Editor’s note: This page summarizes testimony in the Karen Read trial for Thursday, May 29. For the latest updates on the Karen Read retrial, visit USA TODAY’s coverage for Friday, May 30.
Prosecutors in Karen Read’s second murder trial rested their case Thursday after more than six weeks of intensive testimony from witnesses in the trial over whether the Massachusetts woman killed her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022.
Jurors over the past 23 days have heard from witnesses alleging Read said “I hit him” after John O’Keefe’s body was discovered outside the home of another cop, forensic scientists who analyzed taillight fragments from Read’s Lexus SUV at the crime scene and medical experts who said O’Keefe’s injuries were consistent with being hit by a car.
Together, prosecutors believe the testimony proves their argument that Read, 45, struck O’Keefe, 46, with her SUV in a drunken rage and left him to die in the snow outside the home of another cop after a night out drinking with friends. Read has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime.
Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury in 2024.  
Judge Beverly Cannone dismissed jurors at noon on Thursday, telling them that Read’s second trial is ahead of schedule. Cannone previously said the trial would take between six and eight weeks.
Next, Read’s defense team will have a chance to lay out their own version of events. They have long said she was framed for the murder in an elaborate conspiracy devised by Massachusetts police officers. At the heart of that theory, are allegations that O’Keefe was beaten by cops inside the home he was found near and then attacked by a dog.
Like true crime? Check out Witness: A library of true crime stories
Here are the latest updates from Day 23 of the trial.
The prosecution rested its case at about 11:30 a.m.
The trial entered its sixth week on Tuesday, May  27. 
Cannone dismissed the jury at noon on Thursday. She said the trial is ahead of schedule.
Prosecutors played a clip for the jury of an interview with Read for an ID Docuseries that aired in April 2024, in which she questions whether she ran O’Keefe over. 
“I thought, could I have run him over? Did he try to get me as I was leaving and I didn’t know it?” Read said. “I mean I’ve always got the music blasting.” 
“When I hired David Yannetti, I asked him those questions,” Read continued. “[Yannetti] said, ‘Yeah, then you have some element of culpability.” 
Prosecutor Hank Brennan took only a few minutes to question Welcher upon redirect, asking him whether he had any concerns about his analysis and data being tainted or impacted by confirmation bias.  
Welcher said he was confident the data was correct.  
Alessi then pressed Welcher about confirmation bias and the data he used to which Welcher responded: “I suspect I’ve bored these people to death already.” 
Welcher finished his testimony a few minutes before 11:30 a.m.  
Alessi trained his first line of attack for the day on Welcher’s analysis of Ring camera footage captured outside of O’Keefe’s home in Canton, Massachusetts, the morning of Jan. 30, 2022.  
The video showed Read’s Lexus SUV hitting O’Keefe’s parked Chevrolet Traverse as it backed out of the driveway. Welcher previously testified that he believed “to a high degree of engineering certainty” that the “impact did not break or crack” Read’s taillight. 
The testimony is significant because pieces of Read’s taillight were discovered near O’Keefe’s body and are a key piece of evidence the prosecution has used to connect her to the crime.  
Alessi pointed out that the Ring camera outside O’Keefe’s home had been replaced between Jan. 2022 and the time that Welcher conducted his analysis. He grilled Welcher on whether his team of engineers accounted for potential differences in the location and models of the two Ring cameras in their analysis and suggested that a difference of even a few inches could have impacted their analysis.  
Welcher said his team did not physically measure differences in the two cameras but used computer-assisted processes to adjust their analysis based on the discrepancies.  
A similar back-and-forth ensued when Alessi asked whether Welcher had the exact suspension measurement for Read’s Lexus at different points along the timeline, again arguing that a difference of a few inches could throw off the entire analysis.  
Welcher said his team based its analysis of the suspension height of the vehicle while it was in police possession and suggested that it would have been roughly the same height it was at the morning of Jan. 30, 2022. But Alessi cast doubt about whether those measurements were, telling Welcher he was missing pertinent data. 
Before the jury was allowed into the courtroom, Alessi continued arguments from Wednesday, May 28, asking Judge Beverly Cannone to allow him to cross-examine Welcher about pieces of information he received from Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joseph Paul and medical examiner Irini Scordi-Bello. Alessi argued that Welcher relied on the information in his analysis.  
Cannone rejected the arguments, prohibiting Alessi from using the line of questioning in his cross-examination. 
