During a late-night static-fire test at Starbase, Texas, a SpaceX Starship rocket slated for Flight 10 suffered a “major anomaly” and exploded on a test stand. 

“On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase. A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX wrote on X early Thursday morning. 

On Wednesday, June 18 at approximately 11 p.m. CT, the Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase. A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted…

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 19, 2025

The reason for a static fire test comes ahead of an upcoming launch in which the rocket’s engines are fired while the rocket remains securely held down on the launch pad — essentially a rehearsal for the real launch. 

Here’s the dramatic video. 

Massive explosion as Ship 36 explodes on the Static fire test stand.

This will be a major setback as there is likely significant damage to the entire back half of Massey’s pic.twitter.com/8cB7PRWI0e

— Zack Golden (@CSI_Starbase) June 19, 2025

SpaceX noted, “Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area while safing operations continue.”

Bloomberg pointed out that Starship testing has ended with a series of mid-air mishaps this year: 

Last month, SpaceX’s colossal Starship disintegrated mid- flight after spinning out of control. That loss was its third consecutive setback after flights in January and March were cut short just minutes after takeoff when the spacecraft exploded over the Gulf of Mexico, sending debris raining down from the sky and disrupting air travel. January’s explosion was caused by a propellant leak while the March failure was triggered by a hardware problem with one of Starship’s Raptor engines, according to SpaceX. Starship 10 hadn’t been assigned an official launch date, and it’s now unclear when the next flight will take place. Following the failure of the ninth launch, SpaceX said it would carry out a data review and make improvements to the rocket system before the next test.

Moving forward, SpaceX engineers will review Starship data, implement fixes, and reset the launch calendar; no new target date has been set for Flight 10. 

The number of international migrants worldwide hit 304 million in 2024, a figure that has doubled since 1990.

As people relocate across borders for reasons ranging from work opportunities to conflict and displacement, certain countries have become major destinations for foreign-born populations.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the top 20 countries with the highest proportion of international migrants in their populations as of 2024, based on data from the United Nations.

An international migrant is defined as someone living in a country other than their birth country for at least 12 months, regardless of reasons or status.

Which Country Has the Highest Share of International Migrants?

Below, we show countries by share of international migrants in their population.

In 2024, Qatar had the world’s highest share of foreign-born residents, with international migrants making up over three-quarters (76.7%) of its population.

Several Gulf states like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait ranked at the top of the list, as their economies rely heavily on foreign labor, with migrants making up an overwhelming majority of their workforces.

These countries host higher proportions of international migrants largely due to the kafala system—a sponsorship-based labor framework that ties foreign workers to their employers—drawing million of people for low-wage jobs.

Several small European countries such as Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Andorra also have high shares of migrants, largely due to their small populations and roles as financial or tourism hubs.

U.S. is Still Home to the Most Migrants

By total population, the U.S. recorded the highest number of international migrants in 2024 at 52.4 million.

Mexico to the U.S. was the busiest migrant corridor in the world by far in 2024, with over 10 million people born in Mexico now residing in the United States.

Europe hosted more international migrants than any other region with 94 million in 2024, followed by Northern America—which includes the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon—at 61 million.

These two regions have long been top destinations for immigration over the past few decades.

To learn more about international migratoin, check out this graphic that visualized international migration flows to each U.S. state.

Authored by Beige Luciano-Adams via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The first trade deal to emerge from the Trump administration’s global tariff blitz is a narrow pact with one of the United States’ closest allies and a potential bright spot for U.S. agriculture.

The White House said the Economic Prosperity Deal with the UK, signed June 16, includes “billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially for beef, ethanol, and certain other American agricultural exports.”

The deal will provide tariff relief on British car exports, although deals on steel and aluminum have not yet been finalized.

The agreement will reduce or eliminate UK tariffs and nontariff barriers—which, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, have unfairly discriminated against U.S. goods—on some agricultural products, giving U.S. producers a $5 billion boost.

