America in Brief

Chinese Police Station Operator in New York Charged

A Chinese American who ran a secret police station for Beijing has been found guilty of being a foreign agent and obstruction of justice.

Lu Jianwang, 64, former president of the American ChangLe Association, which was raided by the FBI in 2022, is accused of using the center to operate as a front for working with the Chinese communist regime to track down Chinese nationals of interest and participate in their return to mainland China.

A 2022 investigation by European human rights organization Safeguard Defenders revealed that numerous overseas police stations had been set up around the world to monitor and harass certain Chinese ex-pats with the idea of repatriating them to China.

Chen Jinping, an alleged co-conspirator in setting up the New York police station, pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese regime in December 2024.

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Kevin Warsh Nominated as Fed Chair

Kevin Warsh has been confirmed as the 17th chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing outgoing head Jerome Powell.

He was confirmed for his four-year term on a 54–45 vote along party lines, the most divisive in history.

A majority of Republicans voted in favor, alongside Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who crossed party lines to cast his vote, while all other Democrats voted against.

The core concern of Democrats has been whether Warsh will be able to remain independent from President Donald Trump, who nominated him.

Warsh’s preference for lowering interest rates has been one of the points of contention with Democrats, who see it as aligning with Trump’s agenda.

Trump has been criticizing Powell’s policy approach, saying that he has lowered interest rates too slowly and too late.

Powell will be staying on the Fed board after his term ends.

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President Trump Meets Chinese Leader Xi Jinping at Summit

President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week at a summit in Beijing to discuss issues such as trade, Taiwan, human rights, and the Iran war.

The summit from May 13 to 15 was Trump’s second state visit to China since his first nearly nine years ago during his first term.

Tensions have risen between the two countries over a potential U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, which the Chinese regime considers a breakaway territory, and China’s trade practices, which Trump considers unfair.

Trump has highlighted that China has agreed to make major purchases of soybeans, oil, and 200 Boeing jets.

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California Mayor Pleads Guilty to Acting as a Chinese Agent

A California mayor has decided to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese Communist Party.

Eileen Wang, mayor of the Los Angeles County city of Arcadia, resigned on May 11, hours after going public about her case.

“This plea agreement is the latest success in our determination to defend the homeland against China’s efforts to corrupt our institutions,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.

Between 2000 and 2022, Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun worked with the CCP to promote pro-China propaganda in the United States.

Sun pleaded guilty in October 2025 and is serving a four-year sentence.

Eileen Wang attends the Asian Hall of Fame 2023 induction ceremony at the Biltmore Los Angeles on Oct. 21, 2023. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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DOJ Accuses Yale Medical School of Racial Discrimination

The Department of Justice has accused Yale School of Medicine of racial discrimination in the latest development in a long dispute between the Trump administration and the U.S. education system’s discriminatory practices.

Following a year-long investigation, the DOJ said on May 14 that it found Yale had been giving admission priority to black and Hispanic students over white or Asian students, regardless of qualifications.

Similar cases have been highlighted over the past year after President Donald Trump came into office, with the Department of Education threatening to withhold funds to Ivy League universities over their alleged inaction to protect students from anti-Semitism during pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.

Further investigations have been launched into schools across the country targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, including transgender policies.

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Supreme Court Extends Ruling on Mail-Order Abortion Drugs

The Supreme Court has extended a ruling on the country’s most common abortion pill, allowing it to continue being sent by mail following a previous block in a federal court.

The May 14 extension allows women seeking abortions to continue to obtain the drug mifepristone over the counter at pharmacies or by mail without the need for an in-person visit to a doctor.

The Supreme Court stayed the lower court ruling on May 4.

Louisiana had initially filed a lawsuit in October 2025, asking the FDA to roll back rules around abortion practices, citing that women were receiving abortion pills from other states.

Abortion has been banned in Louisiana since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade in 2022, effectively sending the power of regulating abortion back to each state.

Mifepristone’s manufacturers, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, had asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court sided with Louisiana, which would have amounted to a nationwide mailing ban.

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CDC Announces 41 in US Being Monitored for Hantavirus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on May 14 that it is monitoring 41 people in the United States for hantavirus following a recent outbreak aboard a cruise ship, MV Hondius, in the Atlantic Ocean.

MV Hondius, which sailed from Argentina on April 1, had succumbed to a hantavirus outbreak along its journey, with the first cases exhibiting symptoms within days.

By April 11, it had its first fatality, which has now increased to three.

Evacuations started around May 10–11 when MV Hondius reached the Canary Islands.

According to the CDC, the monitored group consists of three main subgroups. Recent repatriated passengers who are now in Nebraska and Georgia, passengers who had previously been on the ship and returned home before the outbreak was identified, and people who may have been exposed during travel, particularly on airplanes.