One of Russia's closest allies denies request for troops  —  Kazakhstan, one of Russia's closest allies and a southern neighbor, is denying a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine, officials said Friday.  —  Additionally, the former Soviet republic said it is not recognizing …

Vladimir Putin, Russia's resentful leader, takes the world to war  —  Pent-up anger with the west and a fixation on Ukraine make him more aggressive and unpredictable than ever  —  Growing up in a communal apartment in Leningrad, a young Vladimir Putin liked to chase rats across the stairwell with sticks.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukraine fights to hold Kyiv amid street battles, gunfire and explosions  —  At daybreak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of himself, unshaven, on the capital's streets — proof of his apparent commitment to remain in Kyiv.

COVID-19 by County  —  COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data.  Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

North Carolina Republicans Ask SCOTUS To Decimate Voting Rights in Every State  —  In a late Friday afternoon filing as war raged in Ukraine and as President Joe Biden announced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court …

‘That is fraud.’ GOP registered more than 100 voters as Republicans without their consent  —  At first, Nelia Estevez didn't believe that her voter registration could have been changed without her knowledge to reflect a new political party.  Voting was sacrosanct to the 69-year-old Cuban immigrant …

The antisemitism animating Putin's claim to ‘denazify’ Ukraine  —  The Russian leader's pretext for invasion recasts Ukraine's Jewish president as a Nazi and Russian Christians as true victims of the Holocaust  —  hen Russian president Vladimir Putin announced Russia's invasion of Ukraine …

Judge calls Thomas Jefferson High admissions changes illegal … A federal judge ruled Friday that a new admissions system for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a prestigious magnet program in Fairfax, discriminates against Asian American applicants and must end.

Georgia GOP chair tells January 6 committee that Trump campaign directed alternate elector effort  —  (CNN)The chairman of the Republican Party in Georgia on Friday told the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot that the Trump campaign had directed the party in 2020 …

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Speaks At White Nationalist Conference  —  The congresswoman from Georgia spoke at the America First Political Action Conference, organized by white nationalist “groyper” leader Nick Fuentes.  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) …

U.S. Puts Banning Russia From SWIFT System Back in Play  —  The U.S. is seriously considering whether to seek Russia's expulsion from the SWIFT financial messaging system over the Ukraine invasion as allies in Europe warm to the idea of imposing a penalty that seemed unlikely just days ago, according to people familiar with the matter.

Zelensky Prepares to Go Down with the Ship  —  Ukraine's president rebuffed US pleas to flee, an American associate tells SpyTalk  —  An American businessman with close ties to Volodymyr Zelensky says the Ukrainian president was “calm and businesslike” when they talked yesterday …

Ballot Rejections in Texas Spike After New Voting Law  —  Ahead of Tuesday's primary, about 30 percent of absentee ballots were rejected in the state's most populous counties.  In 2020, the statewide rejection rate was less than 1 percent.  —  Local election officials in Texas …

Protests resume as Russia seeks to quash invasion critics  —  MOSCOW (AP) — Protesters took to the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and across Russia on Friday to decry the invasion of Ukraine, even as authorities sought to suppress the spreading antiwar sentiment and project an image of strength and righteousness.