During a May 9 Oval Office news conference to announce the deal, a reporter asked Trump if he was calling on the UK to accept all U.S. beef and chicken, referencing a long-simmering standoff over food standards between the two countries regarding hormone-treated beef and chlorine-washed chicken from the United States, both banned in Europe and the UK.

Trump suggested that the UK could “take” what it wants from the United States’ agricultural options.

He also mentioned that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seeking to shift U.S. food standards—likely toward those of the UK and Europe, “with no chemical, no this, no that.”

And on May 22, Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again commission delivered a report taking aim at processed food and chemical toxins as drivers of chronic disease and declining health among U.S. children.

There are questions about how far the principles underlying the report will be extrapolated across the administration. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signaled that it does not plan to implement a “European mandate system that stifles growth” to reduce pesticide use.

But it was an encouraging step for those hoping that this administration will take a more precautionary approach to regulating food safety.

During Trump’s comments at the May 9 news conference, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins interjected to add, “American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.”

The exchange highlighted a significant difference between the two countries. The United States continues to use agricultural and animal management substances that are banned in the UK, including certain pesticides, genetically modified crops, growth hormones, and antibiotics.

Since the years leading up to Brexit—the UK’s 2020 departure from the European Union (EU)—when the country appeared ripe for prying from Europe’s regulatory apparatus, the U.S. government and agriculture industry have been aggressively lobbying to remove trade barriers for agricultural products.

This may prove more difficult now, as the UK on May 19 reached a deal to “realign” with the EU on several key issues, among them food safety and animal welfare standards.

Meanwhile, UK leaders have vowed that the new trade framework with the United States will not affect standards—affirming that a ban on hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken is a “red line” in negotiations.

Details are scant so far on the final terms of the deal and how it will ultimately shake out for the industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

And while some UK industry groups worry that an influx of U.S. products will drive down standards and prices, some U.S. observers see an opportunity to produce higher-quality U.S. exports.

A 1st Step

Trump has touted the deal, which establishes a reciprocal tariff-free quota of 13,000 metric tons of beef exports between the two countries each year—as a breakthrough that will increase access for “virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.”

The White House has estimated that the deal will create a $5 billion opportunity for U.S producers, with more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million “in other agricultural products, such as beef.”

U.S. agricultural producers involved in years-long lobbying efforts are hoping that a lot more will follow.

“For too long, the UK has limited America’s food and agricultural exports to the world’s sixth largest economy and now President Trump’s deal promises to level the playing field,” the International Dairy Foods Association said in a statement.

The U.S. Meat Export Federation thanked the Trump administration in a statement for prioritizing red meat in negotiations, and pushed for the inclusion of pork and the removal of remaining nontariff barriers.

As U.S. beef has not had any duty-free access to the UK since 2020, when the UK left the EU, the quota of 13,000 metric tons is important, Joe Schuele, senior vice president of communications for the federation, told The Epoch Times in an email.

But for U.S. producers to capitalize on the quota, barriers in existing export programs will have to be addressed, Schuele said, noting that the UK still adheres to all import requirements imposed by the EU for beef and pork.

“There are so many layers of bureaucracy that go above and beyond these two programs [beef and pork] that it’s hard for livestock producers to view them as viable paths into the European market,” he said.

While discussion of the UK’s nontariff barriers often focuses on the use of growth hormones—banned in the UK in 1989—Schuele pointed to other costly requirements hindering U.S. exporters, including “cumbersome plant approval procedures” as well as residue testing and antimicrobial wash restrictions imposed only by the UK and EU.

Protection not Bureaucracy

Where U.S. producers might see cumbersome bureaucracy, UK producers tend to see protection for food quality and prices.

Tom Haynes, head of the UK’s National Pig Association, said allowing U.S. pork imports would undercut UK prices and undo decades of work to improve standards.

“Allowing goods into the UK produced to standards that would not be legal for our producers, would represent a betrayal to British farmers,” Haynes said in a statement on May 9.

