Xi issues Taiwan warning during Trump visit; Nebraska race draws national focus
President Donald Trump lands in Beijing, and Taiwan quickly becomes a flashpoint. The talks with Xi have already come with a warning for the U.S.
Plus, Nebraska’s “blue dot” is now officially on the board. One House race in Omaha could help decide which party controls Congress next year.
And the Utah mother who wrote a grief book after her husband’s death is sentenced for murdering him with fentanyl. Her own children told the court they fear what happens if she ever gets out.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Xi warns Trump over Taiwan, calling the issue ‘extremely dangerous’ for relations
China has warned President Donald Trump that tensions over Taiwan could push U.S. relations into what Xi Jinping called an “extremely dangerous place.” The warning came during the first day of high-stakes talks between the two leaders in Beijing.
Both the White House and Chinese officials described the opening day as “good,” with discussions focused primarily on trade, but also touching on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz and Taiwan.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration wants China to play a “more active role” in helping end the war between the U.S. and Iran. China remains one of Tehran’s closest global partners.
Officials said Xi also used a closed-door session to warn Trump that tensions over Taiwan could lead to direct conflict. China claims Taiwan as its territory, while Taiwan operates as a self-governed democracy.
Trump used the public portion of the meeting to praise his longstanding relationship with Xi and their ability to resolve disputes directly.
“You and I have known each other now for a long time,” Trump said. “In fact, the longest relationship of our two countries that any president and president has had, and it’s, to me, an honor. We’ve had a fantastic relationship. We’ve gotten along when there were difficulties. We worked it out. I would call you, and you would call me whenever we had a problem. People don’t know whenever we had a problem, we worked out very quickly, and we’re going to have a fantastic future together.”
The Taiwan issue has grown more sensitive in recent months.
In December, Trump approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, though the weapons have not yet been delivered. And just last week, Taiwan’s legislature approved $25 billion in special funding to purchase more U.S. weapons.
Race set in Nebraska’s ‘blue dot’ second district
The stage is now set for one of the most-watched House races in the country: Nebraska’s so-called “blue dot.”
Democratic activist Denise Powell has won the primary in Omaha’s second congressional district, edging out state Sen. John Cavanaugh in a close race. This seat is seen as a major pickup opportunity for Democrats.
The district backed Kamala Harris in 2024 and has become known nationally as the “blue dot” because Nebraska is one of the few states that splits its electoral votes by congressional district rather than using a winner-take-all system.
And that electoral vote system became a central issue in the primary.
Powell’s supporters argued that if Cavanaugh won the House seat, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen could appoint a replacement to his state senate seat, potentially giving Republicans more room to target the blue dot system itself. Powell now moves on to face Republican Brinker Harding, an Omaha city council member backed by Trump.
Army recovers second soldier who disappeared after fall during Morocco hike
The remains of the second U.S. soldier who went missing in Morocco earlier this month have now been recovered. The Army identified the soldier as 19-year-old Specialist Mariyah Collington of Tavares, Florida.
Collington disappeared on May 2 near the Cap Draa training area alongside First Lieutenant Kendrick Key Jr., a 27-year-old air defense officer from Richmond, Virginia.
The two were taking part in a joint military exercise in Morocco when they fell off a cliff during an off-duty hike.
Defense officials told CBS News one of the soldiers could not swim after falling into the water, and the other jumped in to try to help before being hit by a wave.
Officials have not said which soldier attempted the rescue.
The Army says the incident remains under investigation.
Children’s book author Kouri Richins sentenced to life without parole in husband’s fentanyl death
A Utah mother who wrote a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death will now spend the rest of her life in prison for his murder.
A judge sentenced 35-year-old Kouri Richins to life without parole Wednesday after prosecutors said she poisoned her husband, Eric, with a fatal dose of fentanyl in their Park City-area home in 2022.
The case drew national attention after Richins published a children’s book about a young boy coping with his father’s loss.
Judge Richard Mrazik said the nature of the crimes, along with the evidence presented during trial and sentencing, convinced him Richins should never be released from prison.
“A person convicted of those things is simply too dangerous to ever be free,” Mrazik said before imposing the sentence.
Her remaining convictions will be served concurrently.
But some of the most emotional moments came from the couple’s three young sons, who told the court they would not feel safe if their mother were ever released.
“She took away my dad,” one of her sons said.
Another one of her sons said he feared Richins would “come after” him and his brothers.
“I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us,” he said.
Richins also addressed her children directly in court.
“My sweet baby boys, I know that today you don’t want to speak to me, have a relationship with me, you may even hate me. And that’s ok. I will never be angry at you for your feelings. When the day comes that you’re ready, I will be here for you, waiting for you and loving you,” Richins said.
Prosecutors said Eric Richins had five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in his system when he died at his home. Jurors also convicted Kouri Richins of attempting to poison him with a fentanyl-laced Valentine’s Day sandwich weeks earlier.
Her attorneys said they intend to appeal.
Alex Murdaugh to get new trial after court overturns murder conviction
In a stunning reversal on Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh, ordering a new trial in one of the decade’s most high-profile cases.
The court ruled the 2023 trial was tainted by what the justices called “shocking jury interference” by former court clerk Becky Hill.
In a unanimous decision, the court said Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice,” including allegedly telling jurors not to be “fooled” by Murdaugh’s testimony and to watch his body language on the stand. She later wrote a book about the case and the guilty verdict.
The jury convicted Murdaugh in the 2021 shooting deaths of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at the family’s South Carolina estate. The case drew national attention after prosecutors argued the once-powerful attorney killed them as his financial crimes and drug issues were closing in around him.
But the state’s high court said the trial itself was compromised. The attorney general’s office said it will retry the case.
Murdaugh will not go free. He will remain in prison, serving a separate 40-year federal sentence after pleading guilty to stealing millions of dollars from clients and his law firm.
Shakira, BTS and Madonna to headline FIFA World Cup halftime show
FIFA is transforming this summer’s World Cup final into an event that could resemble the Super Bowl more closely. And the halftime music lineup is stacked.
Latin superstar Shakira, K-pop group BTS and Madonna, who is also preparing to release a new album called Confessions II, are all set to perform on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
FIFA said the show will also serve as a fundraiser for its global citizen education fund. The organization said one dollar from every World Cup ticket sold will go toward education initiatives and to expand access to soccer for children around the world.
The 2026 World Cup, hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, kicks off June 11.
More from Straight Arrow:
The doctor who claims functional medicine reversed her MS
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Terry Wahls can walk. She can ride her bike. She can run two miles on a treadmill. She can tend to her backyard garden, which on an unseasonably warm April afternoon in Iowa City, is in the chaotic throes of the early Spring growing season.
Wahls gives a tour, her 14-year-old dog, Teddy, trailing: Persimmon and pawpaw trees, thornless blackberries and raspberries her grandchild will pick when they ripen. The peas have sprouted.
A wheelbarrow her father built decades ago rests near the garden’s edge, returned years later by a stranger who recognized it during her son’s state senate campaign.
The back room of her house is mid-renovation; she removed an exercise pool her mom persuaded her to install two decades ago when Wahls faced a downhill spiral from multiple sclerosis and could no longer bike or swim or ski. Back then, she was a physician facing an early end to her medical career, and the possibility that, in her 50s, she might spend the rest of her life in a nursing home.
Today, she no longer needs the pool.
Wahls says she reversed her disability through a regimen of diet and lifestyle changes, turning away from the conventional treatments she had been trained to practice. Her account has drawn both devoted followers and sharp criticism. Some dismiss it outright; others question the science behind it. But her story has helped fuel an increasingly influential alternative approach to treating disease.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
