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.
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.
Marine Le Pen called the court ruling that barred her from running for office in France a “denial of democracy”. On Monday the leader of the hard-right National Rally was found guilty of misusing European Parliament funds. Ms Le Pen vowed to appeal “as soon as possible”. She was given a prison sentence of four years, two of them suspended and two under a form of house arrest.
Rocket, one of America’s biggest mortgage lenders, will buy Mr Cooper, which services housing loans, for $9.4bn. The combined company will cover almost 10m mortgage-holders, roughly one in six in America. Rocket is one of several non-bank lenders gaining a growing share of the country’s mortgage book. The housing market has sputtered as interest rates have risen sharply from pandemic-era lows.
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.
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