He noted that the United States tried hard to get pork into the first part of the deal, with “intense lobbying from the U.S. pig sector, and an 11th hour call from the U.S. President to the Prime Minister.”

Rollins said on May 13 that pork and poultry “are at the front of the line” in continued negotiations, along with seafood and rice.

UK poultry farmers were also happy to be left out.

“Excluding chicken from a UK–U.S. trade deal demonstrates a commitment to responsibility and transparency that defines British poultry meat production,” said Richard Griffiths, head of the British Poultry Council.

In a post on social media platform X, Liz Webster, founder of the nonprofit Save British Farming, said the deal would set a precedent, opening up a “flood of import [sic] food from countries that subsidise their farmers and allow lower standards.”

Risk Analysis

In its statement celebrating the deal, the White House pointed to UK tariffs, some higher than 125 percent, on U.S. meat, poultry, and dairy products. Added to the tariff burden, it said, are “non-science-based standards that adversely affect U.S. exports.”

The week after the deal was announced, Rollins met with UK officials and industry leaders to promote consumer choice and regulation based on science-based risk analysis, while stressing the safety of U.S. food and looking to dispel “misinformation” she said has circulated for decades in the UK.

Responding to questions about hormone-treated cattle at a news conference in London on May 13, Rollins said, “We have decades of research that show the beef produced in America, whether it’s hormone or hormone-free, is entirely safe.”

The secretary also clarified that over the past decade, the U.S. poultry industry has shifted away from using chlorine to wash poultry.

“Chlorine chicken—that’s a narrative in your country we have not done a good enough job pushing back on,“ she said. ”Only about 5 percent … of our chicken in America is actually treated that way.”

To disinfect chicken, U.S. chicken producers now mostly use peracetic acid, an organic compound—basically an industrial-strength equivalent of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar—that the European Food Safety Authority in 2014 deemed safe for use on meat.

UK regulators do not have an issue with the chlorine wash itself; both the UK and the EU permit chlorine washing. The UK approach is based on the position that proper hygiene and animal welfare make chlorine washing unnecessary—it is seen as a cover-up for low standards associated with large-scale factory farming.

While the UK’s “farm to fork” model includes tracing food hygiene at all stages of the production process, the United States has historically relied on end-stage testing to ensure safety.

A new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule will require traceability for a limited list of foods, including cheeses, eggs, and some produce and seafood items. However, that rule, mandated in 2010 and finalized in 2022, has yet to be enforced. The compliance date for the final rule has now been pushed back to July 2028.

Since the 2016 Brexit referendum opened a potential route for direct trade with the UK, U.S. officials and industry stakeholders have criticized what they consider Europe’s unfounded fears over food quality and safety, framing the U.S. approach as more modern and “science-based.”

In a 2019 op-ed, former U.S. Ambassador to the UK Robert Wood Johnson likened Europe to a “Museum of Agriculture,” contrasting its focus on history and tradition with the United States’ focus on science and innovation—a philosophical distinction, not a difference in quality, he said.

The same year, U.S. agricultural producers testifying during a public hearing to inform trade negotiations suggested that European restrictions on drugs such as ractopamine—a feed additive widely used in U.S. pork—lacked scientific basis and should be dropped.

Research on human health effects of the drug is nearly nonexistent, but a lack of evidence proving its safety and concerning links to animal health issues have led more than 160 countries—including Russia and China, the biggest consumer of U.S. pork—to ban it.

The example demonstrates the difference in approach between the United States on the one hand and the EU and UK on the other. Absent scientific consensus about the health impacts of a drug or additive, European governments have typically prioritized human health and safety as a precaution when there are signs that a substance may pose a threat.

This “hazard-based” approach is based on the “precautionary principle” enshrined in European law.

Or, as the UK Food Standards Agency defines it, “In the interests of protecting public health from emerging food safety risks, the precautionary principle allows us to take action even if there isn’t time or data to undertake a full risk assessment.”

