At a rally in Iowa, former President Donald Trump took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling him "DeSanctus" and saying he probably shouldn't have endorsed him in his bid for the governor's mansion. Trump also compared DeSantis to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, and said he will "protect Iowa ethanol from anyone who wishes to destroy it." The former president said he last spoke to DeSantis "a couple of days ago," but did not elaborate on the conversation.
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Thousands of tech CEOs and founders have signed an "urgent" petition calling for relief from the federal government after Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, the second largest in U.S. history. The government has responded by guaranteeing all customers access to their full deposits, providing some much-needed relief. However, the tech industry is still reeling from this "extinction-level event" and its long-term effects remain to be seen.
Shares of regional banks in the US slumped on Monday, as investors sold off their stocks in response to the collapse of SVB Financial Group and Signature Bank. This has raised fears of possible bank contagion, despite the additional funding from JPMorgan Chase to help First Republic Bank meet withdrawal demands. SVB catered to tech startups, internet and software companies, as well as firms in the life science and health care space, and had $210 billion in assets.
Following the second- and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, the Biden administration and federal regulators announced emergency measures to backstop customers’ deposits, even those that weren’t insured. Despite the emergency measures, Wall Street’s confidence in regional banks remained shaky, causing the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq composite to dip or rise, respectively. Investors are uncertain about the future of regional banks and are watching to see if the emergency measures will be enough to protect customers’ deposits and stabilize the banking system.
The Biden administration is considering updating the nation's racial and ethnic categories for the first time since 1997, based on the more than 4,600 comments submitted by various individuals and organizations. The changes are part of the administration's goal of creating a more equitable society, and the decision is expected to be announced in the near future.
Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic extremist who drove a truck along a popular bike path in 2017, killing eight people, will not face the death penalty after a jury in New York City was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The jury deliberated for four days before deciding that Saipov, a 35-year-old Uzbekistan citizen, will receive an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Saipov's lawyers argued that he was mentally ill and had been radicalized by ISIS propaganda, while prosecutors argued that he was a cold-blooded killer who had planned the attack for months.
The family of Manuel Esteban Páez Terán, an environmental activist known as "Tortuguita", released the results of an autopsy which revealed that he had been shot 14 times. The family's attorneys are now filing an open-records lawsuit to force Atlanta police to release more evidence about the killing, which occurred during a peaceful protest. The GBI has been investigating the shooting for nearly two months, and the family is hoping that the lawsuit will help them get the answers they are looking for and bring justice for Tortuguita and other activists.
Former President Donald Trump has declined an invitation to testify before a grand jury convened by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office investigating a "hush money" payment allegedly made on his behalf days before the 2016 election. Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina has stated that the former president has “no plans” to appear before the grand jury. The payment in question was made by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, and the grand jury is expected to continue its investigation despite Trump's refusal to testify.