CourtTV has been covering the case against Read and the criminal investigation since early 2022, when O’Keefe’s body was found outside a Massachusetts home.  
You can watch CourtTV’s live feed of the Read trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings began at 10 a.m. ET. 

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Ottawa planning ‘up-front’ approval for projects deemed in the national interest  CBC
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This page reflects the news from Sean “Diddy” Combs’ trial on Thursday, May 29. For the latest updates from Diddy’s trial, read USA TODAY’s live coverage for Friday, May 30. 
This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find disturbing.
A former assistant to Sean “Diddy” Combs told the jury in his federal sex-crimes trial that he physically, emotionally and sexually abused her, and she feared the former hip-hop mogul would kill his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura Fine.
“He’s thrown things at me. He’s thrown me against the wall. He’s thrown me into a pool,” the woman, testifying using the pseudonym Mia, said. “He also sexually assaulted me.”
On the stand May 29, Mia was emotional, slow and considered in her responses. Her voice often cracked as she teared up while alleging Combs attacked her and Ventura Fine multiple times. Judge Arun Subramanian told jurors today that Mia would be using a pseudonym for the duration of the trial, and nobody was to try to take pictures of her or share her appearance in any way.
Mia’s testimony comes after Deonte Nash, a friend and stylist of Ventura Fine, said Combs tried to control all aspects of Ventura Fine’s life during their decade-long relationship. “It drove her crazy. She would cry,” Nash said.
He also alleged Diddy repeatedly beat her, including bashing her head on a bed frame.
Combs, 55, was arrested in September 2024 and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mia, who worked for Combs from 2009 to 2017, testified that he sexually assaulted her on “more than one” occasion. She spoke calmly about how it was a chaotic and toxic, but also exciting, work environment where the “highs were really high but the lows were really, really low.” 
She said her working conditions depended on Combs’ mood, alleging that the mogul threw things at her, pushed her against a wall, tossed her into a pool, used a bucket on her head and slammed her arm into a door. 
The former assistant alleged that the first time Combs sexually assaulted her was at the Plaza Hotel, when they were in New York City celebrating his 40th birthday in 2009.
Mia recalled having two shots that were affecting her much more than alcohol typically impacted her memory and balance. She said Combs approached her in a penthouse suite and sexually assaulted her, and she woke up sitting on a chair in the morning.
“I thought it would never happen again. He was so drunk. I would never tell anybody,” Mia told the court. “It was probably a huge accident. He probably wouldn’t remember that.”
In later years, Combs allegedly assaulted her several additional times, including at his Los Angeles home and on a private plane. Mia cried as she described the alleged attacks.
“Did you actually tell him no?” prosecutors asked. Mia said she felt she couldn’t tell him “no” about anything. “I couldn’t tell him ‘no’ about a sandwich,” she said.
She worried that he would “fire me and ruin my future. I knew his power and his control over me. I didn’t want to lose everything I had worked so hard for.”
After Combs’ alleged assaults, Mia explained, she had the mentality that she needed to “keep it moving.” She would continue working because “there wasn’t time to think or reflect,” and she would “act like it never happened,” she said on the stand.
Mia described the experiences as “the most traumatizing thing, the worst thing, the most shameful thing” to ever happen to her.
Combs allegedly ensured her silence by threatening to tell others, including Ventura Fine, while also claiming Mia was the initiator of these sexual acts.
She was convinced she couldn’t take her allegations to human resources at Combs’ business or the police, she said. HR staff were there to help Combs punish employees, she alleged. Her run-ins with law enforcement, in which they allegedly showed deference to Combs, convinced her that filing a police report wouldn’t go anywhere.
Mia had thought that “I was going to die” without having told anyone about the assaults.
Prosecutors asked Mia about a party at Prince’s house in 2011 or 2012. At the time, Mia and Cassie were staying at a hotel without Combs, but a friend called Ventura Fine to tell her about “an intimate” gathering at the late musician’s home.
She said they debated like teenagers about sneaking out and eventually decided to go. At the party, they danced and hung out with friends as Prince performed. But Mia saw Combs walking in, and she and Cassie “booked it,” running through the house and into the yard, she said. 
“Puff caught up to Cass and had her on the ground,” Mia said. “He started to attack her, but Prince’s security swiftly intervened.” The next day, Mia said she was told Combs was suspending her without pay because she was “being insubordinate.”