The United States, on the other hand, favors a “risk-based” approach focused on managing the risks of a potentially hazardous substance, often one that is already widely used.

“I think as soon as the UK can free itself from the precautionary principle, we’ll have a lot more opportunity to trade based on sensible regulations that are aimed at public health and safety, not at ill-founded fears,” Daniel Griswold, trade policy expert at George Mason University, said during a 2019 public hearing.

Pesticide Use

Pesticide use is another area in which the UK’s precautionary approach distinguishes it from the United States, but increasingly less so.

The UK plans to phase out chemical pesticides and reduce agricultural use of antimicrobials in the next several years. The United States has no such plan, but has offered some incentives in recent years to help farmers transition to organic.

The United States also allows higher maximum residue limits for pesticides than the UK for many foods—sometimes hundreds of times higher—and approves more pesticides than the UK and EU, according to an analysis by Pesticide Action Network.

In the UK, companies must prove no harmful effects on human health or the environment before active substances—the active components of pesticides—can be approved for use, and regulators can restrict use of a substance based on correlation with harmful effects, without requiring proof of causation.

Read the rest here…

Authored by Jake Wynn via RealClearPennsylvania,

In October 1862, Irish mineworkers in the rural coal mining villages of western Schuylkill County rose up in armed opposition to Pennsylvania’s first attempt to create a drafted militia to add soldiers to the United States Army.

They marched from mine to mine across Cass and New Castle Townships, shutting down mining operations as they went. Several hundred men, some armed with pistols and other weaponry, stopped a train carrying recruits for the Army at the village of Tremont and ordered them to return to their homes. Chaos reigned through mid-October in Schuylkill County, raising alarm bells in the county seat in Pottsville, the state capital in Harrisburg, and even among leaders in Washington.

It was the second autumn of the Civil War and a month since the U.S. Army’s victory at the Battle of Antietam, resulting in President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people in the Confederate states.

The war effort, however, had not been going particularly well for the Union. The summer of 1862 included a string of defeats for the U.S. Army in Virginia and in other theaters of the conflict, resulting in a series of Confederate invasions into the border states of Kentucky and Maryland.

With morale sagging across the Northern states, the Lincoln administration and state leaders like Pennsylvania’s Gov. Andrew Curtin sought other ways to boost enlistment into the state’s military forces serving under the Federal government. Curtin’s administration initiated mechanisms to begin drafting men into state militia units, infuriating opponents of the Republican administrations in Harrisburg and Washington.

The Irish population of western Schuylkill County had many grievances as the Civil War raged on. Often relegated to the worst jobs in the mining hierarchy of the anthracite coal fields, they lived in the tiny hamlets and patch towns around mining operations, or collieries, scattered across the rugged landscape north and west of Pottsville. They faced dangerous working conditions, low pay, and company-owned housing that was often barely fit for human habitation.

With the issuance of an executive order regarding the freedom of the South’s slaves, the anger of the immigrant working class of Schuylkill County grew to fever pitch. Conspiracy theories spread about the Lincoln administration’s motive to free the enslaved.

“We can tell the President of the United States, and his Abolition advisers, that they must keep their negroes out of the Coal Regions, unless they desire to inaugurate war in the North,” wrote the Pottsville Standard newspaper in fall 1862. “The people of this section of the State will not allow emancipated slaves to be thrown in competition white labor.”

Fears about the replacement of white, working-class laborers in the mines, though baseless, mixed with early attempts by the mineworkers of Schuylkill County to organize themselves. They sought to improve working conditions in the mines and the pay they received as the price of anthracite coal reached new heights due to extensive war-time demand.

The organization of Schuylkill County mineworkers and their armed marches from colliery to colliery in October 1862 created panic in Harrisburg and Washington.

“Notwithstanding the usual exaggerations, I think the organization to resist the draft in Schuylkill, Luzerne, and Carbon counties is very formidable,” wrote Gov. Curtin in a telegram to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton on October 23, 1862. “There are several thousands in arms, and the people who will not join have been driven from the county … One thousand regulars would be most efficient, and I suggest that one be ordered from the army.”

