February 18, Friday, 2022 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline read by Ms. Keiko Kitagawa

1.US President Joe Biden has warned that the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “very high” and that his “sense is it will happen in the next several days.” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday that “Every indication we have is they are prepared to go into Ukraine, attack Ukraine.”
2.Japanese speed skating star Takagi Miho has grabbed her first gold of the Olympics by winning the women’s 1,000 meters. The race was her final chance to stand atop the podium at the Games where she had already collected three silvers. The captain of Japan’s team finished with an Olympic record time and will leave Beijing with four medals from five events. Her overall total of seven medals is the most by any winter Olympian from Asia.
3.Figure skater Anna Shcherbakova from the Russian Olympic Committee has won gold in the women’s singles event at the Beijing Olympics. The 17-year-old winner of the 2021 world championships executed two quad jumps in her routine. Japan’s Sakamoto Kaori landed seven clean jumps, including a triple jump combination, to claim the bronze.