Read Online  |  June 13, 2025  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

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Smoke rises after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2025. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

Israeli warplanes began carrying out airstrikes across Iran in the early morning hours on June 13, in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast as a critical measure to protect his nation.

“Moments ago, Israel launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’–a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival,” Netanyahu said in a televised address shortly after reports emerged of the initial barrage.

Netanyahu said Iran had stockpiled enough highly enriched uranium to result in nine nuclear warheads, and said Iran could produce its first warhead in just a few months. He vowed the Israeli strike operations would continue “for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”

The full extent of the damage from the strikes cannot be independently verified at this time, but the Israeli military said it has relied on high-quality intelligence to precisely target aspects of Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu said the strikes targeted the leading Iranian nuclear enrichment facility at Natanz, and an individual he described as Iran’s leading scientist working on nuclear weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed Natanz was among the sites targeted in the Israeli military operation.

“We also struck at the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program,” Netanyahu said.

Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital city of Tehran, Iranian state TV confirmed.

As Israeli warplanes launched their offensive operations on Iran, the Israeli military began advising its citizens to take shelter, in anticipation of an Iranian retaliation. (More)

President Donald Trump, joined by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other lawmakers, holds up an executive order after signing a series of bills related to California’s vehicle emissions standards during an event in the East Room of the White House on June 12, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump signed three Congressional resolutions to block California’s landmark vehicle emissions mandates.

The measures overturn California’s plans to phase out the sale of new gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, roll back its low-nitrogen oxide regulations for heavy-duty trucks, and rescind an Environmental Protection Agency waiver granted in December 2023 allowing the state to enforce stricter vehicle emissions standards.

A White House signing ceremony included top administration officials such as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, as well as members of Congress and representatives from the energy, trucking, and auto industries.

California is also considering the establishment of zero-emission standards on medium and heavy-duty trucks and implementing stricter controls on nitrogen oxide emissions.

The move will likely intensify a longstanding power struggle between the federal government and the Golden State over environmental policy and differences in state and federal policy priorities.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, vowed to challenge the resolutions in court, arguing that the moves are illegal and will tag California taxpayers with an estimated $45 billion in additional health care costs.

Serious legal questions loom over Congress’s authority to revoke a state-level law.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, previously determined that the Congressional Review Act cannot be used to block California’s vehicle emissions standards.

The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, agreed with that assessment. (More)

More Politics:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has mobilized 7,000 National Guard soldiers and state troopers to keep the peace prior to planned protests against the Trump administration this weekend.

Statewide, Abbott deployed 5,000 National Guard members and more than 2,000 Department of Public Safety troopers to help local police maintain law and order, his office said.

Organizers of the No Kings Day of Defiance were planning up to 1,800 protests nationwide to oppose the Trump administration.

“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration law,” the governor said.

Violent protests began in Los Angeles on June 6 after ICE worked with other federal agencies on an investigation that led to 44 arrests of illegal immigrants, many with prior criminal records. California Gov. Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit against Trump after the president sent National Guard members and Marines to Los Angeles to quell unrest.

Organizers of the No Kings protests—a coalition of various groups—say they are committed to nonviolence. Their website says, “On June 14, we rise up.” Their protests were planned before the Los Angeles riots; the goal was to oppose Trump’s large celebration in Washington of the Army’s 250th anniversary and Flag Day, which also is his 79th birthday.

The Texas governor warned that anyone behaving violently or vandalizing property will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. (More)

More U.S. News:

At least 241 people died in an Air India crash on Thursday near Ahmedabad, a city in western India.

The plane, a Boeing 787 with 242 people onboard, bound for London and identified as flight AI 171, crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff, said Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, director general of the directorate of civil aviation.

A single survivor found in the aftermath recounted his experience.

“Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed,” the survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, told a local media outlet from his hospital bed. “It all happened so quickly.”

Ramesh said he sustained impact injuries on his chest, eyes, and feet.

“When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran. There were pieces of the plane all around me,” he said.

“Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”

According to Vidhi Chaudhary, a senior Indian police officer, Ramesh was in seat 11A.

The death toll slowly rose in the hours after the incident—making it the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a massive fireball when the plane crashed.

Imagery posted on social media by news outlets shows debris on fire, with thick black smoke rising into the sky near the airport. (More)

More World News

📷 Photo of the Day: A boy meets a calf at Freedom Hill Farm in Otisville, N.Y., on Jan. 29, 2023. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Day in Photos: India Plane Crash, London’s Personalized Museum, and Flooding in San Antonio

🇺🇲 American Thought Leaders: From Agroterrorism to Bioweapons Research: How the CCP Infiltrates the West (Watch)

✍️ Opinion: Falun Gong Bill Confronts the Chinese Regime’s Crimes Against Humanity, by Rep. Scott Perry (Read)

🎙️ Podcast: Join Epoch Times reporters on Constitution Avenue as they give a recap on the L.A. riots, what started them, what’s next, and how the “Big, Beautiful Bill” is edging forward in the Senate. (Listen)

🎵 Music: Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute (Listen)

🔥 In case you missed it, the most-read article from yesterday’s newsletter was … (Read)

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Elena Rostunova/Shutterstock

Bitter foods and digestive bitters might not be the first thing you crave at mealtime, but science—and centuries of traditional wisdom—suggest they’re a missing foundation to your healthy lifestyle routine. From supporting digestion to balancing blood sugar and even influencing hormones that can help you lose weight, these pungent plants are making a comeback.

Digestive bitters are concentrated herbal extracts made from bitter-tasting plants—many of which you can find at your local health food store or online. Just a few drops before a meal can “wake up” your digestive system. However, what’s behind that distinctive bitter taste?

When you taste something bitter, you activate special receptors not just on your tongue, but throughout your digestive tract. These receptors, called type-2 taste receptors, trigger what’s commonly termed the “bitter reflex,” which helps your digestion by breaking down food molecules more efficiently. The bitter reflex can also aid gut motility, a response of the parasympathetic or “rest-and-digest” arm of the nervous system.

While bitter herbs have been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine and other traditional healing systems to support the digestive system, modern science is now uncovering how they work.

The bitter reflex stimulates the production of saliva, stomach acid, bile, and digestive enzymes. Strong stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) secretion, which declines naturally with age, is particularly important for the digestion of proteins.  Altogether, these secretions prepare the body for incoming foods, allowing for more efficient breakdown and absorption. (More)

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Read Online  |  June 14, 2025  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

☀️ Good morning! It’s Saturday. Thank you for reading the Morning Brief, an exclusive newsletter for Epoch Times subscribers.

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President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on June 12, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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)

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:

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:

📷 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)

Day in Photos: Israel Attacks Iran, Military Parade Preparations in Washington, Plane Crash Mourning in India

🎙️ 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+)

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.

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.

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