NATIONAL

Russia's President Vladimir Putin was set to oversee exercises by strategic nuclear missile forces on Saturday as Western leaders gathered in Munich, fearful that he could order troops massed on Ukraine's border to invade at any time.

Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said on Friday they planned to evacuate their breakaway region's residents to Russia, a stunning turn in a conflict the West believes Moscow could use to justify an invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels reported increased shelling in eastern Ukraine for a second straight day on Friday, an escalation that Washington and other Western allies say could form part of a Russian pretext to invade.

Russian-backed separatists announced the sudden surprise evacuation of their breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine on Friday, a shock turn in a conflict the West believes Moscow plans to use to justify an all-out invasion of its neighbour.

Shelling in Ukraine on Thursday renewed Western fears of an imminent Russian invasion as U.S.

Russia's Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine within days, U.S.

The 32-year-old man from Portland, Oregon, was restrained at the back of the aircraft until the flight landed.

It is unclear how many of the breakthrough deaths occurred in people with pre-existing medical conditions.

For NATO members, the most powerful measure against Russia were it to invade Ukraine would be U.S.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration on Wednesday over a government mandate requiring that masks be worn at U.S.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board said Wednesday that Amazon.com Inc and a group of New York workers have agreed tentatively on terms for a union election, and an organizer said the vote would take place late next month.

Jurors in Sarah Palin's defamation lawsuit against the New York Times received phone notifications that the judge had decided to dismiss the case regardless of their verdict before their deliberations had ended, a court filing showed on Wednesday.

Florida's House of Representatives is expected on Wednesday to pass a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a measure multiple Republican-led states are pushing as the U.S.

Ken Kurson, a former editor of the New York Observer newspaper who was pardoned in January 2021 by then-U.S.

Tou Thao, one of three former Minneapolis police officers on trial for violating George Floyd's civil rights, testified on Wednesday that he trusted his ex-colleague Derek Chauvin knew what he was doing by kneeling on the handcuffed Black man's neck for more than nine minutes in a deadly 2020 arrest.

The gunman convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man in Georgia, repeatedly used racist language in text messages with friends, and also shared a music video of a white supremacist singer, jurors at his federal hate crimes trial heard on Wednesday.

"Becoming vaccinated made people feel safer in addition to being safer," researchers said.

President Joe Biden is expected to ask Congress for a U.S.

U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they are preparing for the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic as Omicron-related cases decline, including updating CDC guidance on mask-wearing and shoring up U.S.

Congressman Conor Lamb has a message to Pennsylvania Democrats who wonder whether he is liberal enough to represent them in the U.S. Senate: He is no Joe Manchin.

The next Mega Millions numbers will be drawn on Friday, Feb. 18.

The health agency’s amendment to its mask recommendations could be disclosed as early as next week.

A New York judge dismissed most of a defamation lawsuit by Mariah Carey's older brother over her 2020 best-selling memoir, though the singer must still face two claims.

A total of 80 unruly airplane passengers have been referred to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Wednesday, as onboard disruptions rose sharply in 2021, many over COVID-19 mask requirements.

U.S. short seller Carson Block is being probed by the Justice Department as part of a wide-ranging investigation into short-sellers and hedge funds focused on suspected coordinated manipulative trading, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Retail sales saw a notable boost in January with sales rising 3.8% despite concerns about the Omicon variant of COVID-19 and rising inflation.

“I don’t want to be giving people false optimism," Dr. Anthony Fauci said.

U.S. stocks were set to open lower on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected retail sales data gave the Federal Reserve more ammunition to tighten policy, while geopolitical tensions over Russian and Ukraine added to caution.

U.S. President Joe Biden has rejected former President Donald Trump's executive privilege claims and ordered White House visitor logs to be released to the panel investigating the deadly Jan.