Mia choked up as she described an alleged incident where she was afraid that Combs would “kill” Ventura Fine.
She said she was with Ventura Fine and Nash at the singer’s Los Angeles apartment, helping her pack for a trip. They heard banging on the door, and a “very irate” Combs let himself in with a key and began screaming at Ventura Fine, asking if she had been drinking alcohol and saying she wasn’t answering her phone.
Combs came after Mia and Nash, acting “crazy aggressive” and asking if Ventura Fine had been drinking, Mia said. He then allegedly started attacking Ventura Fine and threw her to the ground.
Mia said she and Nash “jumped in and tried to stop it,” but Combs began attacking Nash, and Mia said she feared for the stylist’s life too. Mia jumped on Combs’ back, and he threw her off against the wall. “I realized we were in real danger,” she said.
Combs grabbed Ventura Fine, picked her up and threw her on the edge of the bed, where she hit her head, Mia testified. “I thought he was going to kill her,” she said. “She started gushing blood and ended up with a pretty big scar on her forehead.”
While Ventura Fine lay on the floor bleeding, Combs told Mia to call an assistant and say that Ventura Fine was “drunk and hit her head,” she testified. Mia said she complied because she “thought that was the only way to get her help.”
Looking back, Mia said this incident was the “first time I realized the severe danger we were actually in.”
Mia said she took the job as Combs’ assistant because she wanted to break into the entertainment industry. She previously worked as comedian Mike Myers’ assistant, but she was hired by Combs when she was about 26, she recalled.
Working for Combs quickly turned inappropriate and even controlling, Mia alleged. She recalled Combs answering the door in his underwear while she was still interviewing for her role.
Once she got the job, her work hours were so intense that she effectively moved into Combs’ Los Angeles home with him. There, she said she wasn’t allowed to leave the property without Combs’ permission. In a 2009 or 2010 incident, she alleged the rapper had his security guards follow her after she left the home to see friends.
She was also allegedly told by Combs himself that she couldn’t lock her bedroom door. “Puff said, ‘This is my house,'” and no one is allowed to lock the door except members of his security team, she said.
Later in her testimony, Mia alleged Combs flew into a rage in a 2014 incident after she went to her room to change her tampon while she was menstruating.
Combs had directed her to pick up food for him and other employees at around 2:00 a.m. She entered her room after working since 8 a.m. the previous day, and when she emerged, Combs was allegedly angry that she hadn’t received the food. She said Combs went on a “humiliating” rant before allegedly throwing a bowl of spaghetti at her head, just missing her body.
Mia recalled a trip to the festival known as Burning Man, during which she claimed Combs set up a “three plates of drugs” guessing game that involved cocaine, MDMA and ketamine.
She was “really nervous” when it was her turn because she didn’t want to take ketamine, but “Puff wouldn’t let it go.” At first joking, his tone “started to change, like I was going to mess up the whole vibe,” Mia said. When she pretended to take the ketamine, he got upset and started “humiliating” her in front of the group, eventually separating a ketamine dose for her.
She snorted it, then tried to blow it out when Combs wasn’t looking because she was “so scared” after seeing what the drug had done to others, Mia said. “I didn’t think I had a choice,” but to take it, she explained.
As an assistant, Mia’s job responsibilities also covered Combs’ alleged “freak offs.“
For the events, which she called “hotel nights,” Mia said she was on-call to bring “all (Combs’) lotions and potions” – Astroglide lubricant, baby oil, condoms and candles – as needed.
She also said she’d clean up after these alleged “freak offs” because Combs wanted to prevent hotel staff from contacting any tabloids. The state of the room would be “a nightmare; they were just destroyed” with candle wax that was “impossible to get out” and baby oil on the furniture and the walls. She also witnessed broken glass and blood, Mia alleged, noting that Combs explained the latter as menstrual blood.
Her job also entailed caring for Ventura Fine’s injuries, which included bringing her “whatever she needed,” such as arnica gel to help heal her bruises. When the wounds were “too obvious to cover up,” Ventura Fine was forced to stay at hotels, Mia said.
Mia testified that she was expected to work long hours during her employment with Combs, adding that she never received vacations, rarely got a break and often had to pull all-nighters. “There were always a million things going on,” she said. 
Mia testified that she was previously prescribed a stimulant medication that helped her deal with the lack of sleep. But near the end of one week, where she said she had to stay awake for five full days, “my hearing went underwater. My equilibrium was off. I had blurred vision.”
