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| Good afternoon. Here’s what you should know today, April 12: |
| - The House voted in favor of a controversial spying bill
- China is helping Russia build its military arsenal, the U.S. says
- U.S. Steel shareholders approved the sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel
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| | Thanks for reading What’s News! Look for the  to enjoy a free article on us—and share the link with a friend (or forward the whole newsletter!). |
| |  | Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei PHOTO: IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER’S OFFICE/ZUMA PRESS |
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| 1. The U.S. rushed warships into position to protect Israeli and American forces in the region, hoping to head off a direct attack from Iran on Israel. |
| The U.S’s moves, part of an effort to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East ( read for free), came after a warning from a person familiar with the matter about the timing and location of the potential Iranian attack, which could come as soon as Friday or Saturday. A person briefed by the Iranian leadership, however, said that while plans to attack are being discussed, no final decision has been made. Iran has threatened to retaliate for last week’s attack in Syria that it said was an Israeli airstrike on a diplomatic building. Several top Iranian military officials, including a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, were killed. |
| Israel Wins Gaza Battles but Risks Losing the War (Read) |
| 2. The House passed a controversial spying bill as Speaker Mike Johnson overcame GOP objections including Donald Trump’s public attack on the proposal. |
| The 273-147 vote to extend the foreign surveillance program pitted conservatives and progressives who wanted more privacy protections against congressional leadership and the White House, which warned of the risk to American lives. The bill, which will expire next week unless renewed, heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass, and then to President Biden’s desk for his signature. Trump on Wednesday advocated killing the measure; a procedural vote later that day failed 193-228. Johnson is heading to Florida for a previously scheduled meeting with the former president that the speaker’s team suggested they turn into a public show of party unity, according to a person close to Johnson. |
| Trump Makes Most of ‘Veepstakes’ Intrigue in Search for Running Mate (Read) |
| 3. Some of the biggest U.S. banks are starting to feel the pinch of higher-for-longer interest rates. |
| JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup reported better-than-expected first quarter profits and revenues, and executives said consumers and businesses are healthy. But they warned that their core lending incomes would be muted this year as higher rates force them to pay up for deposits, a pressure that no longer seems likely to ease soon. Inflation worries and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on U.S. markets, capping off a losing week for everything from bank shares to energy and real-estate stocks. |
| Interest Rates Have Investors Worried. Profits Give Them Comfort, Writes WSJ’s James Mackintosh (Read) China Tells Telecom Carriers to Phase Out Foreign Chips in Blow to Intel and AMD (Read) Heard on the Street: Energy-Guzzling AI Is Also the Future of Energy Savings (Read) Companies Reconsider Research Spending With Tax Deal Held Up in Senate (Read) |
| 4. China has helped Russia boost its military production at a critical stage in the Ukraine war, senior Biden administration officials said. |
| Beijing’s optics, microelectronics, drone engines and other material with military and commercial applications have significantly strengthened Moscow’s battlefield capabilities. China has heeded U.S. warnings about providing lethal weaponry to Russia for use in Ukraine and instead provides a growing amount of dual-use technology and equipment, the officials added. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.N. atomic agency that the Kremlin plans to restart Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which it occupies. Doing so could further risk an incident at Europe’s biggest nuclear station. It would mark the first time a hostile power has captured and operated another country’s active power plant. |
| Russian Network’s Alleged Targeting of European Elections Sparks Belgian Police Probe (Read) |
|  Enjoying this newsletter? Get more from WSJ and support our journalism by subscribing today with this special offer.
