‼️When Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin called the conflict a "special military operation." On Thursday, he publicly acknowledged the conflict as a "war" for the first time. The apparent reversal prompted criticism from Russians who were prosecuted for calling it a war. 🇺🇸🏛 The Education Department told borrowers in an email they are not required to resume payments in January. Before Thanksgiving, the department announced another extension of the payment pause. The pause will go through June 30, 2023, or whenever litigation is resolved, whichever comes first. ✈️🌨 Nearly 4,000 flights were canceled by Friday afternoon as a bitter winter storm engulfed parts of the US. On Thursday, 2,687 flights within, into, or out of the US were canceled, per FlightAware data. Disruptions are set to continue, the National Weather Service warned. 👀 For more stories like this, subscribe to @BusinessInsider or @Insider here on Telegram.