China expands ultra-deep oil and gas drilling efforts

crane bird on a meadow

China is expanding its efforts to drill ultra-deep oil and gas wells — defined as more than three-and-a-half miles deep — as the world’s largest crude importer steps up domestic exploration. Like the US, China also broke oil and gas production records in 2025, though it has hastened its efforts this year in a bid to shield itself from war-related vicissitudes in global energy markets, The South China Morning Post reported, reflecting one prong of Beijing’s variegated energy approach. China’s “enormous oil stockpiles, overland pipelines, new technologies to convert coal to chemicals, and embrace of green technologies have given Beijing strategic leverage” over its island neighbors, which remain cripplingly dependent on imported energy, Semafor’s China columnist argued.

Source: China expands ultra-deep oil and gas drilling efforts | Semafor

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

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FBI arrests alleged Chinese agent at LAX after she allegedly surveilled son of Taiwanese president

The FBI arrested a suspected Chinese agent at Los Angeles International Airport after she allegedly surveilled the Taiwanese president’s U.S.-based son, law enforcement sources told CBS News. Wanying “Heather” Zhang, an Irvine, California, realtor, was cuffed by federal law enforcement on Sunday before she boarded a flight to Shanghai, China, from LAX, on a charge of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Zhang’s husband Edric Ding, a realtor at the same firm, told CBS News when reached by phone Sunday: “I don’t know anything yet,” and declined to comment further.

It was not immediately clear if Zhang has an attorney.   Wanying “Heather” Zhang. FBI A criminal complaint, filed in federal court by a member of the FBI’s counterintelligence squad in L.A., accused Zhang and an accomplice of traveling to Seattle, Washington, in September 2025 and taking pictures at the suburban home of a top Taiwanese official’s family. Law enforcement sources told CBS News that the target was Ting-Yu Lai, the son of Taiwanese President Ching-Te Lai. Ting-Yu, an engineer in his 30s, attended college in America and has a young U.S.-born son with his wife, Hsiao Chen, according to Taiwanese media reports. He now works for the Dutch multinational electronics firm Philips. “If the PRC [People’s Republic of China] wish to obtain leverage over the President of Taiwan during any potential conflict, the location and pictures of the close relatives of a high-ranking Taiwanese government official, including pictures of their homes and cars, could be useful to the PRC,” wrote FBI Special Agent Kevin Holt in the Oct. 3, 2026, criminal complaint.

Taiwan has been the focus of high geopolitical tensions for decades. It asserts its independence, while the Chinese government claims it is part of China. The island is in a key position astride major shipping lanes, and is where many of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips are manufactured. CBS News reached out to the Taiwanese consulate for comment. The complaint said Zhang, 34, and a man named only as “Individual 1” flew from Las Vegas to Seattle on Sept. 1, 2025, rented a black Nissan Rogue and drove to their target’s home. Images from a neighbor’s security camera included in the complaint allegedly show the two “appearing to film” Ting-Yu, his wife and their child as they arrived home that evening.

CBS News matched the images to an address near Seattle owned by Ting-Yu. Zhang allegedly texted her Chinese government handler: “Saw him. Young male. It’s that young one,” and “I am videorecording,” followed by two license plate numbers, according to the complaint. The FBI agent wrote that the texts from the Chinese messaging app WeChat were obtained from a search warrant on Zhang’s iCloud account. “Zhang was in contact with at least two people whom she appeared to acknowledge worked for the PRC government,” the agent wrote. FBI agents arrested Wanying “Heather” Zhang at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 4, 2026. U.S. Department of Justice The complaint claims  Zhang was introduced in June 2025 to one of the Chinese government officials by a classmate from her alma mater, Beijing’s University of International Relations, which Holt said has close ties to the Ministry of State Security.

Holt’s affidavit claims  Zhang booked a private room in Changsha, China, during a June 2025 trip, where she allegedly met the government official and received her surveillance mission. She later texted the official, “I can take care of this thing,” according to the complaint. On Aug. 26, 2025, Zhang wrote: “I will be busy with work in L.A. this week. I will probably go to Seattle next week,” and the official replied: “Ok. Thank you for your hard work,” the complaint said. Zhang is a licensed California realtor with JC Pacific Capital Inc. Her Zillow profile says she has 130 sales and listings around Los Angeles and neighboring counties.  Ting-Yu received his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2012; a master’s in Bioengineering Innovation and Design from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the following year; then a PhD from the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, according to a profile from one of his academic publications.

Taiwan TV news station SETN reported that he met his Taiwanese wife while studying for his doctorate. They married in 2018 and had a child in the U.S. in 2020, according to CNA, Taiwan’s national news agency. Chinese government agents have previously been caught spying on and harassing Chinese dissidents and pro-democracy activists in the U.S. Federal prosecutors said Shujun Wang, 75, infiltrated and informed on a Chinese pro-democracy group in Queens, New York, for the Chinese Ministry of State Security for 17 years. He was convicted in 2024 of acting as a foreign agent. Two people were arrested in April 2023 for their involvement in an unofficial Chinese police station in Manhattan set up to monitor Chinese dissidents. The Justice Department has warned of a plan by the Chinese security services called Operation Fox Hunt aimed at repatriating wanted Chinese nationals around the world, which targets enemies of the regime.

New York-based Quanzhong An, who prosecutors say is a leader of the U.S. wing of Operation Fox Hunt, was sentenced in March 2025 after harassing a Chinese dissident in an attempt to bring them back to China. In California, former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang was charged with acting as a Chinese agent in May. She admitted to being paid to spread pro-Chinese government propaganda in the U.S., including an essay on her blog denying “forced labor” in China.

Source: FBI arrests alleged Chinese agent at LAX after she allegedly surveilled son of Taiwanese president – CBS News

Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!
Proverbs 23:4

Plague in Russia?

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Humanoid robot imports banned as U.S. targets Chinese products over national security concerns

Robot carrying boxes on a pallet inside a warehouse with stacks of shipping containers

The Federal Communications Commission is banning imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks, in a move that targets China. The measures are likely to test relations with Beijing ahead of a planned U.S. visit and meeting with President Trump by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in September. China dominates the global market for humanoid robots with an estimated market share of roughly 85%. The FCC’s ban also includes new imports of quadruped robots – often referred to as four-legged robot dogs. The FCC’s decision was based on findings from a task force convened by the White House that concluded foreign-built robots could create “a cybersecurity risk that threatens the security of critical infrastructure” and “the safety and security” of U.S. residents, French news agency AFP reported. 

The agency added that offshore production of such equipment also leaves U.S. supply chains vulnerable to disruptions. The ban on power inverters, which are used to convert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC) electricity and are used in renewable energy systems, data centers and household appliances, could have sweeping ramifications. FCC chairperson Brendan Carr said Tuesday that the move was to “secure America’s critical supply chains.” He said the bans apply to “new versions” of such imports. The FCC’s bans follow a slew of U.S. restrictions on imports of Chinese products, including drones, and on exports of U.S. advanced technology to China. The U.S. is also weighing controls on the use of Chinese open-source artificial intelligence models at a time when Chinese AI is rapidly gaining ground. “It’s a steady drumbeat of potential flashpoints heading into (the) Trump-Xi summit planned for September,” said Samm Sacks, a senior fellow at the New America think tank focused on Chinese technology policies. China has been rapidly expanding its use of robots, with policies supporting its technology sector. Morgan Stanley analysts forecast its market for humanoids could reach $15 billion by 2030. “Chinese manufacturers have been scaling production and reducing costs faster than most overseas competitors,” said analyst Kangyuxiao Li at Morningstar.

“Restricting their access to the U.S. removes an important future market and protects U.S. developers from potential price competition,” he said. “However, it will not materially slow China’s overall humanoid development, given the size of its domestic manufacturing base and opportunities in other export markets.” Of the around 15,000 humanoid robots shipped globally in 2025, Unitree and AGIBOT, two of China’s largest advanced robotics companies, each shipped more than 5,000. Their U.S. counterparts, like Tesla and Figure AI, each shipped a few hundred or less, according to the technology research and advisory group Omdia. China’s Foreign Ministry hit back at the U.S. move, accusing Washington of overstretching the concept of national security to suppress Chinese companies.

China will take “all measures necessary” to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses, it said. “Protectionism does not make the U.S. more competitive, and it will only hurt the interests of U.S. companies and consumers,” Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, told reporters at a regular press conference Wednesday in Beijing. The new bans could also potentially interfere with collaborations between U.S. and Chinese technology companies, said Lian Jye Su, a chief analyst at Omdia. Nvidia, for example, in June revealed a humanoid robot reference design that uses the humanoid chassis of China’s Unitree. The Pentagon recently included Unitree and several other major Chinese technology companies on its list of firms that it said have ties to or aid the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected that claim.

Source: Humanoid robot imports banned as U.S. targets Chinese products over national security concerns – CBS News

Thought to Pondder

The Bible provides principles that can help Christians think wisely about current technology. Scripture teaches that human beings are uniquely created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27), giving every person inherent dignity and value that cannot be replicated by a machine. While humans may design increasingly lifelike androids capable of conversation, learning, or performing complex tasks, they are still creations of human ingenuity rather than beings made in God’s image. From a biblical perspective, an android has no immortal soul, cannot experience salvation, and does not possess the God-given spiritual nature that distinguishes humanity.

The Bible also encourages believers to pursue wisdom, exercise good stewardship, and test every advancement against God’s truth (Proverbs 3:5–6; 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Technology itself is morally neutral; it can be used either to serve others or to cause harm, depending on the intentions of those who create and use it. Christians should therefore evaluate androids and other emerging technologies by asking whether they promote justice, compassion, honesty, and respect for human life. Above all, believers are reminded never to place their trust in human inventions over God, recognizing that true hope, purpose, and eternal life are found only through Jesus Christ, not in even the most advanced technology.

