| |
| |
Good afternoon. Here's what you should know today, Sept. 10: | |
- More than 2,000 people are dead after an earthquake in Morocco
- Investors will look at fresh inflation data this week
- The biggest fight between the U.S. and a tech company in 25 years gets under way
| |
| Thanks for reading What's News! Look for the 🔐 to enjoy a free article on us—and share the link with a friend (or forward the whole newsletter!). | |
| |
 | | An undated photo of Vadim Krasikov obtained by German authorities. | | |
1. A Russian assassin is central to a possible prisoner swap that could include Evan Gershkovich. | |
| Vadim Krasikov is serving a life sentence in Germany after conducting a killing that a court there ruled had been commissioned by the Russian state. Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a wish to explore a prisoner swap to free him, and Western officials say Krasikov could be key in U.S. efforts to win the release of people held by Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. A multilateral deal to swap Russian detainees in Western countries for Western citizens held in Russia, as well as imprisoned dissidents, might be possible (🔐read for free), but any talks involving Krasikov would be sensitive and unpredictable. Meanwhile, gubernatorial elections are taking place in many Russian regions this weekend, in a system that has been carefully tended to produce a win for the Kremlin. | |
| Russia Seeks to Create Illusion of Democracy in Occupied Ukraine (Read) | |
2. In earthquake-struck Morocco, help is slow to reach remote areas. | |
| Rescuers are struggling to reach the remote mountain villages hit hardest by Morocco's strongest earthquake in over a century. The 6.8-magnitude quake not only flattened homes, but also sent rocks crashing down onto mountain roads, making them impassable. The death toll has now surpassed 2,000, with thousands more injured. In Marrakesh, the closest large city to the epicenter, many people huddled outside, fearing more buildings could collapse. | |
| 🎥 Moroccans Spend Second Night Sleeping Outside After Deadly Earthquake (Watch) | |
3. Fed officials' stance on interest rates is shifting. | |
| For more than a year, Federal Reserve policy makers were unanimous that they would rather raise interest rates too much than too little—that is how serious they considered the threat of persistently high inflation. That is changing as data shows easing inflation and the labor market cools. Fed officials now appear to be in broad agreement to hold interest rates steady at this month's meeting, giving them more time to see how the economy is responding to increases. They are likely to then take a harder look at whether more are needed, writes Nick Timiraos. This week, investors will parse inflation data for the month of August and watch the European Central Bank's latest interest-rate decision. | |
| The Job-Market Boom Is Over. Here's Why and What It Means. (Read) | |
4. A union showdown looms over Detroit automakers. | |
| GM, Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis are negotiating new contracts for about 146,000 U.S. factory workers. The car companies say they need to direct money toward their switch to electric vehicles. The United Auto Workers union says its workers deserve a 40% wage increase because of high inflation, their work during the pandemic and concessions made in past negotiations to help the automakers survive darker times. Weeks of intense talks and combative public volleys have yet to produce a deal, and the union is threatening to strike Friday. | |
5. Google faces its stiffest legal challenge yet. | |
| Antitrust enforcers will try to show that Google effectively forces consumers to use its search engine to navigate the internet across multiple browsers and mobile-phone apps in a trial scheduled to start Tuesday and run through mid-November. It will be decided by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who could order a breakup or changes to the way Google promotes its search engine. The Justice Department's case is key for U.S. efforts to rein in the digital giants of the American economy, a priority under the Trump administration that has expanded under President Biden. | |
6. California considers an emissions-disclosure mandate for large corporations. | |
| The state would force large corporations that do business there to disclose all greenhouse-gas emissions associated with their operations under a bill being considered by the legislature in its last, frenzied week of work in this year's session. Legislators are also considering bills that would end a ban on official travel to states with conservative social policies and make striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits. | |
| |
