Japanese bank SMBC plans to develop NFT business

Associated Press
Iran and the UN nuclear agency are still discussing how to implement a 2023 deal on inspections
Iran and the United Nations' nuclear watchdog are still negotiating over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic program, officials said Tuesday. The acknowledgment by the International Atomic Energy Agency's leader Rafael Mariano Grossi shows the challenges his inspectors face, years after the collapse of Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and the wider tensions gripping the Mideast over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.
Associated Press
Czech Republic's top court rules that surgery is not required to officially change gender
The Czech Republic’s highest court on Tuesday ruled to dismiss part of a law requiring people to undergo gender-affirmation surgery, including sterilization, in order to officially change their gender. The Constitutional Court said the requirements are “unconstitutional” and “in conflict with the fundamental right of trans people to have protected their physical integrity and personal autonomy in connection with their human dignity.” The court ruled at the request of a person who was seeking a gender change.
Time
Erin Patterson Case: Australian Woman Accused of Murder With Mushrooms
A 49-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder by poisoning of her ex-husband and his relatives. Here’s what to know about the case.
Reuters
Payments in focus as prosecutors make their case in Trump hush money trial
Prosecutors in Donald Trump's criminal trial are expected to call more witnesses on Tuesday as they build out their argument that he was responsible for illegally covering up a hush money payment to a porn star in the run-up to the 2016 election. Prosecutors have shown the former president's signature was on payments at the heart of the case. Over the next two weeks they aim to demonstrate that Trump, running again for president, was responsible then for an illegal cover-up.
Reuters
Analysis-Jail time for contempt could spell political trouble for Trump
If the judge overseeing Donald Trump's hush money trial is to be taken at his word, America could be careening toward an unprecedented moment: A former U.S. president behind bars. Justice Juan Merchan on Monday threatened Trump with jail time for repeatedly violating a gag order in the criminal case underway in Manhattan, although Merchan said it is a step he is reluctant to take. Jailing Trump would almost certainly inflame his already loyal base of supporters and in their minds further Trump's narrative that he is being politically persecuted, an argument that helped him win the 2024 Republican nomination.
Reuters
Biden to condemn antisemitism, praise free speech at Holocaust remembrance
When U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to honor 6 million Jews killed eight decades ago, his message will be as much about the present as the past. Biden will speak to the existential threats faced by Jewish people seven months to the day since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 by Israeli tallies, in what Biden has called the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. His speech comes as Israel's retaliation has killed 35,000 people in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, according to Gaza health authorities, left many of the area's 2.3 million people on the brink of starvation and sparked protests in the U.S. demanding that universities and the Biden administration withdraw support for Israel.
Reuters
Indian state says yoga guru misled public with COVID, other cures
An Indian state has accused yoga guru Baba Ramdev of criminal misconduct for promoting his traditional ayurvedic medicine as a cure for COVID-19 because it was only approved as an "immunity booster", a case filing reviewed by Reuters showed. Ramdev, whose yoga cures and ayurvedic products have made him popular in India, the United States and other countries, misled the public with claims his medicines could cure other diseases such as cardiac disorder and cancer, the filing showed. Ramdev violated Indian drug law "by misleading the general public", according to an April 16 filing which is not public and was submitted to a local court in the northern Haridwar city by a drugs regulator.
Associated Press
One way to appreciate teachers: These schools provide their day care
When Christina Zimmerman returned to teaching last year after maternity leave, she grappled with postpartum depression that she says could have led to quitting her job. “I can be mom and teacher in the same breath,” said Zimmerman, who teaches fourth grade at Endeavor Elementary in Nampa, Idaho. In states such as Idaho and Texas, where funding for early childhood education is limited, some schools are spearheading initiatives to provide quality, affordable child care.
Reuters
Idaho will seek to revive 'abortion trafficking' law in US appeals court
Idaho will urge a federal appeals court on Tuesday to revive a 2023 law making it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent, which a judge blocked in November. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle will hear the case challenging the law brought by Lourdes Matsumoto, a lawyer and advocate who works with victims of sexual violence, and the Northwest Abortion Access Fund and Indigenous Idaho Alliance which helps people in Idaho access abortion. U.S. Magistrate Judge Debora Grasham in Boise in a preliminary order found that the law signed by Republican Governor Brad Little just over a year ago violated the plaintiffs' rights to free speech and expression under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Yahoo Finance
Reddit's first quarterly report follows Elon Musk's lead: Morning Brief
Reddit's first quarterly conference call on Tuesday will feature questions from a familiar place: Reddit.
Yahoo Finance
The biggest risk to investing in Mag 7 stocks like Nvidia and Amazon, according to top CEOs
It's good practice for investors to think beyond the Mag Seven, say the CEOs of Apollo and Avenue Capital Group.
Associated Press
China's Xi visits Pyrenees mountains, in a personal gesture by France's Macron
France’s president is hosting China’s leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees on Tuesday for private meetings after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and Russia’s war in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron made a point of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the Spanish border, where Macron spent time as a child visiting his grandmother. The mountain meetings come after a grandiose state visit by Xi on Monday that included a ceremonial welcome at the monument housing Napoleon’s tomb and a state dinner at the Elysee Palace with celebrities and magnates.
Reuters
Fire and hide: Ukraine's artillery pinned down by Russian drones
Across the hills and valleys of the east, Ukrainian artillery units play a cat-and-mouse game with Russian drones hunting high-value artillery weapons such as this self-propelled Panzerhaubitze 2000. Moscow's troops have stepped up ground attacks along the 1,000-km (621-mile) front in the south and east of Ukraine, threatening some of the industrialised Donetsk region's last big cities held by Kyiv more than two years after Russia's full-scale invasion. Counterbattery efforts are crucial to suppressing enemy fire that rains on Ukrainian lines and artillery units, and paves the way for Russian advances.
Reuters
Macron seeks to charm Xi into trade concessions in Pyrenees jaunt
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Pyrenees mountains on Tuesday, for the second day of a trip during which Xi showed little sign of being ready to offer major concessions on trade or foreign policy. Macron, who will greet Xi at the Tarbes-Lourdes Pyrenees airport at around 11:40 a.m. (0940 GMT), will take him to have lunch in the mountains dear to him as the birthplace of his maternal grandmother. Advisers to the French president described this as breaking with protocol for a chance for one-on-one direct chats with Xi, without scores of aide on either side.
Associated Press
EU Council adopts a plan worth 6 billion euros for Western Balkans to speed up enlargement process
EU countries approved a plan worth 6 billion euros ($6.45 billion) to support Western Balkan states on Tuesday aimed at accelerating reforms and economic growth in the region, as they seek future membership in the bloc. The Council of the European Union said the plan, which covers the period from 2024 to 2027, is expected to provide up to 2 billion euros in grants ($2.15 billion) and 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in loans. Aid is contingent on reforms that would bring Western Balkan economies in line with EU rules.
AFP
Arman and the war against journalists: A year of pain and loss
The killing of the brilliant young AFP journalist Arman Soldin on the front lines in Ukraine one year ago remains a uniquely traumatic event for all of us.The attack killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and wounded six other journalists including AFP photographer Christina Assi and video journalist Dylan Collins.
AFP
PM Modi votes as India's marathon election heats up
Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his ballot Tuesday in India's ongoing general election after giving several inflammatory campaign speeches accused of targeting minority Muslims.Modi's brand of Hindu-nationalist politics has made India's 220-million-plus Muslim population increasingly anxious about their future in the country.
Reuters
Germany sends two warships to Indo-Pacific amid China and Taiwan tensions
Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea. Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven.
AFP
Lone Indian voter casts ballot in special forest booth
Deep inside a protected Indian forest, a Hindu monk cast his ballot on Tuesday, ensuring a 100 percent turnout at the polling station where he is the sole registered voter.Udaseen is the custodian of a temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva, sitting deep in the Gir forest next to a stream infested with crocodiles, moving there in 2019 after the death of his predecessor.
AFP
Al Jazeera to pursue legal action 'until the end' over Israel ban
Al Jazeera will look to pursue all possible legal action "until the end" to challenge Israel's ban on its operations there, the TV network's news director told AFP in an interview.Speaking on Monday, Al Jazeera English news director Salah Nagm said the network would "follow every legal path", adding: "If there is a possibility of challenging that decision we are going to pursue it until the end."

