Read Online  |  May 15, 2026  |  E-Paper  | 🎧 Listen

“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.”

— Publilius Syrus

Ivan Pentchoukov
National Editor

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

• The summit in Beijing between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded its first day, May 14, with a notable flashpoint: Taiwan and U.S. arms sales to the island.
• As U.S. and China delegations convened in Beijing, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers in Washington cast a spotlight on the communist regime’s forced organ harvesting, saying it’s past time to put the abuse to an end.
• A U.S.-led team successfully removed about 30 pounds of highly enriched uranium from Venezuela earlier this month in a secret mission.
• A group of U.S. officials led by CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Cuba on Thursday, as Cuba suffered from sanctions put in place by President Donald Trump. A day earlier, the Cuban energy and mines minister said that the country has completely run out of diesel and heavy fuel oil, and that its power grid has entered a “critical” state, as Havana faced its worst rolling ‌blackouts in decades.
• 🍵 Health: One of nature’s most complete foods, eggs support muscle, brain, eye, and metabolic health. Learn what happens to your body when you eat eggs regularly. 

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting in Beijing on May 14, 2026. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Xi Strikes Aggressive Tone on Taiwan as US Signals No Change in Policy

The summit in Beijing between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded its first day, May 14, with a notable flashpoint: Taiwan and U.S. arms sales to the island.

According to a statement released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xi warned Trump about the handling of the issue.

“The U.S. side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question,” the statement reads.

“If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy.”

The White House released a brief readout of the meeting between Trump and Xi. Unlike Beijing’s announcement, it made no mention of Taiwan, instead focusing extensively on the Iran war, the Strait of Hormuz, and economic cooperation between the two countries.

A source familiar with the talks told The Epoch Times that the administration had expected Beijing to bring up Taiwan at the summit and had already decided to disregard it and move on. And that’s exactly how Trump and his team in Beijing handled it, the source said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Xi raised the issue, but he said that arms sales were not a primary topic in the discussion.

“U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today, and as of the meeting that we had here today,” he told NBC News.

Rubio said that when discussions about Taiwan arise, the United States consistently responds that any attempt to force a change in the island through military action “would be problematic.” He emphasized that U.S. policy on the issue has remained “consistent across multiple presidential administrations.”

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, said that China’s statement about Taiwan was unsurprising, describing it as “pretty rote,” and commended Trump for disregarding it.

“They have raised the level of their rhetoric somewhat over the last few years when it comes to Taiwan, but it remains pretty much in the same running lane,” he told The Epoch Times. “And hat tip to the president, he pretty much just ignored it.”

Taiwan remains one of the most sensitive issues between Washington and Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims the democratically governed island as its territory, while Taiwan rejects this and maintains its own government. The United States officially maintains a policy of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan but continues to provide the island with defensive arms, a practice Beijing strongly opposes. (More)Sponsored by NativePath

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TRUMP IN CHINA

• Chinese leader Xi Jinping has pledged not to provide military equipment to Iran, President Donald Trump said after the first day of talks between the two leaders in Beijing.
• China has agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, according to President Donald Trump, in what would represent a major commercial order for the U.S. aerospace company.
• President Trump again met Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Communist Party’s headquarters in Beijing on the second and final day of their summit on Friday.

POLITICS

• It took the U.S. military less than 40 days to destroy 90 percent of Iran’s operational ballistic missile and drone capacities, annihilate its navy, dismantle its support for proxy militias, and derail its emergent nuclear weapons program, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said on May 14.
• Robert Cekada, the newly confirmed director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wants to refocus the agency’s efforts on fighting violent crime rather than regulating legal gun ownership. “We should be focusing on the criminals, not each other,” Cekada told lawmakers on Thursday.
• U.S. Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks resigned from his position.
• The Senate unanimously approved a resolution on May 14 that would suspend senators’ pay during government shutdowns.
• Democratic candidates and Hill committees are flush with cash and no debt. The DNC is also pulling in money—though not as much—and it’s $4.5 million in debt.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff pleaded guilty on May 14 in a federal public corruption case after taking a plea deal earlier this week.
• The Louisiana Senate approved a new U.S. congressional map. The legislation, which advanced 27–10 along party lines on Thursday afternoon, will redraw one of the Pelican State’s two majority-Democratic U.S. House districts ahead of the midterm elections.
• A year-long federal investigation into student admissions practices at Yale School of Medicine determined that the institution intentionally selected black and Hispanic applicants over higher-achieving whites and Asians, the Department of Justice announced today.

