People in dozens of other countries around the world marked the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine with demonstrations in support of Kyiv and against the war.
The big picture: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to "do everything to gain victory this year" in an address on Friday as the war enters its second year.
The vast majority of people forced to flee their homes due to the war in Ukraine intend to return — but very few can imagine doing so in the next few months, according to a pair of new reports from the UN refugee agency.
The big picture: The mass exodus caused by Russia's invasion a year ago was quickly labeled Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World World II. Today, roughly 8 million Ukrainian refugees remain scattered across Europe and more than 5 million are displaced within Ukraine's borders.
The United States announced new sanctions on Friday against Russia and entities in third-party countries that the White House said are supporting the Kremlin's war effort in Ukraine.
Why it matters: The actions mark one year since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and include additional security and infrastructure packages for Kyiv.
A year of relentless Russian bombing, air raid sirens and displacement is taking a heavy toll on Ukrainians' mental health.
The big picture: The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 10 million Ukrainians may be suffering from mental health conditions like depression or anxiety, of whom almost 4 million may have cases that are moderate or severe.
After failing in his initial goal of quickly taking Kyiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be placing his new bet on winning a war of attrition, experts say.
The big picture: It's a wager that's unlikely to bring an end to the war anytime soon. Instead, it's expected to significantly add to the tens of thousands killed, millions displaced and billions spent in the war's first year.
North Korea's state media said Friday its military conducted a "strategic cruise missile" drill off its eastern coast the previous day.
Details: KCNA claims that the North Korean military fired four "Hwasal-2" long-range missiles in the North Hamgyong Province. Seoul officials said there had been a launch but added without further elaboration that South Korean and U.S. intelligence detected differing flight details to Pyongyang's claims, per AP.
Boeing has temporarily halted deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner jets after notifying the Federal Aviation Administration that it's conducting "additional analysis on a fuselage component,” the FAA said Thursday.
Driving the news: "Deliveries will not resume until the FAA is satisfied that the issue has been addressed,” the agency confirmed to Axios.
Two brothers being held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay for nearly 20 years have been transferred to Pakistan, the Department of Defense announced Thursday.
The big picture: Abdul Rahim Ghulam Rabbani, 55, and Mohammed Ahmed Ghulam Rabbani, 53, were detained without charge after being accused of helping operate safe houses for suspected Al-Qaeda operatives after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to the New York Times.
The UN General Assembly on Thursday approved a resolution calling for Russia to "immediately, completely and unconditionally" withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
Why it matters: The resolution is non-binding, but it carries symbolic weight by signifying Russia's continued isolation on the world stage ahead of Friday's one-year anniversary of the start of the war.
Chile and Argentina this week offered citizenship to hundredsof Nicaraguans recently exiled by the government of President Daniel Ortega.
The big picture: The citizenship offers, which Spain has also made, come as human rights groups decry the move by Nicaragua's government to strip over 300 opposition figures of their citizenship.
Marcela Guerrero, the Whitney Museum's first Latina senior curator, says she'll use her newplatform to elevate underrepresented voices in art.
Why it matters: The Whitney Museum of American Art is one of several mainstream cultural institutions where U.S. Latinos have made inroads in the past few years despite decades of being excluded from the art world.
Declines in maternal mortality rates around the world have stalled on a global level in recent years, according to a new report from the World Health Organization.
Why it matters: An estimated 287,000 women died from pregnancy-related complications in 2020, which is approximately 800 deaths every day — or one every two minutes, according to the report.
Oman announced on Thursday that it was opening its airspace to all civilian carriers, including Israeli planes.
Why it matters: The announcement will allow Israeli airlines to significantly shorten eastbound flights to India and China by flying over Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The Palestinian Authority is threatening to pull out of a security summit with the U.S., Israel, Jordan and Egypt after 11 Palestinians, including civilians, were killed in an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, three U.S., Israeli and Palestinian officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The security summit, scheduled to take place on Sunday, is meant to formalize the understandings recently reached between Israel and the Palestinians that led to the postponement of a UN Security Council vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The Pentagon released Wednesday a photo of a suspected Chinese government surveillance balloon it says was snapped by an American U-2 pilot flying just above the device over the "Central Continental United States" on Feb. 3.
Why it matters: The balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast the following day escalated tensions between the U.S. and Chinese governments and forced Secretary of State Tony Blinken to postpone his planned trip to Beijing.
The suspect in the deadly Colorado Springs LGBTQ night club shooting that left five people dead last November told police at the scene that the shooter was hiding, officers testified Wednesday, per the Sentinel.
Driving the news: Anderson Lee Aldrich, who is on trial facing multiple murder and hate crime charges, had at their home a rainbow-colored shooting target, a rough sketch of Club Q and parts to build AR-15 style guns, the Colorado Sun reports.
