A watershed moment for the US

Trump's indictment sets the country on an uncertain course.

Sign up for Reuters newsletters View in Browser Daily Briefing After flagging his arrest since mid-March, Donald Trump has finally been indicted. We've got everything you need to know about what happens next.   And read our exclusive on Elon Musk's plans to visit China.   By Linda Noakes   Today's Top News Donald Trump looks on after concluding his speech during the first rally for his re-election campaign at Waco Regional Airport in Texas, March 25, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis  TRUMP INDICTED Donald Trump, the ex-president and frontrunner to be Republican nominee in 2024, is set to face a mug shot, finger-printing and a court appearance next week after being indicted over a probe into hush money paid to a porn star in a historic US first. Stormy Daniels has said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, the year after he married his third wife Melania. Trump has denied the relationship and has said the payment was made to stop her "false and extortionist accusations." Senior Republicans in Congress and the party's White House hopefuls rallied behind Trump, calling the charges a weaponization of the justice system by Democrats. We look at how Trump will use the indictment to rouse support for his 2024 campaign. Here's a timeline of Trump's alleged hush money payments and the path to criminal charges. 400 DAYS OF WAR Russia has charged an American journalist with spying while Finland moved closer to becoming a NATO member, deepening tensions between Moscow and the West as the war in Ukraine reached its 400th day. Ukrainians were marking the first anniversary of the liberation of the town of Bucha from Russian occupation, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying Kyiv would never forgive those responsible for alleged atrocities there. The US said it had imposed sanctions on a Slovakian man for trying to arrange the sale of over two dozen types of North Korean weapons and munitions to Russia to help Moscow replace military equipment.  Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now. IN OTHER NEWS An immense spring storm emerging from the Western US is expected to form a 1,000-mile front of extreme weather from the Great Lakes to Texas, spawning blizzards, freezing rain, tornadoes and torrential showers. Nine Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line carrying out combat readiness patrols, Taiwan's defence ministry said, days after Beijing threatened retaliation if President Tsai Ing-wen meets US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai is expected to meet McCarthy in Los Angeles in April. Former South Africa paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, jailed in 2016 for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, will ask a parole board today to release him early from prison. A jury in Utah ruled that Oscar-winning actor Gwyneth Paltrow was not responsible for injuries sustained by a man during a ski slope collision at an upscale Park City resort in 2016. Business & Markets Global mergers and acquisitions activity shrank to its lowest level in more than a decade in the first quarter of 2023, as rising interest rates, high inflation and fears of a recession soured the appetite of companies for dealmaking. As the dust settles on a surprise move by Switzerland to write down $17 billion of bonds under Credit Suisse's rescue, the market for debt designed as a shock absorber for banks faces a long haul to regain investor trust. A nearly $15 billion JP Morgan fund is expected to reset its options positions today, potentially adding to equity volatility at the end of a strong quarter for US stocks. We explain how a massive options trade can move markets. Britain said it had struck a deal to join an 11-country trans-Pacific trade pact which includes Japan and Australia as it looks to deepen ties in the region and build its global trade links. The UK economy avoided recession after growing in the fourth quarter of last year, official data showed. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk is making plans to visit China as early as April and is seeking a meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang, people with knowledge of planning for the trip told Reuters. The Week Ahead Next week brings the all-important US monthly jobs report, as well as a final read on business activity in March, a crucial rate decision Down Under and, possibly, the chance for Treasuries and the dollar to regain some stability after March's market madness. Here's a look at the week ahead in markets from our specialist reporters around the world. Millions of voters in Europe head to the polls on Sunday. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who in 2019 became the world's youngest premier at 34, is battling to stay in power as the country faces a recession and her challengers accuse her government of bloated public spending. Montenegro holds a run-off presidential election in which long-time incumbent Milo Djukanovic faces a strong challenge from a Western-educated economist who has promised a fresh start after a year of political deadlock. In the rugged Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria, many voters have little hope that the nation's fifth parliamentary election in two years will produce a stable government able to tackle corruption, inflation and poverty. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will push back on Russia's attempts to "weaponize energy" and rally support for a Ukrainian counteroffensive when he meets NATO foreign ministers in Brussels next week. French President Emmanuel Macron will head to China next week for a rare visit to the rising superpower, in an awkward balancing act between his global statesman ambitions and his struggle to contain embarrassing pension protests at home. The Wider Image Eita Sato and Aoi Hoshi attend their graduation ceremony in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Issei Kato As Eita Sato and Aoi Hoshi walked towards their junior high school graduation ceremony, their footsteps echoed in polished halls once crowded and noisy with students.   The two were the only graduates of Yumoto Junior High in a mountainous part of northern Japan - and the last. The 76-year-old school will shut its doors for good. Take a look at our photo essay on a Japanese village struggling with depopulation. And Finally... Lolita the killer whale is fed a fish by a trainer during a show at the Miami Seaquarium, January 21, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Innerarity A Florida aquarium has reached a deal with animal welfare advocates to release Lolita, a 5,000-pound killer whale held in captivity for more than half a century. The whale, who recently retired from performances, will be returned to an ocean habitat in the Pacific Northwest within two years. Read more about freeing Lolita, a project that has been years in the making. Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Russian forces make some gains in Bakhmut

