Minimalist News

How The Deep State Weaponizes AI To Control The Narrative The Deep State just upgraded from clunky human fact-checkers to AI that scales narrative control at lightspeed. As Tony Seruga wrote on X: No more paper trails, subpoenas, or exposed biases - just seamless manipulation. Automated Shaping at Scale AI floods zones with thousands of subtly varied "organic" rebuttals in seconds. Pre-bunks emerging stories before they trend. Detects your writing style, reasoning patterns, and source chains to dynamically throttle—no crude bans needed. Infrastructure Already Live CISA’s old “election security” coordination with platforms? Content-agnostic and ready for new “harm” definitions. Palantir,

European Gas Storage Can't Survive 3 More Months Of Hormuz Authored by Alex Kimani via OilPrice.com, Europe risks a major gas storage shortfall if disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz continue for another 1–3 months, with inventories still far below normal seasonal levels. LNG supply disruptions, strong Asian demand, and distorted gas pricing have made refilling storage unusually difficult and expensive across the EU. Equinor warns prolonged disruptions could push Dutch TTF gas prices toward €90/MWh, forcing industrial demand destruction and fuel switching across Europe. Europe could face a critical shortfall in natural gas stocks if shipping disruptions through the

Japan's Auto Giants Are Losing The EV Race To China Japan’s car industry is being forced into a major reset as Chinese automakers rapidly outpace traditional rivals in electric vehicles, software, and manufacturing speed, according to Nikkei . The shift is especially visible at Honda Motor. In 2021, CEO Toshihiro Mibe pledged that EVs and fuel-cell vehicles would account for all new Honda sales by 2040. Last week, however, he admitted the plan was “not realistic under the current circumstances,” formally backing away from the target. Nikkei writes that Honda’s retreat marks a sharp reversal. The company had committed trillions

Nearly 1.2 Billion People Live With Mental Disorders Globally: Study Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times, There were an estimated 1.17 billion people suffering from mental disorders worldwide in 2023, up by 95.5 percent from 1990, according to a May 23 peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet journal. The study assessed the prevalence of 12 types of mental disorders across 204 nations and territories between 1990 and 2023. Types of disorders assessed in the study included bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorders. All mental disorders saw case numbers rise during the study

The Appearance Of 'Action': Britain's Navy Docked At Gateway To Mediterranean For Hormuz Mission Is Washington's ally the United Kingdom making preparations to 'do more' related to the Iran crisis at the behest of President Trump? New reporting in The Associated Press suggests so. But the new Monday report also points to the UK possibly just making an appearance of action : "Aboard the RFA Lyme Bay docked off the coast of Gibraltar, hundreds of British sailors are waiting to be deployed for a mine-clearing mission to the Strait of Hormuz that is still in doubt," the report says. The

US Launches "Self-Defense Strikes" Near Hormuz, Killing Several Iranian Personnel Summary The US military carried out “self-defense strikes” on Monday in southern Iran against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said. Iran has reportedly lifted its nationwide internet ban after nearly 90-days . Israel dramatically ramps up war and bombing of Lebanon, citing Hezbollah drones on its territory. Al Arabiya claims Tehran ready to transfer highly enriched uranium to China . Trump urges all countries join post-deal Abraham accords, including Iran : Negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are

Brussels Eyes Wealth Taxes As Europe’s Fiscal Crisis Spirals Submitted by Thomas Kolbe A fatal fiscal dynamic has become entrenched across the European Union. In nearly every member state, public spending is accelerating at all levels — from municipalities and social insurance systems all the way up to the European Commission — while the private economy at best stagnates and its industrial core sectors visibly erode. This dangerous economic imbalance, in which a shrinking private sector is forced to finance a continuously expanding state apparatus, is already producing fiscal consequences visible in the bond markets . Interest rates have been

Finland Flourishes As Freedom Flounders In The 'Land Of The Free' Global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, according to Freedom House. More than 50 countries saw political rights and civil liberties deteriorate, including the United States. This graphic, via Visual Capitalist's Gabriel Cohen , ranks the world’s most and least free countries using Freedom House’s 2026 Freedom in the World report, which evaluates political rights and civil liberties across 195 countries and territories. Finland topped the rankings with a perfect score of 100, followed by New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden at 99. Meanwhile, South Sudan scored

The Digital Euro As Europe's Backdoor Capital Control System Submitted by Thomas Kolbe The digital euro ranks among the most ambitious projects within the political architecture of the European Union. As the Eurosystem and the EU increasingly merge into identical and integrated political spaces, it can no longer be denied that this CBDC project is primarily a geopolitical power play by Brussels. Yet the euro-CBDC — shorthand for “central bank digital currency” — remains stuck in a loop. Originally envisioned years ago as already being in the project phase, the first digital wallets are now not expected before the end

China Begins Flooding The Market With DRAM And NAND Memory Chips Last September, when the memory bubble was just getting started, we said that inevitably " the cure for high commodity prices is, well, high commodity prices." While many financial market maxims have quietly ceased working in recent years thanks to rigged markets due to central bank interventions and market manipulation by both money printers and HFTs, this is one that will never fail, the only question is timing. Furthermore, there is one other thing that can be added as an ironclad footnote here, and that is that once China

Globalism Seeks To Kill The Nation-State Authored by J.B. Shurk via American Thinker , International government threatens the whole planet. People are beginning to understand that those who rule in their name have long been working to eliminate the nation-state. The United Nations is not neutral ground for national governments to discuss their differences; it is a governmental construct meant to replace national governments. The World Health Organization is not an international body meant to coordinate complex responses to global health emergencies; it is an institution vested with vast power and authority to track and regulate every human on the

Healthcare Workers Dominate America's Highest-Paid Jobs Want to earn more than $300,000 a year in America? The clearest path is still a highly specialized medical career. This ranking of America’s highest-paying occupations uses Bureau of Labor Statistics ( BLS ) data to compare mean annual wages and total U.S. employment across the country’s top-paid roles. As Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld details below, the results show how concentrated high pay is in healthcare . They also reveal another important pattern: many of America’s best-paid jobs are held by relatively small workforces, making them some of the rarest careers in the economy.