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Romans 13:7

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‘There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China’

Weathered wooden cross wrapped with rusty barbed wire on ground

The Chinese government is increasingly cracking down on state-sanctioned churches as well as underground churches, leaving no “safe place” for Christians, according to International Christian Concern. A new report by ICC tracks persecution of Christians in China since July 2021 and records 32 cases of arrests and detainments, five raids on Christian schools, and 20 cases of the Sinicization of churches – where churches are forced to align their faith with the social and political messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  The ICC said that exact numbers were likely to be far higher because of the challenges of receiving information from China. “The government’s scrutiny of Christians is part of a wider effort to Sinicize the country by coercing religious groups to submit to the communist CCP ideology,” the report said.  “The Religious Affairs Bureau and the CCP have one single goal regarding religion: to prevent religious influence from threatening their communist control.”

State-sanctioned churches are especially susceptible to the Chinese government’s Sinicization efforts. “All state-approved churches are required to raise the national flag, place regulations on worship, incorporate core socialist values into sermons, and maintain traditional Chinese culture,” the report said. The ICC report says that a new measure implemented by the Chinese government in June, called the ‘National Religious Organizations Common Initiative on Cultivating Frugality and Abstaining from Extravagance’, has allowed it to “tighten its grip” on major religions in China. “State-sanctioned churches today are increasingly at the mercy of laws and non-legislative regulations introduced by the government,” said ICC. “State-vetted churches have decided to follow the regulations, thereby pressuring unregistered churches to follow suit. “Three-Self churches are part of the legal framework the CCP uses to systemically curb Christianity. If a church is not registered as a state-sanctioned church, the church is violating the law and the CCP can step in at any time to shut down churches, prosecute individuals, and put enormous social pressure on attendees. “With the intensified crackdown against churches— both state-vetted and underground—there is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China. Covid-19 has also had a lasting impact on religious liberty in China as the pandemic was used as a pretext to introduce more restrictions on religious activity.  “Restrictions on religious activity have spread as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While public and commercial places such as malls, markets, restaurants, and libraries were allowed to open, church activities were banned by the government. “One report revealed that the state used epidemic prevention as a pretext to prevent churches from gathering to celebrate Christmas in Shandong, Anhui, and Guangdong provinces,” the report said. Even meeting online has become difficult after the Chinese government announced in March that it was banning online religious activity.  Under the ban, Chinese churches and religious organizations must register with the state and receive permission to post religious content online. “The regulation was established to ensure all religious activity aligns with the Communist Party’s agenda,” ICC said. Data in the report has been drawn mostly from the ICC, ChinaAid, the Union of Catholic Asia News and Radio Free Asia. “ICC’s incident report continues to be a testament to China’s intensified crackdown against Chinese Christians and churches despite Beijing’s repeated claim that ‘respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief is the basic policy of the CCP and the Chinese government in dealing with religion’,” said Gina Goh, ICC’s regional manager for Southeast Asia.

“In every aspect of a Christian’s religious life, the CCP wants to interfere and insert its ideology, a control that is detrimental to China’s religious liberty.”  Jay Church, ICC’s advocacy manager for Southeast Asia and co-author of the report, said that the international community “must pay attention to China’s ongoing campaign against religion”. “There’s no excuse for continued inaction,” said Church. “The Chinese government does not allow religion except to the extent it can manipulate religion into a tool to increase the power of the CCP. “It is to be hoped that this report will serve to increase the volume on an issue that is too often quietly ignored in halls of power around the world.”

Source: ‘There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China’ – re | ChristianToday Australia

A man’s gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men.
Proverbs 18:16

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US expert on underground nuclear tests detained in China for 18 months

Three scientists monitoring seismic data on multiple computer screens in a control room

An American scientist who has studied underground nuclear tests has been detained in China for more than 18 months on spying charges, according to his supporters and a US lawmaker. Youlin Chen, a seismologist, has been “wrongfully detained” since November 2024, US Senator Edward Markey said in a statement Tuesday. President Donald Trump raised Chen’s detention and asked for his freedom during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in May, according to Global Reach, a US non-profit that has been working with Chen’s family on his case. Chen, who was living in Boston and has a college-age son, is the only American currently held in China designated as wrongfully detained, the non-profit said. The case adds another point of friction between the US and China as they try to stabilize ties, and ahead of Xi’s expected visit to the US later this fall.

Its revelation comes weeks after China confirmed the arrest of another US scholar, Min Zin, who it said is “suspected of spying and endangering Chinese national security.” Global Reach said there are suspicions that Chen’s detention is linked to China’s recent expansion of its nuclear capabilities, including carrying out an alleged underground nuclear test in 2020. Beijing denies this test. China and the US have both signed, but not ratified, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) – an international agreement prohibiting “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion.” Chen’s work focuses on using seismological data to improve methods to identify and monitor nuclear tests. It has included research into North Korea’s underground nuclear testing. Chen’s research has been funded by the US State Department and US Air Force Research Laboratory.

In December 2020, he authored a technical report that used regional seismic data recorded across Asia, including data from stations in China, to improve methods for nuclear-test monitoring and yield estimation, according to Global Reach. A subsequent 2024 study that he authored was also funded by the US Air Force Research Laboratory and the US Department of State and “further reinforces Chen’s expertise in the seismic monitoring and detection of underground nuclear tests,” the group said. Detained at airport Chen was detained at the airport after visiting his parents in Beijing, according to Kieran Ramsey, chief investigative officer at Global Reach. “China is being accused … by the State Department of violating (the CTBT),” Ramsey said. “And at the same time they’re holding the American expert that would be able to identify that exactly.” “Unfortunately, this case is an example of China being willing to use hostage diplomacy as part of their great-power competition with the US and unfortunately Doctor Chen is the sole example right now officially designated by the US government,” he added.

Earlier this month a pastor who founded one of China’s most prominent underground churches was released from prison and reunited with his family in the United States after being detained in a crackdown in China last year. His release came after Trump raised his case with Xi during his May visit. A State Department spokesperson told CNN that the US has raised Chen’s case directly with Chinese officials and called for his immediate release. When asked by CNN whether the case was raised by Trump during his meeting with Xi, a White House official said that “President Trump has been clear that he wants every American detained abroad to return home.” China’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday denied that Chen was “wrongfully detained” and said judicial authorities handle cases in accordance with the law, when asked about the case at a regular press briefing. Chen was charged with espionage on May 1, 2025, but has not yet stood trial.

The family decided to speak out now about his detention because Trump’s request has not been acted on, Global Reach said. Chen’s wife, Yufang Rong, said she had not spoken to her husband for over 600 days and was concerned for his health. “Youlin has never held a US government security clearance and to suggest he was involved in espionage is both wrong and inconsistent with the public and collaborative nature of the work that he has done,” she said in a statement provided by Global Reach. Noting that her husband “works transparently with Chinese colleagues on scientific collaboration,” she added: “He is doing precisely the kind of people-to-people engagement that the Chinese government says it wants.” US embassy officials have visited Chen several times, but Chinese officials are always present, preventing him from speaking freely, Rong told Reuters in an interview. She retained a Chinese lawyer, but he was allowed to see Chen only after the scientist had been detained for more than 13 months. Chinese officials have interrogated her husband more than 100 times about his work on the seismographic signatures of North Korean nuclear tests, she said.

Source: US expert on underground nuclear tests detained in China for 18 months | CNN

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8

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China conducts rare submarine-launched ballistic missile test, angering Pacific neighbors

Submarine firing a missile with stormy sea and lightning in background

China on Monday conducted a rare test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile in the Pacific Ocean, sparking criticism from New Zealand and Australia for actions that they said threatened peace and stability in the region. A People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine “launched a strategic missile carrying a dummy warhead toward relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, which landed precisely within the designated waters,” said a statement from Senior Capt. Wang Xuemeng, a spokesperson for the PLA Navy. “This test launch was a routine part of China’s annual military training schedule,” said Wang, who added that “relevant nations” were informed in advance about the test.

“The operation was in accordance with international law and practice, targeting no specific country or objective,” Wang said. The missile traveled over the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu and landed around the EEZ border of either Kiribati or Tuvalu, a regional source familiar with the matter told CNN. The US State Department said it had monitored the launch of a nuclear-capable but unarmed “intercontinental-range ballistic missile,” in a statement attributed to a spokesperson. “Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world,” it said, adding that it urged China “to engage in meaningful arms control discussions.” Beijing did not say what type of missile was tested. CNN has asked China’s Defense Ministry for comment on the test. The PLA Navy operates two types of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, the JL-2 and the JL-3.

The latter has sufficient range to reach the continental United States from waters off the coast of China, including the South China Sea, according to missile experts. China’s main ballistic-missile submarine is the Type 094, also known as the Jin class, of which it operates six vessels. Beijing rarely reports its missile tests, but according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the JL-3 was first tested in 2018 and then once more a year later. ‘Unwelcome and concerning’ New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said Monday that China fired the missile into waters of the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, established in 1986 by the Treaty of Rarotonga. China signed protocols II and III of the pact in 1987. Protocol II calls on signatories not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against other nations or their territories within the zone; protocol III bans nuclear testing in the zone.

“Earlier today, China informed us of its plans to launch a long-range ballistic missile into the South Pacific,” Peters said. “New Zealand considers this an unwelcome and concerning development. We, like our neighbors in other Pacific countries, have no interest in China using the South Pacific as a testing site for missile capability,” Peters said. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Monday called the test “destabilizing to the region.” The test must be viewed “in the context of a rapid military build-up by China, which is lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expects,” Wong said, adding that she would leave it up to China to “speak to its intent.” A Japanese government statement expressed “serious concerns regarding China’s increasingly active military activities” and urged Beijing to reconsider ballistic missile testing. The self-ruled island of Taiwan – which Beijing has vowed to “reunify” with, by force if necessary – was also critical of the launch. Presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo said Beijing’s actions had “caused unease” in the region and further highlighted “China’s increasingly obvious ambitions for expansion in the Western Pacific.”

