Justice Thomas slams cancel culture, ‘packing’ Supreme Court  —  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said he's concerned efforts to politicize the court or add additional justices may erode the institution's credibility, speaking Friday in Utah at an event hosted …

The Things I'm Afraid to Write About  —  One evening, I sat on the brown-leather couch of a younger man who admired me for my writing, and maybe other things, if the salty text messages were true.  He came from a different generation, but I was pleased to discover that he shared …

Using a New Cyber Tool, Westerners Have Been Texting Russians About the War in Ukraine  —  Website developed by hackers is new initiative in West's battle to counter Russia's propaganda campaign  —  People around the world are using a new website to circumvent the Kremlin's propaganda machine …

Biden to attend first in-person fundraiser as he ramps up political activity  —  President Biden will attend a small, high-dollar fundraiser Monday night to support the Democratic Party, marking the president's first in-person fundraiser since taking office, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

Police investigated ‘unlawful entry’ onto property of White House national security aide … Law enforcement officials have been investigating an incident in which someone accessed the property of a top White House official working on U.S. sanctions against Russia, according to a police report and people familiar with the matter.

Intelligence points to heightened risk of Russian chemical attack in Ukraine, officials say  —  MUKACHEVO, Ukraine — The United States and its allies have intelligence that Russia may be preparing to use chemical weapons against Ukraine, U.S. and European officials said Friday …

Preparing for Defeat  —  I'm writing this from Skopje, North Macedonia, where I've been for the last week teaching one of our Leadership Academy for Development courses.  Following the Ukraine war is no different here in terms of available information, except that I'm in an adjacent time zone …

Kremlin arrests FSB chiefs in fallout from Ukraine chaos … A Russian spy chief is said to have been placed under house arrest in a sign that President Putin is seeking to blame the security services for the stalled invasion of Ukraine.  —  Sergey Beseda, head of the FSB's foreign intelligence branch …

American Voters Now View Ukraine as Favorably as France, Germany and Japan  —  American voters' perceived friends and adversaries  —  As recently as a year ago, many Americans did not know what to make of Ukraine — if they knew anything about it at all.  One-third of voters couldn't say whether …

Ukraine Live Updates: Desperation Grows in Cities Under Continued Russian Assault  —  France and Germany unsuccessfully pressed Moscow to agree to a cease-fire, as cities and towns in Ukraine came under sustained bombardment.  In one southern city, hundreds took to the streets to protest …

War in Ukraine: How Russia is recruiting mercenaries  —  Social media channels and private messaging groups are being used in Russia to recruit a new brigade of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine alongside the army, the BBC has learned.  —  The BBC has spoken to a serving mercenary …

A Jewish girl was saved by a Ukrainian family during World War II.  Now her grandchildren are returning the favor.  —  Cousins and Ukrainian refugees Lesia Orshoko and Alona Chugai are among the millions who are running for their lives as Russian forces invade their country.

Putin's pre-war moves against U.S. tech giants laid groundwork for crackdown on free expression … Russian agents came to the home of Google's top executive in Moscow to deliver a frightening ultimatum last September: take down an app that had drawn the ire of Russian President Vladimir Putin within 24 hours or be taken to prison.

Saudi Arabia executes 81 men in 24 hours  —  Officials say those executed were convicted of charges including terrorism and holding ‘deviant beliefs’  —  Saudi Arabia has executed 81 men over the past 24 hours, including seven Yemenis and one Syrian national, on charges including terrorism and holding …

After 2 Years of Pandemic Life, Turn Toward Normalcy Is a Shake-Up  —  As the Omicron variant recedes, cities and states with the longest mask and vaccine mandates are rapidly lifting them.  The abrupt shift has unsettled the most vigilant Americans.  —  It was two years ago …

US pays $2M a month to protect Pompeo, aide from Iran threat  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it's paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom face “serious and credible” threats from Iran.

POLITICO Playbook: Trump descends on S.C. — and splits its Republican Party  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  PALMETTO STATE INTRIGUE — As President DONALD TRUMP heads to his latest political event this evening — a rally in Florence, S.C. — POLITICO's lead GOP politics reporter, Alex Isenstadt …

Did masks really help slow COVID-19 spread in schools?  Study says ...  SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — Some skeptical parents and anti-mask advocacy groups questioned the necessity of forcing students and teachers to wear masks for the majority of the 2021-22 school year.

That Russian Business You're Boycotting Isn't Actually Russian  —  The consumer activism that makes a vodka C.E.O. say: 'Do you know we're Latvian?'  —  They poured the liquid out — blueberry-flavored, orange-flavored and the original, face-puckering unflavored version …

Ukraine at ‘turning point’, Zelenskiy says as Russians regroup near Kyiv … Ukraine was at a turning point in the war with Russian forces appearing to be regroup for a possible assault on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as the United States imposed new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs.

Russia threatens to attack western weapons shipments to Ukraine  —  Warning raises risk of direct confrontation between Moscow and Nato  —  Russia has warned that it will fire on western armaments shipments to Kyiv, raising the risk of a direct military confrontation between Moscow and Nato during the war in Ukraine.