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Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, April 16: | |
- The Fox News defamation trial begins tomorrow
- House Republicans get back to work on the debt ceiling
- Tax day is nearly here
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1. Banks are finally facing pressure to pay higher interest rates for deposits. | |
| Small and midsize U.S. lenders lost hundreds of billions of dollars in recent weeks as depositors fled to the perceived safety of the titans of finance following a pair of bank failures last month. That is likely to force many of them to increase the rates they are paying to avoid losing more customers. A raft of coming earnings reports could give a clearer picture of the damage. Regional banks M&T Bank and Citizens Financial Group are due to report this week, as are bigger peers Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. | |
| Inflation Tests a Global Economy That Has Weathered Covid-19, Ukraine War (Read) | |
2. Dominion's $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News heads to trial. | |
| Fox News is set to find itself Monday in a place it has spent two years trying to avoid: a Delaware courtroom where a jury is expected decide a once-in-a-generation defamation case that could have broad ramifications for the network and test the contours of modern media law. The news network is accused by voting-machine company Dominion of airing false claims by hosts and guests that Dominion helped rig the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. | |
| 🎥The Fox News Defamation Trial: What to Know (Watch) | |
3. Evan Gershkovich's family faces a tense wait. | |
| The Russian émigré parents of the jailed Wall Street Journal reporter raised him to know and love the culture of their homeland. Ever since he was arrested by Russian security services last month while on a reporting trip and accused of espionage–an allegation the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny–they have been thrust into a geopolitical chess match. A court is expected to hear an appeal from the lawyers of Gershkovich, who is being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, on Tuesday. The court could uphold his continued detention, order him moved to another jail, allow him house arrest or grant him bail. | |
4. A conservative Republican is preparing for battle. | |
| Rep. Chip Roy, a leader of the holdouts that opposed Kevin McCarthy's speakership bid in January, is telling his backers to get ready for another fight. House Republicans will return on Monday from a two-week Easter recess to try to turn their talking points into legislation that pairs spending cuts with raising the debt ceiling. Faced with a looming deadline, McCarthy needs to unite the party again, this time in a high-stakes battle with Democrats over the nation's borrowing limit. | |
5. Are you a tax procrastinator? It might be time to stop kidding yourself and ask for a filing extension. | |
| About one in five Americans file their tax return in the two weeks or so before the deadline, and this year, one in eight will ask for an extension, the IRS projects. If you are in either group, here's some last-minute advice from tax preparers and the IRS if you're scrambling to file by the Tuesday deadline or asking for an extension. | |
| Your Income Taxes Are Due. Here's Who Pays The Most. (Read) | |
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🗨 Follow Coverage of Detained WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich. | |
| The WSJ's Evan Gershkovich is being wrongfully detained in Russia after he was arrested while on a reporting trip and accused of spying—charges the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny. Follow the latest coverage, sign up for an email alert, and learn how you can use social media to support Evan. | |
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