Craig Taylor

US Secretary of State John Kerry says new “serious sanctions” are being considered against Russia over its “craven” behaviour in Ukraine.
BBC News – US & Canada

Armed men have abducted at least 89 boys from a camp for people displaced by fighting in South Sudan, the UN says.
BBC News – Africa

Not giving in, preventing slippage and denying momentary lapses in effort and energy is a near impossibility in the NBA.
Oklahoma City Thunder

UK government finances showed a surplus of £8.8bn in January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
BBC News – Business

An Iraqi-Kurdish force of up to 25,000 is preparing to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from Islamic State in April or May, a US official says.
BBC News – Middle East

The mayor of Venezuela’s capital is arrested amid accusations of a coup attempt, with President Nicolas Maduro saying he must “answer for his crimes”.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

German and Greek finance ministers meet IMF and Eurogroup chiefs ahead of a vital finance ministers’ meeting on Greece’s bailout request.
BBC News – Europe

Fears grow over three London schoolgirls who have flown to Turkey, amid concerns they may cross the Syrian border and join the Islamic State terrorist group.
BBC News – UK

Bitterly cold air from Siberia brings dangerously low and possibly record-setting temperatures to the eastern half of the US and Canada.
BBC News – US & Canada

Some 20 people, including senior officials, are killed in an al-Shabab attack during Friday prayers in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses say.
BBC News – Africa

Russell Westbrook said it at shootaround on Thursday morning – if the Thunder plays its brand of basketball, it is a tough squad to beat,
Oklahoma City Thunder

Additional funding will give Athens more breathing space to agree extension of its EU loan agreement.
BBC News – Business

Syria’s government is prepared to halt aerial attacks on Aleppo for six weeks as part of a local ceasefire plan, UN envoy Staffan de Mistura says.
BBC News – Middle East

Hundreds of thousands attend marches in Argentina to mark the unresolved death one month ago of prosecutor Alberto Nisman.
BBC News – Latin America & Caribbean

President Petro Poroshenko calls for UN peacekeepers to be sent to east Ukraine after his forces withdraw from the city of Debaltseve.
BBC News – Europe

The price the NHS agrees to pay for new medicines in England could cause more harm than good by depleting funds for other services, a report argues.
BBC News – UK

President Barack Obama tells a summit on violent extremism that the US is not at war with Islam, but with “terrorists who pervert it”.
BBC News – US & Canada

Libya urges the UN Security Council at an emergency session to lift an arms embargo so it can deal with Islamic State militants.
BBC News – Africa

The All-Star Break was a welcome period of rest and relaxation for Thunder players and coaches.
Oklahoma City Thunder

Of all the words to describe the Thunder’s defense against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, “suffocating” was the most apt.
Oklahoma City Thunder