When President Donald Trump sits down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming weeks, the world will be watching for deals on trade, Taiwan and global security. I will be watching for something much more personal: whether my father will finally be able to come home.

My father, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, is the founder of Zion Church in China. The church had humble beginnings – it began in 2007 with just 20 people. But my father’s passion and faith helped the church grow, which made it a target of the Chinese authorities.

Over the years, dozens of church staff members have been detained or harassed by the Chinese authorities. In 2018, the church was officially banned and all church property confiscated after church leadership refused government demands to install surveillance cameras to monitor its congregation.

Trusting in God’s sovereignty while at the same time not wanting to bring further pressure on the congregation, my father shifted the church to a hybrid model, giving online sermons and building a network of satellite locations throughout the country. Within just a few years, Zion Church was reaching 10,000 people in 40 cities, making it one of China’s largest “house churches.”

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Last October, my father and nearly 30 other Zion Church pastors and members were detained in what has been called “the most extensive crackdown against the faith in decades” Eighteen of them, including my father, remain detained, facing charges of “illegally utilizing information networks” – that is, sharing biblical teachings online.

The detained church leaders have no contact with the outside world, except for their lawyers, and even that may not last – Chinese authorities are doing everything they can do to force the lawyers off the case. Lead defense lawyer Zhang Kai, who was representing my father, had his law license revoked in January, and six other lawyers working on the case have been given six-month suspensions. The others have been harassed, intimidated and threatened.

Of particular concern, my father has health issues that are likely not being adequately treated. He has severe type 2 diabetes that has, in the past, required hospitalization. He needs ongoing, specialized medical care. But China has a documented history of denying political prisoners necessary medical care; in fact, when my father was initially detained, my grandmother tried to bring him his prescribed diabetes medication but was turned away.

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My father is no criminal. Rather, he is a person of faith who has embodied compassion, kindness and caring for the needy – values drawn from both Christian teachings and Chinese culture. In 2008, house churches, including Zion Church, were often the first to provide aid to those suffering after the earthquake in Sichuan. Zion Church ministers to broken marriages and depressed children and provides food to the poor. Until its space was confiscated in 2018, the church also hosted blood drives each year.

Although my father and my family have suffered greatly, this case is not just about the suffering of one person or one family. It poses a direct challenge to American values. This country traces its origins to individuals fleeing religious persecution. Freedom of religion is central to who we are; it is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and was recently acknowledged in the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy.

In just a few weeks, Trump will rededicate this country as “One n ation under God.”  But the Chinese Community Party’s escalating attack on China’s Christian community – as well as its persecution of Muslims, Tibetan and Chinese Buddhists, Taoists and others – is a direct challenge to this oldest and most sacred American value.

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Recognizing this, Ambassador Sam Brownback has described China’s crackdown on the Christian community a “national security imperative” because, in his words, “if the world’s largest authoritarian state can eradicate religious freedom without consequences, it undermines the authority of America’s founding values and global leadership.” We cannot let this challenge go unanswered.

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Through repeated acts of transnational repression, Chinese authorities have even sought to punish my family here in the United States for speaking about my father’s detention. Soon after we began speaking publicly, my mother received a threatening phone call from someone impersonating a U.S. federal agent, who tried to pressure her to return to China under false pretenses.

Later, the tires on her car were slashed in the middle of the night. I have personally been surveilled while attending meetings in Washington, D.C., and my husband has been the target of Chinese state-backed hacking attempts.

Xi has said that he hopes that 2026 will be a year in which China and the U.S. “advance toward mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.” But that is impossible while China imprisons the relatives of U.S. citizens for practicing their faith, attacks the religious freedom that America was founded on and extends its repression into our borders to silence dissent. 

In about two months, I will give birth to my third child. My other two children have never met their grandfather in person because Chinese authorities have restricted my father from leaving China under an exit ban since 2018. It is my fervent prayer that my father will be here in June to hold the newest member of our family. Please, President Trump, stand up for my father, stand up for religious freedom and stand for American values – bring my father home.

On Mother’s Day, brunch isn’t just a meal. It’s an experience. Reservations fill weeks in advance, waitlists can stretch outside the door and tables are often overflowing with mimosa glasses.