New Zealand’s Peters said the Chinese test brought back memories of 2024, when the PLA test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in the region. “We as a region should not sit by and allow such tests to become normalized or routine,” Peters said. But missile tests are routine for nuclear powers. For instance, the US Navy last September conducted four tests of its Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile off Florida, according to a press release. India tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile in December, and Russia test-launched an SLBM last October. China has been building up its nuclear-powered sub fleet as part of an overall boost to its nuclear forces. China last tested an ICBM launched into the Pacific in September 2024, firing a DF-31B nuclear-capable missile from Hainan Island in the South China Sea into the open Pacific near French Polynesia.

It was China’s first test of an ICBM into the open ocean in 44 years. The US Defense Department report says that China usually conducts missile tests within its own borders, noting that in December 2024 it launched several ICBMs in quick succession from a training base in the country’s west, “indicating the ability to rapidly launch multiple silo-based ICBMs.” The December 2025 US Defense Department report on China’s military power says the PLA views such tests as “an option for medium-to-high intensity nuclear deterrence operations.”

Source: China conducts rare submarine-launched ballistic missile test, angering Pacific neighbors | CNN

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27

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Man blown from 12th-floor apartment as deadly tornado rips through central China.

tornado in countryside

A deadly tornado, so powerful that it sucked a man out of his 12th-floor apartment, swept through China’s central Hubei province leaving behind a trail of destruction, according to state media reports. At least 11 people were killed and more than 331 injured when the tornado that brought winds of up to 260 kilometers (160 miles) per hour struck late Monday evening, leaving houses ripped apart, overturning cars and damaging farmland, according to the Xinhua news agency. More than 4855 houses were damaged in Hubei, a major industrial hub known for its automotive manufacturing, Xinhua said. One of the worst-affected places was Huanggang city, where the wind was so strong that it sucked a 30-year-old man and some of his belongings, including his sofa and cabinets, from his 12th-floor apartment, local media reported.

The man is now in intensive care in hospital, the reports said. Elsewhere in the city, several heavy trucks were lifted and moved as far 30 meters by the winds. Dramatic video showed a large tornado tearing through nearby Ezhou city, where five people were killed. Local authorities acknowledged the “immense losses from the disaster” and said more than 3000 people were involved in rescue efforts. Tornadoes are rare in Hubei province, which experienced its last one in May 2021. The severe weather in Hubei is a result of Typhoon Maysak overlapping with the early-summer rainy season, experts say, and comes as China’s southwest Guangxi region experiences severe flooding and after a deadly landslide in Gansu province in the northwest. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for an all-out rescue and relief effort, and the resettlement of those affected. Since Sunday, Typhoon Maysak has brought floodwaters to Guangxi region, where four people have been killed and eight remain missing.

More than 600 people were still waiting for evacuation, a local official told media on Tuesday afternoon. The typhoon has brought enough rain to the region to break 24-hour precipitation records including the city of Hengzhou. And in one Hengzhou village, the floodwaters pose an additional theat. More than 800 snakes escaped when a snake farm flooded on Monday, an official told local news outlet Hongxing. Social media video showed snakes poking their heads above the muddy water inundating the village. One villager had been bitten and is being treated in hospital, while a dozen locals had formed a team to catch the snakes, the Hongxing report said. While many of the snakes were said to be non‑venomous water snake and rat snakes, some were cobras, which are considered highly venomous, reported the Xiaoxiang Daily.

Source: Man blown from 12th-floor apartment as deadly tornado rips through central China. | CNN

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
Luke 9:23

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China test-launches ballistic missile from sub in South Pacific, drawing protests

China’s military test-launched a long-range ballistic missile Monday from one of its nuclear-powered submarines in the South Pacific, drawing protest and concern from countries in the region. The missile was launched at 12:01 p.m. and carried a dummy warhead, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.  China last conducted a missile test in the Pacific two years ago, firing an intercontinental ballistic missile with a dummy warhead. That previous launch in international waters was the first in decades, since 1980. Monday’s launch was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and practice, and was not directed against any country or target, according to a short statement from Xinhua, which was reposted by the Ministry of Defense.

The 2024 launch mirrored testing that the United States does for its own ballistic missile fleet, and experts viewed it at the time as an assertion of China’s growing superpower status. Monday’s test came on the same day China and Russia launched annual joint naval exercises off the Chinese coast, French news agency AFP reported. The “Joint Sea-2026” exercise began in the eastern Chinese port of Qingdao, Beijing’s defense ministry said in a statement, according to AFP. U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement Monday that the U.S. monitored the test launch of the unarmed missile. “At a time when the United States is working harder than ever to prevent nuclear proliferation, China is doing the opposite. Beijing’s rapid and opaque nuclear weapons buildup is of great concern to the region and the world,” the statement reads.

“We continue to urge China to engage in meaningful arms control discussions and commit to a regularized notification arrangement for all intercontinental-range ballistic missile and space launches consistent with commitments made by all other P5 members.” “The United States remains steadfast in our defense commitments to our allies and partners,” it added. Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Taiwan criticized China’s Monday missile launch. The New Zealand government said it was informed of the planned launch hours beforehand and noted that the missile was fired into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone. The nuclear-free zone was established by the 1986 Treaty of Rarotonga, which prohibits nuclear weapons throughout the region. China in 1987 ratified the protocols pledging not to test nuclear weapons within the zone, or to threaten to use them against signatories with territory in the region.

“It appears that despite our long-standing concerns about this type of activity, China carried out the test within hours of informing us,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters told The Associated Press in a statement. The launch took place the same day Australia and Fiji signed a new mutual defense treaty that is meant to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific. “Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region,” Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in Fiji, in response to the test. Tokyo said on Monday it had strongly urged China to reconsider the test after the Japanese Embassy in Beijing was told about it by Chinese authorities before the event, AFP said. “We strongly called for a rethink of the ballistic missile test-firing, so that it won’t pose a threat to Japan’s security such as by passing through Japan’s airspace,” a joint government statement said.

Taiwan’s presidential office said Monday that China was trying to intimidate the international community by test-firing the ICBM, the Reuters news agency reported. Beijing brushed off the criticism Monday. “We hope that the relevant countries will avoid overinterpretation,” a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said. China maintains a “no first use” of nuclear weapons policy, but is also actively pursuing nuclear technology and weaponry as part of its long-term strategy to modernize the People’s Liberation Army. China has a fleet of six ballistic-missile submarines and 59 nuclear-powered attack submarines, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank. In its latest report to Congress on China’s military capabilities, released in late 2025, the Pentagon said China had an estimated stockpile of around 600 nuclear warheads in 2024, adding that the PLA remains on track to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. 

Source: China test-launches ballistic missile from sub in South Pacific, drawing protests – CBS News

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
James 1:3

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Trump Says China Is Trying To Take Over Panama Canal, Slams ‘Stupid’ US Decision

Cargo container ships passing through the Panama Canal surrounded by dense forest at sunrise

For Donald Trump, the Panama Canal remains unfinished business. Speaking at the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, on Wednesday, the US President returned to one of the foreign policy themes that has featured repeatedly during his presidency: the argument that Washington should never have surrendered control of the Panama Canal. This time, he coupled that criticism with a fresh allegation that China is seeking greater influence over the strategic waterway, insisting the United States would not allow such an outcome. Trump’s remarks came during an event celebrating Theodore Roosevelt, the US president whose administration oversaw construction of the canal in the early twentieth century.

Drawing on that historical backdrop, Trump criticised the decision to transfer control of the canal under the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties, arguing that successive toll increases had benefited Panama while weakening American strategic interests. Created with AI. Although he did not present evidence for his claims regarding Beijing’s role, the comments reflected his administration’s broader emphasis on countering Chinese influence in critical global infrastructure. “The Panama Canal, so we gave it away,” Trump told the audience. “The first thing they did, you know what they did? They raised the prices for the ships by four times… How stupid was that?” Trump Revives Debate Over Strategic Waterway Trump went on to argue that Panama had repeatedly increased transit charges without affecting shipping volumes, portraying the transfer of the canal as a costly strategic error for the United States.

“And now China’s trying to take over the Panama Canal, and we’re not going to let that happen,” he said, before joking that the remarks had not been part of his prepared speech because, in his words, he did not rely on a script. The Panama Canal is among the world’s most significant maritime chokepoints, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and handling a substantial share of global commercial shipping. While the United States built and operated the canal for decades, the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos, established a phased transfer of authority.

Panama assumed full operational control of the canal on 31 December 1999 through the autonomous Panama Canal Authority. Trump has repeatedly criticised that agreement, arguing that it weakened US strategic leverage. Panamanian leaders, meanwhile, have consistently maintained that the canal remains under the country’s sovereign administration and is operated in accordance with international neutrality obligations. Supreme Court And Birthright Citizenship Also Feature Foreign policy was not the only issue Trump addressed during the ceremony.

He also turned to recent Supreme Court decisions, praising rulings that he said restored executive authority while expressing disagreement with the court’s approach to birthright citizenship. “We’ll take care of the birthright citizenship,” Trump said, arguing that the constitutional provision had been intended to protect the children of formerly enslaved people rather than wealthy foreign nationals. “I believe, no, I know they got it wrong, but that’s okay.” The President also welcomed a recent Supreme Court decision expanding presidential authority over executive branch appointments, describing it as one of the most consequential constitutional rulings in decades.

“You know, a little while ago… we had something that gives back tremendous power to the President of the United States,” Trump said. “It gives power back to the president at a time when the president really needs power.” Even so, it was his remarks on the Panama Canal that stood out. By returning to the issue during an event honouring Theodore Roosevelt, Trump linked a century-old infrastructure project to present-day geopolitical competition, underscoring how the canal continues to feature prominently in his administration’s narrative on American strategic interests and China’s expanding global footprint.