She said she burst into tears and began hysterically crying, at which point Combs told her to rest.
Mia told the court that – while Combs was supportive at times – she would be held responsible for any mishaps in his business, including being punished, cursed out, humiliated and berated by Combs. Combs would also insult her intelligence and threaten her job, she said.
Mia went on to say that she had to “beg” for the title of director of development at Revolt, the hip-hop media company Combs founded, after working in the industry for years. She said she initially made $70,000 a year before getting a raise to $100,000, but she said she was also promised bonuses that she never received.
Mia, one of Combs’ former assistants, took the stand after Combs’ attorneys finished questioning Nash about Cassie and Diddy’s relationship.
As Xavier Donaldson, Combs’ attorney, cross-examined Nash, he focused on Cassie and Diddy’s other romantic relationships during their on-and-off, decade-long connection.
He asked Nash about Ventura Fine shooting a movie in South Africa before the stylist jumped in and responded, “Yes, I did hook her up with Michael B. Jordan. I know where you’re going with this.”
Nash clarified that Ventura Fine was “somewhat” pursuing Jordan, and that they were “dating, talking and getting to know each other.” Nash set up Ventura Fine and Jordan with Mia’s help, he confirmed.
Donaldson also asked Nash about Ventura Fine’s relationship with former NFL linebacker Andre Branch. “Oh, the cute football player?” Nash replied.
The court was shown text messages from around that time when Ventura Fine was away in South Africa and had broken up with Combs. Ventura Fine saw a picture of Combs and a woman identified as Gina, and told Nash, “Why does he keep humiliating me and trying to ruin my career?” he recalled on the stand. 
Nash said that Ventura Fine “wasn’t pressed about Gina.” But why are Combs’ lawyers asking about these other relationships?
It’s not clear, but the attorneys have repeatedly argued Ventura Fine felt in control of her relationship with Combs and free to leave when she wanted. Ventura Fine has testified that he exerted physical, psychological and sexual abuse over her for their entire relationship.
As Combs’ lawyers continued cross-examining Nash May 29, they pointed to multiple examples of the stylist not asking Ventura Fine about the alleged abuse she was facing.
For example, in one text exchange, the lawyers pointed to Ventura Fine and Nash talking about a “secret trip” Ventura Fine was set to take, but Nash didn’t ask where she was going – or who she was traveling with. “Good friends don’t really pry,” Nash hit back.
Defense lawyers showed more text messages between the stylist and Ventura Fine, in which he encouraged her to enjoy a 2017 vacation with Combs. In 2018, Nash ended his professional relationship with the rapper, but he invited Combs to his birthday party, and they checked in on each other often.
The same year, Combs texted Nash, “Please call me. No drama, it’s important. I’m concerned. How is she?” Nash confirmed to jurors that Combs was talking about Ventura Fine in the message. In January 2019, Combs texted again, “How is she? Make sure she’s alright. If she ever needs me, call me.”
As questioning continued, Donaldson appeared intent on demonstrating the gaps in honesty in Nash and Ventura Fine’s relationship. “You deeply care for Cassie, yes?” he said, “She kept major secrets from you, correct?” Nash replied, simply, “OK.”
Nash told jurors May 28 that he frequently saw Diddy be violent with Cassie, hitting her face and giving her black eyes. He alleged Combs once beat Ventura Fine so badly in a hotel room that she had a bloody gash over her eye that required stitches.
The stylist described another violent incident in 2013 or 2014, when an angry Combs allegedly came to her Los Angeles apartment, pleading with her to speak privately. After a few minutes, they emerged from her bedroom with Combs allegedly grabbing her by the hair and jacket and pushing her halfway out the door while yelling at her to get out of her own home.
Nash said there were at least four security guards with Combs that night who initially blocked him from leaving the building, but they eventually let him drive Cassie to safety. But while Nash and Ventura Fine were in the vehicle, Combs called them and ordered them to pull over.
When he caught up, Nash said the rapper came to the car window and again threatened to release footage of Ventura Fine having sex.
Before breaking for lunch on May 28, jurors heard testimony from Nash, who worked as a stylist for Combs and Ventura Fine between 2009 and 2018. Los Angeles Police Department officer Chris Ignacio also testified about Combs’ alleged break-in at Kid Cudi’s home.
