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Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan, New York, grand jury "on charges related to hush money payments made on his behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign," the Associated Press reports.

Trump is expected to appear at the prosecutor's office, then in court as early as next week when a judge will list Trump's charges.

"The Manhattan district attorney’s office appeared to be investigating whether anyone committed crimes in arranging the payments, or in the way they accounted for them internally at the Trump Organization. But the specific charges remained under seal late Thursday," the news outlet reports.

Tour agencies in Hong Kong are enforcing new measures to avoid overcrowding in tourist areas as travel demand surges from mainland China budget tours of To Kwa Wan and Hung Hom, Hong Kong Free Press reports. Since the surge, local residents said commuting is more difficult and there's concerns about general hygiene.

These new measures require tour agencies to make advance reservations for travelers, guarantee a minimum meal time of 30 minutes for each tour and finalize tour bus arrangements with restaurant representatives, the news outlet reports.

"The Travel Industry Authority (TIA) — the city’s official watchdog of travel agents and tour guides — said in a statement on Tuesday that it had met with major representatives of tour agencies and restaurant owners in the affected districts," the news outlet reports.

Speakers on a luxury hotel panel at the SAHIC Latin America & The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Investment Forum said they're progressing in introducing luxury hotels to the region as much of the demand is coming from high-paying customers, but getting the deals to pencil is taking time, reports Hotel News Now's Stephanie Ricca.

“Central America and Latin America have the opportunities [for these types of hotels] but it can take time, and you have to consider airlift and safety,” said Alejandro Acevedo, regional vice president of development in the Caribbean and Latin America for Marriott International. “But we have the fundamentals. We have the potential."

Some consumers in the U.S. are being more selective with their leisure purchases and trading down to less expensive options or cutting them entirely, and extended-stay hotels at lower price points could benefit.

The latest data from Highland Group, which provides consulting services to hotel developers, franchisors, investors, lenders and other stakeholders, shows that while economy extended-stay hotels recorded monthly declines in demand and occupancy in February, it was the lowest contraction in nine months. Higher-priced, extended-stay hotels are achieving accelerated rate growth.

“Fundamentally, extended-stay hotels are a price buy compared to the overall hotel industry, which history demonstrates is not immune to the trade-down effect currently underway in the broader economy. February’s performance metrics indicate this could benefit extended-stay hotels especially at lower price points,” Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group, said in the report.

Despite shocks to the economy, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature bank, "markets proved to be more buoyant than many investors thought possible" in the first quarter, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In the first quarter, the S&P 500 rose 5.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite is up 15% and on pace to outperform the Dow Jones Industrial Average by the widest margin since 2001. The Dow fell 0.9% in the quarter.

"A widely anticipated recession has failed to materialize, at least so far. The labor market has remained robust, even with a pickup in layoffs in the technology sector in recent months. And inflation, while still high, has continued to ease. Data showed consumer prices rose 6% from a year earlier in February, the smallest annual gain since September 2021," the news outlet reports.

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