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| Happy Monday, Daily Briefing readers! If you ordered free COVID tests on the government website, they're heading your way. The crisis in Ukraine is escalating, as the families of Americans working at the U.S. Embassy have been ordered to leave the country. And the new NASA space telescope, 100 times more powerful than its predecessor the Hubble, will reach its final destination – nearly 1 million miles away. |
| It's Jane, with Monday's news. |
| 🏈 Chiefs stun Bills: The Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills each treated fans to brilliant football before the Chiefs ultimately advanced to their fourth straight AFC championship game. |
 | | Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce celebrates after beating the Buffalo Bills in overtime in an NFL divisional playoff football game, Sunday, Jan. 23, 2022 in Kansas City, Mo. | | Reed Hoffmann, AP | |
| 🚨 Two Canadian guests are dead and another injured after a Friday shooting at a luxury hotel in Mexico, the latest act of violence along Mayan Riviera, a hotspot of the nation's tourism industry. |
| 🏈 Opinion: The San Francisco 49ers aren't the only ones who ought to be giving thanks for Robbie Gould, writes USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour. |
| 🔴 The United Arab Emirates intercepted two ballistic missiles targeting Abu Dhabi early Monday, state media reported, the latest attack to target the Emirati capital. |
| 🚒 Hundreds of residents remained evacuated from the California coast Sunday as a wildfire burned up from a canyon near Big Sur, shutting part of the state's historic Pacific Coast Highway in both directions. |
| 🚨 Evan Rachel Wood revealed shocking abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson in a new documentary. |
| 👗 Legendary French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, known for his dramatic and avant garde designs, died Sunday. He was 73. |
 | | In this file photo taken on February 26, 2019, French fashion designer Thierry Mugler speaks during the presentation of his exhibition "Couturissime" at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. | | MARTIN OUELLET-DIOTTE, AFP via Getty Images | |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, columnist Sara Kuburic gives some advice for getting over being ghosted. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
USPS to begin shipping free COVID-19 tests |
| Free COVID-19 test kits for people who ordered them from COVIDtests.gov will begin shipping via the U.S. Postal Service this week, according to the government website. Americans are supposed to be able to order four kits per address under a federal program that launched last week. Tests are expected to be mailed within seven to 12 days from when they are ordered. Customers should receive email notifications with shipping updates, including estimated delivery date and a tracking number on USPS.com. "All tests distributed as part of this program are FDA-authorized at-home rapid antigen tests," the website says. The White House also announced last week that it will begin making 400 million N95 masks available for free at pharmacies and community health centers. For the latest COVID-19 updates, tap here. |
Tax season is officially here |
| Early tax filers can file their 2021 tax returns online starting Monday. That's earlier than the delayed start of Feb. 12 last year, when the IRS needed extra time for many pandemic-related reasons, including new tax rules that were signed into law in late December 2020. The Jan. 24 kickoff puts the IRS back on a more normal track: In 2020, the IRS began processing 2019 tax returns on Jan. 27. Most taxpayers will receive their refund within 21 days of when they file electronically if they choose direct deposit and there are no issues with their tax return, according to the IRS. |
| 💰 Don't throw away this document. Why IRS Letter 6419 is critical to filing your 2021 taxes. |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🦠 So, you've ordered a COVID-19 test kit. What do you do with it? |
| 🏈 NFL divisional round winners and losers: Chiefs coaches were brilliant and overtime rules stink, writes USA TODAY Sports' Lorenzo Reyes. |
| 🔥 Fire, water, wind: Insurance and aid aren't covering the cost of disasters in America. Is it time to relocate? |
| 😷 Opinion: I am done with masks. We've been idiotic about them since the beginning. |
| 🔵 What's happening in Ukraine? Russian troops at the border raise new fears of an invasion. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Families of US Embassy staff in Ukraine ordered to head home |
| The State Department on Sunday ordered the families of all American personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine to leave the country amid heightened fears of a Russian invasion. The department also said that non-essential embassy staff could leave Ukraine at government expense. The move came amid rising tensions about Russia's military buildup on the Ukraine border that were not eased during talks Friday between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. State Department officials stressed the embassy, in the capital of Kyiv, will remain open and that the announcement does not constitute an evacuation. The move had been under consideration for some time and does not reflect an easing of U.S. support for Ukraine, the officials said. |
NASA's $10 billion space telescope to reach its final destination |
| The James Webb Space Telescope, the $10 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, on Monday reaches its final destination – nearly 1 million miles away from Earth. The telescope launched from South America on Christmas Day. Named after former NASA administrator James E. Webb, who oversaw the agency from 1961 to 1968, the Webb telescope is about 100 times more powerful than the Hubble. Scientists hope Webb can capture light streaming from stars and galaxies as far back as 13.7 billion years ago. "Webb will probably also reveal new questions for future generations of scientists to answer, some of whom may not even be born yet," said scientist Klaus Pontoppidan. |
 | | December 25, 2021: This photo provided by NASA, the James Webb Space Telescope is separated in space on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope soared from French Guiana on South AmericaÕs northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane rocket into the Christmas morning sky. The $10 billion infrared observatory is intended as the successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA via AP) | | AP | |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🏈 The San Francisco 49ers made the Green Bay Packers pay for a special teams meltdown and bounced the Green Bay from the playoffs in a stunning 13-10 victory. |
| ✈️ Two passengers decided to help themselves to empty business class seats on a half-full United Airlines flight. When they refused to mo, the plane turned back. |
| 🏈 Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were clipped by the Los Angeles Rams, 30-27, in an NFC divisional playoff result that was almost too wild to believe. |
| 🚢 An arrest warrant has been issued for Crystal Cruises' Crystal Symphony due to unpaid fuel bills. Now, passengers have been on board an extra day as the ship changed course and avoided docking in Miami. |
MLB's lockout talks resume |
| Locked-out MLB players plan to make a counteroffer to management Monday as the sides work toward a new collective bargaining agreement. Baseball's ninth work stoppage, its first since 1995, started Dec. 2 following the expiration of a five-year labor contract. Unhappy with a 4% drop in payrolls to 2015 levels, players have asked for significant change that includes more liberalized free agency and salary arbitration eligibility. Time is running out to reach a deal in time for spring training, scheduled to start Feb. 16. The March 31 opening day is also threatened, given the need for players to report, go through COVID-19 protocols and have at least three weeks of workouts that include a minimal number of exhibition games. |
📸 Pennsylvania barber rebuilds after flood, no government assistance 📸 |
 | | Barber Chykeat Goodley works on his customer Michael Hargrove Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022 at New Levelz in Norristown, Pa. | | JOE LAMBERTI/USA TODAY NETWORK ATLANTIC GROUP | |
| After 15 years of cutting hair and saving money, Chykeat Goodley, 47, bought a three-story building in Norristown, Pennsylvania, with plans to open a barbershop and lease out other suites. Then the pandemic delayed opening and the remnants of Hurricane Ida brought unprecedented flooding to Norristown and several feet of water into Goodley's building, which he had just spent a year renovating. |
| Goodley's insurer told him his policy didn't cover floods, which hadn't seemed necessary before Ida – his building isn't in a floodplain. So, Goodley said, he threw $40,000 more of his savings and sweat equity into repairs. It set him back years financially, but he feels fortunate to have reopened. |
| "At the time I thought government would help out," Goodley said. "But not one thing? Not a single penny?" |
| That outcome is one Americans are facing in growing numbers, as climate change ramps up the destructive forces of nature. |
| Scroll through the gallery of Goodley working in his barber shop, New Levelz. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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