 | | Presented By American Express Business | | | | | | | Good morning. It's Monday, Jan. 31, and we're watching this footage of the wild snowstorm that hit the East this weekend. Let's get you caught up on that and more. | | |  | The U.S. and Russia will meet again this week over the Ukraine crisis. | - What's happening: There's a U.N. meeting today, and U.S. and Russian officials will also speak tomorrow. This week may test whether diplomacy has made any progress.
- How we got here: Russia has moved tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine's border, creating a growing threat. About 9,000 of them are being sent back, it announced today, but it's too soon to tell whether that's a sign of de-escalation.
| | |  | Rents have skyrocketed in cities across the U.S. | - The numbers: The average monthly cost rose 14% last year, to $1,877 a month. In cities like Austin, New York and Miami, rents went up by as much as 40%.
- What this means: Millions of Americans are being priced out and forced to move.
| | |  | A powerful storm dumped heavy snow on parts of the East this weekend. | - Nine states from Maryland to Maine got at least a foot, and Boston saw almost two feet, tying its snowiest day ever.
- Thousands of people lost power, mostly because of high winds, but much of it was back online by last night.
| | | | ADVERTISEMENT | | Presented By American Express Business | | Get the American Express Business Platinum Card® | The American Express Business Platinum Card® has features like 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on big purchases and in select business categories, over $1,000 in statement credits per year with select business partners, and 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through amextravel.com. Get the Card built for business. By American Express. Terms and point cap apply. | |  | | | | | | |  | The Los Angeles Rams will play the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. | - Takeaways from yesterday's games: They were all about comebacks. The Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs (the favorites), 27-24, in overtime. The Rams came from 10 points behind to beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-17.
- When is the Super Bowl? Sunday, Feb. 13, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. It will air on NBC.
- Who's performing at the halftime show? Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.
| | |  | Spotify will add content advisories to podcasts about covid-19. | - Why? Musician Neil Young had the streaming service take down his music last week to protest creators (particularly podcaster Joe Rogan) who spread vaccine misinformation. Joni Mitchell and other artists joined him over the weekend.
- Spotify responded yesterday by publishing its content policy and announcing the new disclaimers, which Rogan praised.
| | |  | Cheslie Kryst, who was Miss USA 2019, died yesterday. |  Cheslie Kryst in 2019. (Jemal Countess/Getty for BET) | - The 30-year-old lawyer and "Extra" correspondent apparently jumped from an apartment building in Manhattan, police said.
- Her victory in 2019 was a highlight in a historic year that saw Black women win all five major beauty pageants. Kryst wore natural curls under her crown, hoping to give other women confidence to do the same.
| | |  | The Winter Olympics kick off in Beijing this week. | - The schedule: The Opening Ceremonies are Friday, but preliminary rounds of hockey, curling and freestyle skiing start as soon as Wednesday.
- How the pandemic changed things: Rules for athletes and other attendees are the most restrictive yet. There will be few spectators — and no leaving the Olympic bubble.
- How to watch: NBC at 8 p.m. Eastern every day or streamed live on Peacock. We have a full TV guide and schedule here.
You're all caught up. See you tomorrow. But before you go … for a moment of delight: Meet Jonathan the tortoise, the world's oldest living land animal.  (Jordan Robertson for The Post) | Do you know someone who would like this newsletter? Share it with them. Prefer push notifications? Download The Post's app to get one when The 7 publishes. | | | | | | | | |
Email 