Musk: SpaceX Is Actively Seeking More AI Compute Customers, After Anthropic Deal By Sebatsian Moss of Data Center Dynamics SpaceX's xAI subsidiary is looking to score more data center compute lease deals, after it sold all of the capacity of Colossus I to Anthropic. That deal will see Grok's competitor pay $1.25 billion a month over the next three years for the 300MW facility. The deal can be terminated by either party, with 90 days' notice. "As the recently expanded partnership with Anthropic demonstrates, SpaceX is offering AI compute as a service at significant scale," CEO Elon Musk said. "We

First Andreessen, Now Goldman CEO Shuts Down AI Job-Apocalypse Doomerism Narrative Amid the flood of AI doomerism, from Pope Leo XIV's Monday warning that AI and the digital transformation of the economy could unleash "new forms of slavery" and mass job losses, to Bernie Sanders and unhinged socialists calling for a halt to data centers buildouts, a move that would conveniently cede compute power to communists in Beijing, a growing and emerging chorus of dystopian futurists is now trying to frame the AI boom as an existential labor-market crisis rather than the next productivity supercycle that arrives just in time

Arab States Voice Outrage Over New 'Illegal' Embassy Opening In Jerusalem Via The Cradle Fifteen Arab and Islamic countries condemned on Sunday the decision of the breakaway region of Somaliland to open an embassy in occupied Jerusalem. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia, Djibouti, Somalia, Palestine, Oman, Sudan, Yemen, Lebanon, and Mauritania denounced the move in a joint statement on Sunday. The countries condemned "in the strongest terms the illegal and unacceptable step taken by the so-called 'Somaliland' region in opening a purported 'embassy' in occupied Jerusalem," according to the statement. Newly opened embassy

Debt Remembered And Debt Ignored Authored by Greg Marasca via AmericanThinker.com, Memorial Day compels Americans to confront a word we avoid: debt. Not the financial kind that Congress pretends will magically resolve itself, but the older, heavier meaning — the kind carved into headstones at Arlington and cemeteries across the country. It is the debt paid in full by those who gave their lives, so the rest of us could live free. No interest rate can measure it. No budget line can contain it. It is final, irrevocable, and sacred. Every year, we pause, as we should, to acknowledge that

China Moves To Shut Down Offshore Stock-Trading Channels Used By Mainland Investors Authored by Arthur Zhang via The Epoch Times, China’s securities regulator has opened enforcement actions against Futu, Tiger Brokers, and Longbridge Securities, accusing the offshore online brokerages of illegally serving mainland investors who used the platforms to trade U.S. and Hong Kong stocks. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said on May 22 that it had opened investigations and issued administrative penalty pre-notification letters against Tiger Brokers (NZ) Limited, Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) Limited, Longbridge Securities (Hong Kong) Limited, and their related onshore and offshore entities. The

'Weeks Inside Highly Fortified Bunkers': Report Details Painfully Slow Communication Within Iran's Leadership According to a Sunday CBS News report citing US officials, Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still in hiding in a secret location with extremely limited communication to the outside world . Driven underground by a pervasive fear within Tehran's remaining leadership structure following relentless US and Israeli military strikes, the Supreme Leader is effectively isolated. This information is nothing 'new' - but even as talks with the US are now little by little reportedly proceeding - and as a ceasefire has been extended by weeks -

Democrats Using Black Athletes As Pawns In Redistricting War The Congressional Black Caucus, aligned with the NAACP, is urging black college athletes to avoid Southeastern Conference schools in Southern states as a form of economic pressure against Republican-drawn redistricting maps that eliminate majority-black congressional districts. The campaign is called "Out of Bounds,” and is essentially asking young black athletes to forfeit their best shot at a professional sports career so Democratic lawmakers can make a political statement about redistricting. NAACP calls for black athletes to boycott college sports in south “Across the South, Black athletes have helped build some of

"It Should Be Studied": RFK Jr Says 'Trump Derangement Syndrome Is 'A Real Thing' Authored by James Howard Kunstler, For The Honored Dead “I told my staff today that we need an ICD code for Trump Derangement Syndrome, because it is a real thing … It should be studied.” - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr As of this holiday morning, America is informed that the negotiations between the US and Iran may take several more days to resolve. You better believe that Iran is going to make a deal. One way or another, they will give up their stash of sixty-percent

Inmates at Barinas prison allege they were peacefully protesting when prison staff opened fire, leaving some wounded Inmates at Venezuela’s western Barinas prison staged a protest on its roof on Sunday, piling flaming mattresses and calling for the removal of the facility’s director, whom they accused of overseeing guards as they shot unarmed prisoners. “We want justice. They are shooting us, the guards and the wardens,” a prisoner said in a video shared by the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, a local NGO, on X, in which a man is seen with a bullet wound in his chest. Continue reading...

As Canada tightens asylum rules, refugees reuniting with family say they were turned over to ICE and jailed for months after failed border claims As each day in US detention passes, Markens Appolon can feel the life he had dreamed of slipping away. The 25-year-old fled Haiti to escape the rampant gang violence that upended his university studies in economics, and planned to join family in Montreal. Continue reading...

