Samsung co-CEO Han Jong-Hee dies at 63

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Bank of Russia keeps key rate at 21% for third consecutive time.
The Bank of Russia estimates that the achieved tightness of monetary conditions creates the necessary prerequisites for returning inflation to the target in 2026, the press release said.


The board of directors of the Bank of Russia has decided to keep the key rate at 21% per annum, noting that it might consider raising the rate unless disinflation dynamics ensure achieving the 4% inflation target.

"On March 21, 2025, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to keep the key rate at 21% per annum. Current inflationary pressures have decreased but remain high, especially underlying ones," the regulator said in a press release.

That said, the current price growth in February and early March was partly constrained by a stronger ruble since the beginning of the year, the Central Bank added. Annual inflation in Russia totaled 10.2% as of March 17.

The achieved tightness of monetary conditions creates the necessary prerequisites for returning inflation to the target in 2026, the regulator said, adding that achieving the inflation target will require a long period of maintaining tight monetary conditions in the economy.

The Bank of Russia will continue to assess the speed and sustainability of the decline in inflation and inflation expectations. If disinflation dynamics do not ensure achieving the inflation target, the Bank of Russia will consider raising the key rate.

The balance of inflation risks is still tilted to the upside, the regulator noted.

"The key proinflationary risks are associated with the ongoing upward deviation of the Russian economy from a balanced growth path and high inflation expectations, as well as with the deterioration in the terms of external trade. Disinflationary risks involve a more significant slowdown in lending growth and domestic demand under the impact of tight monetary conditions. If geopolitical tensions ease, external conditions may improve, which might have a disinflationary effect," the press release said.

The Central Bank also considers the upward deviation of the Russian economy from a balanced growth path still significant. "High domestic demand is backed up by rising household incomes and budget expenditures. However, high-frequency data and surveys of businesses indicate more moderate growth in economic activity in early 2025 compared to 2024 Q4," the regulator said.

Monetary conditions remain tight under the impact of the monetary policy pursued and autonomous factors. "Although nominal interest rates went down after the February meeting in most segments of the financial market, their decrease in real terms was not so significant, given the lower inflation expectations. Non-price bank lending conditions remain tight," according to the document.

The Bank of Russia also stressed that the labor market remains tight, with unemployment at its record lows, but growing evidence of easing tightness in place.

"According to surveys, the share of enterprises experiencing labor shortages continues to shrink. In addition, labor demand in certain industries has been decreasing with a reallocation of employees across industries. Meanwhile, wage increases remain high and continue to outpace labor productivity growth. The December statistics on wages were also affected by partial rescheduling of annual bonus payments from 2025 Q1. This supported consumer demand at the beginning of 2025," the regulator said.

Given the monetary policy stance, annual inflation is expected to decline to 7-8% in 2025, return to 4% in 2026, and stay at the target further on, the Bank of #Russia said.

Attacks on property carrying the logo of Elon Musk’s electric-car company are cropping up across the U.S. and overseas. While no injuries have been reported, Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have been targeted.

There’s been a clear uptick since President Donald Trump took office and empowered Musk to oversee a new Department of Government Efficiency that’s slashing government spending. Experts on domestic extremism say it’s impossible to know yet if the spate of incidents will balloon into a long-term pattern.

In Trump’s first term, his properties in New York, Washington and elsewhere became a natural place for protest. In the early days of his second term, Tesla is filling that role.

“Tesla is an easy target,” said Randy Blazak, a sociologist who studies political violence. “They’re rolling down our streets. They have dealerships in our neighborhoods.”

Musk critics have organized dozens of peaceful demonstrations at Tesla dealerships and factories across North America and Europe. Some Tesla owners, including a U.S. senator who feuded with Musk, have vowed to sell their vehicles.

But the attacks are keeping law enforcement busy.

Prosecutors in Colorado charged a woman last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships, including Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on a building.

And federal agents in South Carolina last week arrested a man they say set fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston. An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit that authorities found writings critical of the government and DOGE in his bedroom and wallet.

