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US vice president Kamala Harris called for Congress to pass an act prompted by George Floyd’s death that would limit immunity for police officers at the funeral of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.

After being invited to the pulpit by Rev Al Sharpton, she urged the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to be passed, saying: “We should not delay, we should not be denied – it is non-negotiable.”

Quoting religious scripture, she said: “Let our memory of Tyre shine a light on the path towards peace and justice.”

Ms Harris also praised the “courage and strength” of Tyre Nichols’s family at the 29-year-old’s funeral.

“We mourn with you and the people of this country mourn with you.

“Mothers around the world when their babies are born pray to God when they hold that child that that body and that life will be safe for the rest of his life.

“Yet we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today.

“They have a grandson who now does not have a father. His brothers and sister will lose the love of growing old with their baby brother.

“When we look at this situation, this is a family who lost their son and their brother through an act of violence at the hands and the feet of people who had been charged with keeping them safe,” she said.

“When I think of the courage and the strength of this family, I think it demands that we speak truth. This violence act was not in pursuit of public safety, it was not in the interest of keeping the public safe.

“Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?”

She earlier offered her condolences to the family of Tyre Nichols who died three days after being beaten by police.

Celebrated civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton also called for the George Floyd Act to be passed and criticised the police officers who beat Tyre Nichols.

Recalling the death of Martin Luther King in Memphis 55 years ago when he was campaigning for the rights of black workers, he asked: “In the city that they slayed the dreamer, what has happened to the dream?”

“Five black men who wouldn’t have had a job in the police department, would not ever be thought of to be in an elite squad in the city that Dr King lost his life, not far away from that balcony, you beat a brother to death.

“There’s nothing more insulting and offensive. You didn’t get on a police department by yourself, the police chief didn’t get there by herself. People had to march and go to jail and some lost their lives to open the doors for you.

“How dare you act like that sacrifice was for nothing,” he said.

The families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who were killed by police officers in 2020, are among hundreds of mourners in the church.

Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton is delivering the eulogy.

Photographs taken by Mr Nichols, as well as images of him as a child and doing his beloved hobby of skateboarding were shown to mourners along with a quote attributed to the 29-year-old: “My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eye and out through my lens.”

The ceremony is taking place in Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis with the church’s celebration choir singing a chorus of “we love you Tyre” as mourners entered the church.

Mr Nichols’s black coffin was draped with a white bouquet of flowers and a painting of Martin Luther King placed beside it.

Tiffany Randal, mother of 29-year-old Jalen Randle who was shot by a police officer in Houston in 2022, dedicated a song to Mr Nichols’s family, saying: “I pray that God heals your broken heart. We are fighting together.

“All the mothers all over the world need to come together and stop all of this,” she said.

Mr Nichols, 29, was aggressively punched, kicked and hit with a baton by several Memphis police officers after he was pulled over in a traffic stop on 7 January.

Five police officers have so far been charged with second-degree murder and fired while two other officers were suspended from duty.

Memphis Fire Department also fired three staff members after an investigation found Mr Nichols was left without medical attention for almost 15 minutes after the assault.

Protests have also taken place in several US cities after the footage of the attack was released.

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Trump pauses higher tariffs for most countries for 90 days – but increases those on China to 125%

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Asianmarkets bounce back after Trump pauses higher tariffs for most countries - despite increasing those on China to 125%

Donald Trump has paused his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on most of America’s trading partners for 90 days – while increasing those on China to 125%.

There have been fears of a global recession and stock markets around the world had plummeted after Mr Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday 2 April.

However, the S&P 500 stock index jumped 9.5% and global markets bounced back following Mr Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that the increased tariffs on nearly all trading partners would now be paused.

Tariffs latest: Trump gives reasons for pausing some tariffs

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said the “90-day pause” was for the “more than 75 countries” who had not retaliated against his tariffs “in any way”.

He added that during this period they would still have to pay a “substantially lowered” 10% tariff, which is “effective immediately”.

It is lower than the 20% tariff that Mr Trump had set for goods from the European Union, 24% on imports from Japan and 25% on products from South Korea.

The UK was already going to face a blanket 10% tariff under the new system.

Mr Trump said the increased 125% tariff on imported goods from China was “effective immediately”.

He added: “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the USA, and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”

What’s in Trump’s tariff pause?

Here’s what Donald Trump’s tariff pause entails:

‘Reciprocal’ tariffs on hold

• Higher tariffs that took effect today on 57 trading partners will be paused for 90 days

• These include the EU, Japan and South Korea, all of which will face a baseline 10% duty instead

• Countries that already had a 10% levy imposed since last week – such as the UK – aren’t affected by the pause

China tariffs increased

• Trump imposed a higher 125% tariff on China

• That’s in addition to levies he imposed during his first term

• China had hit the US with 84% tariff earlier today, following tit-for-tat escalations

No change for Canada or Mexico

• Canadian and Mexican goods will remain subject to 25% fentanyl-related tariffs if they don’t comply with the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement’s rules of origin

• Compliant goods are exempt

Car and metal tariffs remain

• Trump’s pause doesn’t apply to the 25% tariffs he levied on steel and aluminium in March and on cars (autos) on 3 April

• This 25% tariff on car parts does not come into effect until 3 May

Sectors at risk

• Copper, lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals are expected to be subject to separate tariffs, in the same way autos are

Hours after Mr Trump announced the pause on tariffs for most countries, a White House official clarified that this did not apply to the 25% duties imposed on some US imports from Mexico and Canada.

