Netanyahu says Israel will intensify strikes against Hezbollah

The Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Ng Han Guan/AP hide caption toggle caption Ng Han Guan/AP JIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year. The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. The astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name. Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission. The crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days. One of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled to stay at the orbiting space station for a year in what would be among the world's longest single stays in space. The astronaut's mission is to "explore human adaptability and performance limits" in long-duration spaceflight environments, state media reported. As China steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security. The U.S. is seen as China's top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028. China's space station Tiangong, which translates to "Heavenly Palace," first hosted the country's crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program, which means "Divine Vessel," returned a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.

12 minutes agoBrandon DrenonWashingtonEPAKilmar Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and brought back to the US last yearA US judge has dismissed the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongfully deported to a megaprison in El Salvador last year. Abrego Garcia, whose deportation became a major flashpoint in the debate over the Trump administration's immigration agenda, returned to the US in June after the government admitted it had wrongfully sent him back to his native country.After his return, federal prosecutors charged him with human smuggling over a 2022 incident in Tennessee where he was found to have several people in his car during a traffic stop. He pleaded not guilty.On Friday, the federal judge dismissed the case and said Abrego Garcia had been charged for political reasons."The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly," US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw wrote in her opinion. She said the case was only launched to justify the government's decision to deport the 30 year old. The judge also said the Trump administration had failed to rebut the "presumption of vindictiveness"."The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution," the Tennessee judge said."The Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop. Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation," the opinion reads.The justice department is yet to comment on Friday's decision. In the past, federal prosecutors have argued the case was apolitical and the charges were only brought because "the evidence pointed to Abrego Garcia having committed a crime".Abrego Garcia, who is married to an American citizen and has been living in Maryland for years, illegally came to the US from El Salvador when he was a teenager.In 2019, he was arrested with three other men in Maryland and detained by federal immigration authorities.At the time, the judge granted him protection from deportation on the grounds that he could face persecution by a gang in his home country.But the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador in March 2025, prompting an order from the US Supreme Court requiring the government to bring him back.He was held in CECOT, a notrious El Salvador megaprison, for months after the courts ordered his return to the US. He was brought back only after the government had secured the human trafficking charges against him.On his return to the US last June, he was arrested and taken to Tennessee to face the charges.Lawyers for Abrego Garcia then sought to dismiss them, arguing he was being vindictively prosecuted by the justice department.In August, he was arrested again in Baltimore during an immigration meeting and held in a detention centre until another judge barred the move and ordered his release. A judge barred the government from removing Abrego Garcia to a third country while the case was ongoing, after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering sending him to Uganda. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, who visited Abrego Garcia while he was detained in El Salvador, celebrated Friday's announcement on X."Today, a federal judge determined what we've known all along, the Trump admin was engaged in a vindictive prosecution against Kilmar Abrego Garcia," Van Hollen wrote. "This is a win for all our rights & the Constitution."

8 minutes agoOlivia IrelandReutersChina has called on the US to stop using "coercion" and "threats" against its ally Cuba, after Washington indicted former leader Raúl Castro on murder charges.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly sought to exert pressure on Cuba and has openly discussed toppling its communist regime.On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the US should "stop threatening force at every turn", and that Beijing "firmly supports Cuba".On Wednesday, Castro was charged alongside five others of involvement in the shooting down of two planes travelling between Cuba and Florida three decades ago, and was indicted with offences which carry penalties of life in prison or death.The aircraft, which were operated by the Cuban-American dissident group Brothers to the Rescue, were carrying three US citizens when they were downed, all of whom were killed.At the time, Castro - who stepped down as president in 2018 - was head of the country's armed forces.The incident caused outcry among Cuban exiles living in the US and has long been a source of contention between Washington and Havana. Cuba's president Miguel Díaz-Canel has described the charges as "a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation".The foreign minister of China, a long-standing supporter of Cuba, said Beijing opposed "any attempt by external forces to exert pressure on Cuba under any pretext". Guo continued: "The United States should cease using sanctions and judicial apparatus as tools of coercion against Cuba and refrain from making threats of force at every turn. "China resolutely supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and dignity and opposes external interference."It comes as the White House continues to ratchet up pressure on Cuba.The US has imposed new sanctions on the country and imposed a blockade on oil to Cuba, a move which has resulted in blackouts and food shortages.Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning officials in Cuba's energy, defence, financial and security sectors, as well as individuals the US alleges have carried out human rights abuses or stolen public assets.In 2018, Cuba joined China's Belt and Road Initiative, which funded several strategic infrastructure projects on the island.