Judge said Trump administration would not have prosecuted Ábrego had he not challenged his high-profile deportation Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A US judge dismissed a criminal indictment against Kilmar Ábrego García on Friday, finding that the Trump administration would not have prosecuted him had he not challenged his high-profile deportation. Ábrego, who had entered the United States without authorization in the past, became a symbol of the Trump administration’s drive for mass deportations when he was sent to the notorious anti-terrorism mega-prison in El Salvador known as Cecot in March 2025. Continue reading...

Alberta premier calls for referendum on secession after judge ruled initiative to force binding vote invalid The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney , has said that Alberta is “essential” to the country’s future, hours after the province’s leader moved the oil-rich region closer toward a referendum on independence. Separatists in the western province spent months collecting signatures seeking to trigger a binding October vote on seceding from the nation. Continue reading...

Andry José Hernández Romero was deported from the US to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison before he was allowed to return to Venezuela One of the Venezuelan men sent from the US to El Salvador’s most notorious prison by Donald Trump has moved to Spain to request asylum after concluding that he did not feel safe back home and did not trust US authorities sufficiently to return to fight his legal case. Andry José Hernández Romero left Venezuela for Spain in early February and is due for his first asylum hearing in court there in a few days, hoping that

Group have been stuck in flooded cave in central Laos for five days after heavy rain caused landslides Divers who helped in the dramatic rescue of a young Thai football team in 2018 have joined efforts to free seven people who have been trapped for five days inside a remote, flooded cave in central Laos. The group entered the cave in Xaysomboun province on Wednesday to hunt for wildlife and search for gold, reports suggest. Heavy rain led to landslides, which blocked the cave entrance. Continue reading...

Xi Jinping urges authorities to ‘spare no effort’ in rescue operation after explosion in northern Shanxi province At least 82 people have been killed in a gas explosion at a coalmine in northern China’s Shanxi province, in the country’s worst mining disaster in 17 years. The explosion happened on Friday at 7.29pm (12.29 BST) while 247 workers were underground at the Liushenyu coalmine in Qinyuan county, the state media agency Xinhua reported. Continue reading...

Resolution backed by 141 states hailed as ‘new chapter’ that could improve climate diplomacy and litigation efforts When the UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a landmark climate crisis ruling on Wednesday, the Pacific island of Vanuatu’s prime minister hailed the result as the start of “a new chapter” in climate action. “The task before all of us now is to translate legal clarity into meaningful action, stronger cooperation, and greater protection for present and future generations,” said Jotham Napat. Continue reading...

Hung Cao’s comments are latest blow to Taipei after Donald Trump recently cast doubt over US’s enduring support US arms sales to Taiwan have been “paused” to ensure the US military has enough munitions for its Iran operations, according to Washington’s acting navy secretary, in the latest blow to Taipei after a series of comments by Donald Trump. When asked at a congressional hearing on Thursday about a $14bn (£10.4bn) weapons package awaiting Trump’s signoff for months, Hung Cao said: “Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury

Twelve dead as southern and central areas also suffer travel disruption, electricity outages and evacuations Heavy, prolonged rainfall in southern and central China has resulted in weather warnings for flash flooding, landslides and waterlogging. The slow-moving band of rainfall spanned 620 miles (1,000km) and travelled eastwards across the regions on Tuesday. It was formed from the convergence of multiple bands of rain originating from the Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Pacific Ocean. Given the accompanying low wind speeds, high daily and hourly rainfall totals have been recorded, with as much as 75mm locally in Hunan, 85mm in Anhui

Employment minister Amanda Rishworth plans to move system from a ‘one size fits all’ employment services model to three streams of support Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Albanese government has flagged a major overhaul of Australia’s employment system, with minister Amanda Rishworth on Wednesday expected to outline plans to ease Centrelink’s much-maligned mutual obligations regime. Rishworth is expected to tell the National Press Club that mutual obligation requirements were not helping Australians find work in a system that was “ill-equipped” and wasting the time of people who use welfare . Continue reading...

Government’s special investigator tells Senate estimates he was surprised journalists had prior knowledge of former SAS man’s arrest Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The federal government’s special investigator for war crimes allegations and the Australian federal police have asked the anti-corruption commission to investigate media leaks about the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith . Arrested at Sydney airport on 7 April, the Victoria Cross recipient faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan. Continue reading...

Cohort of children and six women who were held in a Syrian camp arrived in Australia on Tuesday Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A group of Australian women and children held in Syria since the defeat of Islamic State have arrived in Melbourne and Sydney, bringing an end to seven years of detention while thrusting themselves into a heated political debate about their future. Police said they made no arrests in contrast to the arrest of three women returning from Syrian camps earlier this

Police commissioner acknowledges outcome causes ‘significant distress’ for 24-year-old Warlpiri man’s family and wider community Warning: This article contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died Northern Territory police will not lay any charges against officers after an Indigenous man died while being restrained in an Alice Springs supermarket in 2025. Kumanjayi White, a 24‑year‑old Warlpiri man who lived with cognitive disabilities, died on 27 May last year during a confrontation with police in a Coles supermarket. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast ‘This is very good value for money for Australia’: Bowen defends COP role Chris Bowen , who has also taken on the role of president of negotiations at the Cop climate summit, says that Australia’s involvement is “very good value for money”. Mr T [is] out there saying it’s $200m. He’s lying. Secondly, these things do cost money. It cost money when John Howard chaired Apec. It cost money when Tony Abbott chaired G20. They were good for the country and the Labor

Minister says that two children are among the dead and another two people have been seriously injured Back to Ukraine, the EU has summoned Russia’s top diplomat in Brussels over Russian warnings telling foreigners and diplomats to leave Kyiv amid planned new strikes on the Ukrainian capital. EU’s foreign policy spokesperson Anitta Hipper said on X : “[Russian] threat to foreign citizens & diplomats to leave Kyiv is an unacceptable escalation. @eu_eeas summoned the Chargé d’Affairs, calling to stop hitting civilians & [Russia] to engage in genuine peace talks starting with a full and unconditional ceasefire. @EUDelegationUA stays in Kyiv.”

