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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Monday.

1. President Biden tried to reassure Americans after midsize banks failed.

Biden insisted that the U.S. banking industry was safe, saying that customers’ deposits will “be there when you need them” after federal regulators recently took over two failing banks. Other midsize lenders scrambled to calm their customers’ fears.

Invoking a rare authority, regulators told depositors at the failed banks — Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — that their money would be repaid in full. The Federal Reserve also set up a broader emergency lending program to ensure that other U.S. banks could weather the storm. 

The rush to reassure bank customers spoke to a core truth of financial markets: Bank runs can feed on themselves and become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as my colleague David Leonhardt noted in The Morning. In the DealBook newsletter, Andrew Ross Sorkin called the new Fed program “the most sweeping backstop for the U.S. banking system since the 2008 crisis.”

For more: Here’s what we know about the collapse of SVB, the once-obscure lender which had served tech start-ups and their wealthy founders. Shares across the banking sector dropped, with a few midsize lenders losing more than half their value. Here’s how to make sure your money is safe, no matter what.

2. The banking crisis complicated the Fed’s efforts to fight inflation.

With consumer spending and job growth surprisingly resilient, the central bank signaled last week that it would consider a larger interest rate hike this month. But amid chaos in the banking sector and financial markets, investors and economists no longer see that as a likely possibility.

Higher interest rates contributed to the collapse of SVB, which had purchased long-term bonds that fell in value. The bank’s collapse revealed the competing pressures faced by the Fed: It is in charge of keeping prices steady, but is also responsible for maintaining the stability of the financial system.

In Opinion, Senator Elizabeth Warren blamed SVB’s collapse on leaders in Washington who have weakened financial regulations.

3. The International Criminal Court plans to open war crimes cases against Russia.

The Hague-based court intends to open two cases that are tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and seek the arrest of several people, officials said. They would be the first international charges to be brought forward since the war began.

The cases would accuse Russia of abducting Ukrainian children and sending them to Russian re-education camps, and charge that the Kremlin deliberately targets civilian infrastructure. Experts said it was possible that Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, could be charged, but the likelihood of a trial remained slim as the court could not hear cases in absentia and Russia was unlikely to surrender its own officials.

On the front lines, Russian forces have stepped up their shelling of the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, Ukrainian officials said.

Also, for the elite and wealthy, Dubai has become a “Russia outside Russia.”

4. The Biden administration approved a huge oil project in Alaska, despite climate concerns.

The Interior Department gave formal approval today to a drilling project known as Willow, which as planned would extract oil from the country’s largest single expanse of pristine land. In an apparent effort to head off complaints from environmentalists, Biden — who had previously promised to pivot the nation away from fossil fuels — also plans to announce sweeping restrictions on offshore oil leasing in the Arctic Ocean and across Alaska’s North Slope.

The restrictions, however, are unlikely to offset concerns that the $8 billion Willow project, led by oil giant ConocoPhillips, will have the potential to produce so much oil that its emissions will be equivalent to adding nearly two million cars to the roads each year.

In other news from the Biden administration, the president announced a landmark agreement with Britain and Australia to develop fleets of nuclear-powered submarines in an effort to counter China’s military development.

5. Plans for an AirTrain connecting La Guardia Airport with Manhattan were officially scrapped.

New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, abandoned the state’s plans to build a light-rail link to the newly renovated airport after a review found that the project’s cost had ballooned to $2.4 billion. When Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, first announced the project in 2015, he placed the cost at $450 million.

As an alternative, a panel of experts recommended increasing public bus service to La Guardia and the addition of a shuttle between the airport and subway stations.

6. A potent nor’easter is forecast to bring heavy snow to the Northeast over the next few days.

Millions of people across New England and into New York could get hit by a late season winter storm beginning tonight and lasting into Wednesday. The region is bracing for heavy, wet snow, rain and winds of up to 50 miles per hour.

Forecasters said that five to 10 inches of snow could accumulate in interior portions of the Lower Hudson Valley, northeastern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut.

If you live nearby, see how much snow you will get.

7. The University of Pennsylvania accused a law professor of making racist comments. Should she be fired?

Amy Wax, a tenured professor, has said publicly that “on average, Blacks have lower cognitive ability than whites,” and that the country is “better off with fewer Asians” as long as they tend to vote for Democrats. Wax’s supporters see her as a truth teller regarding subjects like affirmative action, immigration and race.

But now the dean of the university’s law school has filed a complaint and requested a faculty hearing to consider imposing a “major sanction” on Wax. The move has prompted protests from free speech groups, which have cited one of tenure’s key tenets — the right of academics to speak freely, without fear of punishment, whether in public or in the classroom.

In other academic news, rural areas that rely on universities are facing declining student enrollments. They’re trying to adapt to survive.

8. The best moments from the Academy Awards.

After several years of missteps and controversies, last night’s ceremony was largely without incident: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” swept most of the top categories, the actor Ke Huy Quan gave an emotional acceptance speech, while both Rihanna and Lady Gaga gave soaring performances. Here were the best and worst moments from the night. My colleagues in Styles also looked back at their favorite fashion moments.

Still, the biggest winner of the night may have been A24, the independent movie studio behind “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Whale.” The studio took home nine awards, proving itself to be an emergent powerhouse in the art film business.

9. What to do tonight:

Cook: Begin brining your homemade corned beef today, so it’s ready for St. Patrick’s Day this Friday.

Watch: “The Sting,” an Oscar-winning comedy from 1973, is on TV tonight. Here’s what else is on this week.

Read: A biography of Phillis Wheatley, the most significant Black poet of the 18th century, is on our list of nonfiction books to read this spring.

Connect: Experts share advice for making friends as an introvert.

Focus: Hypnosis can be an incredibly effective mental health tool — it just takes work.

Play: The Spelling Bee and Wordle. Find all our games here.

10. And finally, it’s bracket season.

The N.C.A.A. basketball tournament matchups for men and women were selected last night, ushering in a three-day rush to research, calculate or simply guess who is going to win each game. Each bracket carries the exciting potential of perfection, but in reality, a flawless bracket may never occur: There are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 potential outcomes each year.

But for those who still want to try — or simply want to be at the top of the office pool — we have pulled together some tips, and we explain why “expert advice” is so unhelpful.

Have a competitive night.

Brent Lewis compiled photos for this briefing.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.