Man sleeps in stranger’s house mistaking it for Airbnb, what to know about March Madness, and more trending topics
Here’s a look at trending topics for today, March 16.
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Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils reacts during the first half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 05, 2022 in Durham, North Carolina.
NCAA tournament
With both the NCAA men’s and women’s postseason basketball tournaments starting next week and Selection Sunday just hours away, here’s what you need to know about the road to both Final Fours.
Selection Sunday, when college basketball teams find out their March Madness place, features two special programs this Sunday — CBS airs the men’s bracket reveal at 6 p.m. ET followed by the women’s bracket reveal at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Find out what you need to know for your bracket here:
Kyodo News/AP
An employee clears products, which fell from shells in a convenience store in Iwaki, Fukushima, folllowing the earthquake.
Japan earthquake
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Wednesday, cutting power to millions of homes and leading to a tsunami advisory being issued around the Fukushima prefecture, where a 2011 quake caused a disaster at a nuclear power plant.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later said “no abnormalities” had been detected at any of the country’s nuclear plants. A bullet train derailed near Fukushima as a result of the earthquake but no injuries were reported, he said at a press conference.
Find out more here:
Mstyslav Chernov – staff, AP
A Ukrainian serviceman guards his position in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022.
Russian troops destroy theater in Mariupol
Ukrainian officials say Russian forces destroyed a theater in the city of Mariupol where hundreds of people were sheltering.
There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries in what the Mariupol city council said was an airstrike on the theater Wednesday.
The Maxar satellite imagery firm said images from Monday showed the word “children” had been written in large white letters in Russian in front of and behind the building.
More live updates here:
EyePress News/Reuters
Ukrainian President Zelensky, here addressing MPs in the British Parliament via videolink on March 8, will address U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy’s impassioned plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned the memory of Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terror attacks Wednesday in an impassioned video plea to Congress to send more help for Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Lawmakers stood and cheered, and President Joe Biden later announced the U.S. is sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons and drones.
Biden also declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal — his strongest condemnation yet — the day after the Senate unanimously asked for an international investigation of Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.
Read more of what he said (and Biden’s response) here:
Richard Drew – staff, AP
A television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, shows the rate decision of the Federal Reserve. The Fed's quarter-point hike in its key rate, which it had pinned near zero since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, marks the start of its effort to curb the high inflation that has followed the recovery from the recession.
Federal Reserve begins fight against inflation
The Federal Reserve launched a high-risk effort Wednesday to tame the worst inflation since the early 1980s, raising its benchmark short-term interest rate and signaling up to six additional rate hikes this year.
The Fed’s quarter-point hike in its key rate, which it had pinned near zero since the pandemic recession struck two years ago, marks the start of its effort to curb the high inflation that followed the recovery from the recession. The rate hikes will eventually mean higher loan rates for many consumers and businesses.
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