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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Saturday that democratic countries are united in working to stop the Russian invasion as civilians continued to flee eastern parts of the country before an expected onslaught and firefighters searched for survivors in a northern town no longer occupied by Russian forces, Associated Press reported.

In his daily late-night video address to Ukrainians, Zelenskyy said that “Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone” and the “entire European project is a target for Russia.”

Several European leaders have made efforts to show solidarity with the battle-scarred nation. Zelenskyy thanked the leaders of Britain and Austria for their visits Saturday to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and pledges of further support. He also thanked the European Commission president and Canada’s prime minister for a global fundraising event that brought in more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) for Ukrainians who have fled their homes.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, which he called the sources of Russia’s “self-confidence and impunity.”

“Freedom does not have time to wait,” Zelenskyy said. “When tyranny begins its aggression against everything that keeps the peace in Europe, action must be taken immediately.”

More than six weeks after the invasion began, Russia has pulled its troops from the northern part of the country, around Kyiv, and refocused on the Donbas region in the east. Western military analysts said an arc of territory in eastern Ukraine was under Russian control, from Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city — in the north to Kherson in the south, according to the Associated Press.

But counterattacks are threatening Russian control of Kherson, according to the Western assessments, and Ukrainian forces are repelling Russian assaults elsewhere in the Donbas, a largely Russian-speaking and industrial region.

Civilians were evacuating eastern Ukrainefollowing a missile strike Friday that killed at least 52 people and wounded more than 100 at a train station where thousands clamored to leave.

Ukrainian authorities have called on civilians to get out ahead of an imminent, stepped-up offensive by Russian forces in the east. With trains not running out of Kramatorsk on Saturday, panicked residents boarded buses or looked for other ways to leave, fearing the kind of unrelenting assaults and occupations by Russian invaders that brought food shortages, demolished buildings and death to other cities.

“It was terrifying. The horror, the horror,” one resident told British broadcaster Sky, recalling Friday’s attack on the train station. “Heaven forbid, to live through this again. No, I don’t want to.”

Ukraine’s state railway company said residents of Kramatorsk and other parts of the Donbas could flee through other train stations. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 10 evacuation corridors were planned for Saturday, Associated Press reported.

Zelenskyy called the train station attack the latest example of war crimes by Russian forces and said it should motivate the West to do more to help his country defend itself.

Russia denied responsibility and accused Ukraine’s military of firing on the station to turn blame for civilian casualties on Moscow. A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman detailed the missile’s trajectory and Ukrainian troop positions to bolster the argument, according to the Associated Press.

Sri Lanka's central bank doubled its key interest rates on Friday, raising each by an unprecedented 700 basis points to tame inflation that has soared due to crippling shortages of basic goods driven by a devastating economic crisis, Reuters reported.

The heavily indebted country has little money left to pay for imports, meaning fuel, power, food and, increasingly, medicines are in short supply.

Street protests have been held nearly non-stop for more than a month, despite a five-day state of emergency and a two-day curfew.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka's (CBSL) monetary board raised its standing lending facility to 14.50% and its standing deposit facility to 13.50%.

The build-up of aggregate demand, domestic supply disruptions, the plunge of the local currency and high prices of commodities globally could keep up the pressure on inflation, CBSL said in its monetary policy decision statement.

"The rate hike will give a strong signal to investors and markets that we are coming out of this as soon as possible," governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said at a post-policy decision briefing, according to Reuters.

INDEPENDENT CENTRAL BANK

Weerasinghe said that he wanted to run the central bank independently without any external influence and that he had been given the authority to do so by the president and has been asked to expedite measures to get the country out of the current crisis.

"I want to be very clear that my message is not one of blind positivity. Things are challenging and we need to take decisive action. Things will get worse before they get better, but we need to apply the breaks to this vehicle before it crashes," he added.

Inflation hit 18.7% in March.

An analyst had expected hikes of up to 400 basis points, Reuters reported.

"With the monetary policy tightening now finally clear, the stage is set to take the next vital steps with regards to IMF and debt restructuring and clearly communicate this to the international stage," said Thilina Panduwawala, head of economic research at Frontier Research.

Finance Minister Ali Sabry said earlier that the country must urgently restructure its debt and seek external financial help, while the main opposition threatened a no-confidence motion in the government and business leaders warned exports could plummet.

