Read Online | May 22, 2026 | E-Paper | 🎧 Listen
“Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.”
— William Wordsworth, “The Tables Turned”
Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor
Good morning. It’s Friday. Here are today’s top stories:
- A controversial test of parenting competency that put many Greenlanders’ kids in foster care was dropped in 2025. But parents and kids remain separated.
- President Donald Trump said that he would delay signing an anticipated executive order on artificial intelligence after becoming dissatisfied with its current form. “AI, it’s causing tremendous good,” Trump said. “And it’s also bringing in a lot of jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs. I really thought [the executive order] could have been a blocker, and I want to make sure that it’s not.”
- Criminal charges have been filed against 15 accused fraudsters in Minnesota, involving more than $90 million in taxpayer funds.
- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the sister of a leader of a Cuban military-controlled conglomerate has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- 🍵 Health: A closer look at near-death experiences and why those who experienced them shifted their priorities.
Bea Ferdinandsen Kaas sits in her home outside Aarhus, Denmark, on April 22, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Greenlandic Mothers in Denmark Fight to Get Children Back From Foster Care
Bea Ferdinandsen Kaas held up her phone. The traditional Greenlandic tattoos on her fingers fanned out around the image of a child: her granddaughter.
She’s fighting to be able to raise the young girl, who she says was taken from her daughter by the police and a social worker soon after her birth in early 2025.
“I will always be hopeful, always. But I also know they already got her,” Kaas told The Epoch Times.
She choked up. Kaas—far from the granddaughter she loves—began to weep.
In 2025, Denmark eliminated a controversial parenting competency test for Greenlanders in Denmark. Greenlanders had long complained that the standardized test was culturally biased, causing too many of them to lose their children to foster care.
A year later, although some cases from the era of the parenting test are being slowly reviewed, many families remain separated from their children.
Many forced adoptions have taken place under an outgoing prime minister who advocated more of them in the name of protecting children from abuse and neglect.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of acquiring Greenland has raised the stakes further. That interest has helped to focus global attention on Greenland and an issue that some worry, and others hope, will fuel existing dissatisfaction with Danish rule.
Denmark and Greenland, though deeply intertwined, have a fraught history marked in decades past by the forced “Danization” of some young Greenlanders and a family planning campaign that forced contraception on thousands of Greenlandic women.
Many Greenlanders who spoke with The Epoch Times said they’re worried about American domination, saying the United States’ own record is far from perfect. Others described pressure against speaking positively of the United States or its leader.
Beyond the politics of a world in flux, there is simple, crushing loss—that of the mother who cannot hold her child.
“I miss my boy,” Gudrun Qunerseeq Maratse wrote in a text message to The Epoch Times soon after her infant was taken from her.
The Greenlanders who spoke with The Epoch Times believe the system has failed them. They worry their next generation will grow up deprived of both mothers and their mother language, Greenlandic.
In a country that leads many international rankings of the best places to raise kids, Greenlandic mothers are fighting to be reunited with their children.
Meanwhile, with tensions over the island still high, international authorities and the Danish government are wrestling over the treatment of Greenlandic families. (More)Sponsored by BostonWellnessClubs
Harvard Research: Why Some People Stay Mentally Sharp Well Into Old Age*
A Boston physician says it has less to do with genetics than most people think. Dr. George Karanastasis has identified 3 specific nutrients tied to long-term brain health – ones most people aren’t getting enough of. His research-backed protocol has been viewed over 1M times. See what your brain may be missing.Learn More ➜
The U.S. Capitol building on May 21, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)
POLITICS
- The Senate adjourned for the Memorial Day recess on Thursday without final passage of a roughly $72 billion reconciliation bill that would fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, after internal GOP divisions over $1 billion in Secret Service security funding and a $1.8 billion Department of Justice “anti-weaponization” settlement fund.
- President Donald Trump indicated that he planned to intervene in Cubafollowing the indictment of former communist revolutionary leader Raúl Castro as the United States continues to put economic pressure on the regime.
LATEST NEWS
- The FBI on Wednesday said it shut down an India-based call center accused of defrauding elderly Americans of millions of dollars, also confirming that two senior executives of the call center “just admitted” to charges that they allowed the fraud to occur.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce is awarding $2 billion to IBM and eight other American quantum computing companies in an effort to secure the nation’s lead in the race to build the world’s most powerful computers.
- The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to pump another $200 million into the rebuild of Penn Station in New York City.
U.S. Soldiers conduct drills near the Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, May 6, 2026. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Spc. Thomas Madrzak)
WORLD
- The U.S. military will send 5,000 more troops to Poland, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday.
- Pop Mart’s Labubu dolls have become one of China’s most visible consumer exports, with Chinese state media portraying the brand’s global expansion as a model of manufacturing strength, entrepreneurship, and overseas influence. But the viral toy line is now facing U.S. scrutiny over potential forced labor after advocacy groups urged federal officials to investigate imports linked to cotton traced to Xinjiang.