Source: Trump Says China Is Trying To Take Over Panama Canal, Slams ‘Stupid’ US Decision | Times Now

Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.
Jeremiah 32:17

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Ethnic Unity Law: China tells minorities to assimilate with sweeping new legislation

Great Hall of the People in Beijing lit up at dusk with people walking nearby and Chinese flags flying.

For years, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pushed ethnic minority groups like Tibetans and Uyghurs to adopt an identity rooted in Chinese nationality and allegiance to the ruling Communist Party. Now, that push has been codified into a sweeping new law that reaches into classrooms, neighborhoods and homes – and gives Beijing the right to target people outside of its borders that it believes violate its rules. The statute, officially known as the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, came into effect on July 1. It bans acts that “undermine ethnic unity or create ethnic division” among China’s 56 officially recognized ethnicities, which include a Han Chinese majority that makes up over 90% of the country’s 1.4 billion people. Under the new rules, schools and government agencies must use Mandarin Chinese as their primary language; classrooms must ensure that their curriculum “forges a strong sense of the community of the Chinese people,” and all parents must guide children to “love the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese people.”

The state is mandated to support museums, libraries and other cultural institutions to hold events reflecting Chinese history and national prosperity, while local authorities must work toward ethnic integration in their housing policies – a stipulation observers suggest could lead to housing relocations. Organizations and individuals outside mainland China that “undermine” ethnic unity or “create ethnic division” will also be held liable, the law says – a broad-based stipulation that critics say will impact activism, research and discussion of ethnic minority issues globally.

In an address marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on Wednesday, Xi emphasized the law’s importance by calling on all party members to “continuously consolidate and strengthen the great unity of all ethnic groups.” The legislation has already drawn criticism from rights groups and experts, who say that it could suppress minority cultural identity, religious practice and language. In an April letter, United Nations human rights experts said the law “could have serious implications for the linguistic, cultural, and religious autonomy of ethnic communities, including Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Mongols.”

They also warned of the potential for “transnational repression,” given that the law may be applied overseas. A ‘chilling effect’ For some observers, the law appears to be a final step in a years-long evolution of Chinese policy to emphasize national identity over ethnic autonomy. Critics have viewed that policy shift as a aggressive push toward assimilation. It’s also widely seen as part of a broader vision to ensure national security under Xi, who came to power in 2012 following widespread 2008 protests in Tibet and deadly unrest in Xinjiang, home to its Uyghur minority. With the new law, “Beijing is no longer treating ‘ethnic unity’ as a general political slogan or a matter of local propaganda work,” said James Leibold, a professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne focused on China’s ethnic policies.

“It is making the production of a single Chinese national identity a binding responsibility across schools, families, media, museums, cadres, budgets, technology platforms and security organs,” he said. “The message is clear: minority identity is acceptable only when it is subordinated to a party-defined Chinese identity.” Leibold also points to a likely “chilling effect” of the law on overseas scholars, journalists, activists, diaspora communities and others who study or criticise China’s nationality and borderland policies, saying it could encourage “self-censorship, discourage travel, and narrow scholarly debate.”

In recent years China’s Communist Party has ramped up oversight of religious institutions, rolled back the use of ethnic minority languages in primary, secondary schools and kindergartens. Beijing has and been accused of serious human violations, including large-scale arbitrary detention of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, in Xinjiang. Chinese officials deny those claims. It’s also faced allegations of widespread transnational repression. A 2022 report from human rights campaigner Safeguard Defenders said it had found evidence of more than 100 so-called overseas police stations across the globe to monitor, harass and in some cases repatriate Chinese citizens living in exile. Beijing has denied this.

Beijing says its new ethnic unity law protects “the legitimate rights and interests of all ethnic groups” and “does not undermine ethnic minorities’ use of their own language.” When asked about the potential for “long-arm jurisdiction” at a press conference Monday, Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilie said it aligns with the basic norms of international law for countries to protect their sovereignty. “Ethnic unity is a crucial cornerstone of national prosperity and development,” he said. “Illegal activities that deliberately incite ethnic tensions, undermine ethnic unity, and endanger national security will erode the foundation of ethnic unity and harm the public interest and the legitimate rights and interests of the people.”

Source: Ethnic Unity Law: China tells minorities to assimilate with sweeping new legislation | CNN

But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Mark 13:11

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From the Past: China operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims

Earth at night with glowing flight paths from Beijing to cities like London, Moscow, Dubai, Sydney, and Tokyo

Beijing has set up more than 100 so-called overseas police stations across the globe to monitor, harass and in some cases repatriate Chinese citizens living in exile, using bilateral security arrangements struck with countries in Europe and Africa to gain a widespread presence internationally, a new report shared exclusively with CNN alleges. Madrid-based human rights campaigner Safeguard Defenders says it found evidence China was operating 48 additional police stations abroad since the group first revealed the existence of 54 such stations in September. Its new release – dubbed “Patrol and Persuade” – focuses on the scale of the network and examines the role that joint policing initiatives between China and several European nations, including Italy, Croatia, Serbia and Romania have played in piloting a wider expansion of Chinese overseas stations than was known until the organization’s revelations came out.

Among the fresh claims leveled by the group: that a Chinese citizen was coerced into returning home by operatives working undercover in a Chinese overseas police station in a Paris suburb, expressly recruited for that purpose, in addition to an earlier disclosure that two more Chinese exiles have been forcibly returned from Europe – one in Serbia, the other in Spain. Who runs the police stations? Safeguard Defenders, which combs open-source, official Chinese documents for evidence of alleged human rights abuses, said it has identified four different police jurisdictions of China’s Ministry of Public Security active across at least 53 countries, spanning all four corners of the globe, ostensibly to help expatriates from those parts of China with their needs abroad. Beijing has denied it is running undeclared police forces outside its territory, with its Ministry of Foreign Affairs telling CNN in November: “We hope that relevant parties stop hyping it up to create tensions. Using this as a pretext to smear China is unacceptable.”

Instead, China has claimed the facilities are administrative hubs, set up to help Chinese expatriates with tasks like renewing their driver’s licenses. China has also said the offices were a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had left many citizens locked down in other countries and locked out of China, unable to renew documentation. When approached by CNN last month about Safeguard Defenders’ original allegations, China’s foreign affairs ministry said the overseas stations were staffed by volunteers. However, the organization’s latest report claims one police network it examined had hired 135 people for its first 21 stations. The organization also sourced a three-year contract for a worker hired at an overseas station in Stockholm. Undeclared consular activities outside of a nation’s official diplomatic missions are highly unusual and illegal, unless a host nation has given their explicit consent, and the Safeguard Defenders report claims China’s overseas offices predate the pandemic by several years. Their reports have prompted investigations in at least 13 different countries so far and enflamed an increasingly heated diplomatic tussle between China and nations like Canada, home to a large Chinese diaspora.

China isn’t the only superpower to be accused of employing extrajudicial means to reach targets for law enforcement or for the purposes of political persecution abroad. Russia, for instance, has on two occasions been accused of deploying lethal chemical and radioactive substances on British soil to try to assassinate its former spies – allegations Russia has always denied. In the United States, the CIA was embroiled in a scandal over the extraordinary rendition of terrorism suspects from the streets of Italy to Guantanamo Bay after 9/11. Yet the suggestion of widescale repression of Chinese citizens in foreign countries comes at a pivotal time for a nation contending with its own unrest at home, amid fatigue at the country’s restrictive zero-Covid policy, as leader Xi Jinping’s third term in power gets under way. Last week, China indicated it would loosen some of its pandemic restrictions, three years after the onset of Covid-19. As the second largest economy in the world, China has developed a deepening relationship with many of the countries where the new police stations have been allegedly found, raising awkward questions for national governments balancing commercial interests against national security.

China signs police patrol agreements with nations Italy, which signed a series of bilateral security deals with China over successive governments since 2015, has kept largely silent during the revelations of alleged activities on its soil. Between 2016 and 2018 Italian police conducted multiple joint patrols with Chinese police – first in Rome and Milan – and later in other cities including Naples where at the same time, Safeguard Defenders says, it has found evidence that a video surveillance system was added to a Chinese residential area ostensibly “to effectively deter crimes there.” In 2016, an Italian police official told NPR that joint policing would “lead to a wider international cooperation, exchange of information and sharing resources to combat the criminal and terrorist groups that afflict our countries.” The NGO determines Italy has hosted 11 Chinese police stations, including in Venice and in Prato, near Florence. One ceremony in Rome to mark the opening of a new station was attended by Italian police officials in 2018, according to videos posted on Chinese websites, demonstrating the close ties between police forces in the two countries.

Earlier this year, the Italian newspaper La Nazione reported local investigations into one of the stations had not unearthed any illegal activity. Il Foglio quoted police chiefs as saying recently that the stations did not present any particular concern as they appeared to be merely bureaucratic. Italy’s foreign and interior ministries did not reply to questions from CNN. China also struck similar joint police patrol agreements with Croatia and Serbia between 2018 and 2019 as part of the nation’s increasing strategic footprint along the path of Xi’s defining foreign policy, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative. Chinese officers were seen on a joint patrol with their Croatian counterparts on the streets of the capital Zagreb as recently as July of this year, Chinese media reported. A Zagreb police official interviewed by Xinhua said the patrols were essential for “protecting and attracting foreign tourists.” A 2019 report from Reuters said Chinese officers had joined Serbian officers on patrol in Belgrade to help address the influx of Chinese tourists.