U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the M/V Touska by the Strait of Hormuz on April 20, 2026. Currently, more than 160 million barrels of Iranian crude oil are at sea, and at least 140 million barrels are outside the blockade zone, a market analyst at Vortexa said. (U.S. Navy via Getty Images)

WORLD

• A ship anchored off the United Arab Emirates was captured and movedtoward Iran, while a cargo ship near Oman was attacked and sunk, according to officials from the UK and India.
• Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned on May 14, after several days of political recriminations over the country’s inability to protect its citizens from rogue Ukrainian drones.
• A senior Russian official has said it is establishing a “fully-fledged partnership” with the Taliban, including political and security contacts.
• The United Arab Emirates has denied Israeli claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “secretly visited” Abu Dhabi during the Iran war, despite Israel’s statement that the trip produced a “historic breakthrough” in relations between the two countries.
• Netanyahu has said he is considering suing The New York Times and one of its journalists over a column that alleged Israeli soldiers raped Palestinian prisoners.

 

OPINION

• 1 Blueprint, 3 Powers—by Emzari Gelashvili (Read)
• The Farm Bill Will Not Save Us but It Still Matters—by Mollie Engelhart(Read)
• Paxlovid Revisited—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)

A man rows his boat carrying vegetables through the polluted area of the iconic Dal Lake in Srinagar, India on May 14, 2026. (Tauseef Mustafa / AFP via Getty Images)

📸 Day in Photos: Missile Strikes, Anti-Fraud Initiatives, and Venezuela Human Rights Report (Read)

🎙️ Podcast: Memos Suggest Possible Plan to Indict Trump Again—Crossroads(Listen)

🎵 Music: Mozart – Sonata In C, KV 46d (Listen)

HEALTH

(The Epoch Times/Shutterstock)

What Happens to Your Body When You Eat Eggs Regularly 

Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods.

One medium-sized egg gives you 60 calories, 10 percent of your daily protein, and a whole spectrum of micronutrients.

They support your body, from brain function to metabolism, when eaten regularly.

Eggs also provide the nutrients our bodies need to maintain health.

“They’re one of the most nutrient-dense, efficient whole foods we have—rich in high-quality protein, essential fats, choline, and fat-soluble vitamins that support everything from brain function to hormone balance,” Laurie White, a naturopath, functional medicine, and functional nutritional therapy practitioner, told The Epoch Times.

Eggs are also an excellent source of minerals, including calcium, potassium, and phosphorus, as well as the essential trace minerals selenium, zinc, copper, magnesium, and iron.

Eating two eggs daily provides up to 30 percent of the daily requirements for vitamins A, E, D, and B. A large egg contains about 6 grams of protein, meeting 12 percent of daily needs.

Eggs are a superior source of high-quality protein, which enables your body to build and repair tissues such as bone, muscle, hair, and skin. They contain all nine essential amino acids our bodies can’t produce, making them a complete protein source.

“When you eat eggs, you’re not just getting protein—you’re also triggering hormonal cascades that help maintain and build muscle and bone, and help regulate appetite.” Dr. Christine Najjar, who owns a nutrition-based practice, told The Epoch Times.

While eggs are broadly comparable to other animal proteins, she added, they hold a meaningful advantage over most plant-based sources, which are often incomplete and may contain compounds that interfere with nutrient absorption.

Another reason eggs are an excellent food is that their protein is highly bioavailable, so your body can easily absorb and use it. (More)

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Thanks for reading 🙏

Have a wonderful day!

—Ivan Pentchoukov, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li.

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