Reuters World News - Bank turmoil, ICC vs Russia and Xi’s peace mission

Episode Date: March 14, 2023

Contagion fears stalk the financial sector with smaller lenders in the firing line. Can government action stop the rout? The International Criminal Court is seeking war crime arrests against Russian officials. We go inside attempts to hold Russia accountable for the war in Ukraine. President Xi tries his hand at brokering peace. China reopens to foreigners, Lyft and Uber win in a gig economy case and all the latest from the Trump hush-money probe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The International Criminal Court seeks the arrest of Russian officials for war crimes in Ukraine. But with the body count mounting on both sides in Bahmouds, we go inside attempts to hold Russia accountable for the war in Ukraine, as China's president tries his hand at brokering peace. It's Tuesday, March 14th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Kim Vinal in London. Are you worried, sir?

everyone should be worried. That's Alan Ehrlich in New York, a customer at Signature Bank, the second financial institution to fall in just a few short days. Even after extraordinary measures by the US government, Silicon Valley banks collapses causing shockwaves across the financial world. Fed Chief Jerome Powell demanding a thorough investigation as questions mount over the regulation and supervision of SVB. and U.S. bank stocks are sliding, despite President Joe Biden urging calm.

Our U.S. financial editor, Lenar Neuann, was in the hot seat in New York as bank stocks dipped. Now, I think this came as a surprise to many because those actions were so dramatic and aggressive by officials over the weekend, and yet that didn't manage to stop shares really plunging on Monday. We are still in a mode where we're facing a lot of questions about whether government an action and intervention in these markets was enough. Now, it's important to note that some of the biggest lenders in the U.S. still have a lot of capital and they're still in a strong position. Their businesses are very diversified, and so they have revenue in a lot of different places

and maybe could withstand this type of event. But there are a lot of smaller firms, a lot of smaller banks, which could be vulnerable to potential bank run. And so I think investors are looking to see where those sort of weaker institutions are and are very nervous right now. Investors are also laser-focused on the Fed and what the central bank's next moves might be. Summer betting it will have to slow the pace of interest rate hikes

because the risks to the financial system are just too much. So the latest US inflation data is guaranteed to be the center of attention today. Our economics team will, of course, be in the room for the release of the Consumer Price Index, and you can follow along for all the developments in this extraordinary moment for the financial world at Reuters.com. Now to the rest of the news making headlines around the world. At a ceremony in San Diego, the leaders of the United States, Australia and Great Britain

unveil a plan to supply Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines. It's a major step to counter China's military expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. President Biden outlining the OCOS project, an acronym, combining the names of the three nations. Ocus has one overriding objective to enhance the stability of the Indo-Pacific amid rapidly shifting global dynamics. The submarines will be nuclear-powered

but will not carry nuclear weapons. China condemns the project as an illegal act of nuclear proliferation. Sticking with China, it is reopening its borders to foreign tourists for the first time since the COVID pandemic struck. areas that required no visa before 2020 will now fully reopen. That includes the southern tourist island of Hainan, a popular stop-off for cruise ships.

Visa-free entry for foreigners to Hong Kong and Macau will also resume. A California court has ruled that companies such as Uber and Lyft can treat staff as contractors rather than employees. The state appeals court decision reverses a 2021 ruling, that found the labour measure known as Proposition 22 was unconstitutional. It's seen as a major victory for firms in the gig economy. Shares and Uber and Lyft rose almost 5% after the ruling. Now, we all love a podcast, including it would seem, the Pope.

Pope Francis recorded one at his private residence to celebrate 10 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church. Once it clarified what a podcast actually is, The pontiff queried the concept before getting behind the mic. Once it was explained to him, Francis apparently said, Nice, let's do it. I'm sure not in that voice, obviously. In Manhattan, Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer,

testifying before a grand jury about payments he says he made to porn star Stormy Daniels. How do you feel, Michael? I feel fine. I feel fine. A little twisted, to be honest, inside. It's been a long time coming. Five years now, give or take. That's Michael Cohen on his way to testify.

Cohen has said he orchestrated the payments to Daniels on behalf of Trump. This is all about accountability. He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds. Daniels says the money was to keep quiet about an affair, which Trump denies. On the ground in Bachmout, relentless fighting continues. eastern Ukrainian city, the main focus of a Russian campaign involving hundreds of thousands of reservists and mercenaries. As the body count mounts on both sides, international prosecutors are gathering evidence of atrocities of war. The international criminal court is expected to launch

war crimes cases against Russian officials, a source has told Reuters. The arrest warrants could include the crime of genocide. Charges focus on forcible deportations of children from Ukraine and the targeting of civilian infrastructure. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians and it has not concealed a program that has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia. It says it's a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone. Now, Reuters journalists in The Hague have been reporting out a story about sex crimes, allegedly committed by Russian soldiers near Kiev last year. Now, a warning that some of our listeners may find this next segment distressing.

The reporters examined Ukrainian prosecution files that detail two harrowing incidents. Russia's defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Joining me now is Amsterdam Bureau Chief Anthony Deutsch. Anthony, these allegations are horrendous. Tell us what you found. This case focuses on the actions of two snipers who entered a number of villages outside of Kiev

shortly after the invasion last year. And the documents that we were exclusively provided describe a number of events where these two soldiers violated or attacked a lot of people, including a pregnant woman who was raped and a four-year-old girl who was also sexually violated. These men were formally charged, and they're charged of war crimes under Ukrainian law.

One of the two suspects returned to rape, Russia and the second was actually killed in battle in Ukraine. But if this is a Ukrainian court prosecuting under Ukrainian law, what does it mean if a Russian is found guilty and they're in Russia? Right. So it's a good question because this sniper, who's now back in Moscow, it's virtually impossible that this individual would ever be handed over to Ukraine to be prosecuted. Russia's not going to do that. But it means that this individual will be put on a list and any international authorities. He will be flagged. And you also have the international criminal court in the Hague.

The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Karim Khan, has said repeatedly that he is going to have no tolerance for crimes against women and children. The report you put together is the result of you pouring over documents and speaking to many people about the most awful things that human beings can do. Does it ever get to you on a personal level just being really in this for an extended period of time? It does. And being a father of three children, and even though I've reported in conflicts for more than two decades, when you hear about crimes against children, yeah, it's one of the reasons why I go to report because of the importance of exposing those crimes and in the hope that there will be

some kind of justice for what happened. Yeah, of course. Okay. Anthony Deutsch, thank you so much. Sources tell Reuters that Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to travel to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week. It comes as China is offering to broker peace in Ukraine. The West is skeptical, to put it lightly. Joining us now as Foreign Policy Editor Don Durfey in Washington, D.C. Don, what is China up to here? I think it's important to understand how China views the war in Ukraine. It has some conflicting interests here.

So in one hand, it has a lot of reasons to support the Russian side. So more time and focus by the U.S. and its allies on Ukraine potentially means less resources and focus on Asia Pacific, where China has its own ambitions. On the other side of things, China is really worried about permanently damaging relations with the European Union, which is one of its biggest trading partners. And that brings us to the final point, which is that China, I think, sees an opportunity to be a peace broker. They've just had some success with a surprise deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran on Friday, and they might see some opportunity to play a role in brokering peace in Europe as well. Don, thank you. And that's it for this edition of Reuters World News.

We'll be back on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can find more trusted news at Reuters.com.