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(NEW YORK) — Consumer sentiment improved more than expected in June, indicating a swell of optimism as President Donald Trump rolled back some tariffs in recent weeks.

The resurgence of shopper attitudes ended six consecutive months of worsening sentiment, University of Michigan survey data on Friday showed. Before the uptick, consumer sentiment had fallen near its lowest level since a bout of inflation three years ago.

Year-ahead inflation expectations, meanwhile, dropped sharply from 6.6% last month to 5.1% in June, the data showed. The anticipated inflation level would still mark a major increase from the current year-over-year inflation of 2.4%.

The improvement of sentiment was reflected across all demographics, including age, income, wealth, political party and geographic region, Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

In recent weeks, Trump has dialed back some of his steepest tariffs, easing the costs imposed upon importers. Such companies typically pass along a share of the higher tax burden in the form of price hikes.

A trade agreement between the U.S. and China slashed tit-for-tat tariffs between the world’s two largest economies and triggered a surge in the stock market. Within days, Wall Street firms softened their forecasts of a downturn.

The U.S.-China accord came weeks after the White House paused a large swath of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs targeting dozens of countries. Trump also eased sector-specific tariffs targeting autos and rolled back duties on some goods from Mexico and Canada.

Still, an across-the-board 10% tariff applies to nearly all imports, except for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and some other items. Those tariffs stand in legal limbo, however, after a pair of federal court rulings late last month.

Tariffs remain in place for steel, aluminum and autos, as well as some goods from Canada and Mexico.

Fresh inflation data this week showed a slight acceleration of price increases, but inflation remains near its lowest level since 2021. So far, the economy has defied fears of price hikes, instead giving way to a cooldown of inflation over the months since Trump took office.

Warning signs point to the possibility of elevated prices over the coming months, however.

Nationwide retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have voiced alarm about the possibility they may raise prices as a result of the levies.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, said this month it expects U.S. inflation to reach 4% by the end of 2025, which would mark a sharp increase from current levels.

Federal Chair Jerome Powell, in recent months, has warned about the possibility that tariffs may cause what economists call “stagflation,” which is when inflation rises and the economy slows.

Stagflation could put the central bank in a difficult position. If the Fed were to raise interest rates, it could help ease inflation, but it may risk an economic downturn. If the Fed were to cut rates in an effort to spur economic growth, the move could unleash faster price increases.

For now, the Fed appears willing to take a wait-and-see approach. At its last meeting, in May, the Fed opted to hold interest rates steady for the second consecutive time.

The Fed will announce its next rate decision on June 18. Investors peg the chances of a decision to leave rates unchanged at 99.9%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, a measure of market sentiment.

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(DEDHAM, Mass.) — With closing arguments now underway, the second sensational trial of Karen Read — accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in 2022 — is nearing a close.

Prosecutors allege Read hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her car outside the home of fellow police officer Brian Albert in January 2022 and then left him to die there during a major blizzard.

The defense has argued Read’s vehicle did not hit O’Keefe and instead said O’Keefe was attacked by a dog and beaten by other people who were in the house before he was thrown out in the snow to die.

Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial last July after the jury could not reach a verdict.

At least four jurors who served on her first trial last year have confirmed that she was found not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving a scene of personal injury and death, according to Read’s attorneys. However, the jury could not come to an agreement on a third charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, the attorneys said.

Her lawyers filed multiple appeals, all the way to the Supreme Court, claiming Read should not be retried on the counts the jury apparently agreed on, saying it would amount to double jeopardy. Each appeal was denied.

Read has pleaded not guilty to all three charges and maintains her innocence.

Here are top takeaways from the trial as the jury is about to receive the case:

Former state police officer not called to testify in 2nd trial

The lead investigator in the case, former Massachusetts State Police officer Michael Proctor — who was a key witness in Read’s first trial — was not called to the stand in her retrial.

Damning testimony in her first trial led to the suspension and later firing of Proctor last July. Two other state troopers were also subject to internal affairs investigations after her first trial.

It was revealed that Proctor was communicating with Canton police officer Kevin Albert — the brother of the man who hosted the gathering where O’Keefe was found dead — during the investigation ahead of Read’s first trial.