Secretary Stanton responded by sending an infantry regiment and a battery of artillery to Pottsville to take on the armed mineworkers if necessary. Those orders never came in October 1862. Instead, intervention by the Catholic Church helped avert a confrontation during this brief, but wild uprising.

Bishop James Wood arrived in Schuylkill County from Philadelphia in the midst of the crisis and traveled from town to town speaking to the largely Catholic working-class protesters and convincing them to put down their arms.

The threat to the government and the Union war effort had, for the moment, subsided.

However, by December 1862, marches and protests began again in Schuylkill County. On December 13, hundreds of miners went out on strike at the Phoenix Park Colliery just west of Minersville, threatening the mine’s supervisors with violence and destruction of the colliery. A pattern of such behavior continued as mineworkers used their leverage in a wartime economy that desperately needed the product they mined from the ground.

By 1863, mineworkers continued to organize strikes, oppose the enactment of state and then Federal enlistment, and threatened mining officials who sought to utilize the military to force them back to work. Murder and mayhem often reigned in the mining villages and towns northwest of Pottsville and in other scattered outposts around the Coal Region.

The Lincoln administration, partnering with local and state government, used the U.S. Army to occupy Schuylkill County, as well as parts of Carbon and Luzerne counties, to quell draft resistance and threaten efforts by mineworkers to strike for better pay and working conditions. This remained the status quo in the region for the remainder of the Civil War.

When the war ended, mine operators and the powerful Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, sought to maintain a military-style force in the region to exert the control and force over the working classes in the region. In 1865 and 1866, the Pennsylvania Legislature passed a law and a supplement that allowed for the creation of a private police force at the behest of corporate interests in the state. The first “Coal and Iron Police” forces, as they became known, were formed in Schuylkill County. They remained a powerful and controversial part of Coal Region life through the early 20th century.

China auto industry was already on the rocks.

Recall, in late May we reported that a historic price war had broken out in China, one where the world’s largest maker of EVs, BYD, had just cut prices by 34% in a desperate attempt to capture market share and put its competitors out of business (while unleashing a deflationary global shockwave that would crush EV makers around the globe).

Overnight the world’s largest maker of EVs, China’s BYD (it surpassed Tesla last year) unleashed a price war nuke, cutting prices by up to 34%. Other Chinese automakers immediately followed. This will send a deflationary shockwave and spark major trade war escalation by Europe

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 27, 2025

Just a few days later, Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor – one of China’s largest car makers – said China’s auto industry was going through its own “Evergrande” moment as a result of the unprecedented price war (for those who missed that particular episode, Evergrande is effectively China’s Lehman, because while the largest financial asset in the US is capital markets in China it is real estate, and the 2021 collapse of Evergrande has left China’s property market shocked and still unable to recover).

And also roughly at the same time, we reported that China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (or CATL), the world’s largest EV battery maker (and thus directly dependent on the viability and growth of the global EV industry), was receiving more in Chinese subsidies in 6 months than Chinese auto giants BYD, Great Wall and SAIC combined. 

All in order to maintain the illusion that China’s EV industry was firing on all cylinders, to use a bad metaphor, and more importantly, to give the impression that China’s economy was booming at a time when all eyes were on it as a result of the trade war with America (because woe to the loser).

The problem, as every Potemkin village comes to realize sooner or later, is that one can only pretend for so long and eventually the stimulus money runs out. And in the case of China, the stimmies have almost run out. 

According to Reuters, at least six cities and municipalities across China have suspended trade-in subsidies for car buyers in June, which could grind to a halt most if not all new car sales in the world’s second-biggest economy.

Notices from governments in Zhengzhou and Luoyang blamed the subsidy pause on the first round of funding allocated by Beijing for the program running out, while Shenyang and Chongqing said the suspension was due to adjustments to improve capital efficiency. The northwestern region of Xinjiang issued a similar suspension.