Capricorn Clark‘s testimony this week came after a slew of witnesses, including Ventura Fine‘s mother Regina Ventura, Danity Kane alum Dawn Richard and Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), appeared in court last week to share harrowing accounts of Combs’ alleged abuse.
Combs is facing federal sex-crimes and trafficking charges in a sprawling lawsuit that has eroded his status as a power player and kingmaker in the entertainment industry.
He was arrested in September 2024 and has been charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Racketeering is the participation in an illegal scheme under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute, or RICO, as a way for the U.S. government to prosecute organizations that contribute to criminal activity.
Using RICO law, which is typically aimed at targeting multi-person criminal organizations, prosecutors allege that Combs coerced victims, some of whom they say were sex workers, through intimidation and narcotics to participate in “freak offs” — sometimes dayslong sex performances that federal prosecutors allege they have video of.
The trial will not be televised, as cameras are typically not allowed in federal criminal trial proceedings.
USA TODAY will be reporting live from the courtroom. Sign up for our newsletter for more updates.
Contributing: USA TODAY staff; Reuters
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español RAINN.org/es.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788.

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A US court has ruled that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority when imposing "Liberation Day" tariffs. But an appeals court later suspended the earlier judgment.
These live updates have been closed. Thanks for reading.
Below you can read a roundup of news from the United States from Thursday, May 29, 2025:
And with those words from US President Donald Trump, we’re closing down these live updates that saw one court overturn the US leader’s sweeping tariffs, and, about 24 hours later, another court reinstate them. 
Thanks for reading. 
US President Donald Trump criticized the trade court decision that said he had overstepped his authority by setting global tariffs.
“The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY,” he wrote on Truth Social, going on to question if the legal decision came out of “purely a hatred of ‘TRUMP.'”
The over 500-word post also claimed that tariffs had brought “many Trillions of dollars” into the US economy. No current economic analysis supports this claim.
The White House downplayed questions about its report on children’s health, but edited the document Thursday after authors listed in the paper confirmed it cited studies that do not exist.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report on May 22, but authors and publishers of at least four studies listed in the original document told the AFP news agency they or their organizations were credited with papers they did not write — or that never existed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the mishaps as “formatting issues” during a press briefing Thursday.
The errors were first reported on Thursday by NOTUS, a US digital news website affiliated with the nonprofit Allbritton Journalism Institute.
Columbia University, the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics, a professor Baylor College of Medicine, and the Virginia Commonwealth University said their work was incorrectly cited in the MAHA report or that the work cited did not exist.
Kennedy has promised to bring “radical transparency” and “gold-standard” science to the public health agencies.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declined to comment, referring questions from AFP to the White House. The White House declined to address whether artificial intelligence was used to draft the report, directing questions back to HHS.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Elon Musk did “very important work” in the Trump administration, adding that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) work would continue following the billionaire’s departure.
“DOGE is not going to end with Elon,” Bessent told the Fox News Channel. “It is a way of thinking about cutting costs, and it’s also a way of thinking about making the government more productive and more efficient. So I would expect that these would be the initial savings, and they will continue from here.”
Musk announced on Tuesday that his time as a government employee had come to an end (see earlier entry).
Kenneth Genalo, the head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) removal division, and Robert Hammer, who runs ICE’s investigative arm, will be replaced, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Genalo will retire. Hammer will be reassigned, according to the department.
It has been rumored that the two were pushed out of their posts for failing to meet demands from the Trump administration that ICE triple the number of daily arrests it makes from 1,000 to 3,000.
The current number of deportations remains lower than those posted by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security denied the men had been pushed out by the White House but gave no further information.
Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, a hardline anti-immigrant figure within the US administration, reportedly railed at ICE officials last week, shouting at them over weak arrest numbers, according to White House sources.
ICE on Thursday said former Dallas field office director Marcos Charles would take over enforcement and removal operations, while Washington-based official Derek Gordon will be put in charge of investigations.
A global stock rally that kicked off earlier on Thursday when a federal judge blocked US President Donald Trump’s global tariff scheme stalled when the administration won a temporary lifting of the injunction at an appeals court.
The S&P 500 gave up more than half of its early gains at the end of trading Thursday, rising 0.4%. The Dow Jones index was up 0.3% and the NASDAQ composite was up 0.4%. That came after global stocks leapt nearly 2% in both Tokyo and Seoul. 
