March 29, Tuesday, 2022 (1:30 p.m.) Newsline

1.Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol has seen the worst of the fighting for weeks.The UN says the constant shelling has made it difficult to know just how many people have been killed. Ukrainian media outlets quoted the mayor of Mariupol as claiming that about 5,000 people have been killed since the Russian invasion.
2.A private university in Tokyo has decided to accept Ukrainian students who want to evacuate to Japan. The International Christian University says it will solicit applications with refugee support group Pathways Japan. Eligible applicants should be students at universities in Ukraine who have remained in the country or fled to another country since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
3.The Group of Seven countries have agreed to refuse Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay for natural gas imports in rubles. G7 ministers looked into the plans Putin revealed last week to demand ruble payments for gas sales to what Moscow has deemed “unfriendly” countries, including the US and European nations.