AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Russia’s onslaught continues amid optimism over talks

KYIV, Ukraine (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.

Many people were buried in the rubble, the statement said, though there was no immediate word on how many had been killed or injured. Satellite imagery from Monday showed the word “CHILDREN” written in Russian in large, white capital letters on the pavement in front of and behind the building, the Maxar space technology company said.

“My heart breaks from what Russia is doing to our people,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, calling for more sanctions on Russia after the bombing.

The Russian defense ministry denied bombing the theater or anywhere else in Mariupol on Wednesday.

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Zelenskyy pleads for help in impassioned speech to Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy summoned memories of Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 terror attacks Wednesday in an impassioned live-video plea to Congress to send more help for Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Lawmakersstood 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 international investigations of Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.

In a moment of high drama at the Capitol, Zelenskyy livestreamed his speech to a rapt audience of lawmakers on a giant screen, acknowledging from the start that the no-fly zone he has repeatedly sought to “close the sky” to airstrikes on his country may not happen. Biden has resisted that, as well as approval for the U.S. or NATO to send MiG fighter jets from Poland as risking wider war with nuclear-armed Putin.

Instead, Zelenskyy pleaded for other military aid and more drastic economic sanctions to stop the Russian assault with the fate of his country at stake.

Wearing his now-trademark army green T-shirt, Zelinskyy began his remarks to “Americans, friends” by invoking the destruction the U.S. suffered in 1941 when Japan bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by militants who commandeered passenger airplanes to crash into the symbols of Western democracy and economy.

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Live updates: Ukraine, Russia continue talks over video

LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and Russian delegations held talks again Wednesday by video.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said Ukraine demanded a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and legal security guarantees for Ukraine from a number of countries.

“This is possible only through direct dialogue” between Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said on Twitter.

An official in Zelenskyy’s office told The Associated Press the main subject under discussion was whether Russian troops would remain in separatist regions in eastern Ukraine after the war and where the borders would be.

Just before the war, Russia recognized the independence of two regions controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. It also extended the borders of those regions to areas Ukraine had continued to hold, including Mariupol, a port city now under siege.

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EXPLAINER: Who’s a war criminal, and who gets to decide?

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday flatly called Russia’s Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the unfolding onslaught in Ukraine, where hospitals and maternity wards have been bombed. But declaring someone a war criminal is not as simple as just saying the words. There are set definitions and processes for determining who’s a war criminal and how they should be punished.

The White House had been avoiding applying the designation to Putin, saying it requires investigation and an international determination. After Biden used the term, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was “speaking from his heart” and renewed her statements that there is a process for making a formal determination.

In popular usage, though, the phrase has a taken on a colloquial meaning as a generic term for someone who’s awful.

“ Clearly Putin is a war criminal, but the president is speaking politically on this,” said David Crane, who has worked on war crimes for decades and served as chief prosecutor for the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone, which tried former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

The investigations into Putin’s actions already have begun. The U.S. and 44 other countries are working together to investigate possible violations and abuses, after the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a commission of inquiry. There is another probe by the International Criminal Court, an independent body based in the Netherlands.

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How higher interest rates will affect Americans’ finances

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans who have long enjoyed the benefits of historically low interest rates will have to adapt to a very different environment as the Federal Reserve embarks on what’s likely to be a prolonged period of rate hikes to fight inflation.

Record-low mortgage rates below 3%, reached last year, are already gone. Credit card interest rates and the costs of an auto loan will also likely move up. Savers may receive somewhat better returns, depending on their bank, while returns on long-term bond funds will likely suffer.

The Fed’s initial quarter-point rate hike Wednesday in its benchmark short-term rate won’t have much immediate impact on most Americans’ finances. But with inflation raging at four-decade highs, economists and investors expect the central bank to enact the fastest pace of rate hikes since 2005. That would mean higher borrowing rates well into the future.

On Wednesday, the Fed’s policymakers collectively signaled that they expect to boost their key rate up to seven times this year, raising its benchmark rate to between 1.75% and 2% by year’s end. The officials expect four additional hikes in 2023, which would leave their benchmark rate near 3%.

Chair Jerome Powell hopes that by making borrowing gradually more expensive, the Fed will succeed in cooling demand for homes, cars and other goods and services, thereby slowing inflation.

