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The grand jury has been hearing evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's office about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The Washington Post, citing two people familiar with the matter, said the grand jury hiatus was due in part to a pre-scheduled two-week break starting April 10, following the April 9 Easter holiday. A law enforcement source told Reuters the grand jury is not expected to reconvene on the Trump case until after Easter, without providing a specific date. Grand jury proceedings are secret. The grand jury is believed to meet generally on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

The grand jury has been hearing evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's office about possible crimes related to a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. The payment was in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter Daniels said she had with Trump a decade earlier. A law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear exactly when after the holiday the grand jury would hear evidence again in the Trump case. Grand jury proceedings are secret. The grand jury is believed to generally meet on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

☆ Pope Francis has respiratory infection, needs hospital treatment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Pope goes for medical tests to hospitalVatican says pope has infection, rules out COVIDPope to spend "a few days" in hospitalVATICAN CITY, March 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis has a respiratory infection and will need to spend "a few days" in hospital for treatment, the Vatican said in a statement on Wednesday. "Pope Francis is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer," the Vatican said. The statement came hours after the pope was unexpectedly taken to hospital for tests. Earlier in the day, the pope attended his weekly general audience at the Vatican and had appeared in good health. Pope Francis suffers from diverticulitis, a condition that can infect or inflame the colon, and had an operation at the Gemelli hospital in 2021 to remove part of his colon.

☆ Pope Francis hospitalized for pulmonary infection, had difficulty breathing in recent days
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis kisses a child during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 29, 2023. Pope Francis was hospitalized with a lung infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said. Bruni said Francis had been suffering breathing troubles in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital for tests. "The tests showed a respiratory infection (Covid-19 infection excluded) that will require some days of medical therapy," Bruni's statement said. He has canceled all audiences through Friday, but it wasn't clear whether he could keep the Holy Week plans.

☆ Galderma owners delay IPO, review Credit Suisse role - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The shareholders, including Swedish buyout house EQT (EQTAB.ST) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), are also reviewing Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) role as global coordinator for the IPO, the source added, after the troubled lender agreed to be taken over by rival UBS in a government-brokered rescue. Bloomberg first reported on the IPO delay and the review of Credit Suisse's role. Galderma had been preparing to list as soon as after the Easter holidays, sources had told Reuters, having previously delayed its IPO plans because of poor market conditions. Last year, the group was forced to postpone its listing ambitions after the invasion of Ukraine and soaring interest rates ground the IPO market almost to a halt, as reported. Galderma and Credit Suisse declined to comment.

☆ Biden pushes for Republican proposal in U.S. debt-ceiling standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( David Morgan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Biden urged the top congressional Republican to spell out his proposals before lawmakers leave Washington for a two-week recess set to start on Thursday. McCarthy told CNBC earlier that he was prepared to lay out $4 trillion in spending cuts for Biden, if he would agree to meet. Republicans have not yet produced a budget plan of their own and could be weeks or months away from doing so. McCarthy's proposals, though lacking detail, paralleled the demands of hard-right House Republicans far more closely than ideas put forward by moderate Republicans. Republicans have sought to blame Biden, but only Congress has the authority to raise the debt ceiling.

Two of Germany's largest airports, Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights, while long-distance rail services were cancelled by rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL). "Millions of passengers who depend on buses and trains are suffering from this excessive, exaggerated strike," a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said on Monday. At the same time, in France they go on strike all the time about something," said passenger Lars Boehm. The head of the Bundesbank Joachim Nagel said last week Germany needed to avoid a price-wage spiral. "Despite signs of second-round effects, we have not observed a destabilising price-wage spiral in Germany so far."

JERUSALEM, March 24 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers flocked to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan for noon prayers, which passed peacefully amid tight security imposed after months of escalating tension and violence. "I cannot describe to you how happy I am to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque. I'm 50 years old and they only recently removed the security ban that had prevented me from coming here," said Nasser Abu Saleh, a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron. The Muslim Waqf, custodians who manage the site which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, said around 100,000 people had visited for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. [1/5] Palestinians make their way through an Israeli checkpoint to attend the first Friday prayers of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 24, 2023.

The Verdi union is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5 million employees in the public sector, including in public transport and at airports. Railway and transport union EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL) and bus companies. Verdi has called on around 120,000 employees in the transport and infrastructure sectors, including ground and air traffic service providers, shipping, motorways and municipal ports, to join the strikes. We want a negotiable offer," said Martin Burkert, the chairman of the EVG union, which represents workers at 50 transport companies, including railway operator Deutsche Bahn. German airport association ADV also condemned the strikes expected to hit around 380,000 air travellers on Monday as all airports across Germany, except Berlin, would come to a virtual standstill.

