America in Brief

Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is escorted by police in New York on Dec. 19, 2024. Pamela Smith/AP Photo

Man Accused of Killing Insurance CEO Faces Federal Charges

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering the CEO of the United States’ largest health insurance company, was brought to a New York City courthouse on Dec. 19, where he has been charged with federal murder and stalking charges.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in New York City early on Dec. 4, outside his hotel in what was seen as a premeditated assassination. The shooter appeared to be using a silencer, according to CCTV footage from the hotel.

Mangione, who was arrested five days later, is also facing state charges in New York and Pennsylvania, which include murder and terrorism charges, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

These new federal charges make him eligible for the death penalty.

Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., on Dec. 5, 2024. Brian Glenn/TMX via AP

Drone Ban Issued in New Jersey Over Unexplained Sightings

The U.S. government has banned drone operations across New Jersey amid heightened public concern over unidentified drones being spotted nationwide.

There has been a sudden spike in drone sightings across the country over the month, prompting concern from members of the public and government officials.

The Pentagon and other government agencies have collectively described them as lawful and not a threat to national security.

Some members of Congress, however, have expressed concern over multiple instances of drones flying over or near military bases as being connected to “adversarial” forces, like the Chinese Communist Party.

The temporary ban issued by the Federal Aviation Administration forbids any domestic drone to fly above 400 feet over certain areas of New Jersey until Jan. 17, 2025.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during a hearing in the case of The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump et al. at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta on March 1, 2024. Alex Slitz/Pool/Getty Images

Key Prosecutor in Trump’s Georgia Election Case Disqualified

The key prosecutor in the Georgia case against President-elect Donald Trump and allies over allegations of interference in the 2020 presidential election has been disqualified.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was found to have been involved in a romantic relationship with a former top deputy in the case, Nathan Wade, which created a “significant appearance of impropriety,” a Georgia appeals court has ruled.

Trump and 18 others were charged over their attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which they all deemed fraudulent, and the charges politically motivated.

This latest development puts the future of the case in uncertainty.

People at a press conference and rally in front of the America ChangLe Association, a now-closed secret Chinese police station, highlighting Beijing's transnational repression, in New York City on Feb. 25, 2023. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

New York Man Pleads Guilty to Running Secret Chinese Police Station in Manhattan

A New York resident has pleaded guilty to acting as a Chinese agent for Beijing by illegally operating a “secret police station” in a Chinatown district of Manhattan.

Chen Jinping, 60, was arrested by the FBI in April 2023 and had been operating the station since 2022.

According to Spain-based human rights group Safeguard Defenders, the Chinese regime has been setting up overseas “service stations” around the world to pressure Chinese ex-pats to return to China.

Chen faces up to five years in prison.