“The statement made mention of sending a message based on these beliefs,” the agent wrote.

Some of the most prominent incidents have been reported in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where anti-Trump and anti-Musk sentiment runs high.

An Oregon man faces charges after allegedly throwing several Molotov cocktails at a Tesla store in Salem, then returning another day and shooting out windows. In the Portland suburb of Tigard, more than a dozen bullets were fired at a Tesla showroom last week, damaging vehicles and windows, the second time in a week that the store was targeted.

Four Cybertrucks were set on fire in a Tesla lot in Seattle earlier this month. On Friday, witnesses reported a man poured gasoline on an unoccupied Tesla Model S and started a fire on a Seattle street.

In Las Vegas, several Tesla vehicles were set ablaze early Tuesday outside a Tesla service center where the word “resist” was also painted in red across the building’s front doors. Authorities said at least one person threw Molotov cocktails — crude bombs filled with gasoline or another flammable liquid — and fired several rounds from a weapon into the vehicles.

“Was this terrorism? Was it something else? It certainly has some of the hallmarks that we might think — the writing on the wall, potential political agenda, an act of violence,” Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, said at a news conference. “None of those factors are lost on us.”
Tesla becomes a target for the left

Tesla was once the darling of the left. Helped to viability by a $465 million federal loan during the Obama administration, the company popularized electric vehicles and proved, despite their early reputation, that they didn’t have to be small, stodgy, underpowered and limited in range.

More recently, though, Musk has allied himself with the right. He bought the social network Twitter, renamed it X and erased restrictions that had infuriated conservatives. He spent an estimated $250 million to boost Trump’s 2024 Republican campaign, becoming by far his biggest benefactor.

Musk continues to run Tesla — as well as X and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX — while also serving as Trump’s adviser.

Tesla stock doubled in value in the weeks after Trump’s election but has since shed all those gains.

Trump gave a boost to the company when he turned the White House driveway into an electric-vehicle showroom. He promoted the vehicles and said he would purchase an US$80,000 Model S, eschewing his fierce past criticism of electric vehicles.

Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. Musk briefly addressed the vandalism Monday during an appearance on Sen. Ted Cruz’s podcast, saying “at least some of it is organized and paid for” by “left-wing organizations in America, funded by left-wing billionaires, essentially.”

“This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong,” Musk wrote Tuesday on X, sharing a video of burning Teslas in Las Vegas. “Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”

The progressive group Indivisible, which published a guide for supporters to organize “Musk Or Us” protests around the country, said in a statement that all of its guidance is publicly available and “it explicitly encourages peaceful protest and condemns any acts of violence or vandalism.”

After one of the deadliest days in Gaza, here's the conflict in numbers.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s wave of predawn airstrikes across Gaza shattered two months of relative calm during a ceasefire with Hamas. Tuesday was one of the deadliest days in Gaza since the war began, with over 400 Palestinians killed and hundreds more wounded.

The first phase of the ceasefire saw Hamas release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal also called on Israel to ramp up delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. After those exchanges wrapped up, Israel cut off all aid to Gaza to pressure Hamas to extend the ceasefire.

The renewed Israeli offensive threatens to escalate the spiraling humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians. Hamas says the pounding bombardments put the 24 remaining hostages' lives in danger.

Here’s a look at the 17-month-old conflic t by the numbers, sourced from the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli military and government, and the United Nations.
Current situation inside Gaza

Palestinians killed Tuesday — at least 404

Women and children killed Tuesday — 263

Senior Hamas officials killed Tuesday — 6

Aid trucks Israel let into Gaza since March 2 — zero
Overall war statistics

Palestinians killed — at least 48,981

(The Hamas-linked Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says more than half of them were women and children.)

