Read Online  |  May 23, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“Carry out a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.”

— Diana, Princess of Wales

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

Good morning! It’s Saturday. Here are today’s top stories:

• The circle-of-life message of regenerative farming—that healthy soil makes healthy food, makes healthy bodies—is gaining a foothold across the nation.
• Tulsi Gabbard is set to resign from her position as the director of national security, citing her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis.
• The Pentagon’s second batch of declassified UFO files released on May 22 includes videos such as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena being shot down over the Great Lakes and audio of astronauts witnessing a series of unexplained phenomena.
• President Donald Trump has indicated he would sign a bill to make daylight saving time permanent as a House of Representatives committee advanced a measure that would codify the change.
• 🍵 Health: These five lesser-known health metrics can help predict longevity.

Cattle are driven to a pasture for grazing at Sovereignty Ranch May 2, 2026 in Bandera, Texas. The ranch hosted a two-day event to advance regenerative agriculture in America.   (Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times)

Inside the Farming Movement to Detox America

After a soft rain on Sovereignty Ranch, the earthy smells of rich humus and pungent juniper hung in the air. The clay roads became a sticky gumbo, clinging to cowboy boots and pickup trucks as guests converged on the ranch.

Bandera, dubbed the Cowboy Capital of the world, was a hub for driving millions of cattle and horses through the region during the late 1800s.

But the scenic 200-acre Sovereignty Ranch, set amid rugged hills and ancient limestone bluffs, does not follow traditional land-and-cattle ranching practices.

The farm was founded by Mollie Engelhart, a self-described “recovering vegan” and California chef who became a Texas rancher and regenerative farmer. The first weekend of May, the place was packed with vehicles from Texas, Colorado, and California for the two-day American Regeneration Conference, featuring a visit from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime advocate of regenerative farming.

The ranchers and farmers at the conference, some sporting “Make Ranching Great Again” and “Common Ground” baseball caps, weren’t your typical cowboy types. Once on the fringes of agriculture, regenerative farmers are going mainstream.

Their circle-of-life message—that healthy soil makes healthy food, makes healthy bodies—is gaining a foothold here in cowboy country and across the nation.

Think of it as a “yeehaw” moment for agriculture, as modern practices embrace the wisdom of old-school farming.

Some practitioners are former Democrats; others are health-conscience parents and vaccine skeptics who were drawn to Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which eventually merged with the Trump-supporting base.

The conference brought together notable figures in regenerative farming, many with backgrounds in science or education. Topics included the use of new technologies and methods to reduce or eliminate chemical use in farming while maintaining profitability.

For example, ground cover can preserve topsoil. Rotating farm animals through pastures provides natural fertilizer.

Technology is helping make regenerative farming more successful. The conference featured a $1 million machine that can weed fields, saving farmers money on weedkillers while protecting the environment. (More)Sponsored by NativePath

Your “Real Age” May Matter More Than Your Birth Date *

Scientists say your biological age could reveal more about your energy, memory, mobility, and overall health than the number on your birthday cake. Discover the simple at-home method helping thousands better understand how their body may be aging.Learn More ➜

Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh at the White House on May 22, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

POLITICS

• Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh was sworn in on May 22 and said that he plans to lead a reform-oriented central bank for the next four years.
• The president defended the Anti-weaponization Fund that was recently set up by the Department of Justice after some Republican lawmakers criticized the move.
• Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin faced backlash from members of his own party, including calls for his resignation, the day after he released the party’s long-delayed 2024 election autopsy and distanced himself from its findings.
• President Donald Trump will posthumously award 9/11 hero Welles Crowther, commonly referred to as the “Man in the Red Bandana,” the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• The president highlighted a tax deduction enacted in his signature law last year at a campaign event for Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) in New York’s Hudson Valley.
• President Trump said he will not attend his eldest son’s upcoming nuptials. “While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time.”

LATEST NEWS

• Memorial Day holiday travelers will pay prices at the pump that are the highest in four years with the prolonged fuel supply shortage caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, according to numbers reported by the American Automobile Association.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjusted its policy on May 22 to require immigrants seeking green cards to apply in their home country.
• Roughly 40,000 people in Garden Grove, a Los Angeles suburb, were evacuated on Friday after a chemical storage tank was determined to be at risk of failing and spilling thousands of gallons of toxic material or exploding.

Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), testifies before Congress on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on March 8, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WORLD

• Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said that the ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in multiple African nations may reach into other parts of the continent, becoming a “very significant pandemic.”
• The United States has paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan to ensure it has enough munitions for its military operations against Iran, according to Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
• Ukraine is “regaining tactical initiative” in its war against Russia, building on gains made in April and achieving its first net territorial gain in two years, according to analysis from the Institute for the Study of War
• China’s foreign affairs minister, Wang Yi, is set to visit Canada next week, marking the first bilateral visit to Canada by a Chinese foreign affairs minister since 2016.

 

OPINION

• The Marx Brothers Nearly a Century Later—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
• What ‘Compassion’ Isn’t—by Laura Hollis (Read)

U.S. Naval Academy graduates sing their school song during the 2026 Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony in Annapolis, Md., on May 22, 2026. 1059 individuals graduated in the class of 2026 and will enter the Navy or Marine Corps to serve for a minimum of 5 years.  (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: Cholitas March, Venezuelans’ Repatriation, and Bird Show in Qatar (Look)

🎵 Music: Mozart – Sonata In G, KV9 (Listen)

FILM

A scene from “Saving Private Ryan,” directed by Steven Spielberg. (MovieStillDB)

The Best War Movies to Watch This Memorial Day (and Why) 

IMDb (the Internet Movie Database)lists more than 1,600 war movies, and that list is eight years old.

Clearly, films about battle and warfare attract viewers, and with good reason. Audiences come to these movies to experience secondhand and in a condensed form the drama and action of war, heroism and sacrifice, camaraderie, intense emotions, and lessons about history and patriotism. These movies can deepen our gratitude for those who died in these conflicts, who gave their lives for their brothers-in-arms and for their country.

This year, as we celebrate Memorial Day with our backyard barbecues and get-togethers with friends and family, watching one of these movies can deepen our appreciation for this day of remembrance.

“Greater love hath no man than this,that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This sentence from scripture sums up the bonds of brotherhood born from battle.

In “Saving Private Ryan,” after undergoing the horrific ordeal of D-Day’s Omaha Beach landing, a detachment of men under the command of Capt. Miller (Tom Hanks) is ordered to find and return with paratrooper Pfc. James Ryan (Matt Damon), whose three brothers have recently died in combat. After a search that costs this band of men two of their own, they finally locate Ryan, but he refuses to leave his unit.

When Miller asks Ryan what he should tell his mother “when she gets another folded American flag,” Ryan replies: “You can tell her that when you found me, I was with the only brothers I had left. And that there was no way I was deserting them. I think she’d understand that.” (More)

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Thanks for reading 🙏

Have a wonderful day!

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

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