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Powerful quake off north Japan kills 4, more than 90 injured

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan on Wednesday night, smashing furniture, knocking out power and killing four people. A small tsunami reached shore, but the low-risk advisory was lifted by Thursday morning.

The region is part of northern Japan that was devastated by a deadly 9.0 quake and tsunami 11 years ago that caused nuclear reactor meltdowns, spewing massive radiation that still makes some parts uninhabitable.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session Thursday morning that four people died during the quake and the cause of their deaths are being investigated, while 97 others were injured. A man in his 60s in Soma city died after falling from the second floor of his house while trying to evacuate, and a man in his 70s panicked and suffered a heart attack, Kyodo News reported earlier.

The Japan Meteorological Agency early Thursday lifted its low-risk advisory for a tsunami along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Tsunami waves of 30 centimeters (11 inches) reached shore in Ishinomaki, about 390 kilometers (242 miles) northeast of Tokyo.

The agency upgraded the magnitude of the quake to 7.4 from the initial 7.3, and the depth from 60 kilometers (36 miles) below the sea to 56 kilometers (35 miles).

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ashoori back in Britain after Iran deal

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.

The British government said a third detainee, Morad Tahbaz, who holds U.S., British and Iranian citizenship, was released from prison on furlough as part of the same deal.

The breakthrough was reached as world leaders try to negotiate the return of both Iran and the U.S. to an international agreement designed to limit Tehran’s nuclear enrichment program — talks that have been complicated by the prisoner issue. Negotiators have edged closer to a roadmap for restoring the accord, though recent Russian demands slowed progress.

“Looking forward to a new life,? said Richard Ratcliffe, who had worked tirelessly for his wife’s release. “You can’t get back the time that’s gone. That’s a fact. But we live in the future.?

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Faith, love of sports linked victims of Texas crash

HOBBS, N.M. (AP) — Laci Stone had a special request for her mother. The 18-year-old wanted to get tiny matching heart tattoos before leaving her Texas hometown and returning to New Mexico to finish out her freshman year at the University of the Southwest.

She begged her mother.

And now Chelsi Stone is glad she didn’t chicken out.

“I’m so forever grateful that God gave me the courage to go through with it and always have this memory with her,” Chelsi Stone wrote on her Facebook page.

She is among the parents, other family members and friends who have been left brokenhearted and devastated after a fiery crash killed Laci, five of her teammates and a coach while they were returning home from a golf tournament in Texas.

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Irish leader tests positive for COVID during visit to DC

WASHINGTON (AP) — Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin learned he had tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday evening while attending an event with U.S. leaders, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to a senior administration official.

Martin — also referred to as Ireland’s taoiseach — was attending the Ireland Funds 30th National Gala at the National Building Museum in Washington when he tested positive, ahead of planned St. Patrick’s Day celebrations Thursday with U.S. leaders.

The official was not authorized to talk about Martin’s condition and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Biden, who spoke briefly at the event, was not deemed a close contact of Martin, White House spokesman Chris Meagher said. The COVID-19 close call came a day after second gentleman Doug Emhoff tested positive for the virus.

It was not immediately clear how Martin’s diagnosis would affect the scheduled St. Patrick’s Day events at the White House.

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Jussie Smollett released from county jail during appeal

CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett was released from jail Wednesday following six nights behind bars after an appeals court agreed with his lawyers that he should be free pending the appeal of his conviction for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack.

The former “Empire” actor walked out of the Cook County Jail surrounded by security. He did not comment as he got into an awaiting SUV, but his attorneys said Smollett, who is Black and gay, was the target of a racist justice system and people playing politics.

The appeals court ruling came after a Cook County judge sentenced Smollett last week to immediately begin serving 150 days in jail for his conviction on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. In an outburst immediately after the sentence was handed down, Smollett proclaimed his innocence and said “I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that.”

The appeals court said Smollett could be released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000, meaning he didn’t have to put down money but agrees to come to court as required.

Smollett defense attorney Nenye Uche, speaking to reporters outside the jail after Smollett left, said the Smollett family is “very very happy with today’s developments.” Uche said during his time at the jail, Smollett had not eaten and drank only water, though he did not say why.