☆ Israeli government lifts ban on return to West Bank settlements
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, March 21 (Reuters) - The Israeli parliament on Tuesday paved the way for Jewish settlers' return to four settlements in the occupied West Bank by amending a 2005 law that ordered their evacuation, a move condemned by the Palestinian Authority and the European Union. The repeal of certain clauses in a previous disengagement law would allow Jewish residents to return to four West Bank settlements they were ordered to vacate in 2005 on condition of approval by the Israeli military. Since the 1967 war, Israel has established around 140 settlements on land Palestinians see as the core of a future state, where more than 500,000 settlers now live. Besides the authorized settlements, groups of settlers have built scores of outposts without government permission. "We call on Israel to revoke this law and take actions that contribute to de-escalation of an already very tense situation," an EU spokesperson said in a statement.

☆ Egypt hosts Israeli-Palestinian talks in push for pre-Ramadan calm
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

CAIRO, March 19 (Reuters) - Egypt hosts Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in a U.S. and Jordanian backed effort to calm a surge of violence in the West Bank ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh "aims to support dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to work to stop unilateral actions and escalation, and break the existing cycle of violence and achieve calm", a statement from Egypt's foreign ministry said. This could "facilitate the creation of a climate suitable for the resumption of the peace process", it added. The Palestinians aim to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital - territories Israel captured in a 1967 war. But peace talks have been stalled since 2014 and Palestinians say Jewish settlement expansion has undermined the chances of a viable state being established.

☆ How Gossip Helped Propel Miley Cyrus to the Top of the Charts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Julia Gray | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

To the casual listener, Miley Cyrus’s January hit single “Flowers” is a sultry pop song with a feminist bent, an anthem celebrating self-love and independence. But to superfans like Joshua Molina, “Flowers” is a series of clues about Ms. Cyrus’s divorce from Liam Hemsworth. Among the Easter eggs, according to fans: The song inverts the rhythm and lyrics of Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man,” which supposedly has special meaning for Mr. Hemsworth and Ms. Cyrus. But while Mr. Mars sings, “I should’ve bought you flowers,” Ms. Cyrus’s version retorts, “I can buy myself flowers.” The song was also released on Jan. 13, Mr. Hemsworth’s birthday.

☆ Dollar Tree will stop selling eggs because they're too expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Eggs have gotten too expensive for Dollar Tree. Reuters first reported that Dollar Tree would stop selling eggs. Family Dollar, owned by Dollar Tree, will continue selling eggs. Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar General, the largest of the three chains, have spread in recent years and added more food basics, although fresh and healthy options are limited. In 2021, Dollar Tree announced it would raise prices to $1.25 because selling everything for $1 was squeezing business.

☆ Eggs are so expensive that Dollar Tree has just given up stocking them
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Dollar Tree said Tuesday it will stop selling eggs because of soaring prices, Reuters reported. The dollar store chain plans to bring add eggs back to its stores this fall. Dollar Tree will hold off on stocking the grocery staple until this fall, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday. The decision will remove eggs from the grocery sections of about 8,000 Dollar Tree stores across the US and Canada. Dollar stores have expanded their grocery offerings in recent years in a bid to capture more of consumers' food budgets.

☆ U.S. and Russia clash over drone, the Fed’s risky path and Downton’s staff problem: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Confrontation over the Black Sea raises stakes between U.S. and Russia. Price stability Vs financial stability -- the Fed’s tricky balancing act. Downton can’t get the staff – worker shortages in the UK. Nor'easter buries New England and New York, storms soak California. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dyeing Easter eggs? The fake ones are cheaper than the real thing at Target and Walmart as egg prices soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Egg prices are off of their January peak, but a dozen still costs more than $4, inflation numbers show. With Easter approaching, fake-egg dye kits from Walmart and Target may be cheaper than the real thing. The high cost of eggs led one of the largest dollar store chains to decide not to carry them for now. (Actual egg prices vary substantially by geography.) Easter decorators aren't the only ones adjusting their plans due to the still-high cost of eggs this spring.

The Nor'easter left about 190,000 homes and businesses in New York and New England without power as of Wednesday morning, according PowerOutage.com, a tracking service. In California, about an equal number of customers had no electric service on Wednesday in the wake of the latest in a series of atmospheric river storms to churn through the state this winter. [1/3] A California plate is seen at an area affected by floods after days of heavy rain in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 14, 2023. Along California's coast and lower inland areas, the heavy rain and melting alpine snow triggered renewed flooding from rain-swollen rivers and streams, compromising levees. "It's a little too soon to say for sure if it's another atmospheric river, but the storm is coming," he said.

