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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.

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