WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Embezzlement charge, Trump's jury, and a foiled sabotage plot

 
today's politics story

Sturgeon's husband charged over SNP finances

What happened 
Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP and husband of Nicola Sturgeon, has been rearrested and charged "in connection with the embezzlement of funds" from the party, police said.

Who said what
The charge comes as a "shock", an SNP spokesperson said. Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Baillie described the rearrest as "another incredibly concerning development in this long-running investigation".

The commentary 
During his time as the SNP's chief executive Murrell was "the ultimate backroom operator", said The Times. He "played a vital role in the SNP for more than two decades", said The Scotsman, in the process turning the party into the "dominant force in Scottish politics". Given Murrell's centrality to the party, his investigation "is likely to have a far-reaching effect on UK politics and possibly the next general election", said The Guardian after his arrest last year.

What next? 
Police Scotland has been "criticised for the duration of the inquiry" into the SNP's funding and finances, said The Times. First Minister Humza Yousaf said earlier this month he would welcome an end to the police investigation. A YouGov poll published this month showed Labour ahead of the SNP in Scotland for the first time since the 2014 independence referendum in a "sign of the governing party's decline", said The Scotsman.

 
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today’s international story

Trump jury line-up is set

What happened
Late Thursday afternoon, after hours of contentious selection, a full 12-person jury was selected for Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York City. Close to 200 potential jurors had been grilled about whether they could be fair and impartial in a case against the divisive former US president.

Who said what
"We have our jury," said Juan Merchan, the judge presiding over the proceedings, as the seven men and five women took their oaths.

The commentary 
The jurors' work will be a "unique challenge", said The New York Times. If Trump is found guilty of falsifying 34 business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels he "could face probation or prison time".

What next?
There is a "famous quip of unknown origin", said CNN, which goes: "In England the trial starts when jury selection is over. In the US it is already over." It now "remains to be seen whether this proves true in a trial without precedent".

 
 
Today’s crime story

Germany arrests 'saboteurs'

What happened
Two German-Russian nationals suspected of plotting sabotage attacks on US military facilities have been arrested in Germany, according to authorities. The two men, named by German media as Dieter S. and Alexander J., were detained in Bayreuth and accused of working for a foreign secret service.

Who said what
The alleged plotting was "intended to undermine the German military support to Ukraine in its war against Russia," said the German federal prosecutor's office in a statement.

The commentary
Germany is the "second largest donor of military aid to Ukraine after the US", said the BBC, earmarking some €28 billion (£24 billion) for aid since the start of Russia's invasion in 2022. It is therefore a major target for Russian spying operations, authorities have said.

What next?
The arrests follow "several Russian spy incidents" in Germany in recent years, said The Guardian. In a statement the Kremlin said it had no information on the circumstances surrounding the latest arrests.

 
 

It's not all bad

Last year marked a record-breaking period for cruises, with more than 2.28 million British and Irish travellers embarking on voyages, a significant rebound after the pandemic. At the height of Covid ships were labelled as “floating petri dishes”, but since then the industry has defied expectations. According to Andy Harmer of the Cruise Lines International Association, cruise travel has rebounded "quicker than some other types of travel". He attributes the surge in part to multi-generational trips. The Mediterranean remains the most popular destination for British and Irish passengers, with a 35% market share, followed by Northern Europe (29%) and the Caribbean (12%).

 
 
under the radar

The hunt for Planet Nine 

An elusive Earth-like planet in our solar system could finally be discovered within the next few years.

Known as Planet Nine or Planet X, it is a hypothetical planet that has long been rumoured to exist in the outer solar system. Although "several claims to have found an extra planet have been made over the years" so far "none has proven to be true", said the BBC.

But now researchers who have spent almost a decade hunting for Planet Nine believe the breakthrough could be close.

Last September astronomers in Japan detected a series of objects in the Kuiper Belt – described by the BBC as a "doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies" beyond the orbit of Neptune – that had unusually warped orbits around the Sun.

Researchers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena speculated that only a massive planet's gravitational pull could explain these "orbital anomalies", said Live Science.

Then in February scientists narrowed down the "likely hiding place" of the "elusive" planet after they "whittled away" 78% of the "hypothetical world's suspected orbital pathway", said Philip Plait in Scientific American.

There are "Planet Nine sceptics", said BBC Earth. Some experts believe "it isn’t even a planet, but a primordial black hole" and other astronomers are convinced that it is "simply natural bias in sky surveys".

"As a scientist" Plait "can't say one way or another" if the planet exists. "But as a human being I'll readily admit I want it to be out there" because "we'd learn so much about this distant region" and "it would advance our understanding of how the solar system formed and evolved over the eons".

 
 
on this day

19 April 1882

Charles Darwin dies. His 1859 book "On the Origin of Species" had revolutionised scientific knowledge, but shortly after its publication Darwin discovered a 100-year-old work by French aristocrat Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon that, he wrote in a letter to a friend, was "laughably like mine". A new book – "Every Living Thing" by Jason Roberts – shines fresh light on Buffon's findings, which date back to the 1740s.

 
 
Today’s newspapers

Rishi Sunak will challenge what he calls Britain's "sick note culture" says The Telegraph, as a record 2.8m people of working age are economically inactive because of long-term sickness. The Mirror leads on an interview with the aide who reported Tory MP Mark Menzies over his alleged misuse of campaign funds. Under-30s could benefit from an EU plan to relax visa rules, says the i paper.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Not-so-public transport

The next wave of German high-speed trains could include "cosy compartments" that can be used for "cuddles", said The Times. With two seats and frosted glass panels, designs under consideration would see train seats turn "into a personal space with significantly more privacy", said rail operator Deutsche Bahn, which noted the compartments could be used for work calls. German tabloid Bild has since run a poll asking readers for their thoughts on what the private cabins should be called, with some of the suggestions including "cuddle chamber", "wedding room" and "anti-annoyance compartment".

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Sorcha Bradley, Julia O'Driscoll and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Andy Buchanan – Pool / Getty Images; Jabin Botsford – Pool / Getty Images; Michele Tantussi / Getty Images.