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Good morning from the Financial Times.

Today is Thursday, April 7th, and this is your FT News Briefing.

The US slapped more sanctions on Russia this time targeting Vladimir Putin's family.

Brazil's national oil company has nominated a new CEO after a few fall starts,

and an investigation found that an ambitious driverless vehicle company sacrificed

safety to attract investment. I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

Yesterday, the US announced new sanctions on Russia's state-owned companies.

The escalating pressure is a response to reports of Russian atrocities against Ukrainians.

The US imposed severe sanctions on two of Russia's largest financial institutions,

Spurbank and Alpha Bank. They also targeted President Vladimir Putin's two daughters.

The UK also announced its own sanctions, including full asset freezes against Spurbank,

and a ban on importing Russian iron and steel products.

Brazil's state-backed oil company Petrobras may soon have a new CEO.

Last night, the government nominated higher-ranking technocrat Jose Mauro Cahello to the post,

and if confirmed, he would oversee a crucial part of Brazil's economy.

Petrobras makes up about 10% of the country's gross domestic product.

But the key question is whether Cahello will stick around.

Earlier in the week, the former nominee for CEO withdrew over a conflict of interest.

All this comes during an election year, and the FT's Michael Pouler says,

this means there's a lot of pressure on Cahello to make President Jair Bolsonaro happy.

...