US, Russia set firm lines ahead of Ukraine talks

US national security advisor Jake Sullivan is in Israel to discuss Iran and other issues. In Jerusalem, Sullivan said Iran may exhaust diplomacy within weeks.

In an interview with FRANCE 24 at the Paris Peace Forum, US billionaire Frank McCourt strongly criticised tech giants, saying social media is "undermining our democracies". The owner of French football club Olympique de Marseille told us more about his Project Liberty plan. He has invested $100 million in the initiative, which he hopes will "transform the way the internet works".

The government of Mali has denied using Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. Western countries involved in fighting jihadis in the Sahel beg to differ.

Former US State Department specialist Michael Kimmage talks to DW’s Brent Goff on "The Day" about Russia's intentions with its military buildup on the border with Ukraine. Kimmage said that despite the unity between the US and Europe and the threat of tough sanctions, Moscow actually has more leverage now than during the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Russian historian Yuri Dmitriyev, who also serves as a local head of Memorial rights group, was found guilty of abusing his adopted daughter. His supporters say charges against him are politically motivated.

For the final episode of our series on the fall of the Soviet Union 30 years ago, we take you where a significant part of the public relations war between the US and USSR took place: outer space. James André, Sylvain Rousseau and Achraf Abid have delved into the video archives, and interviewed astronauts and experts to find out how the Russian space agency has evolved over the past three decades.

Government critics said the proposed media law was aimed at silencing dissent. President Andrzej Duda said it would have dealt a blow to Poland's reputation as a place to do business.

Omicron is now the dominant variant in the United States, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all cases. In New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, omicron cases are surging.

Russia's Supreme Court has ordered the closure of the human rights group Memorial International that documents Soviet-era repression. DW correspondent Juri Rescheto spoke to a woman whose family experienced persecution by the Stalin regime.

Fifty-one people have been killed in Russia's worst mining disaster in a decade, prompting three days of mourning in Siberia's Kemerovo region. Among the dead were five rescue workers, although a sixth was found alive and taken to hospital in a serious condition. The blast happened at the Listvyazhnaya mine when coal dust caught fire in a ventilation shaft on Thursday. Rescuers suffocated as they tried to reach dozens of missing miners.

SpaceX launches first rocket for US military

US coronavirus cases on the rise: Epidemiologist Peter Chin-Hong speaks to DW