Jonathan Andic says he is temporarily standing aside as vice-chair of fashion chain after being named a suspect in death of Isak Andic Jonathan Andic, son of the Mango founder Isak Andic, is stepping down temporarily as the fashion group’s vice-chair after being named a suspect in the investigation into his father’s death. In an open letter published on Tuesday, Andic strongly protested his innocence, saying the accusation bore “no relation to reality”, but that “dismantling it” would take a long time. Continue reading...

Measure could ease concerns from countries – such as France – that are sceptical about bringing in more members Europe live – latest updates The EU could deny future member states veto rights for several years in an attempt to make enlargement more politically acceptable as the bloc undergoes a push to admit new countries before the end of the decade. Under plans being considered by the European Commission, prospective member states – such as Moldova and western Balkan countries – would not, on joining the EU, have the automatic right to veto foreign policy decisions or other issues agreed

Five of the deaths were by drowning while two people died competing in sporting events Seven people have died in France in an extreme early-summer heat event that is affecting a swathe of western Europe, as France and the UK set record highs for May and temperatures were forecast to rise further on Tuesday. “What I can say today is that there have been seven deaths linked directly or indirectly to the heat,” a French government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, told TF1 television, adding that five of the deaths were by drowning. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: Our Russian affairs reporter on Vladimir Putin’s slipping approval and singular goal – as discontent ripples from wider society to the reachers of the Kremlin Good morning. There is little doubt that when Vladimir Putin ordered his invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he did not expect his troops to still be embroiled there in 2026. And he surely never envisaged a scaled-down victory parade in Moscow, stripped of military hardware, for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks on his own capital. Putin has survived dangerous moments before, but with the Russian economy stuttering, his popularity is waning –

The US military said it carried out strikes on Monday against targets including boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites US strikes Iran missile sites and mine laying vessels Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on his Telegram channel that Gulf powers will no longer be a shield for US bases and the US will no longer have a safe haven in the region, as Tehran and Washington discuss a framework to end their three-month-old war, Reuters reports. The post follows overnight attacks on Iran by the US, testing the ceasefire agreed in April. The strikes came as

Internet monitors unsure if political or technical issues behind delay after access was cut off during protests in January Middle East crisis – live updates An Iranian government announcement on Tuesday that an 88-day internet blackout was being brought to an end did not have any immediate noticeable impact, according to internet monitors. It was not clear if technical or political issues were delaying the end of the clampdown, the longest in Iran’s history, which was imposed during brutally suppressed protests in January. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed – our live coverage of the Middle East crisis continues here Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, has said that time is working against the US and warned that Iran does not respond well to threats. In a post on X , he wrote: During the military war, our tactic was an eye for an eye; in the diplomatic war, it is action against action. Do not believe the bluff of the failed president; time is against the Americans. If they want an agreement, they should negotiate;

Negotiators from Iran travelled to Qatar on Monday, with the fate of the country’s nuclear programme and access to frozen assets under discussion Middle East crisis – live updates The US has launched strikes on southern Iran in a test of the seven-week long ceasefire, as both sides played down hopes for an imminent peace deal even as negotiators from Tehran began new talks in Qatar. US forces targeted missile launch sites and boats attempting to lay mines, US central command (Centcom) said on Tuesday, but stressed that the strikes did not indicate the ceasefire with Iran was over. Continue

Hezbollah and Israel launch attacks amid increasingly imperilled ceasefire and stalling talks between US and Iran Middle East crisis: live updates The Israeli army has intensified strikes in southern Lebanon, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah in a further erosion of an already fragmented ceasefire. In turn, Hezbollah said it staged several attacks on Monday on three barracks and a military post in northern Israel “in response to the violation of the ceasefire” by Israel. Continue reading...

Lack of Pfas regulations raised in parliament after Guardian revealed former Miteni plant bought by Indian company Protests over the production of cancer-linked Pfas chemicals have spread across India, after an investigation revealed that an Italian factory shut down due to an environmental scandal was bought by an Indian company and partly rebuilt. At the end of last year, the Guardian revealed that the former Miteni plant in Vicenza had been acquired by the Indian company Laxmi Organic Industries. The factory produced Pfas and was shut down in 2018 after being linked to one of Italy’s worst environmental contamination scandals.

Senior lawyers call on prime minister to request Indian prosecutors drop charges that would breach double jeopardy rule Four senior lawyers, including the former attorney general Dominic Grieve, have written to Keir Starmer urging him to request that Indian prosecutors drop charges against the British national Jagtar Singh Johal on the basis that continued prosecution would be in manifest breach of the double jeopardy rule which prevents someone being tried twice for the same offence. Johal has been held in an Indian jail for eight years, and in March last year was acquitted of the terrorist charges laid against him

Explosives-laden vehicle detonated as passenger train travelled through south-western city of Quetta A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a railway track as a passenger train travelled through the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 70 others, officials have said. The force of the explosion on Sunday caused two of the train cars to overturn and catch fire, sending thick black smoke into the air, according to footage shared online. Continue reading...