"We cannot step away from repaying debt because the consequences are terrifying. There is no alternative, we must restructure our debt," Sabry told parliament.

J.P. Morgan analysts estimate that Sri Lanka's gross debt servicing costs will amount to $7 billion this year, with a $1 billion repayment due in July, according to Reuters.

"We have to go for a debt moratorium," said Sabry, who offered to quit a day after he was appointed on Monday but later confirmed that he was still finance minister.

"We have to suspend debt repayment for some time and get bilateral and multilateral support to manage our balance of payments."

The motion picture academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, Associated Press reported.

The move comes after a meeting of the academy’s Board of Governors to discuss a response to Smith’s actions. 

“The 94th Oscars were meant to be a celebration of the many individuals in our community who did incredible work this past year; however, those moments were overshadowed by the unacceptable and harmful behavior we saw Mr. Smith exhibit on stage,” the academy said in a statement. 

“I accept and respect the Academy’s decision,” Smith said in response. He pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting, calling his actions “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.”

Smith will keep the Oscar he won after the slap, and he will remain eligible to be nominated for and to win more of them in the 10-year period, though he can’t show up to accept them, according to the Associated Press.

The academy also apologized for its handling of the situation and allowing Smith to stay and accept his best actor award for “King Richard.” 

“During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry,” the academy said. “This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented.”

In a statement in the days following the Oscars, the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony but refused. 

But it’s not clear how the message was delivered to Smith or what form it took, and several media outlets reported that he was never formally told to leave the Dolby Theatre. The Los Angeles Times reported in a story Thursday that Oscars producer Will Packer told Smith: “Officially, we don’t want you to leave. We want you to stay.”

The ban means Smith will not be presenting one of the major awards at next year’s Oscars, as is tradition for the best actor winner, Associated Press reported. 

The academy in its Friday statement also expressed “deep gratitude to Mr. Rock for maintaining his composure under extraordinary circumstances.”

The academy has not revoked Oscars from expelled members Harvey Weinstein or Roman Polanski.

With his resignation last week, Smith lost the ability to vote for nominees and winners. Smith has been nominated for four Oscars, winning once. 

At the March 27 Academy Awards, Rock came out to present the best documentary award and made jokes about several attendees, including Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it,” Rock said. 

Pinkett Smith, who has spoken publicly about her hair loss condition, alopecia, had a closely shaved head similar to that of Demi Moore in the 1997 movie, according to the Associated Press.

Smith strode from his front-row seat on to the stage and smacked Rock, stunning the comedian, the theater crowd and viewers at home. 

Many thought it was a planned gag set up by the show or the men themselves, but the seriousness of the situation set in after Smith returned to his seat and angrily twice shouted at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out your (expletive) mouth.” 

Rock said he had no interest in pursuing charges when asked by police backstage. 

Smith took the stage again less than hour later to accept his Oscar, tearfully apologizing to the academy but notably omitting any mention of Rock. He compared himself to Richard Williams, the man he played in “King Richard,” “a fierce defender of his family.”

Later that night, Smith danced with his trophy and his family and rapped along with his own songs in celebration of his win at the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party, Associated Press reported.

Rock has only briefly addressed the attackpublicly, saying at one comedy concert in Boston this week that he was still “kind of processing what happened.”

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has extended congratulations to her Bangladeshi counterpart Mohammad Abdul Hamid on the occasion of 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bhandari recalled that Nepal was one of the earliest countries to recognize Bangladesh’s independence five decades ago and expressed satisfaction at the excellent state of Nepal-Bangladesh relations. Bhandari further added that bilateral relation is further reinforced by growing cooperation in the areas of trade, tourism, energy, culture, and education.

 President expressed the confidence that Nepal-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation would continue to grow and deepen in the days to come, reads the statement.

Similarly, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sent a congratulatory message to Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. While extending warm greetings to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Deuba shared his happiness that Nepal and Bangladesh are celebrating the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Prime Minister stated that Nepal and Bangladesh have been advancing collaboration and partnership in trade, tourism, energy, and connectivity among others offering new and vast potentials for mutual benefit, according to the statement issued by Ministry.

