Read Online  |  May 20, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.”

— Audrey Hepburn

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

Good morning. It’s Wednesday. Here are today’s top stories:

• Prior to reversing an acquisition of a Chinese AI firm by Meta, Beijing, in an unprecedented move, blocked the AI firm’s executives from leaving China.
• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) lost his Republican primary on May 19 to former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein. President Donald Trump had endorsed Gallrein as part of his effort to get Massie removed from Congress.
• The NATO alliance should expect continued U.S. troop withdrawals from Europe, the U.S. general serving as the alliance’s top military official said.
• The new chair of the Federal Reserve pledges a “regime change” to fight inflation. Here’s what that could mean in practice.
• 🍵 Health: Chickpea pasta is a high-protein alternative to regular pasta, offering more staying power in every serving. 

Beijing’s Newest Strategy in Corporate Warfare: Detain Executives to Kill Deals

Before Beijing formally blocked Meta’s roughly $2 billion acquisition of the AI startup Manus, it first made sure the company’s two top executives couldn’t leave the country.

In March, Chinese authorities summoned Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao to a meeting in Beijing. Both men were based in Singapore, where Manus had moved its headquarters nine months earlier. They were questioned by officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) over what regulators framed as possible violations of foreign investment reporting rules.

After the meeting, they were told they could not leave mainland China, a development the Financial Times first reported on March 25, citing people familiar with the matter.

A month later, on April 27, the NDRC ordered Meta to reverse the acquisition—a process that involved disentangling rights, capital, and intellectual property—within several weeks. When asked by the AFP news agency about the decision to block the deal and bar Manus’s cofounders from leaving the country, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that Beijing only reviews foreign investment “in accordance with laws and regulations.”

The case is without precedent. It is the first time Beijing has used exit bans on company executives to derail a multibillion-dollar foreign tech acquisition, and the first publicly blocked foreign deal under China’s 2021 foreign investment security review system.

Analysts told The Epoch Times that it marks a striking expansion of how far the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is willing to go to stop technology, capital, and talent it considers strategically important from leaving its grasp—even when the target is, on paper, a Singapore-incorporated company with no remaining Chinese ownership.

They say the chilling effect is likely to ripple across China’s AI industry, scaring off foreign investors, closing exit options, and pushing some of the country’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to build outside China from day one—or to leave earlier than they otherwise would. (More)

POLL

President Donald Trump (C) sits next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd R) during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump–Xi Summit: Did the US Win—or Did Xi?

President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping included public praise between the two leaders and announcements of proposed business deals. Yet major issues—including Taiwan, Iran, advanced technology, human rights, Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland, and Chinese students in U.S. universities—remain unresolved. Did the summit strengthen America’s position, or did it give Beijing greater confidence without requiring meaningful concessions? We invite you to share your views.

The results will be featured in an article published this Saturday. (Take the Survey)Sponsored by NativePath

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POLITICS

• President Donald Trump said his planned White House ballroom will be the “safest building ever built” and will serve both as a ceremonial venue and as a military-grade facility to help protect the nation’s capital. The structure would be designed to withstand both drone and missile attacks, with “a massive drone capacity.” The building will also have a drone port on the roof to help protect all of Washington.
• The president endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May 26 GOP Senate runoff in Texas.
• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan in the race to succeed her in California’s 11th Congressional District, picking Chan over the field’s polling leader and a candidate aligned with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) two weeks before the June 2 primary.
• Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) has been named the Republicans’ pick to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in the U.S. Senate.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 18, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WORLD

• Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s comments to U.S. President Donald Trump on Taiwan should be viewed as a threat and urged Washington to judge Beijing by its actions after last week’s summit in China.
• The Department of Justice has indicted four of the world’s largest shipping container manufacturers and seven former executives for allegedly orchestrating a yearslong global conspiracy to restrict production and inflate prices for standard shipping containers.
• Cuba’s leader on Monday warned that any U.S. military action against the communist-controlled island nation would cause a “bloodbath” and lead to regional insecurity.
• Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of the U.S. military’s Middle East component, told lawmakers that Iran’s missile arsenal remains largely defeated and inaccessible in response to recent reports to the contrary.
• A leadership hopeful for Britain’s Labour party has placed the possibility of undoing Brexit high on the political agenda in an expected contest to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

 

OPINION

• Countries and Industries Are Following Trump’s Lead on Rejecting Climate Alarmism—by H. Sterling Burnett(Read)
• Farmers Lose the Tax Fight—by Joel Salatin (Read)
• Why America’s Public Schools Are Closing Their Doors—by Timothy S. Goeglein (Read)
• China’s Dangerous Perception of a Divided West—by Bryan Brulotte(Read)
• What Is this Depression Glass?—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)

Steam rises after sunrise at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., on May 19, 2026. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: President Resignation Demand, Ballroom Proposal, and Tunisia Freedom Protest (Look)

🎙️ Podcast: IRS Launches Pilot Program With Palantir AI Tools to Find People Needing Audits—Facts Matter (Listen)

💛 Inspiration: The concept of two balancing opposites has been a part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. This classical dance piece attempts to capture that essence. (Watch)

🎵 Music: Mozart – Sonata In C, KV 6 (Listen)

HEALTH

(Terri Ward/The Epoch Times)

A High-Protein Pasta That Nourishes Your Gut 

Most people don’t think of pasta night as a smart way to boost protein and fiber, especially when the pasta is gluten-free. Yet chickpea pasta can quietly turn a cozy bowl of pasta into something much closer to a balanced meal, without changing how you cook or sacrificing comfort.

Compared with regular pasta and many gluten-free options, chickpea pasta delivers more staying power in every serving. It’s what makes this otherwise simple, spring-inspired dish feel satisfying long after you’ve put your fork down, while still tasting like pasta you actually want to eat.

Gluten-free does not automatically mean healthy. Most gluten-free pastas are made from refined rice or corn flour, which lack the protein and fiber that help slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar. Chickpea pasta is different. As a legume-based pasta, it delivers substantial protein and prebiotic fiber that supports beneficial gut bacteria—nutritional advantages that rice- and corn-based pastas generally cannot match.

With chickpea or lentil pasta, prioritize organic whenever possible. Conventionally grown legumes are frequently sprayed with glyphosate before harvest. Research shows that glyphosate disrupts gut microbiota and increases intestinal permeability, which directly undermines the gut-health benefits chickpea pasta provides.

For an added gut-health bonus, cook the pasta ahead and refrigerate it overnight. Cooling converts some of the digestible starch into resistant starch, which is not absorbed in the small intestine. Instead, it travels to the large intestine, where it becomes food for beneficial bacteria and has less effect on blood sugar. 

To serve warm, briefly dip the chilled pasta in boiling water before tossing it with the sauce. Some resistant starch will be lost upon reheating, but a meaningful amount remains. (More)

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Thanks for reading 🙏

Have a wonderful day!

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

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