But a new list of the “Top 100 Brunch Restaurants” in America suggests something else: The spots where families are celebrating mom may be far more concentrated — and exclusive — than before.

The rankings, compiled from OpenTable diner data, highlight the restaurants drawing the most reservations and the highest ratings.

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California leads by a wide margin with 19, followed by New York (12), Texas (11) and Illinois (10), while more than half of U.S. states have no restaurants on the list at all. 

In other words, the so-called “top” brunch spots are heavily clustered in a handful of major dining markets. That concentration reflects how brunch itself has evolved.

“Brunch has become a major factor for hospitality in general in the last 10 years — from boozy brunches to sophisticated nice afternoons with the family,” said Robert Mahon, managing partner of Mahon Hospitality Group in New York City.

In dense, experience-driven cities, restaurants are built to meet demand for something more than a meal, Mahon told Fox News Digital.

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“We’re living in an experience economy,” added Bo Bryant, a restaurant strategist and the founder of Arizona-based Brunch Kitchen & Cocktails. “People aren’t just going out to eat anymore. They’re going out to feel something — to mark a moment.”

Brunch, Bryant told Fox News Digital, sits “at the intersection of food, social ritual and affordable luxury.”

On Mother’s Day, that demand spikes sharply. Mahon expects reservations to jump “by 30 or 40% at a minimum,” while Bryant said some restaurants begin booking as early as 10 weeks in advance.

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“The trend is clear: People are booking earlier every year,” he said. “If you want your first choice, you need to secure it well in advance.”

To keep up, many restaurants streamline menus or lean into prix fixe offerings. 

The goal, Mahon said, is efficiency — ensuring “the pace of food comes out correctly” during one of the busiest dining days of the year.

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At the same time, brunch menus have become more creative and indulgent, with cocktails and curated dishes helping to drive higher spending.

“Breakfast is a meal. Brunch has become an experience — and people are genuinely willing to pay for that feeling,” Bryant said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the National Restaurant Association, based in Washington, D.C., for comment.

OpenTable’s list captures only part of the picture. Missing are the local diners, neighborhood cafés and walk-in spots where many families still celebrate — places less likely to rely on reservations or appear in national rankings.

Bryant sees a split among diners.

“The first loves the Sunday ritual — the buzz, the crowd, the social theater of it all. For them, the scene is part of the appeal,” he said. 

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“The second type is drawn to the food, the pace and the value of a genuinely elegant, full-service experience without the dinner price tag. They’d rather linger over a great meal than wait in line.”

To the public, Queen Elizabeth II was the doting grandmother who never put a foot wrong during her record-breaking reign. But behind palace doors, she was not one to be messed with.

The claim was made by royal author Robert Hardman, who has written a new book on England’s longest-reigning monarch, “Elizabeth II: In Private, In Public: Her Story.” It explores the rarely seen side of the late queen, who would have turned 100 on April 21.

Fox News Digital reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. A palace spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital, “We don’t comment on such books.”

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“In many ways, she was more terrifying in private than in public,” Hardman told Fox News Digital.

“I’ve always found that there are two sides to her. The public queen is the one we’re all familiar with. She was very serious, very dutiful. She didn’t smile that much. You could just tell this was someone who was very conscious of doing her duty. By contrast, the private side of the queen, she was very sparkly. She could be very direct. She was the opposite of what elderly people are supposed to do.”

“The older she got, the greater her authority,” Hardman added.

Hardman said that the queen was known for “the look,” which he described as “a silent signal of displeasure” toward anyone who crossed “an invisible line.” If one was “over familiar,” incompetent or rude, she would shoot out a steely gaze — an ice-cold warning that said everything without a single word.

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“Everyone was very scared of getting ‘the look,’” Hardman explained. “Even [former Prime Minister] Tony Blair, in his memoirs, wrote about his fear of ‘the look.’ And it was her response to something that she found disagreeable for whatever reason. She wouldn’t snap, she wouldn’t shout, she wouldn’t lecture people. She just gave them this very direct, glacial stare. And it was very clear that she was highly unamused.”