Uncertainty has plagued markets since Trump’s return to office, a phenomenon reflected in the latest US economic and employment data released by the Commerce and Labor Departments.
The Commerce Department projected that Q1 corporate profits in the US were down $118.1 billion (€103.8 billion), and that the economy shrank by 0.2% overall compared to Q1 2024 — the largest contraction in four years.
Those drops have led to higher US unemployment numbers, with analysts predicting more layoffs may be on the way due to the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s erratic economic and trade policies.
A federal appeals court reinstated the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs on Thursday afternoon, a day after a trade court had blocked them and ruled that the president had overstepped his authority.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit did not provide an opinion or reasoning as part of its ruling, which suspends the block on the “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed by the Court of International Trade in New York a day earlier.
The appeals court directed the plaintiffs to respond by June 5, and the Trump administration to respond by June 9.
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The White House reacted strongly rebuked a federal court’s decision to block many of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which has been seen as a setback to his trade strategy.
The White House called this ruling “blatantly wrong” on social media, expressing confidence that the decision would be overturned on appeal.
Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro also told Bloomberg Television: “Nothing’s really changed. If anybody thinks this caught the administration by surprise, think again.”
Attorneys for the Trump administration have filed an appeal against the ruling, which gave the White House 10 days to complete the process of halting affected tariffs. 
White House spokesman Kush Desai earlier said: “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.”
An initial rally in various stock markets on Thursday eased off as uncertainty continued following a court ruling related to the global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The ruling saw the stock markets in Tokyo and Seoul, which had the first chance to react, leap by almost 2%, after raising hopes in financial markets that a hamstrung Trump would not see the economy move into a recession with his desired tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the decision, saying it was “consistent with Canada’s longstanding position” that Trump’s tariffs were unlawful.
However, other US trading partners offered careful responses. The British government said the ruling was a domestic matter for the US administration and noted it was “only the first stage of legal proceedings.” 
Trump “is still able to impose significant and wide-ranging tariffs over the longer-term through other means,” according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer of global equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.
China urged the United States on Thursday to completely drop all the tariffs that it has imposed since President Donald Trump took office in January after a US federal court blocked most of them from going into effect.
“China urges the United States to heed the rational voices from the international community and domestic stakeholders and fully cancel the wrongful unilateral tariff measures,” Commerce Ministry spokeswoman He Yongqian told a news conference. 
China has been a major target of US tariffs, with Trump recently raising them to 145% before pulling them back to 30% for 90 days of negotiation.
Most economists have said the sweeping levies ordered by Trump would be unlikely to produce the positive effects for the US economy that he has promised.
Beijing has condemned the US decision, announced on Wednesday, to revoke the visas of Chinese students.
“The US has unreasonably canceled Chinese students’ visas under the pretext of ideology and national rights,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said. “China firmly opposes this and has lodged representations with the US.”
Mao went on to say that the decision had “seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students and disrupted the normal cultural exchanges between the two countries.”
“This political and discriminatory practice of the US has exposed the lies of the so-called freedom and openness that the US has always advertised, and further damaged the US’s own international image, national image and national credibility,” she said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday evening that visas for Chinese students would be “aggressively” revoked and future visa applications from China and Hong Kong subjected to enhanced scrutiny.
Chinese students are one of the largest sources of revenue for US universities, and make up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States. Only India has a larger student contingent in the US.
The visa move seems in line with the Trump administration’s seemingly hostile attitude to US institutes of higher learning, which  it apparently sees as bastions of a liberal ideology that is at odds with its own agenda. 
The court ruling has invalidated with immediate effect all of the orders on tariffs given by Trump since January that took the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as a justification.
Among other things, it applies to the sweeping import duties on most trading partners that Trump announced on April 2, which included tariffs at a baseline of 10% in addition to higher levies on dozens of economies, including China and the European Union.
Separate duties imposed by Trump on Canada, Mexico and China under the IEEPA have also been ruled invalid.
But US tariffs imposed on automobiles, steel and aluminum remain unaffected, as they were issued under a different statute.
There’s still uncertainty about what will happen next as the Trump adminstration, while already engaging in trade talks over the planned tariffs, lodges an appeal. 
“TACO trade” — with the acronym standing for “Trump Always Chickens Out” — is the term coined by Robert Armstrong from The Financial Times to denote US President Donald Trump‘s tactic of setting high tariff rates, then pulling back.
The term has reportedly spread on Wall Street, as investors and traders learned not to react quickly to his decisions, but rather wait and see if he walks back on them.