- The international governing body of gymnastics has defended its decision to immediately lift all restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, stating the move is about fairness and separating sports from politics.
- Secretary of State Rubio has given his support to Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, who faces violent protests and blockades from leftist demonstrators in the capital, less than six months after he was elected.
Advertiser’s Note:
The UFO Crash at Roswell: The Truth Behind America’s Most Famous UFO Mystery
President Trump ordered ‘never-before-seen’ UFO files released two weeks ago.
For generations, UFO cover-ups and conspiracies have captivated Americans—especially about what really happened on the night of the 1947 Roswell incident. The UFO Crash at Roswell is a thought-provoking documentary that revisits the supposed UFO encounter through the personal accounts of individuals who were brave enough to come forward. Was it simply a weather balloon that crashed in New Mexico, or was it something more?
Discover over 10,000 inspiring and thought-provoking movies, documentaries, and shows on GJW+. Subscribe today at our special Memorial Day promotional rate of 40% off for Epoch Times readers, and watch the film to uncover the truth.
OPINION
- A New Way to Look at Inflation—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
- Raúl Castro’s Indictment and Cuba’s Future—by Mike Gonzalez (Read)
- Free the Mail—by Stephen Moore(Read)
- The Scallion Pancake I’ll Never Forget—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
- Thousands of Illegal Aliens Live in Taxpayer-Funded Housing. Trump Is Ending It—by Averel Meden (Read)
- The Other Iranian Threat—by Terence P. Jeffrey (Read)
A member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment with her daughter on her shoulders places flags in front of each headstone at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on May 21, 2026. Before dawn soldiers begin the process of placing a flag in front of approximately 260,000 headstones ahead of Memorial Day. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
📸 Day in Photos: Memorial Day Preparations, Starship V3 Launch, and Allied Forces Exercise (Look)
🇺🇲 American Thought Leaders: How Cartels Force Children Into Prostitution, Drug Dealing and Even Killing—Rosi Orozco (Watch)
🎵 Music: Mozart – Sonata In B Flat, KV 8 (Listen)
👽 (Sponsored) What Really Happened at Roswell? The UFO Crash at Roswell is a documentary that delves into the supposed UFO encounter, featuring individuals brave enough to share their personal experiences related to the event. Watch it today on GJW+.
HEALTH
(Illustration by Lumi Liu)
These People Visited the ‘Other Side,’ and Came Back Completely Changed
At thirty-seven, Ned Dougherty seemed to have it all: a Mercedes-Benz, a private jet, and a well-known nightclub in the Hamptons. Then he met death, and nothing was ever the same.
On July 2, 1984, after a fight with a business associate, Dougherty collapsed on the sidewalk. He felt like he was falling into a dark, endless pit. Medical records show he had respiratory and cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for an hour and six minutes. “I was literally dead in every sense of the word at that point,” Dougherty told The Epoch Times.
“And my journey on the other side began.”
According to Dougherty, his consciousness left his body, traveled into another dimension, and was enveloped in a brilliant golden light more resplendent than the sun, yet causing no pain.
Dougherty was suddenly joined by his deceased best friend, Daniel McCampbell, who had passed away during the Vietnam War. Daniel communicated to Dougherty, “I’m here to show you the way. You have a mission ahead of you in your life.”
After Dougherty woke up, he became a different person. He sold his clubs, gave up drugs and alcohol, and started volunteering. He even did the jobs he once looked down on, such as taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, and directing traffic. For the past forty years, he has spoken and written about his experience, not to prove anything, but because he believes he returned with a purpose.
Dougherty’s transformation is not unusual.
A 2024 survey by the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation, the largest existing database on the question, found that nearly 80 percent of near-death experiencers report major to moderate life changes after their return: reordered priorities, new vocations, even transformed worldviews. The aftereffect is so consistent across decades that it has inspired entire research programs. (More)
🎲 Games
Spot the Difference is our readers’ favorite. Play it here.
Play more games at Epoch Fun ➞
♥️ Support our mission and donate.
🎧 Prefer to listen? Get the Morning Brief podcast.
💬 Feedback? Reply to this email or write to ivanmb@epochtimes.nyc
👋 New to Morning Brief? Subscribe.
💡 Got a news tip? Connect with us confidentially.
▶️ Follow The Epoch Times on Facebook, X, Instagram, or Truth Social
📫 Forward this email to a friend and tell them to subscribe. (Here)
☕ Show us your love with coffee, mugs, stickers, and clothes. Check out the shop.
💼 Own a business? Reach millions of engaged readers by advertising in our newsletters.
Thanks for reading 🙏
Have a wonderful day!
—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.
Copyright © 2026 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times, 129 West 29th Street, Fl 8, New York, NY 10001 |
Our Morning Brief newsletter is one of the best ways to catch up with the news. Manage your email preferences here or unsubscribe from Morning Brief here.
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this advertisement are exclusively those of the advertiser and do not represent our views or positions. This material is promotional in nature and should not be mistaken for news, research or editorial content.
RJ Hamster 