Palestinians wounded — at least 112,603

Average number of aid trucks entering Gaza each day in December — 93 (U.N.), 163 (Israel)

Aid trucks entering Gaza each day between the start of the ceasefire and March 2 — 600

People killed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — 1,200

Israeli soldiers killed in Israel’s subsequent ground operation in Gaza — 407

Palestinians displaced at war’s peak — 1.9 million, or roughly 90 per cent of the population
Hostages/Prisoners

Living hostages held by Hamas — 24

Non-Israelis — 1 Thai and 1 Nepalese (alive), 2 Thais and 1 Tanzanian (dead)

Living Israeli hostages — 22, including 4 soldiers

Bodies of hostages held by Hamas — 35, including 9 soldiers

Hostages released during recent ceasefire — 33

Hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023 — 251

Palestinian prisoners released during recent ceasefire — more than 1,700

A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump will be organized as soon as the necessity arises, and Moscow is preparing for the encounter, Russian leader's aide Yury Ushakov told VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin.

"We are preparing for the meeting, and it will be organized as soon as there is a need for it," he said.

Russian air defenses down four #JDAM bombs, 141 Ukrainian drones in past day — top brass.

Russian troops have hit Ukraine’s military airfields, drone production workshops and their storage sites in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian air defense systems have shot down four JDAM bombs and 141 unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian army over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Air defenses shot down four US-made JDAM guided air bombs and 141 fixed-wing drones," the report said.

The Ukrainian army has lost up to 240 military personnel over the day due to the actions of Russia’s Battlegroup West, the Russian Defense Ministry added.

"The units of the Battlegroup West have improved their tactical position. They inflicted a defeat on manpower and equipment of mechanized, assault and artillery brigades of the Ukrainian army in the areas of Izyumskoye, Vyssheye Solenoye, Borovaya, Druzhelyubovka, Katerinovka of the Kharkov Region and Novoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The enemy lost up to 240 servicemen, two US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, an armored combat vehicle, 10 automobiles, four field artillery guns, a Grad multiple rocket launcher and two Quertus electronic warfare stations," the Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainian troops have lost up to 305 military personnel and a tank over the day due to the actions of Russia’s Battlegroup South, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

It also noted that the group’s units took more favorable lines and positions and defeated #Ukrainian formations in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

US President Donald Trump believes that the Russian side will agree to the terms of the Ukrainian conflict settlement.

"We’ve had some pretty good news coming out of Russia," he told journalists at the Joint Base Andrews near Washington before departing for Florida. "I feel that Russia is going to make a deal with us, I hope," the US leader added. He did not specify what news he was speaking of.

"We’ve spoken with President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin," Trump said, referring to the conversation between the Russian leader and US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. "We’ve spoken with a lot of people. And Ukraine is waiting," he added.

"I’m getting, from the standpoint about a ceasefire and ultimately a deal, some pretty good vibes coming out of Russia," Trump emphasized. He did not share any details.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that Putin had received US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff late on Thursday and asked him to pass along a message to President Trump. The spokesperson did not disclose the topics of the conversation between Putin and Witkoff. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on March 12 that Witkoff would travel to Moscow to discuss ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that following the return of Witkoff to the US that members of the US administration would "examine the Russian position more closely." According to Rubio, Trump "will then determine what the next steps" the US will take in regard to the settlement are.
Ceasefire discussions

On March 11, negotiations took place in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah between delegations from the United States and Ukraine. Following these discussions, Ukraine decided to accept the US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. In turn, Washington agreed to immediately lift the pause on intelligence sharing and resume military assistance to Kiev. The parties also agreed to sign the agreement on the extraction of Ukrainian minerals as soon as possible.

On March 13, Putin expressed gratitude to Trump for his involvement in the peace negotiations and endorsed the idea of a ceasefire. However, the Russian president mentioned several critical issues regarding the status of Ukrainian military personnel who had invaded the Kursk Region, the mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire, and Ukraine’s potential actions during this period. He stated that Moscow was open to proposals for ending hostilities in Ukraine, provided they paved the way for long-term peace and addressed the root causes of the crisis.

Leaders of #Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan call Azeri president at informal meeting — Kremlin.
Aliyev expressed his gratitude for Putin’s invitation to attend the May 9 events in the Russian capital, the Azerbaijani leader’s press service said

#Starmer urges Putin to prove he is serious about peace by signing up to #Ukraine ceasefire