One Serbian officer noted the Chinese didn’t have the power to make arrests. Safeguard Defenders also says Chinese stations were able to get a toehold in South Africa, and in nearby nations thanks to a similar accord with Pretoria, in place for years. China began laying the foundations for closer policing ties with South Africa’s law enforcement agencies almost two decades ago, later setting up a network of what are officially called “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” in cooperation with the government of South Africa thanks to successive bilateral security agreements. China’s consulate in Cape Town has said the plan “unites all the communities, both South Africans and foreign citizens in South Africa.” Since its establishment, the framework “has been actively preventing crimes against the community and reducing the number of cases significantly,” the consulate has said while noting that the centers are non-profit associations with no “law enforcement authority.”

South African government officials have frequently been featured by Chinese media expressing support for the centers and saying their work has helped police deepen their relationship with Chinese expatriates who live there, according to a 2019 report from the Jamestown China Brief. CNN reached out to the South African Police Service, but it has not yet received comment. China tries to return people against their will Safeguard Defenders stumbled on the police networks while trying to assess the scale of China’s efforts to persuade some of its people to return to China even against their will, which, based on official Chinese data, could number almost a quarter of a million people around the world during the time Xi has been in power. “What we see coming from China is increasing attempts to crack down on dissent everywhere in the world, to threaten people, harass people, make sure that they are fearful enough so that they remain silent or else face being returned to China against their will,” said Safeguard Defenders Campaign director Laura Harth. “It will start with phone calls. They might start to intimidate your relatives back in China, to threaten you, do everything really to coax the targets abroad to come back.

If that doesn’t work, they will use covert agents abroad. They will send them from Beijing and use methods such as luring and entrapment,” Harth said. The French interior ministry declined to comment on the allegation that a Chinese citizen was coerced into returning home by a Chinese police station in a Paris suburb. Reports spark anger and investigations The revelations have prompted vocal outrage in some countries and a conspicuous silence in others. Last month, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Homeland Security Committee he was deeply concerned about the revelations. “It is outrageous to think that the Chinese police would attempt to set up shop, you know, in New York, let’s say, without proper coordination. It violates sovereignty and circumvents standard judicial and law enforcement cooperation processes,” he said. Ireland has shut down the Chinese police station found on its territory, while the Netherlands, which has taken similar measures, has a probe underway, as does Spain. Harth told CNN the organization will likely find more stations in the future. “It’s the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “China is not hiding what it is doing.

They expressly say that they are going to expand these operations so let’s take that seriously. “This is a moment when countries have to consider that it’s a question of upholding the rule of law and human rights in their countries as much for people from China, as for everyone else around the world,” she said.

Source: China operating over 100 police stations across the world with the help of some host nations, report claims | CNN

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Galatians 6:9

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Political dissident who fled China by boat arrives in Canada, his friend says

Man rowing an inflatable boat at sunrise on calm water near rocky shore

A Chinese political dissident who fled to South Korea last month in a dinghy has arrived in Canada, his friend said on social media Saturday. Dong Guangping was aboard a 10.8-foot inflatable boat in the waters off a western South Korean island in May when he was detained by South Korea’s coast guard for allegedly violating the country’s immigration law. It was his fourth known attempt to flee China. Dong, a former police officer in China, had previously been detained several times for his activism.

He was imprisoned for three years in 2001 for “inciting subversion of state power” and spent more than eight months behind bars after being arrested in 2014 for participating in a memorial for victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to past statements from Amnesty International. He previously escaped to Thailand and Vietnam, but authorities there deported him back to China. Dong also unsuccessfully tried to swim to a Taiwanese island.

The rubber boat that a Chinese national was in when he was detained in the waters off South Korea’s west coast, at a port in Taean, South Korea. The Taean Maritime Police via AP

At a court hearing in South Korea after his arrest, he told reporters that he hopes to go to Canada to reunite with his wife and daughters, who have already been resettled there, according to South Korean media. In a post Saturday on X, his friend Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist, said Dong had landed in Toronto following an Air Canada flight on Friday. “He just had a big bowl of noodles with eggs, tomatoes and shrimps,” she wrote in the post, adding that she has spent more than 10 years trying to get him out of China.

She attached a photo of Dong in a car with her and another photo of Dong holding a bowl. Xue wrote Saturday in a follow-up post, “In the process of fleeing for his life more than ten times over a decade, risking his life and facing constant failures, he has never uttered a single word of complaint or discouragement.” She added, “Souls that love freedom are full of strength.” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has not immediately commented.

Source: Political dissident who fled China by boat arrives in Canada, his friend says – CBS News

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.
Ephesians 5:3

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Update: Rare light aircraft crash in Beijing kills pilot, injures 13 people

A light aircraft crash into Beijing’s tallest building on Friday killed ​the pilot and injured 13 people who were not on ‌board, the local government said following the unusual accident for the Chinese capital, where airspace is heavily restricted. Those injured are receiving medical treatment and authorities are ​investigating the incident, Chaoyang district government said in a statement ​on Saturday. “A single-engine, two-seat light sport aircraft collided with ⁠a high-rise building while flying near the East third ring road ​in Chaoyang, at 5:55 p.m. (0955 GMT) on June 26,” said the ​statement, which was posted on social media.

“There was only one person on board, the pilot, who died,” the statement added, without giving any further details of ​the possible cause of the crash. Damage to the facade of the ​skyscraper appeared to be limited to a hole caused by the loss of ‌two ⁠large glass panels. The gap had been temporarily boarded up as of Saturday. Reuters reported on Friday the crash into the 528-metre-high building, known as CITIC Tower or China Zun, in Beijing’s Central Business ​District. It is about ​6 km (3.7 ⁠miles) from the Forbidden City visited by thousands of tourists each day. It is also near Zhongnanhai, a ​compound that houses the offices of China’s top ​political leadership. The ⁠incident follows Beijing’s ban since May on buying, renting or flying drones without authorization, due to public security concerns.

The last aircraft crash in ⁠Beijing ​was in 2022, when a tourist helicopter ​crashed during a flight between the Changping and Fangshan districts, killing the two pilots ​on board.

Source: Rare light aircraft crash in Beijing kills pilot, injures 13 people | Reuters

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14

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A small plane hit Beijing’s CITIC Tower. Hours later it was like nothing had happened

Small blue and white airplane with registration N245CP flying near glass skyscraper in city.

On Friday afternoon a small plane appeared to evade some of the world’s strictest aviation controls and slam into the tallest skyscraper in Beijing, the 109-story CITIC Tower that dominates the city’s skyline, killing the pilot and injuring 13 other people. The crash sent shards of glass and aircraft debris plummeting hundreds of feet down to the streets below as office workers left for the weekend, causing panic in the heart of China’s most protected city. A short while later, it was like nothing had happened. All mention of the incident – and the shocking footage of it – had been scrubbed from Chinese social media. The government initially did not publicly acknowledge any incident had taken place.

State media – including the country’s national broadcaster CCTV, headquartered across the road from the crash site – made no mention of the shocking incident. That’s thanks to the work of China’s army of censors and the Communist authorities’ obsessive control over information – particularly concerning events they believe may bring negative attention or consequences The information vacuum left a host of unanswered questions for those who witnessed the event, or saw reports of it. For almost a day it was unknown how many people were injured in the incident. On Saturday afternoon local time, media affiliated with the Beijing government reported a “single-engine double-seat light sports aircraft collided with a high-rise building in flight,” and that the pilot – the only person on board – had been killed and 13 people injured at the scene.

The incident was being “investigated,” it said. It’s still unknown whether the crash was accidental or intentional. Perhaps most worryingly for authorities, it’s also raised questions of how the pilot managed to fly over China’s fortified capital, where most of the Communist Party elite live, and where even flying drones is effectively banned. The CITIC tower, is 528-meters tall (equivalent to 1,732 feet). It has been Beijing’s tallest building since 2018 and dominates the skyline. It hosts China’s state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group and tech giant Alibaba and the surrounding neighborhood is a prime location in Beijing, and frequented by foreigners and diplomats. The embassies of countries ranging from the UK to Vietnam are just steps away, as are big names in global finance including the World Bank and IFC’s China offices.

The crash happened on Friday late afternoon during rush hour. Footage shared online in the brief window before the censors swung into action showed a small plane crashing into the upper level of the building, also known as China Zun, sending debris and a tail section of the plane showering down onto the city. Online images showing the plane’s registration code seemed to point to a domestically manufactured light sport aircraft, a Sunward SA 60L Aurora, owned by a local general aviation company, which offers services like pilot training, personal recreational flights and aerial photography. CNN saw crowds evacuating from the skyscraper gathering on the streets near the entrance, along with firetrucks, police cars and an ambulance. Information vacuum Beijing resident Anna, who wanted only her first name used, said she went to the site after hearing about the crash online.

“I was just like two stops away… and I saw this post… but it gets deleted soon. So I just came here.” The footage has since gone viral on social media outside mainland China. Inside the country, a search for “plane crash in Beijing” on Weibo, China’s version of X, produced no relevant results. It is common practice for Chinese authorities to act quickly to censor or impose an information blackout and deploy a heavy police presence to any incident that is seen as potentially destabilizing social stability. On Saturday, roads near the CITIC Tower were closed and police were present around the site. Only people who could prove they work in the area were allowed to enter. Delivery drivers were stuck outside and waiting for employees to come out to collect their orders, according to a CNN journalist. A press official with the Beijing municipal government said in a phone call on Saturday that “the incident is currently under investigation, and an official statement will follow” without saying when.

Unverified flight data from Flightradar24 posted online appeared to show a severely deviated flight path for the aircraft after it took off from Beijing’s Shifosi airport. Flying any light aircraft in Beijing requires approval from both the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. Beijing enacted a sweeping regulation last month to effectively ban casual recreational flying and consumer drones. Deadly and highly-public incidents in China are sometimes followed by official information vacuums that can last for years. Beijing is yet to offer any official explanation more than four years after a China Eastern Boeing 737-800 passenger jet crashed in the Guangxi region and killed 132 people, in the country’s deadliest air disaster for decades.