US president says it’s a ‘solid 50/50’ on either making a ‘good’ deal with Iran or striking the country anew Donald Trump said he would meet today with American negotiators to review Iran’s latest proposal and decide by Sunday whether he will strike Iran “to kingdom come”. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also told reporters in India on Saturday that “there may be news later today” about Iran. He did not specify what that news would be. Continue reading...

Move comes against backdrop of challenge by prime minister, Narendra Modi, to country’s traditional elites The Indian government has ordered one of the country’s most exclusive private clubs to vacate its premises in two weeks, underscoring the long-running push of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, against entrenched elite institutions. The ministry of housing and urban affairs directed the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over its sprawling site in the heart of New Delhi by 5 June, citing urgent public interest requirements, including defence and security infrastructure. Continue reading...

PM says ‘we are going to act’ but does not say which of the options being considered will be adopted Keir Starmer has said that SNP leaders need to explain why they did not realise that Peter Murrell was stealing more than £400,000 from the party. Asked about yesterday’s court proceedings in Edinburgh, where Murrell admitting embezzling money from the party to spend on luxury goods, Starmer said: I think anybody looking at what’s happening up in Scotland will be baffled that those at the top of the SNP say they didn’t know anything about what was going on, so

Oil company’s chair to leave immediately as Ian Tyler is named as interim successor Business live – latest updates BP has removed its chair, Albert Manifold, with the oil company’s board saying it had “serious concerns about “important governance standards, oversight and conduct”. The FTSE 100 oil company announced Manifold’s departure with immediate effect on Tuesday, without giving further details of his actions. He lasted only eight months in the role. Continue reading...

Some analysts question whether design of Luce, starting at $640,000, lives up to sportscar brand’s heritage Ferrari’s share price has dropped after it revealed a long-awaited first electric vehicle, with a minimalist look created by the former Apple design chief Jony Ive that departs from the Italian manufacturer’s petrol sportscars. The Luce, starting at $640,000 (£545,000), has a range of 329 miles (530km) thanks to its battery capacity of 122 kilowatt hours, the company said, with four motors that can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 2.5 seconds, with a top speed of more than 310km/h (193mph). Continue reading...

Keir Starmer announces review after boys were given non-custodial sentences for rape of two girls The court of appeal will review the non-custodial sentences given to three teenage boys for the rape of two girls, Keir Starmer has announced. The boys, two of whom were 15 and one 14 at the time of sentencing, were given youth rehabilitation orders after the judge in the case said he wanted to “avoid criminalising these children unnecessarily” and support their reintegration into society. Continue reading...

Peer’s comments come as Milburn report is likely to find government has failed to tackle youth unemployment Business live – latest updates The boss of Next has sounded the alarm about a “dramatic fall” in the number of entry-level jobs in the UK that is driving up youth unemployment, saying the retailer now receives twice as many applicants for each role than two years ago. Lord Wolfson said the clothing and homeware chain, where he has been chief executive since 2001, typically received 10 applications for every job in its shops in 2024 but that number has now risen to

The EPA said it was cutting Biden-era regulations on Pfas in drinking water, but advocates say the move will harm public health and benefit industry A new Trump administration plan to ditch Pfas drinking water regulations and instead attempt to destroy “forever chemicals” on a wide scale tears a page from the fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture playbook, and will benefit the industry while harming public health. The US Environmental Protection Agency last week announced it is moving to kill strong Biden-era drinking water limits around four Pfas compounds, and delaying implementation for two more. It represented a blow to

Vote for Republican nomination is latest test of President’s grip over GOP US immigration enforcement flights are producing hundreds of thousands of metric tonnes of climate-damaging carbon emissions as officials shuttle unprecedented numbers of people to detention centers far from home and deport them to countries across the world. Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign has spurred at least an 80% increase in such flights year over year, accelerating the climate crisis by emitting massive amounts of carbon dioxide, according to data analysis shared exclusively with the Guardian. Continue reading...

US president, who turns 80 next month, frequently casts himself as fit but recent photos have added to questions about his health Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Donald Trump, who turns 80 next month, will undergo his routine annual physical on Tuesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, after a year of public attention on apparently minor health issues. The US president frequently casts himself as more energetic and fitter than Joe Biden, his Democratic predecessor who left office last year at age 82 after facing questions about his fitness for the job. Continue reading...

Runoff between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton features ads and legal disputes targeting Texas Muslims In the bitter and expensiv e US Senate runoff between John Cornyn, the incumbent, and Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, the state’s Muslim community has been a frequent target for campaign ads and legal challenges. Both candidates have tried to portray the other as either too soft on the supposed threat of Islam or insufficiently aggressive toward Muslim institutions. Continue reading...

Scandal-plagued Ken Paxton has won Trump’s backing – can he defeat John Cornyn in a high-stakes primary runoff? Ken Paxton , the state attorney general, takes on four-term incumbent John Cornyn on Tuesday in the ugliest primary election of the year. The winner of the Republican Senate runoff in Texas will contest November’s general election against Democrat James Talarico. Paxton and Cornyn have spent months coveting the most valuable endorsement in Republican politics: Donald Trump. Last week, scandal-plagued Paxton got it , with the US president describing him as “a true Maga warrior”. Continue reading...

Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who spent more than two years practising in solitude as a young man on a windswept New York bridge to reinvent his playing and ⁠become one of the giants of jazz, died at the ⁠age of 95 on Monday, his publicist said. Rollins had recorded the confidently titled Jazz Colossus album ⁠in 1956. But the saxophonist remained wracked with self-doubt. So, in the summer of 1959, he began to play on the windswept pedestrian walkway of New York’s Williamsburg Bridge. Initially a...

