Morning! We’re The Neutral, your one stop shop for news without an agenda. Today we’re covering a jailed journalist, the Trump indictment, and much more. First time reader? Sign up here!

Business

*Virgin Orbit implodes. Virgin Orbit laid off 85% of its staff on Thursday and will cease operations for the foreseeable future. The company made a last ditch effort to raise capital, but came up empty leaving it no choice but to shut down. Majority owner Richard Branson was unwilling to dump more money into the company after its last launch failed mid flight and crashed into the ocean. 40% of the stock was sold off after the announcement and is down 80% this year.

Politics

Donald Trump’s indictment makes history. On Thursday, Trump was indicted over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He is the first President to be criminally indicted. Who’s taking bets on whether he will try to spin the charges into a new campaign slogan? Trump maintains that he didn’t have an affair with Daniels and simply paid her off to keep quiet about…. 🤷 

Is he going to jail? Manhattan's District Attorney Alvin Bragg has contacted Trump’s lawyers to coordinate his surrender and he is expected to turn himself in next week. However, there won’t be any jail time involved. An indictment is the first step in a criminal case, which can stretch out for years. Rest assured Trump’s legal team will throw as many wrenches in the judicial gears as possible.

World

*U.S. news correspondent, Evan Gershkovich, was arrested in Russia on Thursday and charged with espionage. After being arrested he was brought to Moscow where the court ordered him to stay in a pre-trial detention center until May 29. He has been working in Russia for The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for over a year.

What happened? Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested Gershkovich for “suspected spying in the interests of the American government” to gather information on “one of the enterprises of Russia's military-industrial complex.” This arrest came after he wrote an article for the WSJ detailing Russia's economic issues.

What’s being done? The WSJ is backing their man by denying the allegations from the FSB and have demanded an immediate release. Russia said it would grant Gershkovich access to legal counsel, but his lawyer wasn’t allowed into the hearing or permitted to view the official charges. A prisoner swap isn’t on the table yet because there hasn’t been a conviction, so he’s going to have to sit tight for now.

Big picture: An espionage conviction comes with a twenty-year prison sentence in Russia. U.S. officials are urging American citizens living or traveling in Russia to leave the country immediately.

Extras

*Real life Free Willy. Tokitae, the orca, will be returned to the Pacific Ocean after 50 years in captivity.

**Gwyneth Paltrow is found not at fault in ski accident.

***Scientists may have found a supermassive black hole that can fit 30 billion suns.