The team competition in Olympic figure skating has always been a three-team scramble for the podium.

There's the Russians, who won gold at the event's 2014 debut in Sochi and silver in Pyeongchang. There's the Canadians, who took silver before finding gold four years later. And there's the Americans, who have taken bronze each time.

A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path spread rain, freezing rain and heavy snow further across the country on Thursday, disrupting travel as roads in many states were left icy by the wintry mix and airlines canceled thousands of flights due to the weather.

A long stretch of states from New Mexico to Maine remained under winter storm warnings and watches and the path of the storm stretched further from the central U.S. into more of the South and Northeast. Heavy snow was expected from the southern Rockies to northern New England, while forecasters said heavy ice buildup was likely from Texas to Pennsylvania.

A U.S. special forces raid in northwestern Syria early Thursday killed the top leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, President Joe Biden said.

"Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi — the leader of ISIS," Biden said in a statement. He said all Americans involved in the operation returned safely.

Technology to hide a ship's location previously available only to the world's militaries is spreading fast through the global maritime industry as governments from Iran to Venezuela — and the rogue shipping companies they depend on to move their petroleum products — look for stealthier ways to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

Windward, a maritime intelligence company whose data is used by the U.S. government to investigate sanctions violations, said that since January 2020 it has detected more than 200 vessels involved in over 350 incidents in which they appear to have electronically manipulated their GPS location.

Turkey's annual inflation came in at nearly 49% on Thursday, hitting a nearly 20-year high and further eroding people's ability to buy even basic things like food.

The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index increased by just over 11% in January from the previous month. The yearly increase in food prices was more than 55%, according to the data.

Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil and gas company announced Thursday the discovery of between 1.5 to 2 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas in an offshore area located in the emirate's northwest.

The discovery comes as Gulf Arab states continue to rely heavily on profits from oil and gas exports, despite rising global temperatures and climate change from burning fossil fuels. The United Arab Emirates, where Abu Dhabi is capital, was the first Gulf Arab state last year to join other countries around the world in pledging "net-zero" emissions targets within its borders — while maintaining fossil fuel exports abroad.

Israel's defense minister on Thursday visited the headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain, in a show of cooperation aimed at sending a message toward archenemy Iran.

Benny Gantz toured the U.S. naval base on the second day of his official visit to Bahrain — a strategically located Arab country in the heart of the Persian Gulf. Israel and Bahrain, which share a deep animosity toward Iran, established official relations in 2020.

American and European officials may be staying away from the Beijing Winter Olympics because of human rights concerns, but Russian President Vladimir Putin will be on hand even as tensions soar over his buildup of troops along his country's border with Ukraine.

Putin's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday will mark their first in-person meeting since 2019 and are intended to help strengthen Moscow's ties with China and coordinate their policies in the face of Western pressure. After, the two will attend the Games' opening ceremony.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern Thursday that Russia is continuing its military buildup around Ukraine, and that it has now deployed more troops and military equipment to Belarus that at any time in the last 30 years.

Russia now has more than 100,000 troops stationed near Ukraine's northern and eastern borders, raising concern that Moscow might invade again, as it did in 2014, and destabilize the Ukrainian economy. Russian officials deny that an invasion is planned.

The FBI has confirmed purchasing NSO Group's powerful spyware tool Pegasus, whose chronic abuse to surveil journalists, dissidents and human rights activists has long been established. It suggested its motivation was to "stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft."

The agency added in a statement that it obtained a limited license from the Israeli firm "for product testing and evaluation only," never using it operationally or to support any investigation.