U.S. President Joe Biden said there was now every indication Russia was planning to invade Ukraine, including signs Moscow was carrying out a false flag operation to justify it, after Ukrainian forces and pro-Moscow rebels traded fire reut.rs/3uX1zVr 1/6
Moscow, for its part, ejected the number two official from the U.S. embassy and released a strongly worded letter to the United States accusing Washington of ignoring its security demands 2/6
Ukraine and the pro-Russian rebels gave conflicting accounts of Thursday's shelling. Details could not be established independently. Reports from both sides suggest an incident more serious than the ceasefire violations that are regularly reported on the line of contact 3/6
Ukraine's President Zelenskiy said the pro-Russian forces had shelled a kindergarten, in what he called a 'big provocation.'
Moscow was 'seriously concerned' about reports of an escalation after the separatists accused government forces of opening fire 4/6
A senior Ukrainian government source said the shelling at the line of contact with Russian-backed separatist forces went beyond ceasefire violations routinely reported throughout the conflict.
'It is not typical. It looks a lot like a provocation,' the source said 5/6
Moscow denies Western accusations it is planning to invade its neighbor and said this week it was pulling back some of the more than 100,000 troops it has sent to the area.
The United States said thousands more troops were still arriving reut.rs/3oXwixT 6/6
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A single activist helped turn the tide against NSO Group, one of the most sophisticated spyware companies facing a cascade of legal action and scrutiny over allegations its software was used to hack government officials and dissidents around the world reut.rs/3JzB64r 1/5
It all started with a software glitch on Saudi women’s-rights activist @LoujainHathloul's iPhone. The glitch allowed her and privacy researchers to discover a trove of evidence suggesting the Israeli spyware maker had helped hack her phone 2/5
A mysterious fake image file within her phone, mistakenly left behind by the spyware, tipped off security researchers reut.rs/3JzB64r 3/5
Brenda Sheridan is one of many school-board members across the country to receive death threats amid controversies over COVID-19 protections, anti-racism efforts and bathroom policies 1/4 reut.rs/3HRTBAB
WARNING - OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE: Sheridan, former chair of the Loudoun County, Virginia, school board, received more than 100 hostile messages documented by Reuters, many threatening to kill her or calling for her death 2/4
WARNING - OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE: In June she received a threat saying, ‘Brenda, I am going to gut you like the fat f‑‑‑ing pig you are when I find you.’ 3/4
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to invoke rarely used emergency powers allowing him to tackle protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa, sources said reut.rs/3LyIpve 1/5
In the western province of Alberta, police said they broke up an armed group that was prepared to use violence to back a blockade at a border crossing with the United States reut.rs/3H1W7mV 2/5
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they arrested 11 people and seized 13 long guns, handguns and a large quantity of ammunition. Those arrested were reported to have 'a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade' 3/5
The world's top anti-doping authority will investigate the entourage of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva who tested positive for a banned drug, plunging her into a doping scandal at the Beijing Winter #Olympicsreut.rs/3sCefOR
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug at her national championships last December, but it took more than six weeks for her to be notified, allowing her to compete in #Beijing2022reut.rs/3GFmrTy
The World Anti-Doping Agency @wada_ama said in a statement to @Reuters that it would ask its independent Intelligence and Investigations Department to probe the coaches, doctors and other adults surrounding the athlete reut.rs/3JmNq7X