Good morning. The Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued to block Kroger’s $25 billion bid for rival Albertsons, throwing into uncertainty the fate of one of the largest supermarket deals in history.

• Anticompetitive deal? In a lawsuit, the FTC said the deal would lead to higher food prices and harm union workers’ bargaining power, and asked a court to block the companies from closing their deal on antitrust grounds. The commission said that the companies’ plan to address the government’s concerns by selling hundreds of stores won’t solve the problem.
   
• Ongoing antitrust war: The suit sets up another battle for U.S. antitrust enforcers. Under the Biden administration, the FTC and the Justice Department have challenged megadeals ranging from Microsoft’s bid for Activision Blizzard to JetBlue’s attempted takeover of Spirit Airlines. The FTC and DOJ have a mixed record fighting mergers.
   
• Expensive meals: The FTC’s challenge comes as the portion of Americans’ income spent on food has reached a three-decade high, despite inflation easing for many other goods. President Biden, who is running for re-election, took aim at large grocery chains in January over high food prices, saying that stores are gouging shoppers and bringing in excess profits.

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Boeing efforts to improve safety fall short, FAA panel says.

Boeing's push to improve its safety culture after two 737 MAX crashes is falling short, according to a panel tasked with reviewing the plane maker’s practices following the accidents.

The independent panel established by the Federal Aviation Administration found a disconnect between Boeing’s senior management and others at the company over safety matters. A panel report issued on Monday also cited insufficient safeguards to prevent retaliation against employees who flag safety issues.

The January blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 occurred as the panel was finishing its report.

• The Supreme Court sounded dubious of state laws requiring online platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to publish nearly all user content, although several justices suggested that the ability to remove noxious social-media posts should not mean tech companies are free to block personal communications such as Gmail or chat messages.
   
• Lawyers for Donald Trump appealed a New York judge’s order requiring the former president to pay $355 million plus interest in a civil-fraud case that has put the future of his real-estate business at risk.
   
• The U.K.’s competition regulator said it has launched an investigation into whether eight housebuilders have shared commercially sensitive information with their competitors.

Biden calls leaders to White House as shutdown looms.

President Biden is calling congressional leaders to the White House as the clock ticks toward a partial government shutdown Friday night and a Ukraine aid package remains stuck.

The president has called the meeting for Tuesday, seeking to break a logjam. House and Senate leaders have been working to negotiate the details of 12 funding bills totaling $1.6 trillion for federal agencies, which have been operating on temporary extensions since Sept. 30. Money is scheduled to run out for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Justice Department, Defense Department and remaining agencies after March 8.

• Iran reduced its stockpile of near-weapons-grade nuclear material even as it continued expanding its overall nuclear program, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said Monday, marking a surprise step that could ease tensions with Washington.
   
• When Sweden joins NATO as soon as this week, the alliance will gain a solidly anti-Russian member with a robust military that provides critical defense of Europe’s northern flank.

• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic penal colony followed a proposal to trade him and two unnamed American citizens held by Moscow for a Russian hit man imprisoned in Germany, Navalny’s foundation said Monday.
   
• A 9-month-old AI startup led by 31-year-old CEO Arthur Mensch is challenging the giants of Silicon Valley.
   
• The case against Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant accused of peddling false bribery allegations against President Biden and his son Hunter Biden, gets stranger by the day.
   
• Is an 8 a.m. meeting ever OK? Debates over the time slot have flared up in the never-ending discussion around work culture.

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