CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett was released from jail 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 on Wednesday 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.

Kyiv, Mar 17 (AP) A Russian airstrike ripped apart a theater where hundreds of people have been living in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said, as Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a self-purification to rid his country of anyone who questions his invasion.

BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – An official Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Lebanon, revealed yesterday that, 53.1 percent of the country’s residents are poor and 16.2 percent categorised as extremely poor.

Issued by the Central Administration for Statistics and the World Bank, the index is derived from 19 indicators across five dimensions, including education, health, financial security/well-being, basic infrastructure and living standards.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, March 17 (Reuters) - To keep factory lines open in the face of COVID curbs Chinese firms are asking workers to eat, sleep and work in bubbles isolated from the wider world, sterilising premises as often as three times a day and testing for COVID daily.

Dubbed "closed-loop management", this approach has been part of China's efforts over the past two years to keep local transmission extremely low by global standards.

It was used for example at the Winter Olympics in Beijing to seal event personnel off from the public.

JUBA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Thursday it has secured 120 million U. S. dollars from the World Bank through its development arm International Development Association for infrastructure development.

Agak Achuil Lual, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said the funds would also be used to strengthen community institutions, and enhance food resilience in the east African country.

BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon’s cabinet approved an electricity reform plan yesterday, a critical step in addressing the country’s financial crisis, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers, or Lebanon’s cabinet.

The plan includes the construction of new power plants and the establishment of an electricity regulatory authority in 2022, as requested by western donors and the World Bank.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reached another daily record in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday as health officials reported more than 621,000 new infections, underscoring a massive omicron surge that has been worse than feared and threatens to buckle an over-stretched hospital system.

Kyiv, Mar 17 (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.

JERUSALEM, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces have thwarted attempted arms and drugs smuggling over the Jordan-Israel border, Israel's army said Thursday.

In the joint operation, military and police forces prevented the smuggling of 37 weapons and drugs worth 2.5 million shekels (770,000 U.S. dollars) from Jordan into Israeli territory, the army said in a statement.

KABUL, Mar 17 (NNN-ANA) – Afghanistan’s caretaker government, formed a commission, to help Afghans, who left the country after the change of government, return to their homeland, the government said in a statement today.

“The Commission of Liaison and Repatriation of Afghan Personalities has been formed, under the supervision of Sheikh Shahabuddin Delawar, the acting minister of mines and petroleum, to help Afghans return to their motherland,” the statement said.

MINSK, March 17./TASS/: Russia offers Ukraine an absolutely acceptable option for a treaty, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview with Japanese TBS TV channel, cited in part by BelTA news agency.

"Russia offers Ukraine an absolutely acceptable version of a treaty, I know this for sure. And it is still possible now to see Ukraine and Russia agree and [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky sign this treaty with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," the Belarusian leader said.

WASHINGTON, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US federal prosecutors accused Chinese government agents of trying to spy on and intimidate dissidents living in the United States including a congressional candidate.

Justice Department officials said the three criminal cases amounted to “transnational repression” by an authoritarian government, including a discussion of assaulting one dissident.