Proctor also sent text messages that described Read in lewd and defamatory manner, as revealed during the first trial.

At one point during the first trial, attorneys for Read questioned Proctor about searching for nude photos on Read’s phone.

Judge denied 1st motion for mistrial

Read’s attorneys made motions for a mistrial twice during her second criminal trial, both of which were denied by the judge.

The first motion came after prosecutors questioned a defense expert witness about whether there was evidence of dog DNA on O’Keefe’s sweater from the night of the murder. The defense’s witness had argued marks on O’Keefe’s arm were evidence of a dog attack.

The sweatshirt had — up to this point in trial — not been presented to this jury. The jury was removed from the room as attorneys made arguments to the judge.

Defense attorneys for Read argued that prosecutors could not mention DNA in this trial since it had not been mentioned so far. Prosecutors said they had always planned to introduce DNA evidence on rebuttal.

The defense also questioned the credibility of the report that determined there was no dog DNA and questioned why there was no swabbing of the wounds on O’Keefe’s arm for DNA. They also had a series of concerns about the chain of custody of the sweater.

Prosecutors admit to making a mistake over O’Keefe sweater, mistrial motion denied

In an explosive moment during the trial, defense attorney Robert Alessi claimed prosecutor Hank Brennan pulled a “stunt” in his cross-examination of Dr. Daniel Wolfe. Brennan had shown Wolfe the back of O’Keefe’s sweatshirt, and asked him if the holes in the back of the sweatshirt could be related to the alleged killing.

Alessi said the holes had been made by the prosecutor’s witness, criminologist Maureen Hartnett.

Alessi said the defense had “no idea” that Brennan was going to do this, claiming it was an intentional “stunt” to mislead the jury into believing the holes were caused by Read allegedly hitting O’Keefe with her car.

Brennan addressed the court and admitted he had made a mistake by presenting the hoodie as he did.

However, Judge Beverly Cannone denied the motion for mistrial. but did instruct the jury to disregard Brennan’s line of questioning, and will allow the exhibits presented by Alessi into evidence.

Karen Read does not take the stand

Like her first trial, Read did not take the stand in her own defense.

Read’s defense rested after its last witness on Wednesday and prosecutors did not call any rebuttal witnesses.

“I am not testifying. The case is — it’s our last witness. [The jury] has heard my interview clips. They’ve heard my voice,” Read said to reporters outside the courthouse last week, according to Boson ABC affiliate WCVB. “They’ve heard a lot of me.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty Friday to human smuggling charges, one week after he was brought back to the Unites States from detention in El Salvador.

The 29-year-old has been the subject of a prolonged legal battle since he was deported in March to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison — despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution — after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which his family and attorneys deny.

The Trump administration, after arguing for nearly two months that it was unable to being him back, returned him the U.S. last week to face a two-count indictment alleging that, while living with his wife and children in Maryland, he participated in a yearslong conspiracy to haul undocumented migrants from Texas to the interior of the country.

Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy involved the domestic transport of thousands of noncitizens from Mexico and Central America, including some children, in exchange for thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors have also asked the judge in the case, Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, to schedule a pre-trial detention hearing in order to determine if Abrego Garcia should continue to be held in custody pending trial. Judge Holmes is expected to consider that motion on Friday.

In a court filing on Monday, prosecutors acknowledged that Abrego Garcia would almost certainly be immediately taken in custody by ICE if Judge Holmes were to deny their motion for pre-trial detention — but they asked the court to consider, for the sake of argument, the possibility that he “would have an enormous reason to flee” if he were not immediately detained by ICE.

They also argued that Abrego-Garcia’s alleged MS-13 ties put him at risk of attempting to obstruct justice or intimidate potential witnesses against him, including his alleged co-conspirators.

“The United States would submit that at least one co-conspirator has described that the Defendant has previously used his membership in MS-13 not just to facilitate his illegal activity in the smuggling conspiracy but also to intimidate others in the conspiracy who attempted to confront him about the treatment of female smuggling victims and his smuggling of firearms and drugs which added to the conspiracy’s risk of detection and were not a goal of the overall conspiracy,” the government’s filing said.

In response, attorneys for Abrego Garcia said in a filing Wednesday that the Trump administration’s arguments for a detention hearing are meritless.