Source: A small plane hit Beijing’s CITIC Tower. Hours later it was like nothing had happened | CNN

For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
Psalm 18:31

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Morgan Stanley raises China humanoid robot shipment forecast as adoption picks up

Row of robots and human workers assembling electronic circuit boards in factory

Morgan Stanley has sharply raised its outlook for China’s humanoid robotics market, saying the industry’s shift from demonstration to commercial deployment has proved faster than expected. The Wall Street bank upgraded its forecast for China’s humanoid robot shipments for a second time this year on Tuesday, expecting 50,000 units to ship this year, nearly double its previous projection of 28,000. The bank had already doubled its initial January forecast of 14,000 units.

Morgan Stanley estimated China’s humanoid robot market will reach $2 billion this year and grow to $15 billion by 2030. Annual shipments are forecast to reach 446,000 units by then. The forecast includes only external sales, excluding those produced for prototypes, pre-order trials, or internal use. “Commercial verification, policy support, and supply-chain feedback point to faster humanoid adoption in China,” Sheng Zhong, equity analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a note Tuesday. China has accelerated its push to dominate the industry, with a growing roster of domestic manufacturers racing to scale production and deploy robots in real-world settings such as factories, convenience stores and restaurants.

Beijing has also made developing “embodied AI” — artificial intelligence embedded in physical systems such as robots — a priority for the coming five years, directing local governments to subsidize startups with land and office space while ordering banks to extend favorable lending terms. Investment opportunity Last year, about 13,000 humanoids were shipped worldwide, according to research firm Omdia. Chinese companies dominated the top five positions by shipments, while American rival Figure AI ranked seventh, and Tesla was ninth. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this year that the company’s Optimus humanoid robot wouldn’t start sales to the public until the end of 2027.

Humanoid robotics could become the “next big frontier” for investors eyeing China’s rapid tech development, said Joe Ngai, senior partner and chairman of McKinsey Greater China. “When you walk outside [in China], you see all these startups and more advanced companies, all these robots dancing — but robotics usage on the industrial side is often a below-the-radar story,” Ngai told CNBC’s Elaine Yu on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in the city of Dalian. “If you go to any Chinese factory right now, there’s more automation and robotics that’s been deployed than anywhere else in the world,” Ngai added. Morgan Stanley’s supply chain field research also pointed to faster commercialization, citing factory and logistics settings, as well as further rollouts in unmanned retail stores and interactive commercial services.

The bank named Shanghai-listed Leaderdrive as a major beneficiary of the rise in humanoids, raising its 12-month target price to 464 yuan ($68) from 269 yuan. The Suzhou-headquartered company supplies precision robotic components to domestic humanoid makers such as Ubtech and Galbot. Leaderdrive could hold a 40% global market share this year and 25% over the longer term, Zhong said, supported by robust shipments and its strong customer exposure. Chinese robotic firms are also increasingly eyeing overseas expansion. Seer Intelligent, a Shanghai-based robotics company that began trading in Hong Kong on Wednesday, has expanded beyond China since 2021, with overseas revenue from more than 65 countries contributing 18% of its total sales last year, according to Jonathan Fan, the company’s chief operating officer.

But geopolitical uncertainty and simmering trade tensions remain the most significant headwind, Fan told CNBC’s Emily Chan on Monday. He said the company was focusing on geographic diversification to reduce reliance on a single market and strict compliance with local regulations in each market it operates. Policymakers in Washington have grown alarmed at China’s progress in artificial intelligence and the risks of growing dependence on Chinese technology in recent years. “If Washington treats the contest solely as a race to hit new capability benchmarks, it could lead in invention but fall behind in influencing where and how AI is used worldwide,” Suzanne Nossel, Lester Crown senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy and international order at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said in an opinion piece published on Foreign Policy this week.

Source: Morgan Stanley raises China humanoid robot shipment forecast as adoption picks up

Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:9

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China fueling anti-data center sentiment across US: Trump admin

server rack in modern data center

The Trump administration and “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary claimed anti-data center sentiments across the US are being fueled by a Chinese propaganda campaign. O’Leary — whose 40,000-acre data center plans outside Salt Lake City have been met with protests — claimed in a Monday video that “nefarious accounts out of the country” tied to China were spreading misinformation about his project as part of a coordinated attack on American AI infrastructure. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum agreed during a Tuesday appearance on Fox Business.

Source: China fueling anti-data center sentiment across US: Trump admin

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.
Romans 15:2

Prayer for Boldness; Acts 4:24-31

When opposition rises against God’s people, the natural response is often fear. Yet the early church teaches us that the answer to intimidation is not retreat, but prayer to have supernatural boldness. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you…

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Supreme Court expands presidential firing power, overturning 90-year-old ruling

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What to know about cyclospora parasite and how to avoid it

Got a nasty stomach bug that won’t go away? It could be cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that causes weeks of debilitating diarrhea, cramps and bloating. This infection tends to occur during the warm summer months, but several states are reporting increases in cases beyond what they would normally expect at this point in the year.…

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Platner leaves Democrats with egg on their faces

Democrats have a number of Graham Platner-related problems even after his exit from the Maine Senate race amid a rape allegation he denies. But high on that list is the sheer amount of egg some of them now have on their faces. Amid his drip, drip, drip of controversies, Platner repeatedly put the party in…

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Van Fire burns 1,100 acres in Mariposa County, is 20% contained

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God’s Authority Over Fear and Darkness

The enemy may be powerful, but he is not all-powerful. The God who lives within you has never lost a battle and never will. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4  The Lord is…

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RFK Jr. launches voluntary pledge for hospitals to serve healthier food

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday launched the “Make Hospital Food Healthier Pledge.”  The voluntary pledge asks hospitals to serve healthier meals that reduce “highly processed foods and prioritize nutrient-dense options” that align with federal dietary guidelines.  “Patients recovering from serious medical conditions…

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Associated Press Dislikes Trump Remarks on Communism at Mount Rushmore

Communism is an evil philosophy. Communist regimes have killed hundreds of millions of people, and made millions more live in a police state. But somehow, speaking ill of communism alarms the same journalists that constantly suggest democracy is in peril under Donald Trump. Authoritarianism is bad – unless it’s communist. Trump denounced communism in a…

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Faith Through Fire And Peace; Podcast Episode 9

Pip: Drink of Jesus is a site that takes ancient words seriously — the kind that hold steady when everything else is shifting, which, if you look around, is basically the job description of Scripture right now. Mara: This episode covers three territories: finding peace, refuge, and daily strength in God’s Word; guarding the heart…

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Understanding Spiritual Warfare: A Believer’s Guide

There is more happening around you than what your eyes can see. Every believer is living on a battlefield where eternal realities are at stake. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil…

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Lightning strike ignites vehicle over gas leak in Miramar neighborhood, alarming residents: “I could feel the heat at my house”

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Severe flooding damages New Jersey communities after strong storms

Homeowners in New Jersey couldn’t catch a break after severe storms inundated their neighborhoods with rain.  Some were still waiting for power to be restored from Saturday night’s storm, when they were hit by flash flooding. Many families were pumping water out of their backyards and basements Monday night. They said floodwaters reached several feet deep…

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Cuba hit with nationwide blackout as US pressure continues

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Strong to severe storms possible as North Texas stays hot, humid

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China test-launches ballistic missile from sub in South Pacific, drawing protests

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Finding Peace in God’s Promises for Tomorrow

What surprises you never surprises God. The future may feel uncertain to us, but it is already known and held securely in His hands. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’— Isaiah 46:10 One of the…

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McKean Fire southwest of San Jose burns just over 10 acres

Fire crews have stopped the forward progression of the McKean Fire in Santa Clara County Sunday afternoon.  Cal Fire said aviation and ground resources were at the scene of the fire off Alamden Road and Mountain Drive, trying to establish containment lines.   Crews said the fire was burning at a moderate rate, but said…

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Maryland’s weekend storms knock down trees, leave residents in the dark

Maryland residents are feeling the impacts of severe storms that rumbled through the state this weekend, and more storms are possible on Monday. Heavy rain and strong wind gusts knocked down trees and power lines, leaving thousands without power on Saturday and Sunday. Storms could cause more issues, including potential flooding, on Monday. Power outages…

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Chinese Communist Party Erasing Religion with Village Renaming Effort

prisoner holding plate with food

The 630 changes exhibit a greater campaign within China toward eliminating all religious belief, according to Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. Catalina Scheider Galiñanes, June 25, 2024 – National Catholic Register The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has enacted a campaign of widespread renaming of villages across the Xinjiang province, in an attempt to remove references to religion or religious history. Human Rights Watch (HRW), along with Norwegian organization Uyghyr Hjelp (“Uyghur Help”), released research on Wednesday, June 18. It reveals a systematized effort to reframe the traditionally Islamic and Uyghur names into Communist references. By analyzing the National Bureau of Statistics of China, HRW uncovered that “the names of about 3,600 of the 25,000 villages in Xinjiang were changed” during the period of 2009 to 2023.

The report states, “About four-fifths of these changes appear mundane, such as number changes, or corrections to names previously written incorrectly. But the 630, about a fifth, involve changes of a religious, cultural, or historical nature.” These 630 changes exhibit a greater campaign within China toward eliminating all religious belief, according to Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international coalition devoted to exposing and opposing abortion, gendercide and sexual slavery in China. “China is one of the greatest persecutors in the world on the basis of religion, and that includes all religions,” Littlejohn told the Register. “So be it the Uyghurs, Protestants, Catholic, Falun Gong … Christians believe that God is No. 1 and not the Chinese Communist Party, but the Chinese Communist Party wants to be on top, in terms of people’s loyalty.”

Uyghurs, part of an ethnic minority within China, traditionally practice Islam and speak the Uyghur language. They are the victims of an intense detention and imprisonment campaign, centralized in Xinjiang. The U.S. State Department designated Uyghur internment camps as “crimes against humanity” and as a part of the CCP’s “genocide against the predominately Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.”

