In Europe, Russia-Ukraine tensions grew further this week, with the West - seemingly convinced of an imminent invasion - clearing their embassies and accusing Putin of lying about troop withdrawals. In Africa, France withdrew from Mali and Burkina Faso's military leader was sworn in as president. In the US, intelligence accused Russian hackers of targeting defense contractors, and a navy nuclear engineer pleaded guilty to selling state secrets.

In America, Trump's former accounting firm suggested his financial statements aren't reliable, Clinton spoke at a Democrat convention where she denied accusations of spying on Trump, GOP House Leader McCarthy endorsed Rep. Liz Cheney's (R-WY) challenger, AOC said Texas will turn blue, and CNN found Trump-Biden is not a popular 2024 matchup. Abroad, Brazil's Bolsonaro met with Putin against the urging of Western leaders, Honduras police arrested their former president, and Mexico was banned from exporting avocados to the US.

Canada's trucker-lead anti-mandate protests spread internationally, while at home Trudeau used emergency powers to clamp down. Meanwhile, in Mexico, migrants sewed their mouths shut to protest alleged mistreatment.

A homeless man was arrested for murder as crime surges in NYC, and the ATF began the week by urging Americans to turn in their partners on Valentine's Day.In the courts, Texas sued Meta over alleged misuse of facial recognition data, Sarah Palin's defamation case was dismissed, Halyna Hutchin's family sued Alec Baldwin, prosecutors accused Ahmaud Arbery's killers of a love for racial slurs, and Sandy Hook families reached a historic settlement with a gun manufacturer. Meanwhile,charges were dropped against a San Francisco suspect identified using DNA from a rape kit, Prince Charles' charity is under investigation over cash-for-honors claims.

Florida's House passed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks, US senators proposed protections for children online, and thousands of baptisms were invalidated over a wording error. Meanwhile, Whoopi Goldberg returned to 'The View' after suspension for Holocaust comments, and a new poll found that one in five Gen Z adults identifies as LGBTQ+.

A woman was reportedly cured of HIV using umbilical cord blood, California classified COVID as endemic, and we discovered that Pfizer's COVID vaccine was delayed for below-fives over breakthrough concerns.

In the US, Democrats proposed a gas tax holiday, the Senate narrowly averted a partial government shutdown, Biden requested $30B more in COVID funding, and the DOJ formed crypto crime units. Meanwhile, the SEC revealed that Elon Musk donated $5.7B in Tesla stock to charity last year. Across the pond, UK tax authorities seized NFTs in a fraud case.

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas broke more records in the Ivy League Championships, Valieva failed to secure an Olympic medal amidst a doping controversy, Djokovic said he's willing to miss more majors over the vaccine, and Biden criticized the NFL's lack of diversity.

America's southwest is facing a historic megadrought, while a report claimed sea levels will likely rise by 10-12 inches over the next 30 yrs.

A rocket set to collide with the moon was found to actually be from China, not SpaceX.