Local students win Black history art contest

Much of Wall Street is rising after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend and made other moves to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in Monday morning trading. The Dow was also higher, while the Nasdaq was edging lower. Much of the attention was still on banks, which may be cracking under the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Swiss banking giant UBS is buying rival Credit Suisse in a deal quickly put together by regulators. U.S. bank First Republic fell after another another downgrade to its credit rating, but other U.S. banks rose.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday that the company plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks. The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history. Amazon had already cut 18,000 in the past few months. In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process completed this month and led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas its prioritized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin, a visit that sent a powerful message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate him have fallen short. Putin said he welcomed China’s plan for “settlement of the acute crisis in Ukraine.” Xi's visit to Moscow shows off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gives a welcome political lift for Putin. The two major powers have described Xi’s trip as part of efforts to further deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas and as a partner in opposing what both see as American domination of global affairs.