☆ Retail egg prices fell in February — but the price drop may not last long
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Matthew Hatcher | Afp | Getty ImagesWhy egg prices increased rapidlyThat dramatic increase in egg prices, economists say, largely stems from a disease called highly pathogenic avian influenza — known as bird flu. It reappeared in the fall last year, crimping egg production while heading into peak demand season for eggs around the winter holidays, experts said. watch nowLower prices now partly reflect a decline in consumer demand early in the year, which is a typical seasonal pattern, said Brian Moscogiuri, a global trade strategist at Eggs Unlimited, an egg supplier. There also hasn't been a new confirmed case of avian flu among commercial table-egg farms since December, giving suppliers some time to recover. Egg prices may pop again around Easter

[1/7] Floodwaters from the Pajaro River are seen flowing under Highway 1, currently closed by officials, in Monterey County, California, U.S. March 14, 2023. read moreNine atmospheric rivers already lashed California in rapid succession from late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding, levee failures, mudslides and punishing surf. Massive flooding from failed levees on the Pajaro River in Monterey County this weekend prompted hundreds of evacuations and dozens of water rescues. Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for residents in 10 California counties on Tuesday, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Nathan Frandino in Monterey County, California; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nor’easter to Batter East Coast With Snow and Rain As Atmospheric River Pummels California
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Snow in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., on Sunday as California braces for another atmospheric river. Two storms were poised to strike the East and West coasts on Monday, forecasters said, bringing a nor’easter from New York to Maine and yet another atmospheric river to California. Parts of the Northeast, which have had a mild winter, are expected to get heavy rain and snow, forecasters said. Along the Pacific Coast, another atmospheric river was set to add to the dizzying tally of storms this winter that have caused historic flooding and near-record rainfall. The National Weather Service warned it could be difficult to commute in some places.

☆ Walmart offers affordable Easter meals to lure thrifty shoppers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Walmart Inc (WMT.N) said on Monday it would offer Easter meals and bundles at affordable prices, a move aimed at drawing more customers to its stores at a time when egg prices have surged and consumers are keeping a tight grip on their wallets. The price of eggs, a staple of Easter baskets, has been near a record high for months as outbreaks of avian flu have killed more than 58 million backyard and commercial chickens and turkeys since February 2022. Walmart said on Monday it would keep the prices of its Easter essentials consistent with 2022 and offer the Easter meal and basket combo for less than $100, both online and in stores. This year, Walmart's Easter meals and baskets will include staples like ham, green beans and cherry pies, along with decorative grass, Hershey's (HSY.N) Milk Chocolate Bunnies and Reese's Eggs. Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru and Siddharth Cavale in New York; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California, Northeast menaced by late-season winter storms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A general view shows flooded streets in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 12, 2023, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. On the West Coast, the storm targeted areas of northern and Central California already saturated from the unusual bout of bad weather. It promised to dump as much as seven inches (18 cm) of rain in higher elevations and up to three inches elsewhere, the National Weather Service said in its forecast. The growing frequency and intensity of such storms amid bouts of prolonged drought are symptomatic of human-caused climate change, experts say. The storm in the Northeast threatened to produce wet snow that could topple power lines and trees, causing power outages.

☆ Nor’easter to Batter East Coast With Snow and Rain as Atmospheric River Pummels California
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Alyssa Lukpat | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Lindt & Spruengli proposes dividend hike as 2022 profit climb
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ZURICH, March 7 (Reuters) - Lindt & Spruengli (LISN.S) said its 2022 profit rose and the Swiss chocolate maker also proposed a higher dividend payout on Tuesday, despite a challenging year that saw inflationary price hikes dampen consumer sentiment in key markets. Net income rose to 569.7 million Swiss francs ($612.78 million), beating the 566 million francs forecast by analysts at Zuercher Kantonalbank. It proposed a dividend of 1,300 francs per registered share, up from the 1,200 francs last year. Chocolate Gold Bunnys are seen during the annual news conference of Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Spruengli in Kilchberg, Switzerland March 8, 2022. With cost pressures continuing to pose a challenge, Lindt said it is likely to do the same this year.

☆ Napoli striker Osimhen ready to become 'an icon' with title win
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Alvise Armellini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, March 6 (Reuters) - If striker Victor Osimhen manages to lead Napoli to their first Italian Serie A title in more than 30 years, he believes he will become a club "icon". However, if Napoli win the scudetto, he said: "I think (I) have a very big chance of being named an icon." With 13 games to go, Napoli are odds-on for Serie A glory, having a huge, 15-point advantage over second-placed Inter Milan. Some street hawkers are already selling mementoes in Napoli colours and with a "three" on them in anticipation of a third title. "It's been 33 years since the last scudetto," Napoli Chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis said.

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