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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, March 19: | |
- China's president is paying Putin a visit this week
- Trump is stoking political flames
- TikTok's CEO hopes to ease U.S. lawmakers' concerns around the app
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1. UBS could buy Credit Suisse for $1 billion amid a scramble to control damage to the banking system. | |
| The deal was engineered by regulators to shore up confidence in the broader system, according to people familiar with the matter. An end to the Swiss bank's nearly 167-year run would represent a new global dimension of the fallout from the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Officials are racing to consummate the deal before markets open in Asia, the people said. Investors will keep their eyes peeled for this as they continue to monitor lenders' health. Also in sharp focus this week will be central banks' responses to strains in the financial system. The Federal Reserve is set to announce its latest interest-rate decision on Wednesday, with rate calls from the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank due Thursday. | |
| Smaller Banks' Critical Role in Economy Means Distress Raises Recession Risks (Read) Economy Week Ahead: U.S. Interest Rates and Housing Market in Focus (Read) How Higher Rates Caught Up With Banks (Read) Sen. Warren Calls for Probe of Bank Collapses (Read) | |
2. Putin is preparing for a visit from China's Xi. | |
| Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Moscow tomorrow, reflecting the deepening relations between the two nations. China is attempting to play the role of a mediator on the global stage, and Xi plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though neither Russia nor Ukraine seems ready to come to the peace table yet. | |
| Putin Proves an Unpredictable Partner for Xi as Nations Cement Ties (Read) | |
3. TikTok creators are contemplating life after a possible ban. | |
| News last week that the U.S. could ban TikTok has prompted concern, especially among creators, over what the potential loss of the popular app would mean for their work and communities. The platform's CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before U.S. lawmakers on Thursday. The appearance will be TikTok's highest-profile chance to make a case that it can mitigate American officials' national-security concerns. | |
| TikTok's Chinese Parent Has Another Wildly Popular App in the U.S. (Read) | |
4. Trump is bracing for potential charges—and reigniting a political fight in the process. | |
| The former president, in all-caps posts on social media Saturday, said he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, and called on his supporters to protest in the face of expected charges connected to the payment of hush money to a porn star. Mr. Trump hasn't been charged, nor has he been notified that he will be. Top Republicans derided Trump's possible indictment as politically motivated, while Democrats warned that his social-media exhortations were irresponsible and risked new violence akin to the Capitol riot. | |
5. Congress wants its war powers back. | |
| Two decades ago, the House and Senate voted to give President George W. Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq. With the 20th anniversary of the invasion approaching this week, lawmakers are weighing whether to repeal that authorization. Proponents say the measure has outlived its initial intent and Congress needs to claw back some power from the White House on waging war. Critics say ending the authorization is unnecessary and could send a message of weakness abroad. | |
| Essay | What I Failed to Understand About Saddam's Iraq—and American Power (Read) | |
6. Four major publishers are trying to stop an online lending library from freely offering digital copies of books. | |
| A federal judge will weigh the publishers' pleas on Monday. At the center of the dispute is a growing practice that supporters call controlled digital lending, in which a library owns a physical copy of a book, digitizes it and then loans out the digital version to one borrower at a time. The case raises novel questions about digital-library rights and the reach of copyright law that protects the work of writers and publishers. | |
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