Read Online  |  June 18, 2025  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

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President Donald Trump alights from Air Force One after arriving at Joint Base Andrews on June 17, 2025 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the Iranian regime’s “unconditional surrender” in the Israel–Iran war and threatened the life of Iran’s supreme leader if he orders missile strikes against civilians or American troops.

In a series of messages on social media on June 17, Trump said “we” have full control of Iranian airspace and stated that the United States knows “exactly where” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is hiding—calling him an “easy target” but saying he would not be killed, “at least not for now.”

“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” Trump wrote in the first post. “Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA.”

In a second post, Trump said that the United States knew the exact location of Iran‘s supreme leader and that eliminating him would be easy.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there,” Trump wrote. “We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

A third post called for Iran’s unconditional surrender.

A day earlier, Trump called for the immediate evacuation of Tehran, repeating the warning that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon and suggesting the country could be headed for a catastrophe by refusing to make a deal on nuclear disarmament. (More)

In the first five months of President Donald Trump’s second term, blue-collar hourly workers have experienced a nearly 2 percent increase in real wages—the most significant growth under any administration since President Richard Nixon.

New Treasury Department data suggest real (inflation-adjusted) hourly wage growth is up 1.7 percent year-to-date for production and nonsupervisory workers.

By comparison, real wages declined 1.7 percent during the first five months under the previous administration.

The last time wages outpaced inflation at this pace was during the president’s first term, says Joe Lavorgna, counselor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“Today’s data confirm what we saw during President Trump’s first administration: pro-growth policies like tax reform and deregulation had a measurable impact on real wages, especially for blue-collar workers. This isn’t theoretical—it is showing up in the paychecks of everyday Americans,” Lavorgna told The Epoch Times.

The only other time a president recorded positive wage data was in 1969, when Nixon reported real blue-collar wage growth of 0.8 percent. (More)

More Politics:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Tuesday lifted the curfew in the city’s downtown area following a decline in the protests, violence, and vandalism that had disrupted the neighborhood.

A day earlier, Bass pushed back the curfew’s start time to 10 p.m., allowing businesses to stay open longer. The curfew originally ran from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., covering roughly a square-mile area that included the Arts District and Chinatown.

“The curfew, coupled with ongoing crime prevention efforts, have been largely successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential communities,” Bass said in a press release. “I will be prepared to reissue a curfew if needed.”

The city imposed the curfew on June 10, days after protests erupted in response to a new wave of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants who were seeking day labor jobs outside retail locations as part of a probe into customs fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering.

The situation escalated when protests devolved into riots. Videos circulated on social media showing rioters looting stores, setting cars on fire, and blocking freeway traffic.

In response, President Donald Trump called in 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to restore order. The move bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had declined to activate the state’s National Guard and subsequently sued the Trump administration to stop the mobilization. (More)

More U.S. News

📷 Photo of the Day: A member of the ground staff attempts to catch a horse running loose ahead of the King Charles III stakes on the first day of the Royal Ascot horse race meeting in Ascot, west of London, on June 17, 2025. (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

Day in Photos: Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia, Protests in Kenya, and Royal Races

American Thought Leaders: What America can learn from Ohio’s Amish country. (Watch)

✍️ Opinion: The Sour Aftertaste of the Digital Age, by Mark Bauerlein (Read)

🎙️ Podcast: Mass surveillance could be a cause of mass paranoia. Tune in to Crossroads, where our senior investigative reporter Joshua Philipp breaks down the new studies on how surveillance impacts the brain. (Listen)

🎵 Music: J.S. Bach – The Six Partitas (Listen)

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Hip fractures from osteoporosis can cause lasting pain, mobility loss, and serious health risks—especially in older women. (The Epoch Times/Shutterstock)

Osteoporosis earns its reputation as a “silent disease” because it weakens bones gradually, often without warning signs until a fracture occurs. This condition makes bones so fragile that everyday activities—even something as simple as bending over to pick up groceries or bumping into furniture—can result in painful breaks.

While any bone can be affected, fractures most commonly occur in three key areas: the hip, spine, and wrist. These breaks can be life-changing, potentially leading to long-term mobility issues or requiring extended care.

Beyond the initial injury, osteoporosis complicates recovery by slowing bone healing, often leaving people with chronic pain and a reduced quality of life.

As the most common metabolic bone disease in the world, osteoporosis affects about 20 percent of the global population.

The underlying cause of osteoporosis is a disruption in the balance between old bone breakdown and new bone formation, which results in decreasing bone mass.

Our bones contain essential minerals and constantly break down to release these minerals into the bloodstream, then rebuild with new bone tissue. When new bone formation doesn’t keep up with the old bone loss, bones become porous, which can lead to osteoporosis.

Most people reach their peak bone mass—their largest bone size and density—between ages 25 and 30. After age 40, we typically lose bone mass faster than it is generated. At first, the rate of bone loss is approximately 0.3 percent to 0.5 percent per year in both sexes. However, in women after menopause, this rate escalates to 2 percent to 3 percent annually, then returns to a lower level after about a decade. (More)

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Read Online  |  June 17, 2025  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

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Smoke rises from locations targeted in Tehran amid the third day of Israel’s waves of strikes against Iran, on June 15, 2025. (Zara/Middle East Images via AFP)

President Donald Trump has called on residents to evacuate Tehran immediately, reiterating his long-standing warning that Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon and suggesting Iran could be headed for a catastrophe by refusing to make a deal on nuclear disarmament.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” the president wrote in a June 16 post on social media.

Shortly after Trump’s warning, Iranian state media reported explosions and heavy air defense fire over Tehran.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces issued an evacuation order to residents in parts of Tehran on Monday, warning of imminent airstrikes targeting military infrastructure in the area.

