* Kerry arrives in Kiev and offers $1 billion in loan guarantees, with sanctions to punish Russia coming later this week. * Mounting tension between Russia and Ukraine, in pictures. * John Oliver's satirical news podcast "The Bugle" blocked by China. * Views on gay marriage reveal new distinction between
* Ukraine is the latest example of Putin's top priority as president: To expand Russia's influence in Eurasia. * See also: how Ukraine lost its definite article. * By storing Russia's money, Europe has disabled its ability to stand up to Putin. * Special Economist report on democracy&
* UN reports 300,000 Nigerians uprooted and displaced as a result of Boko Harem violence. * Unlike Standard Oil and Carnegie Steel, Facebook and Google are everywhere and nowhere, making today's image of "the worker" similarly invisible. * President Abe reconsiders Japan's official apology to "
* January storms leave 21,341 sea birds dead off the coast of France, the country's worst bird "slaughter" since 1900. * Surge in U.S. teenagers with head lice blamed on group selfies. * Selfies from five cities compared for regional differences—gender, expressions, ages, even head tilt.
* Obesity rates in children two to five years old dropped 43% in the past decade. * Ukrainian journalists launch YanukovychLeaks from documents found at the Mezhyhirya compound. * Study of cursing on Twitter finds that Friday, Saturday, Sunday are consistently the least sweary days of the week. * Bitcoin investors greatly disappointed by
* Georgia is considering a bill nearly identical to the legislation that allowed Arizona businesses to deny service to homosexuals. * Within the past year in California, more than a dozen children have developed a polio-like syndrome causing paralysis. * Harsh winter weather shaves half a percentage point from gross domestic product,
* Ukraine's acting leadership—whom Russia claims "seized power"—to meet with EU for economic assistance. * The Russian media continually make the claim that the Ukrainians who protest are Nazis. * In China, anti-vice campaign threatens Dongguan's economic stability, which depends almost entirely on sex
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leaders sign a deal. * Wrenching photographs of the protests in Kiev from the last 24 hours. * New Jersey has run out of road salt, and a 90-year-old maritime law prevents it from acquiring more. * Fukushima plant stores runoff in tanks to prevent
* North Korea threatens to cancel, then permits reunions between its citizens and South Korean relatives. * U.S. Dept. of the Interior is spoon-feeding bad information to reporters—we now know 50,000+ wild horses live in atrocious conditions. * Whether to go "-gate" or "-ghazi": Toward
* Explainer on the Ukraine protests, violence, and possible EU intervention. * The Kiev protests are Putin's worst nightmare. * The most hazardous countries in the world for drivers are also the countries with the least number of cancer-related deaths. * Dancing animals offer clues into how music has evolved in
