WORLD

In the midst of an ongoing investigation into claims of cash-for-honors, Prince Charles' charity is facing increasingly challenging questions. On Wednesday, February 16, the Metropolitan Police announced the commencement of an inquiry into allegations that Prince Charles' charity was involved in a cash-for-honors operation.

As per US Weekly, authorities stated that there were suspicions that payments to The Prince's Foundation resulted in a Saudi businessman receiving official honours and British citizenship. However, the claims, which initially appeared in newspapers last September, shocked the Prince's Foundation. The organisation, whose branch was visited earlier this month by Prince Charles, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate Middleton, is helping with the investigation.

President Joe Biden urged Russia to step back from the brink of war on Tuesday and said reports that Russia has withdrawn some forces from the Ukraine border have not been verified.

"To the citizens of Russia: you are not our enemy, and I don't believe you want a bloody, destructive war against Ukraine," Biden said in nationally televised remarks from the White House.

Biden said the United States is "not seeking direct confrontation with Russia" but that if Russia were to attack Americans in Ukraine, "We will respond forcefully."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday was expected to invoke rarely-used emergency powers to bring an end to trucker-led protests against Covid-19 health rules, as police arrested 11 people with a "cache of firearms" blocking a border crossing with the United States in Alberta.

Trudeau will invoke the Emergencies Act to give the government extra powers in a national crisis to bring an end to the trucker-led protests now entering a third week, according to public broadcaster CBC.

Hundreds of big rigs still clog the streets of the capital Ottawa.

Ukraine's president played down intensified warnings of a possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence, even as the US warned Sunday of more Russian troops pressing closer to Ukraine's borders and some airlines cancelled or diverted flights there.

The White House said President Joe Biden would talk later in the day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian leader's repeated statements urging calm among his people — while Russian forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what Russia insists are military exercises -- grew this weekend to Zelenskyy questioning strident warnings from US officials in recent days that Russia could be planning to invade as soon as midweek.

A rocket startup's big Florida launch debut ended with all four mini satellites destroyed Thursday.

California-based Astra sent its rocket soaring from Cape Canaveral after multiple delays, including a last-second engine shutdown Monday. The 43-foot (13-meter) rocket arced through a clear afternoon sky out over the Atlantic, carrying small research satellites sponsored by NASA.

But shortly after the first-stage booster dropped away, onboard cameras showed the second stage igniting and appearing to tumble. The video cameras went dark less than four minutes into the flight and the airwaves grew silent.