Japanese bank SMBC plans to develop NFT business

Fast facts

Latest Stories

Iran and the UN nuclear agency are still discussing how to implement a 2023 deal on inspections

Czech Republic's top court rules that surgery is not required to officially change gender

Erin Patterson Case: Australian Woman Accused of Murder With Mushrooms

Payments in focus as prosecutors make their case in Trump hush money trial

Analysis-Jail time for contempt could spell political trouble for Trump

Biden to condemn antisemitism, praise free speech at Holocaust remembrance

Indian state says yoga guru misled public with COVID, other cures

One way to appreciate teachers: These schools provide their day care

Idaho will seek to revive 'abortion trafficking' law in US appeals court

Reddit's first quarterly report follows Elon Musk's lead: Morning Brief

The biggest risk to investing in Mag 7 stocks like Nvidia and Amazon, according to top CEOs

China's Xi visits Pyrenees mountains, in a personal gesture by France's Macron

Fire and hide: Ukraine's artillery pinned down by Russian drones

Macron seeks to charm Xi into trade concessions in Pyrenees jaunt

EU Council adopts a plan worth 6 billion euros for Western Balkans to speed up enlargement process

Arman and the war against journalists: A year of pain and loss

PM Modi votes as India's marathon election heats up

Germany sends two warships to Indo-Pacific amid China and Taiwan tensions

Lone Indian voter casts ballot in special forest booth

Al Jazeera to pursue legal action 'until the end' over Israel ban