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“Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.”
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— Confucius, “The Analects”
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- The military parade to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday is today. Here are five things to know about the festivities.
- In his first comments since Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Islamic Republic to reach a nuclear deal “before it is too late.”
- House Republicans on Friday launched an investigation into a China-based billionaire allegedly funding protest groups in the United States, including one reportedly linked to riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles.
- Apple and Google app stores are still offering Americans virtual private networks, or VPNs, with undisclosed ties to Chinese companies, despite serious privacy and security concerns that user data could be shared with the Chinese Communist Party, a tech watchdog group warns.
- 🍵 Health: Why sleeping in total darkness is a big deal.
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☀️ Good morning! It’s Saturday. Thank you for reading the Morning Brief, an exclusive newsletter for Epoch Times subscribers.
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Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor
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President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on June 12, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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In his first comments since Israel launched a wave of strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Islamic Republic to reach a nuclear deal “before it is too late.”
Trump said on Truth Social that he had given Iran “chance after chance” to make a deal, but “they just couldn’t get it done.”
“I told them it would be much worse than anything they know, anticipated, or were told, that the United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come – And they know how to use it,” he wrote.
Trump added that hardliners in Tehran had “spoke bravely” but said that they didn’t know what was about to happen.
“They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse!” he wrote.
“Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left, and save what was once known as the Iranian Empire. No more death, no more destruction, JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.”
In a later post, Trump added: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ’make a deal.’ They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!”
He also told ABC that he thought the Israeli attacks had been “excellent.”
“We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it,” Trump said, adding that Iran “got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come. A lot more.” (More)
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- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, said that Israel will face “severe punishment” in retaliation for attacking the Islamic Republic and suggested that the United States may also face retaliation.
- The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency has confirmed that a key Iranian nuclear facility was damaged during widespread Israeli strikes in Tehran overnight.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Friday called for de-escalation in the Middle East after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.
- Israel killed three of Iran’s top generals. Here’s what we know about these commanders.
- The Israeli operation, named ‘Rising Lion,’ aimed to decapitate Iran’s nuclear program and eliminate the threat posed by related military capabilities. Here’s what we know about the key sites hit by the attacks.
- Global financial markets are in turmoil on the heels of Israel’s full-scale strikes on Iran, targeting the nation’s nuclear facilities and military leadership. U.S. stocks plunged on June 13, with the major benchmarks closing down by more than 1 percent.
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House Republicans on Friday launched an investigation into a China-based billionaire allegedly funding protest groups in the United States, including one reportedly linked to riots against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles.
The probe targets Neville Roy Singham, a Chicago-born businessman and self-described socialist. He lives in Shanghai with his wife, Jodie Evans, a prominent social justice activist and co-founder of advocacy group Code Pink.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said the House Oversight committee will be calling Singham to testify regarding the funding of what she described as “a communist group” tied to both the Los Angeles riots and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“If he refuses to appear, he will be subpoenaed, and if he ignores that, he will be referred to the DOJ for prosecution,” Luna wrote in a post on social media platform X.
In a letter to Singham, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Luna cited his alleged financial backing of far-left groups linked to recent unrest, including violence in anti-Israel demonstrations and the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles.
Among the groups named is the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist political organization that has fielded presidential candidates since 2008. PSL has been associated with an individual charged in the May 21 killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., and is reportedly a leading organizer of the anti-ICE protests. (More)
More Politics:
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- A federal judge in California has temporarily blocked the U.S. State Department from moving forward with a planned reorganization involving approximately 2,000 layoffs.
- A federal district judge blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to overhaul U.S. federal elections, siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who said the order violated the Constitution.
- Several top Democrats are demanding an investigation after Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was forcibly removed and briefly restrained after interrupting a press conference being held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
- The top contenders in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor clashed on the debate stage on Friday.
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Apple and Google app stores are still offering Americans virtual private networks, or VPNs, with undisclosed ties to Chinese companies, despite serious privacy and security concerns that user data could be shared with the Chinese Communist Party, a tech watchdog group warns.