And Moscow detains Wall Street Journal reporter.

View in Browser Daily Briefing Hello, a lot of news coming from the war in Ukraine this morning, with officials acknowledging Russian gains in Bakhmut, and Moscow detaining a WSJ reporter.   Plus, our graphics team shows what the High Seas Treaty is all about.   By Edson Caldas Today's Top News A Ukrainian tank unit crew takes cover and waits for shelling to cease in a bunker, near the bombed-out city of Bakhmut, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura The war in Ukraine Russian forces have had some success in the city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian military officials said, adding that their fighters were still holding on. The mining city and surrounding towns in the eastern region of Donetsk have been a focal point of assault for much of Russia's invasion. Here are the latest developments and the scenes from the frontlines. Russia's FSB security service said that a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, Evan Gershkovich, had been detained in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage. The newspaper said that it "vehemently denies" the allegations and seeks the immediate release of their reporter.  The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog visited Ukraine's embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and said he was putting aside plans for a security zone around the facility so he could propose specific protection measures acceptable to both Moscow and Kyiv. Elsewhere... Taiwan predicts a less severe reaction from China to an expected meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, according to a senior Taiwan security official. Tsai arrived in New York on her way to Central America, and will stop off in Los Angeles next week on her way back. The White House urged China not to use a "normal" stopover as a pretext to increase aggressive activity. Pope Francis spent a peaceful night in a Rome hospital after suffering from a respiratory infection, a Vatican source said. The pope was hospitalized after complaining of breathing difficulties, raising fresh concerns over the health of the 86-year-old pontiff. The governor of Kentucky said fatalities were expected after two U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed during a routine training mission over the state. The status of the crew members was not immediately known, the U.S. Army's Fort Campbell said in a statement to Reuters. This is one of the stories covered on today's edition of the Reuters World News podcast. At least 29 people have died, including a 6-month old baby, after a fire broke out on an inter-island passenger ferry in the southern Philippines, the coast guard said. Authorities have yet to identify the cause of the fire that started when many of the passengers were asleep on the ferry's lower deck. Business & Markets The easy-cash era is over and markets are feeling the pinch from the sharpest jump in interest rates in decades. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank after heavy losses on its bond portfolio as rates climbed was a wake-up call that monetary tightening will likely bring more pain. Here's a look at some potential pressure points. Alphabet's Google Cloud has accused Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticized imminent deals with several European vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms. Its Vice President Amit Zavery told Reuters the company has raised the issue with antitrust agencies and urged EU antitrust regulators to take a closer look. Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said the company will look to monetize non-core assets and consider giving up control of some businesses, as the Chinese tech conglomerate reinvents itself after a regulatory crackdown that wiped 70% off its shares. His comments come two days after Alibaba announced the largest restructuring in its history. Three major jolts in as many years coupled with the once unthinkable possibility of a power grid collapse have spooked reinsurers in South Africa, spelling an end to cheap coverage in the continent's most developed insurance market. The High Seas Treaty, Explained A whale shark swims next to volunteer divers after they removed an abandoned fishing net that was covering a coral reef in a protected area of Ko Losin, Thailand. REUTERS/Jorge Silva After almost 20 years of negotiations, United Nations member countries have agreed upon an international treaty to protect oceans of the world that lie outside national borders. These graphics show what that treaty is all about. And Finally... Jewelry made from bullet shells are displayed at Angkor Bullet Jewelry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 29, 2023. REUTERS/Cindy Liu From war to peace. Cambodian goldsmith Thoeun Chantha turns brass casings of AK-47 and M-16 bullets into jewelry. For more than two decades, the 42-year-old, whose father was killed during Cambodia's years of war, has run a workshop to transform symbols of violence into what he calls wearable pieces of art. Read more here: Cambodian goldsmith turns bullet casings into jewelry Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.   Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. Reuters Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement © 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036