The tariffs were first announced in February and Mexico and Canada were not included in the “Liberation Day” announcements.

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Donald Trump says China ‘wants to make a deal’

Hours before the 125% tariff on China was revealed, Beijing said it was increasing tariffs on US goods by 50%.

It meant tariffs of 84% would be enforced on US goods – up from the 34% China had previously planned.

Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Mr Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters

China ‘want to make a deal’

Asked why he posted “BE COOL” on Truth Social hours before announcing his tariff pause, Mr Trump told reporters at the White House: “I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line.”

“They were getting yippy, you know, were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid,” he added.

Mr Trump continued: “China wants to make a deal, they just don’t know how to go about it.

“[They’re] quite the proud people, and President Xi is a proud man. I know him very well, and they don’t know quite how to go about it, but they’ll figure it out.

“They’re in the process of figuring out, but they want to make a deal.”

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the walk back was part of a grand negotiating strategy by Mr Trump.

“President Trump created maximum negotiating leverage for himself,” she said, adding that the news media “clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here”.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also insisted Mr Trump had strengthened his hand through his tariffs.

“President Trump created maximum negotiating leverage for himself,” he said.

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Mr Bessent said Mr Trump decided to raise tariffs on China because Beijing hadn’t reached out to the US and instead increased its own levies on US goods.

Downing Street said that the UK will “coolly and calmly” continue its negotiations with the US.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “A trade war is in nobody’s interests. We don’t want any tariffs at all, so for jobs and livelihoods across the UK, we will coolly and calmly continue to negotiate in Britain’s interests.”

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Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre leaves hospital after saying she had ‘four days to live’ following car crash

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Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre leaves hospital after saying she had 'four days to live' following car crash

Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre has reportedly left hospital after recently saying she had “four days to live”.

Her representative said she was discharged on Monday, according to US celebrity website People.

Photos in Australian media on Wednesday are said to show Ms Giuffre being driven in a vehicle north of Perth.

The 41-year-old appeared with a bruised face last week when she posted an Instagram video saying her car had been hit by a speeding school bus as she slowed for a turn.

She said: “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.

“I’m ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time…”

Police said they had received a report of a “minor crash” between a school bus and a car in Neergabby, about 12 miles from Perth, on 24 March.

More on Australia

“The collision was reported by the bus driver the following day,” said a spokeswoman. “There were no reported injuries as a result of the crash.”

A few days after the Instagram video, it emerged Ms Giuffre had been charged with allegedly breaching a family violence restraining order.

Ms Giuffre is reported to have separated from her husband.

The case was due back in court today (9 April).

File pic: AP
Image:
Ms Giuffre reached a settlement with the duke in 2022. File pic: AP

Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.

In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.

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What China could do next as Trump’s tariff war ramps up

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What China could do next as Trump's tariff war ramps up

The severity cannot be overstated, if an additional 50% tariffs are levied on all Chinese goods it will decimate trade between the world’s two biggest economies.

Remember, 50% would sit on top of what is already on the table: 34% announced last week, 20% announced at the start of US President Donald Trump’s term, and some additional tariffs left over from his first term in office.

In total, it means all Chinese goods would face tariffs of over 100%, some as high as 120%.

It’s a price that makes any trade almost impossible.

China is really the only nation in the world at the moment that is choosing to take a stand.

While others are publicly making concessions and sending delegations to negotiate, China has clearly calculated that not being seen to be bullied is worth the cost that retaliation will bring.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

The real question, though, is if the US does indeed impose this extra 50% tomorrow, what could or would China do next?

It has said it will “fight to the end”, but what does that mean?

In reality, there are few good options.

There are some obvious measures that China will almost certainly enact.

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Further export controls on rare earth minerals (crucial for the development of high-tech products) are one example. China controls a huge proportion of the world’s supply, but the US would likely find workarounds in time.

Hiking tariffs on high-impact US products such as agricultural goods is another option, but there is only so far this could go.

The potentially more impactful options have significant drawbacks for Beijing.

It could, for instance, target high-profile American companies such as Apple and Tesla, but this isn’t ideal at a time when China is trying to attract more foreign investment, and some devaluation of the currency is possible, but it would also come with adverse effects.

Other options are more political and come with the risk of escalation beyond the economic arena.

In an opinion piece this morning, the editor of Xinhua, China’s state news agency, speculated that China could cease all cooperation with the US on the war against fentanyl.

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This has been a major political issue for Mr Trump, and it’s hard to see it would not constitute some sort of red line for him.

Other options touted include banning the import of American films, or perhaps calling for the Chinese public to boycott all American products.

Anything like this comes with a sense that the world’s two most powerful superpowers might be teetering on the edge of not just a total economic decoupling, but cultural separation too.

There is understandably serious nervousness about how that could spiral and the precedent it sets.

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