Europe

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England on Thursday is likely to raise its key interest rate for the third time since December as it pushes ahead faster than other central banks in combating a global wave of inflation fueled by soaring energy prices.

Munich, Mar 17 (AP) Athletes from Russia and Belarus were formally banned from the multi-sport European Championships in August.

Organizers of the Aug. 11-21 championships in Munich, Germany, said they supported decisions by officials from the nine individual sports not to invite Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials. They have followed guidance from the International Olympic Committee.

We are united in our condemnation of Russia's war on Ukraine, organizing committee chairman Libor Varhan k said.

Kyiv, Mar 17 (AP) Russian forces destroyed a theater in Mariupol where hundreds of people were sheltering Wednesday and rained fire on other cities, Ukrainian authorities said, even as the two sides projected optimism over efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.

The airstrike ripped apart the center of the once-elegant building, where hundreds of civilians had been living since their homes had been destroyed in the fighting, Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Kyiv, Mar 17 (AP) A Russian airstrike ripped apart a theater where hundreds of people have been living in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a self-purification to rid his country of anyone who questions his invasion.

PARIS (AP) — Tired-looking. Unshaven. Wearing jeans and a hoodie. As he runs for re-election next month, French President Emmanuel Macron released unusual pictures of himself working nights and weekends at the Elysee palace, where he is spending most of his time focusing on the war in Ukraine — while avoiding traditional campaign activities.

If it’s a campaign strategy it seems to be paying off, reinforcing his position of frontrunner in the presidential race while making it difficult for other contenders to challenge him.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Former President Juan Orlando Hernández should be extradited to the United States to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, a Honduran judge ruled Wednesday.

The country’s Supreme Court of Justice said late Wednesday via Twitter that the judge had decided to grant the U.S. extradition request.

U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have accused Hernández in recent years of funding his political rise with profits from drug traffickers in exchange for protecting their shipments. He has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

LONDON (AP) — Two British citizens who had been jailed in Iran for more than five years — charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and retired civil engineer Anoosheh Ashoori — returned home to their families’ hugs and tears Thursday after the U.K. settled a decades-old debt to Iran.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe hugged her 7-year-old daughter, and her husband and members of Ashoori’s family tearfully embraced one another after the two arrived via a government-chartered aircraft at the Brize Norton air force base in Oxfordshire in the early morning hours.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian airstrike ripped apart a theater where hundreds of people have been living in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a “self-purification” to rid his country of anyone who questions his invasion.

MOSCOW, February 17. /TASS/: The Project 11442M heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov set to become the Russian Navy’s most powerful surface ship after its repairs and upgrade at the Sevmash Shipyard is being prepared for its handover," the Shipyard’s press office reported on Thursday.

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 36,519 over the past day to 17,449,438, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Wednesday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 0.21%.

As many as 5,945 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 18.3% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients decreased in 64 regions. A day earlier, 7,273 people were rushed to hospitals.