“America is open, America is ready for you. We want you to come”. The United States’ new tourism chief, Nick Adams, boldly delivered the invitation at last week’s IPW Fort Lauderdale inbound travel trade show in Florida. “We can protect our borders and open our doors at the same time,” he insisted. “We want you to have a great vacation. There is no country like America on Earth.” Australian-born Adams, who obtained US citizenship in 2021, was appointed in March to the newly created position of...

Iran’s ⁠foreign ⁠ministry ⁠said in a statement on Tuesday that the United States had violated the ceasefire ‌with strikes in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on Monday, US Central Command said, imperilling a fragile ceasefire and casting new doubt on a deal to end the Middle East war. “The United States ‌committed a gross violation of ⁠the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region ⁠in the past 48 hours... Iran holds the...

The Israeli army intensified strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to escalate its offensive in an effort to “crush” Hezbollah. The air strikes come as the United States and Iran seek to finalise the terms of an agreement to end the Middle East conflict, which could include the Lebanon front, where Israel and Hezbollah have waged war since March 2. Despite a ceasefire that came into effect on April 17, Israel and Iran-backed...

The US Justice ⁠Department has again asked a ⁠federal judge to lift an injunction holding up progress on President Donald Trump’s ballroom project, saying Saturday’s shooting outside the White House showed an urgent need for improved security. The Justice Department, in ‌a five-page court filing on Sunday, said the incident underscores the critical need for “top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the ballroom”, adding that it was vital for national security. It also...

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she has “no issue” with her country hosting Iran’s World Cup team after its training base was moved from the United States to Mexico for the summer soccer competition. The team will still play its group stage matches in the US but its base has been moved to Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, a move that Iran’s football federation announced recently and that was formally confirmed by Fifa, the sport’s governing body, on...

Slowly but surely, Hong Kong is undergoing various scales of transformation. From the mixed-use development around Kai Tak to the revamped waterfronts on both sides of Victoria Harbour, the new railway extensions to the vehicular bypass tunnels below our busy streets, the adaptive reuse of underutilised spaces and the infusion of art and culture into local neighbourhoods, our city is evolving and adapting. Consider the East Coast Boardwalk as an example. The space under the Island Eastern...

A tense and tenuous calm fell over La Paz on Monday evening after a day rocked by violent clashes between protesters and police, despite Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz offering to slash his salary by 50 per cent in an effort to end protests. Even as clashes abated, there was no sign that protesters were prepared to clear the streets, with demonstrations likely to continue this week. Protesters have blocked roads into La Paz for nearly a month, leading to shortages of food, fuel and medicine. The...

Two teenagers were in police custody in northwestern France on Monday, a day after an 11-year-old boy was found dead with a wet towel tied around his neck, prosecutors said. The boy was found on the banks of the Vilaine river in the northwestern city of Rennes with a wet bath towel tied tightly around his neck, prosecutors said on Sunday. On Monday, a 16-year-old boy was detained at his home, while a 15-year-old girl was detained after presenting herself to police, Rennes prosecutor Frederic...

A Swedish prosecutor on Monday called for a 10-year prison sentence against a man on trial for allegedly prostituting out his wife to around 120 clients. The court proceedings against the 62-year-old defendant, in the northern town of Harnosand, were largely being conducted behind closed doors. He is accused of having created internet adverts, arranging the paid meetings between the men who answered and his spouse, and pushing her to perform sexual acts online to attract more clients. Although...

⁠Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued an order to reopen international internet access, Iranian state media reported on Monday, citing an official after a ‌near-90-day blackout in the wake of the war against US and Israel. The report cited the head of public relations at Iran’s Communications Ministry. The mechanism for how and when Iran would reconnect to ⁠the global web following the decision was unknown. “The decree aimed at restoring internet access to its pre-January state was...

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited Kyiv on Monday following weeks of mounting warnings from Ukrainian officials about Russian plans to draw Minsk more deeply into the war against Ukraine. Tsikhanouskaya arrived a day after one ‌of the war’s biggest strikes on the Ukrainian capital killed four people and damaged historical sites, and amid Russian threats to launch further heavy attacks on Kyiv. Tsikhanouskaya, an opponent of Belarus’ President Alexander...

Temperatures hit record highs for May in Britain, Ireland and France on Monday, as forecasters warned of a prolonged period of extreme heat across Europe throughout the week. A so-called “heat dome” of warm air from northern Africa trapped under a high-pressure system over western Europe is behind the high temperatures not usually seen until high summer. Temperatures in Spain were expected to peak later this week at 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit), while parts of Italy imposed restrictions...

The former husband of Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon on Monday pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 (US$540,000) from the pro-independence Scottish National Party in a years-long probe into the party’s finances. Sturgeon, the former head of Scotland’s devolved administration in Edinburgh, quit as SNP leader and first minister in February 2023. Her then-husband Peter Murrell was arrested in April that year after officers searched the home he shared with Sturgeon near...

US President Donald Trump said Monday that any agreement to end the Iran war should include a requirement for several additional countries, including Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered agreements from Trump’s first term aimed at normalising relations with Israel. US and Iranian forces have observed a ceasefire since April 8 while diplomats push for a negotiated settlement, although Iran has maintained controls on Gulf shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and...

African leaders and financiers gathered for the African Development Bank’s annual meeting on Monday as the continent faces shrinking aid flows, with this week’s event in Congo Republic overshadowed by an Ebola outbreak across the border. Overseas development aid from the world’s richest nations to poorer countries dropped by nearly a ‌quarter last year to US$174.3 billion. The US led the cuts, including reduced funding to the concessional lending arm of the AfDB – Africa’s largest development...