“Dear citizens, for your safety, please leave the described area in the 3rd district of Tehran immediately,” states the message posted in Farsi by the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee on X.

“In the coming hours, the Israeli army will attack the military infrastructure of the Iranian regime in this area, as it has done in recent days in Tehran,” Adraee wrote. ”Your presence in this area endangers your life.” (More)

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed U.S.–UK trade deal next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they speak to reporters during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on June 16, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

The G7 summit in Canada opened on Monday with significant divisions on various issues, but a breakthrough emerged from a bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines.

Trump announced the signing of a U.S.–UK trade agreement after his meeting with the UK leader.

“We signed it, and it’s done. It’s a fair deal for both,” the president told reporters, alongside Starme.

Starmer echoed the sentiment, noting that the agreement slashes tariffs on automobiles and aerospace.

“This is a very good day for both of our countries,” he said.

Negotiations for a UK–US Free Trade Agreement have been stalled since Autumn 2020, with no significant progress until their revival in February following Starmer’s visit to the White House.

“I want to just tell that to the people of the United Kingdom—he’s done a very, very good job,” Trump said, praising Starmer.

“They’ve been talking about this deal for six years, and he’s done what they haven’t been able to do.”

At the beginning of their remarks, Trump opened a folder to show the press the documents on the trade deal, and several pages fell out and onto the ground. Starmer quipped, “Very important document” as he helped pick up some of the pages.

Both sides had announced on May 8 that they had reached an agreement on the general terms of the trade deal.

The deal provides “American companies unprecedented access to British markets while bolstering the national security and economy of the United States,” according to the executive order Trump signed for the implementation of the trade agreement. (More)

More Politics:

Heartfelt tributes have poured in for former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were both shot and killed at their home in Brookland Park, Minnesota.

Minnesotans who knew her praised her as a “formidable public servant” and a woman deeply involved in her community.

The suspect, Vance Boelter, is currently in custody.

State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, meanwhile, are on the road to recovery after they narrowly avoided the same fate when they were also targeted at their Champlin home. Boelter is also the suspect in that case.

Police officers detained Boelter, who allegedly disguised himself as a police officer during the shootings, in Sibley County.

In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump called it a “terrible shooting.”

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,” he said. “God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!” (More)

More U.S. News

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the weekend announced a national inquiry into grooming gangs.

The grooming gang scandal first gained national attention in Britain in the early 2010s, after revelations that gangs of men, mostly of Pakistani heritage, had targeted vulnerable girls—grooming and raping them—since at least the early 1990s.

Over the weekend, Starmer said he would accept a recommendation from an independent reviewer for a judge-led inquiry into the scandal, with the power to summon witnesses.

Speaking to reporters traveling with him to Canada for the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, he said he had asked Baroness Louise Casey, an expert on victims’ rights and social welfare, to review previous findings of investigations into the issue.

The findings of that review were part of a report made public on Monday.

“Her position when she started the audit was that there was not a real need for a national inquiry over and above what was going on,” Starmer said. “She has looked at the material she has looked at, and she has come to the view that there should be a national inquiry on the basis of what she has seen. I have read every single word of her report, and I am going to accept her recommendation.” (More)

More World News

📷 Photo of the Day: People sit on plastic stools as they chat in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam, on June 16, 2025. Nhac Nguyen/AFP via Getty Images

Day in Photos: Minnesota Shooting Memorial, G7 in Canada, and Aerobatic Flying

✍️ Opinion: President Trump’s Defining Middle East Legacy by Michael Flynn & Frank J. Gaffney (Read)

🎙️ Podcast: Li Shaomin, a professor of international business at Old Dominion University in Virginia, once created propaganda for the Chinese communist regime, including portraits of former leader Mao Zedong. After coming to the U.S., he began picking up on the propaganda that shaped his life. Narrative by narrative, he broke down the half-truths. Today, he’s back on China Watch with advice for other Chinese-Americans on how to emotionally reconcile the ongoing U.S.-China tensions and how Americans can navigate this subject with their Chinese colleagues and friends. (Listen)

🎵 Music: Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank (Listen)

🗣️ (Sponsored) Christian Counselor’s Case to Be Heard by Supreme Court—Support Brave Clients Like Kaley Now!

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A bust of composer Johann Sebastian Bach. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Donald Jay Grout’s “A History of Western Music,” first published by W.W. Norton in 1960, is considered the definitive single-volume book on the subject.

Grout is gospel among music historians, and, in the eighth edition, we encounter this proclamation: “Posterity has raised Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) to the pinnacle of composers of all time.”

Bach was also one of the most prolific composers. The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, or Bach Works Catalogue (BWV), currently ascribes 1,176 pieces of music to him (the most recent 50 of which were only added in our century).

Among so many works, choosing the 10 “best” pieces is difficult. But we can at least give it a shot.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565)—This is probably the most recognizable piece of any that Bach wrote, which is mostly due to its association with Halloween.

The “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” displays Bach’s virtuoso organ skills, the instrument for which he was most famous in his lifetime. It begins with fast arpeggios in a free style, then transitions to the more structured Fugue where the main theme is overlapped and repeated in different melodies.

‘Air on the G String’ (BWV 1068)—This is one of the most serene and relaxing pieces in the entire classical repertoire. The version that most listeners are familiar with is August Wilhelmj’s 1871 arrangement.

Originally, in the second movement of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3, the violin plays on a higher register. Wilhelmj dropped the violin part down to the instrument’s lowest pitch—the G string. (More)

Spot the Difference is our readers’ favorite. Play it here.

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Thanks for reading.

Have a wonderful day.

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

Copyright © 2025 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times. 229 W. 28 St. Fl. 7 New York, NY 10001 | Contact Us

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