Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

A send-off ceremony for the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceflight mission was held on Wednesday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 04:27 Wednesday (Beijing Time) from the launch site to China's Tiangong space station.

Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, reported to the commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Xu Xueqiang that they were ready to undertake their mission.

After receiving an order from the commander-in-chief, the astronauts boarded a vehicle and departed for the launch site amid cheers from a crowd of well-wishers.

The three astronauts will take over the command of the Tiangong space station after completing an in-orbit handover with their colleagues of the Shenzhou-18 mission.

The trio is expected to stay in orbit for around six months.

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

Send-off ceremony held for Shenzhou-19 astronauts before launch

A global poll launched by the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Wednesday shows that the scandal over the Epstein files has dismantled America's image as a human rights beacon and exposed systemic corruption within the U.S. political and judicial systems.

The 24-hour survey across CGTN's five language platforms drew some 9,700 participants.

The survey showed 97.1 percent of respondents express deep concern that the widespread moral decay among the elite class revealed by the Epstein case has severely offended human conscience, while 95.6 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. judicial system applies "double standards" when dealing with the powerful elite.

The poll also showed that 93.9 percent of respondents believe that this "selective transparency" by the U.S. Department of Justice has reduced the U.S. judicial system to a "protective umbrella" for the privileged class.

Meanwhile, 89.8 percent of respondents criticize the long-standing inaction of the U.S. judicial system, stating that this case has severely damaged the credibility of the American legal system.

The results of the survey show that the American Dream has utterly degenerated into a delusion of "privilege preying on humanity," CGTN said on Thursday.

The case of the late U.S. financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein has shocked the world. Late last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released the remaining batch of documents of the so-called Epstein files, totaling some three million pages, with 2,000 video segments and 180,000 images included, sparking serious scrutiny across the Atlantic and in several other countries.

The latest release of related documents prompted the resignation of several political figures over the nature of their ties to Epstein, who died under mysterious circumstances while in federal custody in 2019.

The handling of the files themselves has been another source of outrage, with numerous redactions raising further questions about who is being protected, while errors by the DOJ exposed a significant amount of victim information, including the names and personal details of nearly 100 victims, causing further fury.

Epstein files scandal exposes deep-rooted corruption in US political, judicial systems: CGTN poll

Epstein files scandal exposes deep-rooted corruption in US political, judicial systems: CGTN poll