“A New York man was found guilty on Wednesday of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government after a trial over federal prosecutors’ allegations that he operated a ‘secret police station’ on behalf of Beijing in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said Lu Jianwang, 64, should have alerted the U.S. Attorney General that he was a Chinese agent when he helped open the so-called police station in 2022. They also said he helped China’s government locate a pro-democracy activist living in California. Lu was arrested in April 2023. He had pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges he faced: conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent, acting as an unregistered agent of China, and obstruction of justice. A jury in Brooklyn federal court reached the verdict after a weeklong trial.” (05/13/26)
“The munchies are one of marijuana’s most famous effects, with countless movies playing up the trope that smoking weed leads to uncontrollable hunger. But a new study is showing that cannabis could actually have surprising effects on your waistline. Researchers at UC Riverside gave cannabis to obese mice and found that not only did the rodents lose weight, but when given a concentrated cannabis oil, the mice also saw striking benefits in their metabolic function. Nicholas DiPatrizio, a UC Riverside professor and the lead author of the study, said he thinks the work could lead to cannabis-based diet therapies. ‘We can develop molecules that can be cannabis based, isolate them and maybe even do better than nature. We are just at the beginning,’ DiPatrizio told SFGATE.” (05/14/26)
“Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that reports claiming the CIA was involved in a recent targeted assassination outside Mexico City were ‘fictions the size of the universe.’ CNN and the New York Times reported Tuesday that the CIA was involved in the targeted car bombing of a mid-level Sinaloa cartel member on March 28. … Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection Omar Harfuch immediately denied the reports Tuesday evening in a post on social media platform X. CIA spokesperson Liz Lyons followed Harfuch’s post with her own carrying the agency’s official denial.” (05/13/26)
“A NASA spacecraft chasing a rare metal asteroid swings past Mars this week for a gravity boost, snapping thousands of pictures as practice for the main encounter in 2029. Named Psyche like the asteroid it’s after, the robotic explorer will slingshot past the red planet at 12,333 mph (19,848 kph) on Friday. It will be an especially close flyby, with Psyche passing within 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of Mars, equivalent to the distance between the U.S. east and west coasts. Then it will barrel toward the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that is home to its enticing target. All of the spacecraft’s science instruments will be on for the Mars pass. NASA’s two Mars rovers along with a small fleet of U.S. and European orbiters will make surface and atmospheric observations at the same time for comparison..” (05/14/26)
“Political organizer Denise Powell has won the Democratic nomination in Nebraska’s 2nd District, NBC News projects, emerging from a tough primary fight in one of her party’s top opportunities to flip a swing seat this year. Powell narrowly defeated state Sen. John Cavanaugh in a race that featured five other Democratic candidates on the ballot. Powell had 39% to Cavanaugh’s 37% in the primary with about 90% of the expected vote tallied. She will advance to a general election matchup against Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. … Nebraska’s 2nd District has been a top target for Democrats for several election cycles, but GOP Rep. Don Bacon’s decision to retire at the end of his term has renewed enthusiasm among Democrats hoping to win his seat.” (05/13/26)
“A ship anchored off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates has been seized and is heading toward Iranian territorial waters, the British military said Thursday. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz. … UKMTO did not name the ship and said it is investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure.” (05/14/26)
“Two people have been killed and children are among dozens wounded after Russia launched a massive wave of strikes against Ukraine overnight, officials have said. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said it was an ‘especially difficult night for Kyiv,’ where rescuers are searching through the rubble of a residential building after a combined missile and drone attack on the capital. At least 40 people have been injured, including two children, the city’s mayor said. Some 31 of those are being treated in hospital. It marks the third day in a row Ukraine has reported deaths, as Moscow ramps up its assault after a three-day ceasefire expired on Monday.” (05/14/26)
“The Philippine Senate President says that a politician wanted by the International Court (ICC) was no longer in the Senate building where he had been taking refuge, fearing his arrest. Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa, the former national police chief and top enforcer of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody ‘war on drugs,’ has been under Senate protection and is wanted for crimes against humanity, the same charges Duterte is accused of. ‘The sergeant-at-arms has confirmed that he is no longer in the building,’ Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters on Thursday. The announcement comes a day after gunfire rang out at the Senate, where dela Rosa had been holed up. Confusion and chaos filled the legislature as people inside scrambled for cover on Wednesday, hours after dela Rosa, had appealed to his supporters on social media to mobilise and said law enforcement agents were planning on arresting him.” (05/14/26)
“The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh, clearing the way for Warsh to replace central bank head Jerome Powell when his term ends later this week. The Senate confirmed Warsh by a vote of 54 to 45. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of Warsh. The vote comes weeks after the Department of Justice moved to drop its criminal probe into Powell. Before that, Warsh had faced a bipartisan stonewall in the Senate Banking Committee over the investigation. The probe into Powell focused on alleged false testimony to Congress about an office renovation. Powell, whose term ends on Friday, called the investigation a politically motivated effort to influence interest-rate policy.” (05/13/26)
“As prominent New Hampshire Libertarian Jeremy Kauffman mounts an effort to dissolve the national Libertarian Party, he’s also dealing with a legal drama for his alleged racist behavior in a grocery store parking lot. Kauffman, 41, is scheduled for trial in July on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration stemming from an April 4 incident in which he allegedly tried to fight several people while hurling racist insults, according to Manchester Police reports. Police were called to the Elm Street Market Basket parking lot around 2 p.m. on April 4 to deal with reports that a man hit another car in the parking lot with his car, fought with several people, and then went inside the store and continued yelling.” (05/13/26)
