstein never had, because he was found dead in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting his own trial.2. Omicron is cracking case records. Yesterday, daily coronavirus cases topped 267,000, shattering a record set in early January 2021.3. One of Hong Kong’s last major pro-democracy outlets shut down after officers arrested seven people connected to Stand News, on what the police described as suspicion of conspiring to publish seditious material.Hundreds of officers streamed into the offices of the outspoken news website, in yet another crackdown on the city’s once-vibrant independent press. This year, the police forced Apple Daily, perhaps the city’s best-known pro-democracy newspaper, to close after multiple raids and the arrests of several top editors and its founder, Jimmy Lai.Separately, a Moscow court ordered the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Center, one of Russia’s most prominent human rights groups, a day after its parent organization was also shut down. The organization keeps a tally of political prisoners, which now stands at 435 names — twice as many as the government acknowledged in the late Soviet period.
4. Myanmar’s people are fleeing their homes, as hundreds of thousands try to escape the violence and bloodshed that have taken hold since the military seized power in February.Many are living in tents in the country’s jungles. Others have left the country, but confront an uncertain future abroad. Those who remain are caught in an escalating humanitarian crisis — soldiers are blocking aid convoys, and the country sits on the precipice of civil war.In late August, soldiers entered Biak Tling’s hometown, Thantlang, firing mortar rounds and artillery indiscriminately. “We escaped from the mouth of hell, but we are lost,” said Biak Tling, 31, who left for India with his family. As of September, all of Thantlang’s roughly 10,000 residents had left.5. Eleven years after he tried to kill a Taliban commander, a Times correspondent sat down to interview him.My colleague Thomas Gibbons-Neff previously served in the Marines. Recently, he returned to the Marja district in Afghanistan to see what has changed since the Taliban took over — and since he fought there as a soldier in a major 2010 battle.T.M., as he is known, met with Mullah Abdul Rahim Gulab, who was once his adversary in that battle and now a high-level Taliban commander. Two of T.M.’s friends were shot that day, in a building that is now a midwives clinic. Gulab lost one of his fighters.“He was no longer an enemy but a man sitting on the floor, pondering his next sentence,” T.M. writes. “He wasn’t fighting in a war that seemed like it would never end. And neither was I.”
6. Pot is booming in Oklahoma, a staunchly conservative state with a history of drawing people in search of wealth from the land.Low barriers for entry — it costs just $2,500 to get started, compared with $100,000 in neighboring Arkansas — and a fairly hands-off approach have fueled an explosive growth in weed entrepreneurs, who can produce cannabis for as little as $100 a pound. Oklahoma now boasts more retail cannabis stores than Colorado, Oregon and Washington combined, and the most licensed cannabis farms in the U.S.But critics argue that growers are producing far more cannabis than Oklahomans can buy, possibly feeding illicit markets around the country.
7. Social trends offer insight into the economy of this second pandemic year.Widespread shortages are the most obvious ticker — some expectant parents waited the full term of their pregnancy for a crib, while bagel devotees clamored for cream cheese.Populist pandemic angst raged, as people quit bad jobs or simply quit their “hard pants,” as work-from-home casual came to the office. Building managers are trying to lure workers back with upgraded ventilation and outdoor spaces.But many people lack choice when it comes to their workplace conditions: In slaughterhouses, sites of some of the worst outbreaks, workers say factories are still glossing over virus safety.
8. A little exercise can reap massive benefits, for both your body and your mind.The top exercise science of 2021 suggests that movement can help us live with greater stamina, purpose and cognitive clarity for many years to come.A few standouts: You may need just a few minutes — or even just a few seconds — of high-intensity movement to maintain or improve your health. And 10,000 steps is just a number. Just try to walk for about 30 to 45 minutes most days.9. John Madden, the legendary football coach and broadcaster, died on Tuesday. He was 85.Madden was one of America’s most recognizable ambassadors of professional football. From the broadcast booth, he was the face and voice of the N.F.L. for many years. Madden also introduced tens of millions to the sport through the popular video game that bears his name.In his first act, Madden coached the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl title. He retired in 1979, before turning to television to demystify football for the common fan and, in the process, revolutionize sports broadcasting.“He was football,” said Roger Goodell, the N.F.L. commissioner.
10. And finally, the best book of the past 125 years is … “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee.For its 125th anniversary, the Times Book Review invited readers to nominate the best book published during that time. In November, editors put the 25 most-nominated works up for a vote. It was a narrow victory, but about 200,000 readers chose Lee’s complex legal drama about racism, family and the American South.“I grew up in public housing, on welfare, parented by angry, erratic alcoholics, with little guidance and even less continuity,” wrote Corina Jensen, a 52-year-old reader in Stanhope, N.J. “Atticus, Jem, Scout, Calpurnia and Dill taught me everything I needed to know about love, friendship and honor.”Have a story-worthy evening.
Bryan Denton compiled photos for this briefing. Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.Here are today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. If you’re in the mood to play more, find all our games here.
