Daily Briefing: What a Russia-China meeting means
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Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Moscow next week in a demonstration of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also in the news: Princeton survived the first round of the NCAA men's tournament and USA TODAY announces its 2023 Women of the Year honorees.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. RIP Bob Jr.
Here's Friday's headlines.
What President Xi's upcoming visit to Russia means
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday in an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin amid sharpening East-West tensions over the conflict in Ukraine. Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions. China has sought to project itself as neutral in the conflict even while last year, Beijing declared it had a “no-limits” friendship with Russia. It has refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion. China has said the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, while condemning Western sanctions and accusing NATO and the U.S. of provoking Russia into military action. Read more Russia-Ukraine updates.
House GOP: Hunter Biden, others got $1.3M from business associate linked to China.
Video of a jet dumping fuel on a U.S. drone shows Russia is ''flat-out lying.''
Workers face murder charges in death of man at Virginia mental health hospital
Three employees of a mental health hospital in Virginia were charged with murder Thursday, joining seven sheriff's deputies who have also been charged in the death of a man who died in handcuffs and leg irons while being subdued. Irvo Otieno died March 6 while being held down at the Central State Hospital in suburban Petersburg, Virginia. Sheriffs claim Otieno became violent while being admitted to the hospital and was restrained by seven Henrico County Sheriff's deputies who brought him there. “They tortured him to death,” Otieno's mother, Caroline Ouko, said Thursday. “They treated him like a dog … worse than a dog.” Read more
More news to know now
Three major insulin makers have now slashed the price of the life-saving drug.
Iowa lawmakers passed a school ''bathroom bill'' targeting transgender students.
Temp nurses cost hospitals big during the pandemic. What are the limits?
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The Oscars, Pi Day and the most popular dog breed in the US. What happened in this week's news?
On today's 5 Things podcast, USA TODAY's Will Carless looks at a case that could be a crucial legal test for the Antifa ideology. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.
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Why is the TikTok CEO testifying before Congress?
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before Congress next week, as some lawmakers continue to push for a ban on the social media platform. Chew’s highly anticipated testimony comes as the app’s parent company, ByteDance, comes under increasing fire from lawmakers on Capitol Hill over its connections to the Chinese government.
The background: A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill last Tuesday that would give the federal government broader authority to regulate and ban foreign-linked technology that the Department of Commerce considers a threat to national security, including TikTok.
Something both Biden and Trump have tried to do: The Biden administration threatened a ban if TikTok's Chinese owners do not sell their stakes in the company. Former President Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok that year but was blocked in court in 2020 after the Committee on Foreign Investment launched a national security review of the app.
TikTok argues a divestment from ByteDance wouldn't solve concerns over national security. The company said in June that it was committed to improving its safety controls and would be routing all U.S. user traffic to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure "to better safeguard our app, systems, and the security of US user data."
NCAA Tournament Day 1 recap: Princeton surprises
The first full day of the men's NCAA Tournament began Thursday with some dramatic upsets, with No. 13 seed Furman scoring the day's first upset when the Paladins shocked No. 4 Virginia. Then, No. 15 Princeton busted brackets everywhere by upending No. 2 Arizona after trailing most of the game – and marking the third straight year a No. 15 seed advanced to the second round. No. 10 Boise State was able to close the Wildcats' lead to four before No. 7 Northwestern pulled away for a 75-67 win. Read our full recap of day one.
Don't fall behind: Complete 2023 NCAA men's tournament schedule and results.
Just for subscribers:
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These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here.
Meet USA TODAY's Women of the Year
USA TODAY’s Women of the Year project honors local and national heroines who make a positive impact in their communities every day. Across America, USA TODAY readers have submitted their nominations for national and state Women of the Year honorees. Through the end of March, our newsroom will showcase these remarkable women and the causes they care most about. Click here to read more about program and look out for more honoree stories through the next few weeks.
USA TODAY honors record representation in the 118th Congress.
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Photo of the day: St. Patrick's Day 2023
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, meaning that it's time for good food, even better drinks and getting into the holiday spirit. To get the scoop on the holiday, USA TODAY has turned to Elizabeth Stack, executive director of Albany's Irish American Heritage Museum, and Brian Witt, the cultural exhibits coordinator for Milwaukee Irish Fest. Read more
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.
Associated Press contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China, Russia, Ukraine, TikTok, NCAA, insulin, St. Patrick's Day: Daily Briefing
