WORLD

• 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.
• Today, diplomatic efforts will continue when U.S. President Joe Biden hosts a call with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Britain, the European Union and NATO.
• An Atlantic storm battered England and Ireland, with winds of up to 100 miles per hour. Millions of people were advised to stay at home in England and Ireland, while Britain’s weather office warned that Storm Eunice could sow significant disruption and danger to life.
• In the early hours of this morning, hundreds of people were rescued from a ferry that caught fire between Greece and Italy. The Greek coastguard said 239 passengers and 51 crew members were on board. There were no immediate reports of deaths or severe injuries, and the cause of fire was not immediately known.
• An Indian court has sentenced 38 Muslim men to death and ordered life in prison for 11 others for a series of bomb blasts in 2008 in the city of Ahmedabad that killed more than 50 people.
• Canadian police are poised to clear out hundreds of truck drivers from Ottawa who have staged a three-week-long protest against pandemic restrictions that has crippled the capital and prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to assume emergency powers.

U.S.

• Former U.S. President Donald Trump and two of his adult children have been ordered by a New York judge to answer questions under oath in the state attorney general’s civil probe into their family company. Trump describes the order as part of a “Witch Hunt.”
• The FBI is launching a digital currency unit for blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure. U.S. regulators under President Joe Biden have been ratcheting up their scrutiny of the crypto industry in the wake of a series of high-profile cyber attacks last year. Ransomware groups often demand their fees in bitcoin.
• A grand jury in Austin, Texas, has indicted several police officers for using excessive force during racial justice protests in 2020. The city of Austin also announced a total of $10 million in settlements with two people badly injured by beanbag rounds fired during those protests.
• A Colorado elections clerk has been sued after passing on voting data. The clerk copied data from voting machines, with the help of two men with ties to groups supporting the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from former Republican President Donald Trump.
• A New York state trooper who accused former Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment has sued Cuomo and a top aide, stating that she was subjected to discrimination and retaliation after making the allegations.

BUSINESS

• French luxury group Hermes said sales grew by 11% in the fourth quarter of 2021, a touch below market expectations, as self-imposed production caps meant the group could not keep up with demand for its prized handbags.
• Tesla has changed an advertisement about the driving range for its Model 3 in South Korea after an antitrust regulator found that the automaker exaggerated the specifications of its batteries.
• Australia’s New South Wales state has ordered employers of freelance delivery drivers such as Amazon.com to pay a minimum rate, a decision hailed by a union as making it the world’s first jurisdiction to compel the retailer to follow laws on such payments.
• A group representing publishers such as News Corp and National Public Radio wrote to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to back two bills targeting Big Tech, including one that would open up smartphone app stores to more competition.
• The next head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will face challenges overseeing Boeing and a series of reforms mandated by Congress in the wake of two fatal 737 MAX crashes. The best-selling airplane was grounded for 20 months after two crashes killed 346 people in the space of five months.

WINTER OLYMPICS

See our full coverage of the Beijing Games