VPNs encrypt data, allowing individuals to surf the web anonymously.
More than 20 of the top 100 free VPNs in the U.S. Apple App Store in 2024 showed evidence of Chinese ownership that was not disclosed to users, according to a report by the Technology Transparency Project.
None of the apps disclosed their alleged Chinese ties, and some “obscured their origins behind layers of shell companies,” TTP said.
Several of the apps were also linked to Chinese cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360, which has been sanctioned by the United States over its ties to the CCP’s People’s Liberation Army, TTP found.
While some of those apps have since been pulled from the Apple App Store, 13 others identified by TTP remain available more than six weeks after they were first identified. (More)
More U.S. News:
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- A COVID-19 variant that emerged earlier this year in mainland China is now driving an estimated 37 percent of virus cases in the United States, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.
- United States Steel Corp. and Japan’s Nippon Steel said on June 13 that President Donald Trump approved of their proposed partnership.
- The governor of Missouri declared a state of emergency and activated the state’s National Guard over possible riots and protests following unrest in Los Angeles over the past week.
- Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran national returned to the United States after being deported to his home country, pled not guilty to federal human trafficking charges on June 13.
- Four detainees have escaped from a federal immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, amid reports of an outbreak of disorder at the facility, the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed.
- Federal transportation officials said Thursday there is currently no immediate reason to ground Boeing 787 passenger planes, the model involved in the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people on June 12.
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📷 Photo of the Day: Dogs watch on as Highland cows are herded from Vallay at low tide in Sollas, Scotland, on June 13, 2025. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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🎙️ Podcast: Ethan Tu, founder of Taiwan AI Labs explains why China is behind US in AI development, and why the race gap will stay that way. (Listen)
✍️ Opinion: The Supreme Court’s Unanimous Religious Freedom Ruling Explained by Rob Natelson (Read)
🍵 Health: Spending too much time on screens may be both a cause of harm and a symptom of an underlying problem. A new study of more than 300,000 children worldwide found that excessive device use is often an attempt by struggling children to cope with anxiety, depression, and social difficulties they can’t yet articulate.
💛 Inspiration: An extensive body of evidence shows that spiritual practices provide measurable protection against trauma and PTSD. Here is one veteran’s story. (Read)
🎵 Music: Ambush from All Sides (Listen)
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Larry Chang (Hayden Szeto) jokes around with older sister Margaret (Ally Maki), in “Dealing With Dad.” (GJW+)
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The award-winning comedy “Dealing With Dad” presents universal values within an ethnic context, showing how an Asian American family works out their messy problems by balancing humor and healing.
Margaret Chang (Ally Maki) is a smart working woman who’s long been estranged from her parents. After meeting them, you might understand why. Her mother, Sophie (Page Leong), spends her days glued to Chinese soap operas. Her father, Jialuo (Dana Lee), runs the Milpitas, California household like a one-man storm cell, cycling between eruptions of anger and imposing strictness.
Roy (Peter S. Kim), the elder son of the family, bailed long ago and now trudges through the thankless grind of a corporate job. The younger brother, Larry (Hayden Szeto), still lives at home, but only physically; he barricades himself in his room with video games and headphones, tuning out their dad’s lingering thunder.
Then, out of the blue, Margaret and Roy are summoned back to the Milpitas house, the site of many psychological battle scars. Jialuo has fallen into a serious depression, spending most of his days silent, withdrawn, and bedridden. The siblings aren’t exactly rushing to his bedside, but guilt (and maybe a faint trace of filial duty) finally nudges them through the door.
What they find is unexpected: The patriarch has been … defanged. No more tirades. No more criticism. Just a quiet, sorrowful man. For the first time, the siblings are faced not with the angry father they remember, but with someone more vulnerable, even kind. The question becomes: Do they help him out of this hole, or quietly enjoy the peace they never had growing up? (More)
“Dealing with Dad” is now available on Gan Jing World as a part of a $1 promotion (available until June 16). Click here to watch the trailer and learn more.
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Thanks for reading.
Have a wonderful day.
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—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.
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