Read Online  |  April 24, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Cathy He
Politics Editor

Good morning, happy Friday! Here are today’s top stories:

• Over several congressional hearings, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fielded sharp questions from lawmakers on a range of issues from vaccines to Medicaid. Here’s a look at the key takeaways. 
• President Donald Trump said the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended for three weeks, after an Oval Office meeting with envoys of both governments, as well as his senior national security team.
• A U.S. soldier involved in the mission to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has been charged with placing bets on Polymarket on the timing of the leader’s ouster. The bets netted the soldier $400,000 in winnings, prosecutors said. 
• The White House said China and other foreign adversaries are carrying out “industrial-scale campaigns” to extract advanced U.S. artificial intelligence technology.
• 🍵 Health: Chickpeas are a go-to source of plant-based protein. They deliver a variety of nutrients, supporting blood sugar control, weight management, and gut health. 

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 22, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

7 Takeaways From RFK Jr.’s Appearances Before Congress

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared before seven congressional committees in recent days, taking questions—and criticism—from dozens of lawmakers.

Here are key exchanges from the sessions.

Budget Cuts Are Necessary

The White House has proposed a 12.5 percent cut to the budget of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with cuts to other agencies.

“All of those cuts are painful,” Kennedy said. “Nobody wants to do them.”

However, he said the cuts are necessary because of growing national debt.

While Democrats criticized the proposal, some Republicans, including Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), said they support it.

“Thank you for making necessary cuts where we agree that they are definitely needed,” Hyde-Smith said.

Mass terminations in 2025 brought HHS from about 82,000 employees down to around 62,000. Kennedy said there are now 72,000 employees and that the agency plans to hire about 12,000 more people.

Kennedy said the terminations did not result in any issues, and that they were warranted, citing the high rates of chronic disease in the population and the prevalence of unhealthy food in Americans’ diets.

“It was their job to protect us, and they did not do it. They failed at their job,” Kennedy said. “If this was private industry, they would have all been fired. We did what we had to do to change the culture at these agencies.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he disagreed with the firings.

“Essentially, most of us believe they were fired to reach a number, a lesser number,” he said.

Will Medicaid Be Cut?

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in 2025, included tightening requirements for Medicaid, which provides health insurance to 83 million low-income people in the United States, according to health policy organization KFF.

As a result of the act, “the Republicans are going to cut Medicaid by $1 trillion over the next decade,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said.

Other Democrats also decried the cuts.

Kennedy, though, said spending on Medicaid will actually continue growing in the coming years.

“We’re not cutting Medicaid,” he said. (More)

IRAN WAR

• Trump said he believes the Iranian regime is effectively without a leaderand is experiencing infighting between two factions because the U.S. military has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz. The president also authorized U.S. forces to “shoot and kill” Iranian boats placing mines in the strait. 
• Iran is nearing forced oil production stoppages as storage tanks fill rapidly, with capacity set to be exhausted within 20 to 24 days, according to a commodities data firm. 
• Sweden may need to consider options to reduce energy consumption, including rationing, if the flow of fuel supplies remains disrupted as a result of the Iran war, the prime minister said. 
• U.N. officials have warned that shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz threaten one-third of the global fertilizer trade at a critical moment for spring planting in many regions. This could trigger a broader food crisis if shipments aren’t resumed quickly, they said. 

POLITICS

• The Trump administration has reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug under federal law. State-regulated medical marijuana products will be moved from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. The move is expected to ease barriers to research and will let operators access tax breaks. 
• The Federal Housing Administration has joined with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement new mortgage credit scoring models aimed at making homebuying more affordable for Americans.
• Pharma company Regeneron became the latest firm to lower drug prices in a deal with the Trump administration. It also announced it would offer a new gene therapy that reverses genetic hearing loss in children for free in the United States.
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are proposing a tax on luxury second homes to cover the city’s $5.4 billion budget gap. Here’s what to know about the proposed tax.
• The internal watchdog for the Department of Justice has said it will review the department’s compliance with a law that required the DOJ to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

LATEST NEWS

• The DOJ has charged two Chinese nationals on suspicion of operating a cryptocurrency investment fraud operation in Burma and trying to start another in Cambodia. The pair are accused of scamming potentially billions of dollars from victims around the world, including the United States.
• Requests related to diversity, equity, and inclusion for faculty job candidates in higher education have decreased dramatically—at least on paper—since Trump began his second term, according to a new report. 
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for more than 90 counties as tens of thousands of acres were consumed by multiple wildfires. The entire state remains under some level of drought.
• French Quarter Magazine awardedEpoch Times senior editor Jan Jekielek the publication’s pick for 2026 Best Author of the Year. Jekielek’s bestselling book, “Killed to Order,” presents two decades of evidence of the Chinese Communist Party’s forced organ harvesting industry and explores how it grew to become an estimated $9 billion industry. 

