Good afternoon,

Do you shower in the morning or at night? Microbiologist Dr. Primrose Freestone says there actually is a right time to shower — and that is in the morning.

• According to Freestone's research, morning showers can help rinse off dead skin cells that your body sheds and the sweat it produces overnight.

• But the Mo News team disagrees. Maybe it’s because most of us live (or have lived) in bustling (and dirty) cities, but the idea of going to bed without washing the day off just seems 😷.

  • The Mo News audience on IG was very split:

My ideal situation is showering after an AM workout and taking a PM bath… Better yet, start your morning with a shower 🚿, and a listen to the Mo News podcast 🎧️, then read this newsletter in the bath 🛀. You know, the Mo News cycle 😉 

Lauren,
Producer

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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

U.S. Targets Chinese Students In Visa Crackdown Over Security Concerns

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the U.S. will “aggressively revoke” Chinese students’ visas, focusing on those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or studying in “critical fields.”

While the move would be a major escalation — it is not entirely surprising. Intelligence officials across administrations have warned that campuses are increasingly vulnerable to espionage, especially from China, which has laws requiring citizens to aid state intelligence efforts.” The Trump administration has targeted foreign students’ visas, over perceived risks to American universities and culture.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
Roughly 275,000 Chinese students in total studied in the U.S. last year, down from a 2019 peak of 370,000. Chinese students are the second largest foreign student population in the U.S., behind students from India.

• Rubio didn’t clarify what those “critical fields” would be, but more than 110,000 Chinese students at U.S. universities are studying math, engineering or science and technology-related fields.

• He also didn’t make clear how students’ connections to the Chinese Communist Party would be established.

  • About 100 million people in total belong to the Chinese Communist Party. Some Chinese citizens join the party to gain social and economic advantages, rather than out of political loyalty.

Critics of the move to crackdown on Chinese students say it could hurt U.S. universities that depend on foreign students for revenue and say it could lead to racial profiling. During the last school year, international students contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy and supported nearly 400,000 jobs.

CHINA’S TIES
Intelligence officials across administrations have warned that campuses are increasingly vulnerable to espionage, especially from China, which has laws requiring citizens to aid state intelligence efforts. China’s Ministry of State Security is the world’s largest and most active spy agency. Its main target is Chinese citizens, including those living abroad, followed by the U.S.

• Many top CCP officials have sent their children to U.S. universities in recent decades. President Xi Jinping’s daughter, Xi Mingze, attended Harvard under a pseudonym in 2010. In 1985, Xi himself took a research trip to Iowa as a young student.

  • China disproportionately sends students to the U.S. when compared to American students studying in China.

• In the U.S., intelligence officials have been warning for years about the risk campuses pose to national security.

  • Former FBI Director Christopher Wray in 2020 said, China is “exploiting our open academic environment for research and development.”

  • Bill Evanina, a former Counterintelligence Director, testified in 2023 that China “continues to utilize ‘non-traditional’ collectors... [who] oftentimes become unwitting tools for the CCP and its intelligence apparatus.”

Curious about how espionage operations manifest on campus? Earlier this month, the Stanford Review published a piece alleging that CCP operatives are actively recruiting students on campus.

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT TOPIC WE’RE FOLLOWING

U.S. Moms Report Worsening Mental And Physical Health

A new study finds an increasing number of mothers in the U.S. are facing mental and physical health challenges. The study was published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine. It surveyed nearly 200,000 U.S. mothers from 2016 to 2023.

• By the numbers: The findings reveal a significant decline in maternal mental health, with only about 26% of mothers reporting “excellent” mental health in 2023, compared to 38% in 2016.

  • Meanwhile, the percentage of mothers rating their mental health as merely “good” increased from 19% to 26%, and those describing it as “fair” or “poor” rose from 6% to 9%.

• Physical health ratings also declined, with “excellent” physical health falling from 28% to 24%.

The study also examined fathers during the same period. While their health scores also declined, they consistently reported higher scores than those of mothers.

WHAT’S GOING ON?
The study’s author Jamie Daw, an assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said that while the pandemic may have worsened trends, “these declines originated before the pandemic.” The findings also align with documented increases in depression and anxiety among the general U.S. adult population.

• Contributing factors to mothers’ worsening health may include limited access to mental health care, social isolation, rising substance use, inflation, racism, gun violence, and climate change.

  • From 2020 to 2024 alone, childcare costs rose 29%, with more than 40% of American families struggling to find affordable options.

• Researchers noted that declines were seen across all socioeconomic groups, but were steepest among single, low-income, and publicly insured mothers.

These findings have renewed concerns about maternal health, particularly the need for ongoing support beyond the immediate postpartum period as kids grow and get older.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Appeals court pauses ruling that blocked Trump’s tariffs (CNN)

📌 Elon Musk officially leaves the White House (NBC)

📌 Trump issues series of pardons for politicians, a union leader and a rapper (AP)

📌 FBI leaders dismiss conspiracy theories; all evidence shows Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide (MO NEWS)

📌 Judge to block Trump admin’s Harvard foreign students ban (FOX)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Israel accepts new U.S. proposal for ceasefire with Hamas (CNN)

📌 With Israeli intel, Lebanon is dismantling Hezbollah in the south (WSJ)

📌 Gaza Humanitarian Foundation denies five killed at aid distribution site (J-POST)

📌 A Swiss village is buried after a glacier collapses in the Alps (NPR)

📌 Copenhagen named the happiest city in the world (CNBC)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 HHS cancels $590 million contract with Moderna for bird flu vaccine (CNN)

📌 FDA chief says pregnant women should decide on COVID vaccine with doctors (NBC)

📌 China's biotech boom leaves U.S. playing catch-up (AXIOS)

📌 Best Buy cuts profit outlook due to tariffs, says it already hiked some prices (CNBC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Diddy’s former employee ‘Mia’ testifies that Combs sexually assaulted her (ABC)

📌 Hamilton original cast to reunite for Tony Awards 2025 performance in June (CBS)

📌 Broadway sees record-breaking box-office season (DEADLINE)

📌 OKC Thunder make NBA Finals for first time since 2012 after walloping Timberwolves (FOX)

📌 Brad Pitt breaks silence on finalizing divorce from Angelina Jolie after 8-year legal battle (PEOPLE)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Hailey Bieber just made some serious money on the sale of her beauty brand. The 28-year-old model’s beauty brand rhode was acquired on Wednesday by e.l.f. Beauty for over $1 billion. (Yes, both brands spell their names without capitalizing the first letter.)

It’s not the first time a celebrity-backed brand has been acquired for eye-popping sums. In 2019, Ryan Reynolds bought a stake in Mint Mobile, which was later acquired by T-Mobile in a $1.35 billion deal in 2023.