Translation: Beijing was pushing the communist economy into overdrive with the help of billions in stimmies to create the impression in April and May that all is well and that Trump’s trade war isn’t hurting China. But now, the money has run out. 

As Reuters reports, China’s government has leaned on subsidies for big-ticket items, including cars, home appliances and some electronics to get people spending as consumer sentiment in the country remains sluggish amid a prolonged property slump and concerns over wage growth and unemployment.

Naturally, the programmes – also known as free money – have been embraced with some enthusiasm, and as of May 31, there were more than 4 million applications submitted this year for car-specific trade-in subsidies, according to the country’s Ministry of Commerce. Not surprisingly then that boosted by the torrential stimulus, Chinese retail sales data for May released earlier this week surprised on the upside… but economists quickly realized that subsidies were the main reason for the higher-than-expected 6.4% growth.

There is yet hope that the stimmies running out won’t crater ground zero of China’s deflationary exports, the EV industry: and that is even more stimmies! While there was no official announcement about when more funds from the central government will be released for programmes, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance have said the subsidies would continue throughout 2025, leading analysts to expect new funds for the third quarter to be made available from July. Good luck. 

Of course, like with virtually every other thing in planned, centralized-economies, the stimulus may be boosting one thing while at the same time it is crushing something else. Sure enough, the subsidy program has been met with controversy, ironically, by the auto sector itself. China’s auto industry, the world’s largest, has attracted criticism from regulators over a deepening price war that has sapped the sector’s profitability.

Official media in China’s Henan province, where Zhengzhou is the capital, last week reported that China’s central government had taken note of some loopholes in the subsidy schemes and would look to make adjustments.

One of the major issues identified by Chinese media and regulators is so-called “zero-mileage used cars”, which refers to the practice of selling brand new cars as heavily discounted second-hand vehicles to get rid of inventory. In other words pretending to sell new cars as used cars, while unleashing catastrophic price cuts across the sector which lead to collapsing margins and failed companies. 

The report in Henan government-owned newspaper Dahe Daily added that sales of “zero-mileage used cars” were one of the key factors leading to subsidies being used up ahead of expectations, necessitating the suspensions. Some businesses were disguising new or nearly new cars as used cars that they could trade in to obtain the subsidies, the newspaper said.

The People’s Daily, a national newspaper that often signals the positions of China’s top leaders on a variety of issues, also called for a crackdown on the zero-mileage used cars, weeks after Great Wall Motor’s Chairman Wei Jianjun publicly condemned the practice.

China’s industry ministry in early June summoned automakers to a meeting where it called for the sector to halt its price wars, Reuters reported last week. Since this is China, until one or more collapse, nobody will lift a finger to change anything. 

Authored by Alexander Langlois via RealClearPolitics,

Israel conducted an unprecedented attack on Iranian leadership, its military, and its nuclear program in the early hours of June 13, leaving the region on edge regarding a war many have rightly worked to avoid over decades. The operation raises more questions than answers, further highlighting the only rational path for U.S. policymakers: avoiding a direct war with the Islamic Republic. 

Israeli officials claim to have hit over 300 targets across Iran via airstrikes, drones, and numerous clandestine operations within the country. Those targets include major Iranian nuclear facilities like the Natanz enrichment site, multiple nuclear scientists, and leading figures in the Iranian government and military. Israel announced that military operations will last multiple days. 

Reports suggest that Israel assassinated the head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff of the general command Ali Bagheri, and additional general command officers. Ali Shamkhani, direct aid to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also died from his injuries. 

Ironically, Washington continued to call on Tehran to attend scheduled nuclear negotiations. U.S. President Donald Trump boasted about his apparent knowledge of the Israeli operation – reminding the Islamic Republic of a credible use of force. 

Iranian officials called off the talks. Tehran opted to launch multiple waves of attacks at Israel in what could become a dangerous escalatory spiral. 