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| | WSJ’s What’s News podcast continues its series “Extreme Inflation from A to Z” with Turkey. Rental prices there have become crazy expensive after a major earthquake last year. How is Turkey addressing extreme housing inflation? |
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| CONTENT FROM: PACIFIC LIFE | | How to Lower Your Taxes in Retirement |  | If you’re approaching retirement, you can work with a financial professional and tax advisor to reduce your tax burden. But in the meantime, consider categorizing your assets and develop a strategy to tap them into tax-smart order. Read about this and other tactics to help reduce taxes in retirement. Learn More | |
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| | 323 | The number of medicines in shortage in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2024—the highest it’s been since tracking began in 2001—according to the University of Utah Drug Information Service and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Diabetes drug Ozempic, lifesaving allergy treatment epinephrine, child-friendly antibiotic amoxicillin and chemotherapy medications are on the list. Many of the drugs are generics, so some patients might have to pay more for the brand-name equivalents. |
| 71% | The portion of U.S. Steel shares that were voted in favor of Japan’s Nippon Steel acquiring the storied company. The $14.1 billion deal still faces regulatory reviews and opposition from the United Steelworkers union and some members of Congress. Investors are in line to get $55 in cash for each of their U.S. Steel shares—more than double the stock price last August when the 123-year-old company disclosed that it was considering offers. |
| | “The longer that [mortgage rates] stay at this level, the more life events will happen that will cause people to move by necessity.” | —Real-estate broker David Schlichter, explaining that most home shoppers are buying because they need to, thanks to new babies, new jobs or divorces. Inflation continues to keep mortgage costs high, so many prospective buyers, already facing high housing prices and a shortage of homes, are sitting it out if they can. |
| | “If the IRS hasn’t found you for a long time, the odds are they won’t. But correcting a past error can bring unwelcome attention, so I often tell people just to correct things going forward.” | —IRS attorney turned private practitioner Frank Agostino’s advice for those who have filed erroneous tax returns. The agency has three, six or 10 years to find culprits, depending on the circumstances. The statute of limitations doesn’t start to run until a taxpayer actually files a return, so non-filers are never off the hook. |
| | - New York Times Bosses Seek to Quash Rebellion in the Newsroom (Read)
- What Killed Their Pets? Owners Blame Meds, but Vets Aren’t Sure (Read)
- She Won the Boston Marathon 10 Years Ago. She’s Still Waiting for Her $100,000. (Read)
- Essay: How I Built an AI-Powered, Self-Running Propaganda Machine for $105 (Read)
- Retiring in the Next 5 Years? Avoid These Financial Mistakes (Read)
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| |  | Sequins can be paired with traditional office-wear, as seen on this fashion show attendee in New York. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES |
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| Women in the workplace shine in sequins. |
| The new power move for professional women pairs sparkling clothing with traditional career separates. This bedazzled look gives off a “notice me” vibe that is more C-suite rockstar than Rockette. Try on the trend with black sequined shoes and then graduate to a glamorous skirt or cardigan, sequins fans suggest. For extra sophistication, unify an outfit by wearing pieces of sequined and matte clothing in the same color. |
| | | For fans of women’s sports, this week was probably the most exciting since the 2015 Women’s World Cup final set the record for the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history. NCAA women’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark capped off a meteoric rise in her sport’s popularity with a final matchup that, for the first time, drew more viewers than the men’s final—18.9 million and 14.8 million, respectively. (Her Iowa Hawkeyes lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks.) Beyond the hardwood, women’s sports are flourishing, too, as their fan bases continue to grow. We asked WSJ senior sports reporter Rachel Bachman about this colossal shift, Clark and what’s next. Write to her at Rachel.Bachman@wsj.com. |
| Did you expect the ratings for the NCAA women's basketball final to beat the men's? |
| Just before the two tournaments began, it was clear that Caitlin Clark was providing rocket fuel to women’s basketball, which was already on the upswing. I thought that if Iowa made the final, there would be a chance for a huge number. And I remembered that the men’s title game was going to be on TBS, a cable network, while the women’s final would be on ABC, which is available in millions more homes. But for the women’s game to surpass the men’s by four million viewers was shocking. Just a few years ago, four million was considered a good audience for the women’s final. |
| Will the surge in popularity continue? |
| The line might not be as vertical as this past year, the height of Clark’s fame, but it will likely continue. Unlike men’s sports, some women’s sports have gotten on national TV on a regular basis relatively recently, so there’s room to grow. Also, women’s sports viewership is rising when viewership of many other things is flattening or declining amid a fractured TV landscape. In addition, investment in all kinds of women’s sports has increased in recent years. That’s partly because of players speaking out, like an Oregon women’s basketball player’s viral video showing inequities at the 2021 NCAA tournament that effected change and the U.S. women’s soccer team’s lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which scored them a labor deal equal to what the U.S. men’s team has. Pro sports, of course, operate under a profit motive. Owners are investing because they see opportunity. |
| Why do people grow more interested in women's sports during the Olympics? |
| It’s interesting that people often think of sports’ popularity as organic, when their structures often play a huge role. There are no “women’s Olympics.” Women’s and men’s events are held in the same place at around the same time and shown on the same broadcasts. The result? Female Olympic athletes get as much exposure as their male counterparts, and some become even more popular than the men. The same is true with tennis’s major tournaments. |
| Tell us about you. Are you a former athlete? |
| I grew up playing a range of sports, from soccer and tennis to track and softball. I’m now a slow runner whose marathoning days were brief and are now (most likely) over. I grew up watching mostly professional baseball, football and basketball because that’s what was on TV. Now I’m a sports omnivore, with college football and women’s sports the biggest part of my diet. One favorite: My husband and I watch the every-two-years Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament. The drama and fan pageantry are unsurpassed. |
| | | Soccer superfans are in extreme prep mode for a World Cup that is two years away. |
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.