A major diplomatic breakthrough between Washington and Tehran could signal sanctions relief for Iran, a development analysts say bodes well for China, the primary buyer of Iranian oil. Negotiations have advanced on a proposed 60-day ceasefire extension, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the US side issuing temporary sanctions waivers that would allow Iran to sell oil freely, Axios reported on Saturday, citing a US official. Any such relief would only be implemented under a final...

High on the list of deliverables agreed following the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump was the establishment of a board of trade, albeit with little detail on its mission, responsibilities or operations. The White House expects the board “to manage bilateral trade across non-sensitive goods” while China’s Ministry of Commerce says the board “will discuss issues such as tariff reductions”. While not contradictory, both formulations are vague and hint at...

Israel’s two far-right ministers on Monday called for an escalation of military operations in Lebanon, with one advocating strikes on Beirut in response to Hezbollah’s drone attacks. “It is time for the prime minister to take a firm stand with Donald Trump and tell him that Israel is returning to war in Lebanon,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on social media. Ben Gvir leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party. “Electricity to Lebanon must be cut off, the Zahrani...

Pope Leo called for the “disarming” of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology on Monday, and warned of “new forms of slavery” behind its rise. The “just war” theory – espoused recently by the Trump administration – was “outdated”, Pope Leo XIV wrote in his first encyclical, which he presented in person at the Vatican, alongside AI experts including the co-founder of US giant Anthropic. The first US pope, who has clashed with the White House...

The annual haj pilgrimage, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, officially began on Monday. More than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in Saudi Arabia from outside the country, Saleh bin Saad Al-Murabba, commander of the haj passport forces, said on Friday. The faithful have been pouring into the country for the haj against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related regional tensions and uncertainty. Egyptian pilgrim Samya Abdul Moneim said she was grateful to God that she...

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 82 killed in China’s worst coal mine accident for more than a decade 2. Why Bangladesh could raise Indian red flags by buying a China-Pakistan fighter jet 3. Screams as 10 hurt in ‘drop tower’ turbulence on Cathay flight from Brisbane 4. 2 notable women in ancient China broke barriers in fields...

For decades, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has preached a mantra of peace and stability in the Middle East through the destruction of Iran’s Islamic Republic. The obliteration of the ayatollahs, he prophesied, would lead to the normalisation of relations between Israel and the wider Arab-Islamic world – with Israel emerging as the Middle East’s dominant power and indispensable security provider. But on Saturday, Netanyahu’s dreams looked set to be dashed, after US President Donald...

Oil fell as senior US officials gave further, positive signals on progress towards a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Brent lost as much as 6.2 per cent to US$97.10 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near US$91. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautiously upbeat tone, saying the US was going to give diplomacy every chance. “We thought we might have some news last night,” he said in New Delhi. “Maybe today.” At the weekend, US President Donald Trump said...

Geopolitical tensions and a funding crisis are jeopardising peacekeeping missions, particularly those under the auspices of the United Nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) warned on Monday. Just under 79,000 international staff were deployed in international peacekeeping operations at the end of 2025, the lowest number in at least 25 years, the institute said in a report. “If things continue in this way, we could see a dramatic weakening of multilateral conflict...

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week saw the signing of some 40 documents and a joint statement on strengthening the Beijing-Moscow partnership. The visit, just days after US President Donald Trump’s Beijing trip, is more than a diplomatic coincidence. It is a vivid reminder that the global order is now being shaped less by alliances than by a fluid triangle of China, the United States and Russia, with Beijing increasingly sitting at the centre. Timing is diplomacy. When...

Experts trying to prevent a tank holding a highly toxic and flammable chemical from exploding in Southern California found a “potential crack” in the container that might be reducing the pressure, a fire official said on Sunday. Since Friday, officials have warned that the tank, which contains methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in plastics and manufacturing, could rupture and spill up ‌to 26,500 litres (7,000 gallons) of toxic material or explode and endanger other tanks on the GKN Aerospace...

The US Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”. The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault on the Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of Republican Donald Trump stormed the building in...

A shipment of nearly 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, in addition to our health and education...

Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party’s headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, fuelling a crisis at the heart of Turkey’s democracy. Clouds of tear gas billowed within the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building while those inside shouted and threw objects at the entrance as police ‌broke through a makeshift barricade. There were no reports of injuries during the intervention. A Turkish court ousted CHP leader Ozgur Ozel on...

Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police said the man had stab wounds and the woman’s body was bruised. Their car was missing. The...

Ukraine is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and a gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following massive Russian air strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday. In a statement published on social media, Sybiha also called for an “appropriate and strong response to the aggressor” following the overnight attacks, which mainly targeted the Kyiv region and saw the deployment of a medium-range Oreshnik ballistic...

An Israeli air strike on a flat in ⁠a refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday left three people dead, including a six-month-old child, health officials said. Medical workers named the three who died in the Nuseirat refugee camp as Mohammad Abu Mallouh, the infant’s father, Alaa Zaqlan, the mother, and their child, Osama. Later on ‌Sunday, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian man in the north of the enclave, near a UN-run medical clinic in Jabalia refugee camp, medical workers said. The Israeli...

With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself, however imperfectly. Worn-out clothes dry on lines strung between spindly trees, and two old...

US President Donald Trump’s next medical examination is intensifying health-related scrutiny that has surrounded him ever since his first campaign for the nation’s highest office more than a decade ago. Trump on Tuesday is heading to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre for his fourth publicly disclosed doctor’s appointment since the start of his second term. The White House has offered few details about the visit, saying it would involve “routine annual dental and medical...

Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late on Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases. A health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast Central African country, from 867 suspected cases. The last World Health Organization (WHO) toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases. The WHO has...

Firefighters warned on Saturday that a tank of toxic chemicals in California is heating up, adding to fears of a catastrophic explosion that has already forced tens of thousands of Californians to evacuate. About 40,000 residents were ordered to leave their homes in the Garden Grove area of Orange county, southeast of Los Angeles, on Friday after the tank began to leak, sending fumes over a heavily populated area. The tank contains 26,000 litres (7,000 gallons) of methyl methacrylate, a volatile...

As the US-Israel war on Iran stretches past its 80th day and continues to upend global naval shipping, a growing number of Chinese investors in Iran are turning to railway and overland transport routes to keep their businesses afloat. While disruptions to ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz show little sign of abating, many are hoping that transcontinental freight links across Eurasia could become a more reliable option. Chinese trader Han Yun has spent recent weeks travelling long distances...

Russia pounded Kyiv with a massive missile and drone attack that killed four people early on Sunday, authorities said, after President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation for strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine. Multiple rounds of explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital throughout the early hours of the morning, journalists reported, in a barrage the air force said involved 600 drones and 90 missiles. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russians fired a...

As I return to China, I do so with an abiding sense of respect for a nation that has become one of Serbia’s most indispensable partners and a defining force of our century. In Europe, discussions about China are too often clouded by suspicion and strategic anxiety. I understand that every major political community must guard its future, but I believe Europe should approach China not with fear and suspicion but with confidence and a serious, open-eyed willingness to cooperate. Serbia has chosen...

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said. US President Donald Trump was at the White House at the time as he worked to negotiate a deal with Iran, but was not affected by the incident, Secret Service communications chief Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. The confrontation took place just after 6pm (local time) when a man near the White House...

Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set drama about political polarisation Fjord has won the Palme d’Or, handing the Cannes Film Festival’s top honour for the second time to Mungiu, the Romanian director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. At a 79th Cannes Film Festival that saw few films break out, Fjord found wide admiration for its engrossing tale of what Mungiu called “left-wing fundamentalism”. It stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve as Romanian evangelicals who move to Norway, but soon after have...

⁠US ⁠President Donald Trump ⁠said on Sunday that he has told his diplomatic representatives not ‌to rush into a deal with Iran on the war because “time is on our side”, less than a day ⁠after announcing that an agreement with ‌Tehran had been largely negotiated. “The Blockade ‌will remain in full force ⁠and ⁠effect until an agreement is ‌reached, certified, and signed. Both sides ‌must take their ‌time and get ‌it right,” Trump wrote ⁠on Truth Social. “There can be ⁠no mistakes! Our relationship...

France has ⁠decided to ban Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from French territory, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Saturday, adding that this reflected ‌growing anger among governments around the world over the treatment of an activist flotilla heading to Gaza. “As from today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory,” Barrot wrote on X. “Along with ⁠my Italian counterpart, I am asking the European Union to ‌also take sanctions against Itamar...

Ebola is spreading faster than responders can track it in eastern Congo, where health workers managed to follow up with barely one in five identified contacts in a single day. Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported 83 confirmed infections, 746 suspected cases and 1,603 identified contacts as of May 21, according to the health ministry. Yet health workers were able to follow up with only 342 contacts that day – about 21 per cent of the total under monitoring – according to...

The co-founder of a prominent A.I. company was nearby as the pope implored A.I. leaders to slow down and consider the technology’s possible perils.

In his letter, the first American pontiff called for putting care for humans at the heart of technological change.

The risk of a large explosion has been averted, officials say. But a smaller blast remains possible, and 16,000 people remain displaced.

Michael Bay wasn’t remotely worried about the science in his 1998 science-fiction action hit that launched an elite ensemble cast to space.

Even by the standards of a music that prizes individuality, he stood out, as both a musician and a personality.

The towering saxophonist, who died at 95, was a master of living in the moment. Listen to some of his most compelling work, onstage and in the studio.

Burt Jones, the leading G.O.P. candidate for governor, worked with Trump allies to try to overturn the election, and even talked to the president himself.

All eyes will be on the Republican Senate runoff between the incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. But Tuesday’s runoffs in Texas will feature other key contests.

How prediction-market ‘sharps’ have made millions wagering on everything from war to Rotten Tomatoes.

Thousands who fled Russia after the invasion of Ukraine have built an enclave in Phuket. An air of impermanence hangs over their community.

Haitian women are having babies in squalid, unsupervised settings after the Dominican Republic started sending immigration agents to detain migrants at hospitals.

Iceland has stood apart from the rest of Europe. But President Trump’s threats to Greenland have provoked a reconsideration.

Matthew Perry’s assistant injected the ketamine that killed his employer. His sentencing has some in the demanding profession considering the power dynamics involved.

At the prestigious garden show, attendees jockeyed to buy prizewinning blooms and debated the role of whimsy as a ban on garden gnomes was temporarily lifted.

We must use our leverage to end Israel’s occupation and establish two states with full political and legal rights for all.

We respond to reader queries about weapons sales, the national debt and more.

The British oil group said that Albert Manifold had been removed, after concerns were raised “related to important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”

Three years after riots tore apart Manipur, the state remains in disarray. Barbed wire and armed checkpoints made it difficult for Times reporters to cross, even before the recent clashes.

Dong Guangping, 68, fled China at least three other times but was always sent back. His friends hope things might be different this time.