As could be expected, Trump himself is not pleased by the term, calling a reporter’s question as to whether he was indeed chickening out “nasty.”
“It’s called negotiation; you set a number,” Trump said.
Among other things, the president defended raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% before reducing them to 30% for 90 days to allow negotiations.
Trump claimed that his strategy has led to $14 billion (€12.4 billion) in new investment in the US, a figure that no economic data has so far fully substantiated.
“Don’t ever say what you said!” Trump told the reporter who asked him on Wednesday if TACO was a good description of his trade policy.
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US President Donald Trump’s administration has canceled $766 million (€681 million) awarded to drugmaker Moderna Inc to develop an mRNA vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including the avian flu strain H5N1, the company said.
The cancelation is the latest anti-vaccine move by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long promoted misinformation about immunization and particulary mRNA vaccines, which were key to the fight against COVID-19.
The development by Moderna of a vaccine against H5N1 comes as experts warn that the strain, which has been circulating among birds and cattle, could jump to humans and trigger another pandemic.
As Moderna announced the cancelation of the federal funding, it also announced positive results from an early-stage clinical trial of the vaccine.
“While the termination of funding from HHS [Health and Human Services Department] adds uncertainty, we are pleased by the robust immune response and safety profile observed in this interim analysis of the Phase 1/2 study of our H5 avian flu vaccine, and we will explore alternative paths forward for the program,” said CEO Stephane Bancel in a statement. 
“These clinical data in pandemic influenza underscore the critical role mRNA technology has played as a countermeasure to emerging health threats,” he said.
During his first term in office, Trump backed the so-called Operation Warp Speed, a private-public partnership that aimed to facilitate the fast development of COVID-19 vaccines, among them the mRNA vaccines that Kennedy regards with suspicion.
Harvard University is due to hold its annual graduation ceremony Thursday as the storied Ivy League institute continues to contend with the punitive measures taken against itby President Donald Trump.
Dr. Abraham Verghese, a bestselling author and Stanford expert on infectious diseases, will be the principal speaker at what will be the university’s 374th commencement.
On Wednesday,  basketball star and human rights campaigner Kareem Abdul-Jabbar addressed the class of 2025 for Class Day, praising the university’s president, Alan Garber, for taking a stand against Trump.
“When a tyrannical administration tried to bully and threaten Harvard to give up their academic freedom and destroy free speech, Dr. Alan Garber rejected the illegal and immoral pressures the way Rosa Parks declined,” he said to applause.
Rosa Parks was a Black activist whose refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955 triggered a boycott that ultimately led to the desegregation of the city’s public transit services, which is seen as a watershed moment in the US civil rights movement.
Since taking office, Trump has sought to ban the university from having foreign students, canceled its contracts with the federal government and slashed grants worth millions of dollars, while accusing it of antisemitism and liberal bias.
All the measures are being challenged in court.
Harvard was founded in 1636, making it a century and a half older than the US itself.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the commencement speech at Harvard in 2019.

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Ford government reacts to latest U.S. tariff twist, vowing to protect Ontario workers  CBC
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A severe thunderstorm warning was issued Thursday night for a swath of northern Alberta that includes Edmonton, cautioning of destructive, high winds on the way.
At 7:23 p.m., Environment Canada said its meteorologists were tracking a very dangerous thunderstorm capable of producing destructive wind gusts.
“Extreme wind gusts to 130 km/h have developed ahead of thunderstorms to the west of the area,” Environment Canada said.
“There is a risk of life-threatening injury.”
An update at 8 p.m. said the cold front of winds extends from Athabasca to Bashaw, moving to the east at 60 km/h. In some segments of this line, wind gusts could exceed 120 km/h.
“These winds will be well in advance of storms and could arrive with little warning.”
Take immediate cover if a thunderstorm approaches, the national weather agency said.
Driving conditions may be difficult. Utility outages are possible.
Strong wind gusts can damage trees, buildings and overturn vehicles.
If outside, protect yourself from flying debris and hail. If you hear roaring wind, see a funnel cloud, flying debris, or any threatening weather approaching, take shelter immediately.
Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are expected to produce damaging hail, wind or rain.
To report severe weather to Environment Canada, send an email to ABstorm@ec.gc.ca, call 1-800-239-0484 or post reports on X using #ABStorm.
— This is a breaking news story. More to come…
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