March 17, 2022

*) Ukraine theatre sheltering over 1,000 civilians bombed Ukraine has claimed that Russia destroyed a theatre harbouring more than a thousand people in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, with the toll still unknown. Officials posted images that appeared to show the once gleaming whitewashed three-storey theatre hollowed out and ablaze, with bricks and scaffolding piled high. Russia's defence ministry denied it had targeted the theatre, instead claiming that the building had been mined and blown up by members of Ukraine's far-right Azov Battalion. *) Biden calls Putin a ‘war criminal’ President Joe Biden has said Russian President Vladimir Putin "is a war criminal" for attacking Ukraine. In an exchange with a reporter at the White House, Biden said, "oh I think he is a war criminal" after initially responding with a "no" to a question about whether he was ready to call Putin that. That is the first time Biden has publicly branded Putin with that phrase. The Kremlin condemned Biden's remark, saying it is "unacceptable and unforgivable". *) Four dead after powerful Japan earthquake Four people have been reported dead and more than 100 injured in Japan after a powerful overnight earthquake rattled large parts of the east coast and prompted a tsunami warning. The 7.4-magnitude quake that hit the coast of Fukushima derailed a bullet train, opened cracks in highways and threw products from shelves in shops. Later, the Japan Meteorological Agency lifted its low-risk advisory for a tsunami along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. *) US Fed raises interest rate in battle against high inflation The Federal Reserve escalated its battle against the wave of price increases battering the US economy, raising the benchmark interest rate. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee announced a quarter-point rate hike, the first since 2018 and since it cut the rate to zero at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Global stocks surged after the Fed announced the hike despite the risks pos