Source: Chinese Communist Party Erasing Religion with Village Renaming Effort – EWTN Great Britain

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

Robin Williams as the American Flag

Robin Williams portrays the American flag in “I Love Liberty,” a two-hour television special created by Norman Lear and presented by People For the American Way. Source: (630) Robin Williams as…

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The Story of America: John Adams

The White House Salute to America 250 Task Force has partnered with Hillsdale College to provide a history series that tells the remarkable story of American Independence. It will highlight the…

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George Washington on Freedom of Speech

George Washington never wrote a single famous statement that exactly says “freedom of speech” in the way many internet memes claim. However, throughout his writings and public addresses, he strongly supported…

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Eileen Wang resigns, will plead guilty to acting as Chinese agent

SP Eileen Wang in handcuffs at press conference with police officer and media

A Southern California mayor has agreed to plead guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government, and has resigned from her city position, officials said Monday. Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. She was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as sharing articles favorable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis. City manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a news release that no city finances or staff were involved.

“We want to be clear: this investigation concerns individual conduct, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022,” he said. Federal officials said she has agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said in a statement that she recognizes the seriousness of the charge and accepts responsibility for “past personal mistakes.” “She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,” Wang’s attorneys Jason Liang and Brian Sun said in a statement. “Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver.” According to her plea agreement, Wang and a colleague, Yaoning “Mike” Sun, worked on behalf of government officials for the People’s Republic of China from the end of 2020 to 2022 to promote their interests by promoting pro-PRC propaganda in the U.S. Sun is serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October.

He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang’s 2022 election campaign. Wang and Sun operated the news website U.S. News Center, aimed at the Chinese American community, and were instructed by Chinese government officials to post pro-PRC content on it. In one instance in June 2021, a government official sent Wang a link to a letter to the editor published in the Los Angeles Times written by the consul general of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles. The piece refuted reports of the persecution, forced labor, and abuse of Uyghers in China’s Xinjiang province, stating, “There has never been genocide in Xinjiang or forced labor in the region’s cotton fields or any other sector.”

Source: Eileen Wang resigns, will plead guilty to acting as Chinese agent | CNN

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18

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Organ Harvesting in China

mannequin of human digestive tract

You may think you know about the illegal world of organ harvesting, but there’s an even a darker side to this practice than merely procuring an organ on the black market. In China, two groups in particular, Uyghur Muslims as well as Falun Gong practitioners, are often targeted to be killed for their organs, especially young men and women in their late 20s. These two groups, in particular, are first shamed publicly for believing in God or in even having a spiritual life, for atheism is “god” in Communist China. The two group are then sent to prison camps, where they are blood-typed and categorized for various organ extractions. When a request comes in from a dying patient who is willing to pay top-dollar for an immediate organ match, even from patients in the United States, Chinese military doctors and staff are able to get the requested organ in as little as two weeks!

Why? Because they have already “found” the donors in a prison camp. When the donor is put on a military hospital operating table, he/she is anesthetized while the extraction is going on because getting the freshest organ possible is always preferred. Extracting an organ from a dead donor, even one who has just passed, can result in the organ being rejected by the recipient’s body, due to it beginning to deteriorate. Once the organ is removed, the donor is killed with an overdose, the organ is placed in the recipient’s body, and the corpse of the deceased is cremated. The money from the procedure is sent to help fund the Chinese military.

Source: Organ Harvesting in China – Terry Bowman Gilberg

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
Galatians 6:1

States That Allow Bible in the Classroom

Texas public schools will now require students to read Bible passages and stories as part of the latest conservative push to expand the role of religion in public education—a move bound to escalate wrangling…

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Explosion at fireworks factory in China kills at least 26

dramatic fire explosion at twilight

An explosion at a fireworks plant in a central Chinese province has killed at least 26 people and injured 61, prompting the halting of all firework manufacturing near the site. The blast occurred in the city of Changsha, in Hunan province, on Monday afternoon, China’s official news agency Xinhua said. China Daily said the plant was operated by the Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co in the Changsha-administered, county-level city of Liuyang.

Changsha’s mayor, Chen Bozhang, said at a media briefing that a search and rescue operation had largely been completed and verification of the casualties and identification of the victims was under way. Chen said the local government expressed condolences for the victims and apologised to society, including the families and injured people. “We feel extremely pained and deeply remorseful,” he said.

Source: Explosion at fireworks factory in China kills at least 26 | China | The Guardian

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

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All The Ways China and Russia May Be Aiding Iran Against The U.S.

Two men in suits, embracing in front of Chinese and Russian flags, smiling at each other

KEY FACTS:

  • Both the New York Times and CNN reported in the last week that China was preparing to ship new air defense systems to Iran, citing sources familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments.
  • These would include new shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles, according to both reports, similar to the device President Donald Trump said Iranians used to shoot down an F-15 fighter jet earlier in April.
  • When asked by reporters about reports of China sending the weapons, the president said Saturday that “if China does that, China will have big problems, OK?” The Chinese government denied to CNN and the Times it intends to send weapons to Iran.
  • Russia, meanwhile, has reportedly supplied Iran with military intelligence, including satellite images of U.S. bases in the Middle East before they were targeted by strikes, according to Ukrainian intelligence assessments reported by Reuters last week.
  • Speaking to a British podcast after the Ukrainian intelligence was made public, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he did not receive a reaction from the U.S., adding, “the problem is they trust Putin.”

POSSIBLE PAYMENTS FOR MOVING THROUGH THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ

There have been unverified reports that Iran has been charging fees to allow ships to pass through the strait since mid-March. Among the slow trickle of foreign ships have been able to travel safely through it: Those owned by China and Russia. China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines, according to the BBC, have gone through the passage, and on Friday a Russian-flagged oil tanker made it through apparently without any difficulty. Iran has signalled it wants to charge ships tolls using cryptocurrency to use the strait in the future, with a spokesperson for the country’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union telling the Wall Street Journal last week this could be a tariff of $1 per barrel. On Sunday, Trump threatened to interdict any ships in international waters that paid a toll to Iran, raging in a Truth Social post “no one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas.”

Source: All The Ways China and Russia May Be Aiding Iran Against The U.S.

Surging cases of HMPV in China draw worrying parallels with COVID pandemic, as nation steps up emergency response

crop attractive asian woman putting on mask on street

A major surge in human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in China has sparked concern due to worrying parallels with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Surging cases of HMPV in China draw worrying parallels with COVID pandemic, as nation steps up emergency response | Sky News Australia

Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.
Proverbs 25:28

Over a dozen cases dropped against Minnesota protesters accused of assaulting federal agents during ICE operation

Federal prosecutors are continuing to dismiss charges initially brought against people in Minnesota for allegedly assaulting federal officers during the winter.  WCCO dug through court filings and identified at least 18 people whose cases are now dropped. A federal judge officially dismissed the charges for 15 of them; three are pending a judge’s approval after…

Biden Judge Blocks Trump’s New Verification System to Fight Voter Fraud

Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump’s New Verification System to Remove Foreign Nationals from Voter Rolls uscourts.gov JOHN BINDER22 Jun 20264,417 2:52 A federal judge, appointed by President Joe Biden, has blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from using an updated verification system, known as the SAVE program, to remove foreign nationals from state voter rolls. On Monday,…

Not Meant For the Government

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” Patrick Henry Patrick Henry | Revolutionary War Patriot & American Statesman Patrick Henry (born May 29 [May 18, Old Style], 1736, Studley [Virginia]—died June 6, 1799, Red Hill, near Brookneal, Virginia,…

What Europeans Discover in America: FIFA First Impressions

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Ford recalls more than 250,000 Focus models due to engine stall risk

Ford is recalling more than 250,000 vehicles that were incorrectly repaired under a previous recall meant to fix a problem that caused the engine to stall while driving, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. The recall includes 255,404 Ford Focus automobiles, model years 2012-2018. Ford said the canister purge valve may stick…

Stellantis recalls more than 1 million Jeeps in U.S. that could catch fire even when turned off, feds say

Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, says it’s recalling almost 1.08 million Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators in the U.S. due to a potential fire hazard. The company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the recall. The model years involved are 2021 – 2025. Stellantis explained in a statement to CBS News that the Jeeps “may have…

Target voluntarily recalling 2 types of baby wipes over contamination concerns

Target is voluntarily recalling two types of baby wipes due to concerns that the products may be contaminated with bacteria that may cause “serious and life-threatening infections,” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The Minnesota-based company is recalling Up and Up Fragrance Free Baby Wipes and Up and Up Fresh Cucumber Scented…

Three arrested after Hong Kong fire leaves at least 36 killed and 279 missing as bamboo-clad buildings burn

a house raze by uncontrollable fire

Three people have reportedly been arrested after a massive fire swept through residential towers in Hong Kong, leaving 36 people dead and 279 missing.   

Source: Three arrested after Hong Kong fire leaves at least 36 killed and 279 missing as bamboo-clad buildings burn | Sky News Australia

Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.
Romans 14:3

Illinois leading U.S. in tornadoes with 140 so far in 2026

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National Weather Service confirms multiple tornadoes with Streator, Merrillville among hardest hit areas

Residents across Illinois and Indiana are cleaning up from severe damage after destructive tornadoes and severe storms hit on Thursday night.  As of Friday evening, the National Weather Service has confirmed at least seven tornado touchdowns on June 11, including an EF-3 tornado in Kouts, Indiana, an EF-3 tornado in Streator, Illinois, an EF-2 tornado in Merrillville, Indiana,…

Elon Musk becomes the world’s first trillionaire with SpaceX’s IPO

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San Francisco museum exhibit highlights lowrider culture, draws in car enthusiasts

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Trump says U.S. killed Tren de Aragua leader in airstrike in Venezuela

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Severe thunderstorm knocks down trees, power lines in Annapolis

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San Francisco Zoo welcomes first penguin chicks in three years

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Longleat keepers ‘excited’ to care for trio of maned wolves

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Chinese national arrested over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants from Kenya

news

The suspect had packed some ants in test tubes while others were concealed in tissue paper rolls, prosecutor says.