The Prime Minister further mentioned that Nepal and Bangladesh have been working in close cooperation, both at regional platforms such as SAARC, BIMSTEC, and BBIN and at multilateral forums such as UN and WTO on matters of mutual interests including climate change, sustainable development, multilateral trade, and public health.

 President of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid, in his congratulatory message to President Bhandari, expressed satisfaction over the growing trade and economic relations between the two countries. While appreciating the fact that both countries have been maintaining very close relations, the President of Bangladesh also fondly recalled his official goodwill visit to Nepal in 2019. He also expressed confidence that Nepal and Bangladesh would continue to work together for the attainment of a shared vision of prosperity and development for both countries and peoples.

 Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, in her congratulatory message to Deuba, mentioned that Nepal’s early recognition of Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign nation and the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations on 8 April 1972 was a reflection of the close friendship between the two countries.

 While highlighting the shared socio-cultural linkages and multitude of commonalities that have developed over the years through mutual support and cooperation between the two countries, Hasina also expressed her commitment to work together with Nepal to further strengthen bilateral ties in areas of trade, investment, connectivity, energy cooperation, and tourism. Nepal and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1972.

The government has suspended Nepal Rastra Bank governor Maha Prasad Adhikari.

The Finance Ministry suspended Adhikari accusing him of not helping the government and leaking information related to finance.

According to a source at the Finance Ministry, a probe committee has been formed under the leadership of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate Adhikari.

Finance Minister Janardan Sharma was not happy with the working style of Adhikari.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Neelam Dhungana has been appointed as the acting governor.

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal's brother Narayan Dahal has been nominated as a member of the National Assembly.

Sagar Acharya, spokesperson at the President’s Office, said that Dahal was nominated as the National Assembly member as per Article 86 (2) (B) of the Constitution on the recommendation of Cabinet.

Dahal's brother has been nominated for the vacant post after the term of Ram Narayan Bidari expires.

World food prices jumped to a new record high in March as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staples grains and edible oils, the UN food agency said on Friday, Reuters reported.

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 159.3 points last month versus an upwardly revised 141.4 for February.

The February figure was previously put at 140.7, which was a record at the time.

Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil via the Black Sea, and Moscow’s six-week-old invasion of its neighbour has stalled Ukrainian exports.

FAO warned last month that food and feed prices could rise by up to 20% as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, triggering a jump in global malnourishment, according to Reuters.

The agency also cut its estimate of world wheat production in 2022 to 784 million tonnes on Friday from a forecast of 790 million last month as it factored in the possibility that at least 20% of Ukraine’s winter crop area would not be harvested.

It lowered its projection of global cereals trade in the 2021/22 marketing year as disruption to Black Sea exports were seen as only being partially offset by increased exports from India, the European Union, Argentina and the United States, Reuters reported.

More than 30 people were killed and over 100 were wounded in a Russian rocket strike on a railway station in east Ukraine on Friday as civilians tried to evacuate to safer parts of the country, the state railway company said, Reuters reported.

It said two Russian rockets had struck a station in the city of Kramatorsk which is used for the evacuation of civilians from areas under bombardment by Russian forces.

“Two rockets hit Kramatorsk railway station,” Ukrainian Railways said in a statement.

It later added: “According to operational data, more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the rocket attack on Kramatorsk railway station.”

Reuters could not verify the information. Russia did not immediately comment on the reports of the attack and the casualty toll. Moscow has denied targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to Reuters.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, said thousands of people had been at the station at the time the rockets struck.

“The ‘Rashists’ (‘Russian fascists’) knew very well where they were aiming and what they wanted: they wanted to sow panic and fear, they wanted to take as many civilians as possible,” he said.

Kyrylenko published a photograph online showing several bodies on the ground beside piles of suitcases and other luggage. Armed police wearing flak jackets stood beside them.

Another photo showed rescue services tackling what appeared to be a fire, with a pall of grey smoke rising into the air.

Reuters could not immediately verify the photos.

Three trains carrying evacuees were blocked in the same region of Ukraine on Thursday after an air strike on the line, according to the head of Ukrainian Railways.

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have been regrouping for a new offensive, and that Moscow plans to seize as much territory as it can in the eastern part of Ukraine known as Donbas bordering Russia.

Local authorities in some areas have been urging civilians to leave while it is still possible, and relatively safe, to do so, Reuters reported.