* Moscow responds to Obama’s sanctions by banning nine American leaders from visiting, including Boehner. * The “acceptance” of Putin’s actions among the Western community appears to be on the rise. * Rate of melting ice in Greenland indicates sea levels will rise faster than projected. * Narcissus loved his reflection before
* Kiev will withdraw Ukrainian troops from Crimea and appeal to the UN to declare Crimea a de-militarised zone. * AP adapts its Crimean datelines, handing sovereignty neither to Ukraine nor Russia. * China has tripled its arms exports in the past five years and imports 11% of its weapons from Ukraine.
* Tensions over Crimea may not cause a new Cold War, but instead a long period of confrontation. * Ukraine may be able write off $5 billion in debt to Russia. * Reported death of the "Russian bin Laden" cannot yet be confirmed. * Experiment shows fewer people performed tasks they didn&
* Ripples in space further corroborate that the universe expanded tremendously after the Big Bang, a theory known as inflation. * Russia has the same surface area of Pluto, and 16 other non-Crimea-related facts about the nation. * Murder of an indefatigable Ugandan MP fits a pattern of corruption and intricate
* Identical studies of the "five-second rule" reach opposite conclusions—both agree moist foods are more bacteria-prone. * Skin-tight astronaut suits mimic the effect of gravity and could prevent the brutal spinal damage caused by weightlessness. * More than 80 large passenger aircrafts have disappeared since 1948. * New
* When asked what would happen on the eve of Russia's intervention in Ukraine, most international relations scholars got it wrong. * If Russia annexed Crimea, Ukraine would be stronger and Russia would be poor. * Novelist writing book set in Crimea looks on despairingly as current events spoil his plot.
* Pentagon spent around $300,000 to study Putin's body movements for clues to his intentions. * The Kremlin has proved that it has the means, and the media, to gin up support for Putin’s folly—but that won’t last indefinitely. * Richard Branson is the mirror image of
* Feinstein accuses the CIA of illegal, unconstitutional actions: pillaging her committee's computers and intimidating staff. * Dueling anticipates the senator's looming report, expected to torch the spies over torture methods. * In case you missed it: Obama asks to see Zach Galifianakis's birth certificate. * Three years
* New Pew survey shows millennials to be the most racially diverse, areligious generation in American history. * Pictures from Sochi's Winter Paralympics. * Africa doesn't need your wifi. * From online dating to online making-up: Couples use therapy apps to figure out why they're fighting. * Anti-
* The week in world news: Serbia holds an election, Michelle Bachelet becomes president of Chile, and Slovaks go to the polls. * When passenger jets mysteriously disappear, conspiracy theories abound. * Cartoons on the Ukraine crisis. * Survey of modern Ukrainian literature provides context for recent weeks. * Drunk Canadian tourists, "covered in