One prime minister who received “the look” was New Zealand’s Helen Clark during the queen’s Golden Jubilee tour of the Pacific in 2002. When the queen arrived at a black-tie banquet with New Zealand’s Parliament, she was met by Clark in more casual trousers.

“[The queen] was told that she needed to put on the full royal regalia,” Hardman explained. “They wanted her in an evening gown. They wanted all the pearls, all the jewels, all the diamonds, the tiara — everything. So she really dressed up for this occasion. She arrived at this banquet hosted by then-Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand. And the prime minister was wearing trousers.”

“The queen, having made all this effort, [gave] a very strong look,” said Hardman.

Fellow biographer Kenneth Rose told Hardman of “the look” that, “She just stares at the person with open eyes, absolutely no expression.”

Former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd also described a diplomatic reception where members representing more than 150 embassies and high commissions were lined up for the monarch. One ambassador arrived late and missed his slot.

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“He was very anxious not to lose the opportunity of bowing to the queen, and he shoved himself into position out of line, and he got the stare,” said Hurd. “The courtiers escorted him away to the right position. Nothing would be said.”

“When I went over the top, her eyebrows would go up, and I’d apologize,” Sir Robert Woodard, the former captain of Britannia, also told Hardman. “She hoped you’d sort out the distance you needed to keep.”

In his book, Hardman described a moment when the queen attended a garden party at Buckingham Palace, where she was introduced to a Royal Canadian Air Force officer and his Polish girlfriend. While they were in mid-conversation, the woman’s phone began ringing. Wanting to avoid “the look,” the woman tossed the phone into the crowd without breaking eye contact and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. The queen didn’t blink.

But sometimes, the monarch wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

“She was very direct,” said Hardman. “She was authentic. One of the things people liked about her was that they knew what they were getting.

“For example, sometimes she’d be handed a speech drafted by her advisors. She’d always read through them first and make corrections. She was once handed a speech that said, ‘I am very glad to be back in Birmingham.’ She crossed out the word ‘very.’ She just said, ‘No disrespect to Birmingham.’ She felt that was an act of insincerity.”

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When biographer Charles Moore found himself sitting next to the queen at dinner, he half-apologetically began explaining his next book, Hardman wrote. “Oh, don’t worry,” the queen told him. “I shan’t read it.”

“A senior clergyman awaiting a royal verdict on a carefully prepared sermon was both amused and bemused by her parting remark: ‘So many long words, bishop!’” Hardman wrote.

“She was once being driven around Scotland on a tour, and there’d be somebody with her, the Lord Lieutenant, a local royal representative usually in uniform,” Hardman also explained to Fox News Digital.

“Once she got to this meeting, there were people lined up to meet her. This representative was supposed to do the introductions, but his sword had gotten stuck in the car, and he couldn’t get out.

“The queen just thought, ‘Oh, this is ridiculous,’” Hardman continued. “So, she just got out of the car, went up to his greeting line of people, and said, ‘I’m afraid my Lord Lieutenant seems to be having some trouble getting out of the car, so I’d better introduce myself. I’m the queen.’”

Hardman also wrote that when a cabinet minister told the queen he spent many years in Slough, she replied, “Oh, you poor thing.” On a different occasion, when a guest remarked that she must have been looking forward to an upcoming Commonwealth summit in Uganda, she reportedly replied, “No one looks forward to going to Uganda.”

But the queen also took certain things in stride.

In his book, Hardman described that during a Balmoral shooting weekend, the heir to a nearby estate was so busy digging into his plate of venison stew that he didn’t notice the queen taking a seat at the table. “How are you getting on?” said the queen. The young earl was so shocked that “his garbled attempt at a reply” resulted in a small piece of meat landing on her face.

“She didn’t flinch,” said a source who was present.

During a state visit to the U.S. in 1976, President Ford invited the queen for a dance at the White House ball. “The Lady Is a Tramp” began to play. While Ford was furious, Hardman told Fox News Digital the queen found it “hilarious.”

“This was a favorite story [of hers] for years,” he added.

The queen died in 2022. She was 96.

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“She was in charge until her dying day,” said Hardman. “And no one questioned her authority.”