America’s S&P 500 and NASDAQ stock indices recorded their worst quarters since 2022. The S&P fell by 5.8% in March, its sharpest drop since December 2022. Investors are worried about Donald Trump’s tariffs—he promised that “all countries” would be targeted in the latest round, on April 2nd—and the overall health of America’s economy. Markets in Asia, which also suffered in March, stabilised on Tuesday.
China began military exercises around Taiwan to “serve as a stern warning” against Taiwanese independence. In a propaganda video, China called Lai Ching-Te, Taiwan’s president, a “parasite”. Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had activated land-based missile systems in response and called China the “biggest troublemaker in the international community”.
Israel bombed Beirut for the second time in three days, putting further strain on a shaky ceasefire with Hizbullah that has been in place since November. The Israel Defence Forces said it was targeting a Hizbullah operative in the Lebanese capital who was planning an “imminent terrorist attack”. The strike reportedly killed three people. Meanwhile America carried out more attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen.
During a visit to Moscow, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, told Russian state media that his country was ready to play a “constructive role” in achieving peace in Ukraine and that it welcomed warming relations between Russia and America. But he added that America would not divide China and Russia, suggesting the countries were “forever friends, never enemies”.
OpenAI raised $40bn in a funding round led by SoftBank, a Japanese investment group. The deal values the artificial-intelligence startup at $300bn, making it one of the world’s most valuable private firms. OpenAI said it would use the money to “push the frontiers of AI research even further”. It also promised to release a cheaper and more accessible AI model in the coming months.
The euro zone’s annual inflation rate was 2.2% in March, down from 2.3% in February, according to a flash estimate. The European Central Bank, which has cut interest rates six times since last summer, will decide whether to lower rates again at its next meeting on April 17th. The ECB aims for an inflation rate of 2%.
SpaceX launched the first crewed mission to orbit the Earth pole-to-pole. The Crew Dragon capsule, which is being taken into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, is being manned by four private astronauts. One of them, a Chinese-born crypto investor, is largely paying for the jaunt. The crew will carry out experiments on how space flights affect the body.
Figure of the day: 45%, the proportion of Americans who attend church. Read the full story.
Correction: In Monday’s newsletter, we said that 24 of Marine Le Pen’s colleagues were found guilty of misusing funds. In fact, one of those was acquitted. Sorry.
Donald Trump has begun his second term at a blistering pace. Keep up with his executive orders, legal challenges against them and what Americans think about it all on our presidential tracker.