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China vows to ‘fight back’ if Taiwan leader meets US speaker

China warns it will take “resolute measures” if Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her visit to the United States. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and opposes official ties with both Taipei and Beijing. Tsai is visiting Guatemala and Belize to strengthen diplomatic alliances before stopping in California on her way back to Taiwan. The US has called for calm, with a senior administration official stating that the stopover does not represent a change in US policy towards China.

Jho Low sentenced to 10 years in prison by Kuwaiti court in absentia

Malaysian business Jho Low, a key figure in the 1MDB scandal, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering in Kuwait. He remains on the run. The case involves the largest case of crime of money laundering involving Chinese currency equivalent to RMB 343 million and 700 thousand Kuwaiti dinars.

Taiwan president heads to US, Central America to shore up ties

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is set to visit the US to strengthen ties with Guatemala and Belize after China took another of the island’s few diplomatic allies. Analysts suggest the trip comes at a critical moment, with Beijing increasing diplomatic, military, and economic pressure since Tsai took office in 2016, poaching nine of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies since then. The United States remains Taiwan’s most crucial international ally, and its most significant arms supplier, despite switching its own diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.

US senators slam regulators for SVB oversight failures

US lawmakers accused regulators of failing to prevent the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which sparked a broader sell-off of banking stocks. The Senate Banking Committee grilled senior Federal Reserve, Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation officials about their inability to prevent the Californian lender’s collapse on 10 March, with regulators promising to investigate any failings they may have made in their oversight of SVB.

New strike turmoil grips France as Macron remains defiant

France is experiencing fresh strikes and protests, with a record number of police deployed, as President Emmanuel Macron remains defiant over a pensions reform that is causing turmoil in the country. The law includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, and unions have vowed no let-up in mass protests to get the government to back down. Nearly two weeks after Macron rammed the new pensions law through parliament, the protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron’s second mandate.

Crypto giant Binance hit with US charges for breaking trade rules

US regulator CFTC has charged Binance and its founder with multiple violations, citing the exchange’s failure to uphold required standards and lack of an effective compliance programme. The charge sheet also accuses Binance of directing employees and customers to skirt compliance controls “to maximize corporate profits”. The action follows recent scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry by US federal prosecutors, the SEC and the IRS, as regulators look to increase oversight of the volatile and risky digital asset market.

Swedish military bans TikTok on work phones

Sweden’s military has banned staff from using TikTok on work devices due to security concerns, citing the app’s handling of user information and the actions of owner company ByteDance. Similar decisions have been made by authorities in Western countries, including Norway and France, over fears of ties to the communist government in Beijing. TikTok has denied any control or access to its data by the Chinese government, but acknowledged in December that employees had used European user data to spy on journalists.

Transport ‘mega-strike’ hits Germany

Transport workers in Germany staged a 24-hour strike on Monday to demand wage increases amid high inflation. The stoppage affected airports, ports, railways, buses and metro lines across the country. The Verdi and EVG unions, which represent around 2.5 million public sector workers and 230,000 railway and bus employees respectively, have demanded increases of 10.5% and 12% respectively. Employers, which include public sector companies and the state, have offered a rise of 5%, with two one-off payments.

First Citizens to acquire collapsed Silicon Valley Bank

First Citizens Bank to acquire deposits and loans of bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank, covering $119 billion in deposits and $72 billion in assets. SVB’s 17 branches will open as First Citizens on Monday, and depositors will automatically become depositors of First Citizens Bank, insured by the FDIC.

Economists expect US recession, above-target inflation this year

The majority of economists predict a US recession and high inflation until 2024, according to a semiannual survey by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), which saw over two-thirds of respondents expect inflation to remain above four per cent by the end of the year. The US Federal Reserve has raised rates 4.75 percentage points to combat rising inflation.