Putin arrest warrant: The International Criminal Court in the Hague in The Netherlands has issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and one of his top aides, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. Putin is charged with the war crime of unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine. The ICC alleges that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the crimes by ordering them or failing to exercise proper supervision over others who carried out the crimes. Lvova-Belova is charged with being one of those responsible for carrying out the criminal acts. Normally, arrest warrants such as these would be kept secret but the ICC said the interests of justice are being served by making them public.
Ford recalls: Ford this morning issued recalls for an estimated 1.5 million vehicles because of safety problems. The recalls include about 1.3 million Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKX midsize cars manufactured between 2013 and 2018. They have faulty brake lines. Also recalled are almost 250,000 F-150 pickup trucks that have windshield wiper arms that might break.
Yellen testifies: Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has told the Senate Finance Committee that people can have confidence in the U.S. banking system. “Our banking system remains sound, and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them,” Yellen said. Her testimony came as a group of U.S. banks got together to put $30 billion into First Republic Bank to make sure it stays afloat following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
Bankruptcy filing: SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, which was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. SVB Financial said it is no longer affiliated with the bank. SVB financial said it believes it has $2.2 billion on hand but owes $3.3 billion.
Xi and Putin to meet: China and Russia in a joint announcement this morning said China’s President Xi will visit Russia beginning Monday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia’s war on Ukraine is expected to dominate the discussions. China’s foreign minister said yesterday that China wants to see a political solution to the end the war in Ukraine.
Medals for Russian pilots: Russia’s Defense Ministry announced this morning that the jet fighter pilots who dumped fuel on the U.S. drone in international airspace over the Black Sea would be honored with medals. Russia insists the drone was making maneuvers that caused it to crash and the Russians had nothing to do with bringing down the drone.
Trump’s study found no fraud: The Washington Post reported this morning that while Donald Trump was claiming that there was fraud in the 2020 election because dead people voted, a study that Trump’s campaign ordered and paid for showed that there was no such fraud. The Post said it saw a copy of the study that cost Trump’s campaign $600,000. The study debunked not only the claim of votes from dead people affecting the election outcome but also other claims of election fraud that still are being made by Trump.
