For everyone the evacuation of Europe He also had a late night phone call with President Biden The mayor of the town closest to the Zappos nuclear power plant posted a message on social media saying the fire has been extinguished The plan had come under Russian shelling a day earlier prompting calls from around the world for Russia to halt its attack Now Ukraine's nuclear power agency says the plant is under Russian control It produces a quarter of Ukraine's electricity and the war is already strained Ukraine's infrastructure leading to blackouts across the country Lauren freyer NPR news in lviv oblast Ukraine The state company that's been running the plant says radiation levels are normal It also says there are dead and wounded at the facility Delegations from Russia and Ukraine say they will hold a third round of talks in Belarus early next week Yesterday's second round of negotiations resulted in an agreement on the establishment of humanitarian corridors in Ukraine That's to allow civilians to leave the country safely and for food and other supplies to be delivered to the population Russian president Vladimir Putin spoke by phone again yesterday with French president Emmanuel Macron More companies have announced their suspending operations in Russia or pulling out altogether because of its invasion of Ukraine They include Apple Mercedes Benz and furniture retailer Ikea oil companies including ExxonMobil shell and BP previously announced plans to exit Russia The latest employment numbers in the U.S. are due out this morning from the Labor Department NPR's Scott horsley says economists believe hiring slowed during the month of February Forecasters thank U.S. employers added about 400,000 jobs in February but there's a good deal of uncertainty around that prediction January's job gains turned out to be stronger than expected Neal Richardson is chief economist for the payroll processing company ADP This year the jobs market is set to post strong gains even in the midst of ongoing labor shortages and now new developments in Ukraine and Russia For the last two years the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at rock bottom levels to prop up the economy and encourage hiring Now the Central Bank is about to start raising rates in an effort to curb inflation which is the highest it's been since the early 1980s Scott horseland per news Washington This week the chairman of the Federal Reserve told lawmakers in Congress he supports a quarter point hike in interest rates at the fed's next meeting This is NPR news from Washington Purdue pharma has agreed to a $6 billion settlement with attorneys general in 9 states over the company's role in the nation's opioid epidemic Nicole Leonard with Connecticut public radio reports Purdue pharma is owned by the Sackler family and is headquartered in Connecticut That state's attorney general William Tong says the new settlement is a good first step in holding the drug maker accountable I don't think anybody is under any illusion that this solves all of the problems that we are facing And that the sacklers it doesn't matter how much money they have They can never repay all of us for the damage and destruction that they have caused The new $6 billion payout is up from a previous $4.5 billion offer which was rejected by a federal judge In a statement Sackler family members deny any illegal wrongdoing but say they regret OxyContin's impact on the opioid crisis For NPR news I'm Nicole Leonard in Hartford Mask mandates for union employees at U.S. auto plants are being dropped at factories deemed no longer at high risk for the coronavirus a task force that includes officials from Ford General Motors and the united auto workers union agreed yesterday to make the wearing of masks optional at auto plants The group says it's following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease.