POLITICO Playbook: ‘This retreat is cursed’  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  HEADS UP — “White House bracing for Thursday inflation report,” per CNN's Betsy Klein: “The consumer price index, a key report indicating inflation in the U.S., will be released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m.”

Silicon Valley tech worker was the Ukrainian mom lying dead on street in brutal photo that sparked outrage  —  A Silicon Valley employee and her children are the subjects of photos so devastating that they shocked the world: A Ukrainian family lying dead on the pavement, killed by Russian mortar fire while trying to flee the conflict.

‘No off-ramps’: U.S. and European officials don't see a clear endgame in Ukraine … When Russia first invaded Ukraine just over two weeks ago, the near-unanimous global assumption was that it would score a quick and easy military victory over its neighbor to the west.

U.S. Inflation Is Expected to Have Reached a New High in February  —  Surging energy costs related to Russian invasion of Ukraine are pushing prices even higher, economists say  —  U.S. inflation is estimated to have climbed to another four-decade high in February with skyrocketing energy …

Outside the West, Putin is less isolated than you might think  —  You're reading an excerpt from the Today's WorldView newsletter.  Sign up to get the rest, including news from around the globe, interesting ideas, and opinions to know sent to your inbox every weekday.

Garland says the Jan. 6 investigation won't end until everyone is held to account  —  On his first anniversary as attorney general, Merrick Garland said he's committed to unraveling the conspiracy behind the storming of the U.S. Capitol, in what he calls “the most urgent investigation in the history of the Justice Department.”

NYT Reporter: CIA/NSA Sources Involved With Trump “Pee Tape” & “Leftist sh*t” At The Times  —  New York Times Reporter Discusses CIA / NSA Sources; 'Ridiculous Pee Tape Didn't Exist' ... ‘Crazier Leftist Sh*t’ Influences Reporting  • Rosenberg on infamous ...

Trump lawyer knew plan to delay Biden certification was unlawful, emails show  —  John Eastman conceded that scheme represented violation of Electoral Count Act but urged Mike Pence to go ahead anyway  —  Interrupting the certification of Joe Biden's election win on 6 January last year …

Russia and QAnon have the same false conspiracy theory about Ukraine  —  New York (CNN Business)A new conspiracy theory has become popular among some of the online communities that formed around QAnon — one simultaneously being promoted by the Kremlin as a justification for its invasion of Ukraine.

‘No light.  No nothing.’ Inside Louisiana's harshest juvenile lockup  —  This article was published in partnership with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power, and The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system.

Ready to Die?  Why Most People Flunk the Zelenskyy Test.  —  In his bid for international support for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has found a good line, and he knows it.  —  “This might be the last time you see me alive,” he told European leaders in a conference call, shortly after his country was invaded.

Ukrainian family fleeing Russian invasion turned away from U.S. border  —  A woman and her three children tried to request asylum at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, but Customs and Border Protection officials told them they couldn't come in  —  U.S. border officials in San Diego …

Russia says China refuses to supply aircraft parts after sanctions  —  China has refused to supply Russian airlines with aircraft parts, an official at Russia's aviation authority was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Thursday, after Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) halted supply of components.

Subtle Shifts Raise Hopes for a Cease-fire in Ukraine  —  ISTANBUL — When President Vladimir V. Putin launched his invasion two weeks ago, he said a primary goal was the “denazification” of Ukraine.  He referred to the Ukrainian government as a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” making it clear that his aim was to topple it.

Biden's high energy price trap  —  President Joe Biden is trying to balance championing climate change action and combating gas pump sticker shock as he blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for the latest price hike.  —  But Republicans are criticizing Biden for not jump-starting domestic oil production …

DCCC Announces Changes To Its 2022 House Battlefield, Names First-Round Of Candidates To Coveted Red To Blue List  —  Today, the DCCC announced additions to its battle-tested Frontline Program, designed to support members of Congress in competitive seats, and changes to its Districts In Play …

Oligarch renounces Russian citizenship, saying ‘everything Putin touches dies’  —  TEL AVIV — Russian-Israeli oligarch Leonid Nevzlin announced Tuesday that he plans to give up his Russian passport in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  —  “Everything that Putin touches dies,” Nevzlin wrote in a Facebook post.

Abramovich and Deripaska among seven Oligarchs targeted in estimated £15bn sanction hit  —  The UK has announced sanctions against seven Oligarchs including Roman Abramovich and Oleg Deripaska. … - Owner of Chelsea FC sees his assets frozen, a prohibition on transactions with UK individuals …

Woman sues Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, says he is her father, court documents say  —  The lawsuit said Jones and the woman's mother had reached a settlement that barred the child from publicly identifying that Jones is her father.  —  A 25-year-old congressional aide who grew …

Kamala Harris, Poland president insist they're ‘unified’ after public disagreement on fighter jets for Ukraine  —  Pentagon rejected Poland's plan for NATO to send MiG planes to Ukraine as too ‘high-risk’  —  VP Kamala Harris says US ready to defend NATO territory

Disney Censors Same-Sex Affection in Pixar Films, According to Letter From Employees  —  In a statement attributed to “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies” obtained by Variety, employees of the animation studio allege that Disney corporate executives have demanded cuts from …

Sidney “Release The Kraken” Powell Is Secretly Funding The Legal Defense Of Oath Keepers  —  As the government's prosecutions of members of the Oath Keepers — by most measures, the most significant of any to come out of the Jan. 6 insurrection — move toward trial, defense lawyers face a daunting task …

MAGA Candidate Begs For Absolution From Dorm-Room David Duke  —  Joe Kent, a grown-ass man and candidate for Congress, humiliates himself on a livestream for teenage white nationalists.  —  Running for political office is an inherently humiliating endeavor.

Biden promised to ‘buy American,’ so why are his free COVID tests made in China?  —  At last week's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden declared the importance of buying American.  “We are going to buy American — buy American products to support American jobs,” Biden said in his speech.

Finally, Real Refugees  —  Do you care about fleeing Ukrainians?  What an Islamophobe you are!  —  Bruce Bawer is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.  —  From one end of Western Europe to the other, the mass migrations of the last generation or two have turned the words …