“It should also come as no surprise that the government has not cited a single case holding that a generic alien-smuggling charge provides grounds for a detention hearing,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said. “This case should not be the first.”

Abrego Garcia’s attorneys also argued in the filing that their client is not a flight risk, and said that the government “points to zero facts” suggesting Abrego Garcia has a history of evading arrest, has any prior restrictions, or has “systematically engaged in international travel in the recent past.”

The attorneys also argued that there is no “serious risk” Abrego Garcia will obstruct justice, arguing that the government’s “baseless gang-affiliation allegations” do not support a finding that he poses a “serious risk” of obstructive behavior.

“[The] government is not entitled to seek detention in this case, Mr. Abrego Garcia respectfully asks the Court to deny the government’s motion for detention,” the attorneys said.

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(NEW YORK) — Levels of the harmful toxin microcystin have been detected in Lake Erie weeks earlier than usual, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Microcystin is a group of toxins produced by cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They are the most common cyanobacterial toxins and can be found inside algal cells. They can also accumulate in common marine life, such as zooplankton, mussels, and fish.

At certain levels, microcystin toxins produced by certain types of freshwater blue-green algae can pose health risks to people and pets, NOAA said in a release on Friday. They primarily affect the liver but can impact the kidneys and reproductive systems as well, according to the EPA.

The presence of microcystin may also prompt additional treatment at public drinking water systems, according to NOAA.

Microcystin is detected every year at Lake Erie, but the early measurements of the toxin could impact recreation and drinking water as the summer months continue, according to NOAA. 

Water samples taken from western Lake Erie on April 28 by NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab (GLERL), is the earliest the toxin has been detected in Lake Erie.

The levels at which the toxin was detected — levels of 0.12 parts per billion of microcystin — are not high enough to trigger treatment measures at nearby drinking water facilities or prompt warnings against swimming or taking pets into the lake, said Reagan Errera, a research ecologist at GLERL in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

However, the early detection could pose problems later in the summer when concentrations are anticipated to rise to above advisory levels for drinking water — at 1.6 parts per billion — and recreation, at 8 parts per billion, according to NOAA.

Since 2008, toxin levels have exceeded advisory levels for drinking water and recreation in some areas of Lake Erie. Over the last seven years, researchers have seen the toxic period of the harmful algal bloom starting 10 days earlier, Errera said.

The lab begins routine monthly testing of Lake Erie in late April and increases the sampling frequency to weekly in June, according to NOAA. The sampling continues through October.

There are eight sites within that have historically seen harmful algal blooms, according to NOAA. The GLERL also tests five sites bi-weekly in Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron.

The testing involves taking samples by boat and testing for 19 water quality parameters, which include cyanobacteria toxins, according to NOAA.

“Early detection of toxins provides drinking water facilities, water managers, and the public more time to make informed decisions regarding the health risk associated with harmful algal bloom events,” Errera said.

It is unclear whether the toxin originated in Lake Erie or the nearby Maumee River, which runs from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie, according to NOAA.

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(NEWARK, N.J.) — Four detainees at an immigration detention center in New Jersey remain unaccounted for on Friday, according to law enforcement officials, following what the city’s mayor referred to as an “uprising” at the facility.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — A federal appeals court on Friday declined to rehear President Trump’s challenge to a $5 million civil judgment after a jury found him liable in 2023 for the battery and defamation of the writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.

A jury in Manhattan federal court found in 2023 that Trump attacked Carroll in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s and later defamed her when he denied her claim.

Trump had sought a hearing before the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit after a three-judge panel declined to overturn the judgment.

A divided court left intact the decision upholding the jury’s damage award.

The appellate court denial of an en banc hearing came without explanation, as is common.

In a concurring opinion, three judges said they found “no manifest error by the district court” that would warrant additional review.

In dissent, Judge Steven Menashi, a Trump appointee, said the district court should have allowed the defense to present evidence that Trump believed Carroll’s lawsuit “had been concocted by his political opposition — and therefore that he was not speaking with actual malice.”

In a statement responding to Friday’s decision, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said, “E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today’s decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation.”

Trump is also appealing a separate defamation award of $83 million to Carroll.

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