Source: Chinese national arrested over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants from Kenya

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psalm 133:1

Tularemia detected in Northern Colorado after dead rabbit discovered in Berthoud

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Second bird tests positive for West Nile virus in Ventura County

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Chinese universities surge in global rankings as US schools slip

traditional chinese architecture in nanjing

China News: Until recently, Harvard was the most productive research university in the world, according to a global ranking that looks at academic publication.

Source: Chinese universities surge in global rankings as US schools slip – The Times of India

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 14:13

Individuals exposed to rabid fox in Baltimore’s Roland Park

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NYC public school splits parents, staff into `separate’ racial groups

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Minnesota is enjoying a “boring” mosquito season thus far. Here’s what’s keeping them under control for now.

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Senate fails to extend FISA surveillance program as deadline nears, with 7 Republicans joining Democrats

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House passes pro-union bill after 20 Republicans defy party, in latest move to bypass GOP leadership

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Chinese automakers want to come to US. They could be here fairly soon

shiny vehicle parked beside a window

Chinese cars could be at an American dealership sooner than you think, and that’s good news for US consumers.

Source: Chinese automakers want to come to US. They could be here fairly soon | CNN Business

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12

Man arrested hours after opening fire on Hennepin County deputies in south Minneapolis, sheriff says

Law enforcement officers arrested a man in south Minneapolis Tuesday evening following an hourslong standoff. The deputies were attempting to serve an arrest warrant for 31-year-old Tyler Joseph O’Brien around 11:30 a.m. at an apartment unit on West 28th Street and Nicollet Avenue when they heard multiple shots fired. Deputies retreated and heard several more…

Non Christian Director Steven Spielberg says ‘Disclosure Day’ will touch on Christianity

Director Steven Spielberg suggested during a Sunday interview that his new film about extraterrestrials might raise theological questions among some Christians regarding the nature of the cosmos. Speaking with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Spielberg said “Disclosure Day,” his upcoming movie about a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert exposing…

Ransomware attack shuts down Evanston Township High School campus

The FBI is investigating a cybersecurity at Evanston Township High School that has closed down the whole campus Monday morning. A ransomware attack is hitting the district’s phone lines, internet services and computers, and impacting the school’s emergency notification and public address systems. “Because these systems are not fully operational, we made the determination to…

SCOTUS Could Strike Down EPA’s Unconstitutional Overreach

The EPA under the Biden Administration crafted a cap-and-trade scheme to allocate market share in the multibillion-dollar hydrofluorocarbons industry — including to “new market participants” based on the promotion of “equity.” Now, one of the businesses the EPA rendered a market-share loser under the federal agency’s unconstitutional take-over of the hydrofluorocarbon industry seeks review by…

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Two men go on trial in London accused of spying for Hong Kong and China

chinese national flag waving amongst trees outdoors

The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos.

Source: Two men go on trial in London accused of spying for Hong Kong and China

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:21

Overnight house fire kills one in central Minnesota

Authorities are investigating what caused a deadly fire in central Minnesota early Sunday morning. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office says it received multiple reports of a large fire in Land Township just after 1 a.m. A deputy driving in the area provided an exact location of the fire and said that a residence and nearby…

Rare “Deadliest Cat in Africa” Kitten Born at Texas Zoo

While he may look impossibly cute right now, Maverick belongs to a species often called “Africa’s deadliest feline” thanks to its astonishing hunting success rate. And somehow, this fierce little predator will only grow to about three pounds as an adult. The zoo first announced Maverick’s birth several weeks ago, calling him a major conservation…

Girl reunites with man who saved her from deadly Dallas apartment explosion

Nearly a week after a deadly explosion at the Clyde Apartments in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, a 10‑year‑old girl who survived the blast has reunited with the man credited with saving her life. Vanessa, who lost her mother, Marisol Perez, and her 18‑month‑old brother in the explosion, met with Rodney Brown on Monday.  The encounter…

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China removes three retired generals from national advisory body

close up shot of world map with flaglets

China has removed three retired military generals, including a former commander of the People’s Liberation Army ground force, from a top political advisory body just days before its largest annual political gathering.

Source: China removes three retired generals from national advisory body

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12

ICE Deports MS-13 Member With Cartel Ties

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported a self-admitted MS-13 gang member with ties to Mexico’s Cartel del Noreste after he completed a prison sentence in Texas, Newsmax learned exclusively Thursday. According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE removed Isaias Jose Rodriguez-Manzanares, a Honduran national, to Honduras on June 20 after taking custody of…

Denver Public Schools will implement bell-to-bell cellphone ban

Denver’s school board unanimously passed a policy that will require students’ personal electronic devices to be turned off and put away while at school. This includes cellphones, smart watches, laptops, tablets and even wireless earbuds.  “It was a thoughtful community recommendation, not a top-down directive,” said School Board Director Marlene De La Rosa. “Number two was…

Psalm 1:1–3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;  but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not…

Tasmanian devil named Mary still missing 3 days after escaping wildlife park in Australia: “A mystery”

A Tasmanian devil named Mary successfully eluded searchers equipped with a thermal-imaging drone for a third day on Thursday after escaping from an Australian wildlife park. Keepers discovered the furry, carnivorous marsupial was missing from her enclosure at Paradise Country wildlife park on Queensland’s Gold Coast on Tuesday morning. A dozen wildlife experts backed by…

Christian Persecution June 2 – May 28, 2026

Christian persecution published between May 28 and June 4, 2026. These come primarily from specialized monitoring organizations like International Christian Concern (ICC) and Global Christian Relief. No large-scale violent incidents (e.g., mass killings or church bombings) were reported in major outlets during this exact window, but several specific cases of arrests, physical attacks, restrictions, and…

Man killed in shooting at Universal City Park & Ride parking lot

A man was fatally shot in the parking lot near Universal Studios on Sunday morning, according to Los Angeles police.  Officers said that the shooting happened at around 11:20 a.m. near the Universal/Studio City Park & Ride parking lot in the 10800 block of Ventura Boulevard. By the time they arrived at the scene, the…

80-year-old man stabbed to death in Tarzana neighborhood

An 80-year-old man was stabbed to death in a Tarzana neighborhood Wednesday morning. The Los Angeles Police Department said the deadly stabbing happened at about 9:30 a.m. in the 19200 block of Erwin Street. Officers found the man, who is about 80 years old, outside of a nearby home.  LAPD said the Los Angeles Fire…

Authorities Confirm First Screwworm Case in U.S. in 60 Years

A flesh-eating, parasitic worm has been discovered in the United States once again, according to officials. In a post to social media on Wednesday, June 3, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirmed the presence of Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screwworm fly, also known as the New World screwworm or simply screwworm. “As expected,…

Michigan City Zoo animal care workers attacked by wolves

Two animal care workers were attacked by wolves at the Michigan City Zoo in Indiana. According to the Department of Parks and Recreation, a wolf at the zoo died Tuesday night of natural causes. After that death, two of the animal care workers at the zoo were attacked by other wolves in the zoo’s enclosure.…

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Chinese whistleblower reveals how China spies on citizens – at home and abroad

chinese national flag waving amongst trees outdoors

A man who spent 24 years working as an official for the Chinese Communist Party describes how the government spies on its citizens at home and abroad. Former Chinese official Ma Ruilin tells CNN’s Ivan Watson why he decided to flee to America.

Source: Chinese whistleblower reveals how China spies on citizens – at home and abroad | CNN

Child safe after carjacking on Chicago’s South Side

A car was found after it was stolen with a 1-year-old inside on Chicago’s South Side early Wednesday morning.  Chicago police said a 36-year-old man was standing next to the car in the 9100 block of South Urban Avenue just before 2:15 a.m. when a person got in the car and drove off with the…

Why Graham Platner Had to Return to Maine Quickly Last Night

Graham Platner looked as if he was about to walk into a scene from Intervention, as new scandals emerge about the Maine Democrat who is trying to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). Instead, we heard the tired ‘we’re going to win Maine’ pep rally lines from Senate Democrats in Washington after they met with Platner.…

Trump tells ‘Pod Force One’ Graham Platner is a ‘major sleaze bag,’ but James Talarico is worse

President Trump blasted the Democrats’ scandal-plagued Senate candidate Graham Platner as a “major sleaze bag” in an interview with The Post’s “Pod Force One,” but said Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is worse.  The president gave a blunt assessment of the Democrats’ top Senate contenders in an interview with The Post’s Miranda Devine in the…

17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’

17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’, Michael Foust – Read breaking news headlies with a Christian perspective and commentary from Michael Foust. A gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., served as the focal point for the May 24 global event, featuring worship, personal testimonies, and live updates…

Shakopee man charged in deadly shooting at Twin Cities Eid prayer service

A Shakopee, Minnesota, man is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Khalid Ibrahim Abdi outside of a Twin Cities Eid al-Adha prayer service on Wednesday. Mohamed Rage, 28, is facing one count of second-degree murder as well as an illegal weapons charge, according to the criminal complaint filed in Scott County on Monday. Charges say…

Sacramento man found with explosive during airport security check charged in federal court

A man has been charged with bringing an explosive device into Sacramento International Airport (SMF), federal prosecutors announced Tuesday. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, a criminal complaint was filed against 49-year-old Sacramento resident Kimani Osayande Jones, also known as Kimani Osayande Jackson, accusing him of unlawfully possessing explosive…

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Japanese PM Takaichi Stands Against Chinese ‘Coercion,’ Promises New Defense Strategy

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae promises to stand firm against growing Chinese “coercion” and craft a new national defense strategy.

Source: Japanese PM Takaichi Stands Against Chinese ‘Coercion,’ Promises New Defense Strategy

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