The latest version of the coronavirus, BA.2, now accounts for as much as 70 percent of new infections in many parts of the United States. / Kaiser Health News

New Covid trial results may point toward quicker, cheaper ways to study medicines. / STAT

Alex Tabarrok: Operation Warp Speed was a huge success, but that doesn't mean big federal funding can solve other problems at the same speed and scale. / Marginal Revolution

Two-thirds of young people in the UK pine for lockdown. "[Lockdown] was an introvert's paradise. I miss it immensely." / The Face

The White House assigns a "tiger team" to prepare contingency plans in case Russia uses chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. / Politico

Ukraine's outnumbered air force has kept Russia from controlling the sky, but perhaps not for much longer. / The Week

Volunteers say Ukraine is becoming the secondhand clothing bazaar for all of Europe. Aid experts prefer to see cash donations. / Goats and Soda

Related: Marina Abramović resumes staring at people to raise money for Ukranians. / Colossal

Some 2,000 professional Ukrainian operators are working to fix broken internet infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russians are racing to download Wikipedia before it's banned. / VICE, Slate

See also: How Russia's invasion of Ukraine is impacting global sports like tennis. / Sports Illustrated

Madeleine Albright, first woman to serve as Secretary of State, dies at 84 from cancer. / The New York Times

The Taliban's backtracking on letting girls attend school suggests a better future for Afghanistan is a long way off. / BBC News

"We're going to be conservative." A North Texas official orders books removed from schools. / ProPublica

Tommy Kha explains what it's like when an international airport takes down your Elvis art. / Pitchfork

Your weekly white paper: "We'll Be Honest, This Won't Be the Best Article You'll Ever Read: The Use of Dispreferred Markers in Word-of-Mouth Communication." / Chicago Journals

PJ Vogt, formerly of the Reply All podcast, is back with a show about weird crypto stories. / Crypto Island

Wordle has been expanded to cinema with Framed. / Framed