U.S. and world news for March 14

Bank lawsuit: Some shareholders of the failed Silicon Valley Bank have filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in San Jose, California. The suit accuses the bank’s former top executives Greg Becker and Daniel Beck of deceiving investors by not revealing the bank’s true financial vulnerability and that it could be a victim of a run on the bank.

Cryptocurrency and Signature Bank: Signature Bank, which was shut down by New York regulators and has been taken over by the FDIC, was hurt by its involvement in cryptocurrency according to former Congressman Barney Frank who had served on Signature’s Board of Directors. He said the nervousness caused by the run on Silicon Valley Bank also affected Signature.

McConnell in rehab: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has entered a rehabilitation facility after being released from a hospital following his fall in a Washington hotel that resulted in him suffering a concussion. It’s not known how long McConnell will be in the rehab facility. His office described his recovery as proceeding well.

Trump campaigns: Donald Trump campaigned in Davenport, Iowa, last night where he said vaccines should not be mandated for school children and the U.S. Department of Education should be shut down. Over the weekend, former Vice President Mike Pence said that Trump absolutely was responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and yesterday Trump responded by saying it was all Pence’s fault.

Cohen testifies: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified before a Manhattan grand jury for three hours yesterday in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Cohen is scheduled to testify again on Wednesday about Donald Trump’s payment for Daniels’ silence about the two having sex. Speculation continues to grow that the grand jury will indict Trump.

Ukraine’s grain: Russia has told the United Nations that it would agree to a 60-day extension of the arrangement under which it does not interfere with Ukraine selling its grain to other countries. However, Russia wants some changes made. The current agreement expires at the end of this week. Russia wants some restrictions on its own trade that were imposed as sanctions because of its invasion of Ukraine to be lifted.