Trump indictment:Â Police in Manhattan are on alert for possible demonstrations and violence in the wake of an indictment of Donald Trump by a grand jury in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Various local, state and federal agencies have been holding meetings over the past few days to coordinate efforts to preserve law and order and handle a court appearance by Trump. Trump said yesterday he welcomes the idea of a perp walk, where suspects who have been arrested are paraded past news reporters and photographers, most often in handcuffs.
Interest rates: The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again today, but this latest increase was 0.25%, down from the 0.5% and 0.75% increases of the recent past. There has been speculation that it might temporarily halt rate increases because of the recent bank failures. In a statement, the Fed said it remains committed to lowering inflation to 2%.
Russian attack:Â A Russian missile hit an apartment building in Ukraine this morning, and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy released a video showing the explosion. The missile attack came shortly after the Russians used exploding drones to attack Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv. The International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend $15.6 billion to Ukraine to help secure the Ukraine government’s financial situation.
Helicopter deal:Â Slovakia’s Defense minister said this morning that the U.S. has offered to sell his country 12 Bell Ah-12 attack helicopters to help its military after Slovakia gave jet fighters to Ukraine. Slovakia also would receive 500 Hellfire missiles. Slovakia would pay a total of $1 billion to the U.S., with the U.S. financing $660 million and the rest paid in cash.
California’s stormy weather:Â More storms have hit parts of California, ranging from heavy rain to heavy snow. At least two people were killed. The National Weather Service forecast more bad weather in California today.
U.S. home sales:Â According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales in the U.S. jumped 14.5% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.58 million, representing the largest monthly percentage increase since July 2020. Compared with one year ago, however, sales dropped 22.6%. The median existing-home sales price went down 0.2% from where it was in 2022 to $363,000.
Cover photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