A UK Border Force vessel brings illegal immigrants who were intercepted crossing the English Channel into Dover port in Dover, England, on Oct. 8, 2025. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

WORLD

• The UK has agreed to pay France up to $892 million under a new three-year border security deal aimed at curbing illegal immigrant crossings across the English Channel.
• Germany’s economy ministry cut its growth forecasts in half for 2026 and 2027 amid the Iran war.
• New Canadian citizenship rules are driving an increase in applications from the United States. The changes effectively allow anyone with a provable Canadian ancestor to claim citizenship. It’s sending some Americans into archives and church records in search of long-lost family ties.
• Turkey passed a bill to prevent minors under 15 from accessing social media, becoming the latest country to enact such laws since Australia became the first to put age restrictions on the platforms in December 2025.
• The new Hungarian government will fully open the ‌files of the country’s communist-era secret police, a senior official in the incoming administration said.
• Violent attacks are occurring across China at a scale rarely seen by the public, according to people with knowledge of the country’s internal security system. While only a handful of cases reach official reports, insiders say far more incidents are happening behind the scenes—prompting concern at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. 

 

OPINION

• 250 Years Later: Time for an American Renaissance—by Evan Mantyk (Read)
• Clarence Thomas’ Great Speech on the Declaration—by Star Parker (Read)
• The Camera Knows You Belong—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
• Unite the Right Was a Left-Wing Front—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
• Why Did China Reserve a Vast Offshore Airspace for 40 Days Without Explanation?—by Antonio Graceffo (Read)

First Lady Melania Trump (C) and Second Lady Usha Vance (6th L) attend the 113th annual First Lady’s Luncheon at the Washington Hilton in Washington on April 23, 2026. The first lady spoke on a variety of topics, including her “Foster the Future” initiative and foster care reform. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: Armenian Genocide Memorial, MS-13 Court Hearing, and Morris Dancers (Look)

🇺🇲 American Thought Leaders: Sen. Ron Johnson tells senior editor Jan Jakielek what his team found in 11 million pages of COVID records from HHS. (Watch)

💸 Money: Strategies to Qualify for a Low-Interest Mortgage (Read)

💛 Inspiration: The Physiological Mechanism That Aids in Decision-Making Under Pressure—A series of studies conducted in the U.S. Navy reveals how to create harmony between the heart and brain for peak performance under pressure. (Read)

🎵 Music: Mozart’s Piano Trio In G (Listen)

⚠️ (Sponsored) 5 Collagen Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore – Collagen loss can start earlier than you think – and signs aren’t always obvious. From joint discomfort to thinning hair, learn what to watch for and how to support your body now. Learn More.* 

HEALTH

(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)

Chickpeas: A Nutrient-Dense Food That Feeds Gut Bacteria and Improves Digestive Function

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, have been a staple in cuisines around the world for thousands of years, from Middle Eastern hummus to Indian chana masala to Mediterranean salads. Today, they’ve become a global go-to source of plant-based protein.

Describing them merely as a protein source, however, misses the mark.

“What sets chickpeas apart from other legumes isn’t any single nutrient; it’s the combination,” Kara Brown, a recipe developer, told The Epoch Times.

Chickpeas deliver a variety of nutrients, supporting blood sugar control, weight management, and gut health.

A 2016 review published in Nutrients found that those who ate chickpeas and chickpea-based foods such as hummus tended to have higher overall diet quality than nonconsumers.

Fiber: A one-cup serving of cooked chickpeas contains 12.5 grams of dietary fiber, a combination of soluble and insoluble fibers.

Protein: They provide about 11 grams of plant-based protein. In fact, around 20 percent of a dried chickpea’s weight is protein.

Folate: Chickpeas are a strong source of folate, delivering nearly 71 percent of the daily value per cup. Folate is essential for DNA synthesis and cellular function and is especially important during periods of rapid growth, such as pregnancy.

Iron: Chickpeas are markedly high in iron, providing about 26 percent of the daily value per cup. While plant-based iron is less readily absorbed than the iron found in animal products, it’s a solid contribution, particularly for those eating a plant-based diet. (More)

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