Interpol President Meng Hongwei. Photo: Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images
Meng Hongwei, president of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), has submitted his resignation.
Why it matters: Chinese authorities announced today that Meng had been detained and was under investigation for suspected violations of state law. He had not been seen since September 25 and was reported missing by his wife.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
The 2020 Census Paid Media Campaign, which sends U.S. taxpayer dollars to community media outlets to run ads about the upcoming census, is including a Chinese state-run broadcaster as one of its media vendors.
Why it matters: After China's yearslong campaign to co-opt independent Chinese-language media in the U.S., Washington is now paying Beijing-linked media outlets in order to reach Chinese Americans.
Brazil confirmed the first novel coronavirus case in Latin America Wednesday — a 61-year-old that tested positive after returning from a visit to northern Italy, the epicenter of Europe's outbreak.
The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,700 people and infected over 81,000 others. By Wednesday morning, South Korea had the most cases outside China, with 1,261 infections. Europe's biggest outbreak is in Italy, where 374 cases have been confirmed.
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
The latest season of Red Scare has come to Sacramento.
Driving the news: Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) has repeatedly accused Ben Meng, chief investment officer of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), of tacitly working on behalf of the Chinese government. Banks also says that, were it up to him, Meng would be fired — and has questioned the patriotism of California Gov. Gavin Newsom for not at least investigating Meng.