The Biden administration on Friday released its official Indo-Pacific strategy, which warns that there is only a narrow window of time remaining to prevent China from transforming the region into its own sphere of influence.
Why it matters: Biden is the third consecutive president to classify Asia as a top geostrategic priority, hoping to complete the "pivot to Asia" initiated under former President Obama.
Two journalists and several Afghan nationals working with the UN refugee agency were released by the Taliban Friday, UNHCR said.
Why it matters: Journalists, especially local reporters, have faced increasing pressure, attacks and restrictions since the Taliban seized power last August, despite initial pledges by the group to respect independent media.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that all Americans in Ukraine should leave within the next 48 hours, warning that the risk of a Russian invasion is now "high" and "immediate."
Why it matters: Sullivan denied an explosive PBS report that the U.S. believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade, but said there is "a credible prospect that a Russian military action would take place even before the end of the Olympics."
Satellite images recently captured by Maxar Technologies show that Russia is continuing to deploy troops and military equipment, likely including field hospitals, near Ukraine's borders in Crimea, Belarus and western Russia.
The big picture: U.S. officials warned Friday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could begin at "at any time."
Israel on Friday said it has started to evacuate non-essential staff and the families of its diplomats from Kyiv and published a travel warning for Israelis traveling to Ukraine.
Why it matters: Israel has been avoiding this step for weeks due to diplomatic sensitivities with Ukraine and Russia, but it made Friday's evacuation decision because the situation has reached a tipping point, a senior Israeli official told Axios.
President Biden signed an executive order on Friday to help enable $7 billion in frozen Afghan assets to be divided between humanitarian relief for the people of Afghanistan and the families of 9/11 victims.
Why it matters: Biden has come under significant pressure to release the U.S.-held assets, which belong to Afghanistan's central bank and were frozen after the Taliban's takeover in August. Afghanistan is facing an extreme humanitarian crisis, with more than 23 million people suffering from acute hunger.
Russia continues to move troops and military equipment toward the Ukrainian border, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday. He warned that Russia could invade Ukraine soon, even during the Beijing Winter Olympics set to end Feb. 20.
Why it matters: Blinken said that American citizens in Ukraine should leave immediately, echoing a State Department advisory that said the U.S. will not be able to evacuate Americans from the country "in the event of Russian military action anywhere in Ukraine."
Facing saturation in the U.S., media giants are looking abroad for growth, and India — the second-largest internet population globally — is ripe for disruption.
Why it matters: When it comes to monetizing attention, "India has immense room to grow," said Ravi Agrawal, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy and author of "India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World's Largest Democracy."
The Russian Olympic Committee vowed Friday to take "exhaustive measures" to protect the figure skating team's Winter Olympics gold medal after star skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, per the Washington Post.
Why it matters: Valieva, 15, was in the ROC group that beat the U.S. into second place in the team figure skating competition on Monday, but a "legal issue" delayed the scheduled medal ceremony, officials said. The ITA confirmed Friday that this was due to Valieva testing positive for trimetazidine.
The Team USA women's hockey team overcame a tough challenge from the Czech Republic to win 4-1 in their quarterfinals clash at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday.
U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin may be out of super-G medal contention at the Beijing Winter Olympics, but she told NBC on Friday: "I proved to myself that I can still trust my instincts a bit."
The big picture: The two-time Olympic Alpine gold medalist had never competed in the super-G before, but it was the first time in three events at the 2022 Beijing Games that she had completed a race, finishing ninth with a time of 1 minute, 14.30 seconds. She also spoke of how moved she'd been by the support she's received this week.
President Biden said Thursday in an interview with NBC News that he rejects the results of an Army investigation that reportedly outlines his administration's failure to adequately prepare for and respond to the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan.
Why it matters: The investigation, which was first reported by the Washington Post and obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, found that U.S. military leaders' attempts to plan evacuations of embassy personnel and Afghan allies were met with resistance in the White House and State Department.
Republican senators and establishment columnists who brutalized President Biden for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal are now praising his handling of Russia's threatened invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matters: The endorsements give the president and his team more political space to pursue diplomacy. They also allow a president who ran on his competence and foreign policy experience to reclaim some of that mantle.