Whether or not U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations continue or restart remains to be seen. Trump is wise to publicly push diplomacy amid an incredibly unstable and unpredictable situation, but he is doing so in a way that directly ties Washington to Tel Aviv’s attack. Worse, it poisons the well from the beginning, highlighting to an already skeptical Tehran that this administration cannot be trusted. 

That dynamic is why any decision to latch onto Israel at this moment is ultimately foolish. Time and again, Iran has proven that it associates Israeli and U.S. military actions against it as one in the same. 

Reinforcing that conclusion puts U.S. troops in harm’s way and risks drawing Washington into a conflict with Tehran – the opposite of a core U.S. national interest. It also contradicts the U.S. public, who for years have rejected new Middle East wars. 

Some experts argue that Tehran is disinterested in a wider conflict it knows it will lose. While that is certainly a possibility given Iranian officials care first and foremost about regime survival, it is not rooted in guarantees. Rather, it risks misinterpreting the Islamic Republic’s aggressive behavior – particularly when attacked or faced with existential threats. 

That reality is particularly important when considering the personal dynamics at play among Iranian leadership. Iran’s senior leaders have together held prominent positions for decades, going back to the 1979 revolution and its defining 1980s war with Iraq – the latter of which impressed a siege mentality upon much of Iranian society. Officials should be concerned about personal dynamics and past traumas coming to the fore given Israel’s ongoing threat and Iran’s losses, as the assassination of former IRGC-Quds Force head Qassem Soleimani highlights. 

Ultimately, U.S. officials must consider the risks associated with these unknowns, especially given Washington’s close relationship with Israel. Government handles a portfolio of risk, in which citizen security is paramount. Risking U.S. lives on a hunch that Iran will target them, all backed by a supposed partner’s unprecedented military operations this administration seems disinterested in reigning in, is extremely poor management of that risk. 

In this regard, it is critical to highlight that the United States cannot be “drawn into” a conflict that it has already participated in for years. Israel’s strikes on Iran are the direct result of U.S. backing – diplomatically and militarily – which lowered Israeli perceptions of costs and perceived risks of an assault on a country substantially larger than itself. This constitutes a classic moral hazard common across U.S. bilateral relationships with partner states in the region. 

Herein lies the key to preventing a broader conflict – a real possibility should both parties continue to climb the escalatory ladder. Just as Washington has the capacity to embolden Tel Aviv, it also has the influence to hold it back. The Trump administration failed to properly restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a political choice shared with former president Joe Biden and numerous previous administrations. But it can still right the ship. 

Trump must not join this conflict. His administration should not lean into escalatory rhetoric. It must not empower Israel to continue its attacks on Iran – effectively the latest iteration of the already-failed “maximum pressure” strategy of Trump’s first term.

The alternative to any of these actions only associates Washington ever more closely to the belligerent of a conflict, in which the other party – Iran – views the United States and Israel as the same enemy. That is the opposite of a supposed peace presidency, gambling U.S. lives and risking a disastrous war.

Alexander Langlois is a Contributing Fellow at Defense Priorities.

Nearly a week after India’s deadliest passenger jet crash in decades, official updates from government sources remain scarce. This stands in sharp contrast to international norms, as seen in other countries like the U.S., South Korea, and China, where authorities typically issue daily briefings, engage with media outlets, and actively support victims’ families. 

“The rule with accidents communications is ‘do not leave a void’, so they should be updating periodically,” Darren Straker, a former head of air accident investigation units in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, told Bloomberg, adding, “All you can say is they’re providing the minimum information required.”

At least 270 people died following the crash of Air India Flight 171 late last week, including some on the ground in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. Preliminary findings, cited by the Wall Street Journal, suggest that the 787 Dreamliner deployed a ram air turbine shortly after takeoff—raising questions about whether the aircraft’s engines failed.

🔴#Airindia #Boeing #AI171 Air india B787 .
Some people think they hear the characteristic sound of a RAT (Ram Air Turbine, hydraulic emergency pump) being deployed at the beginning of the crash video, and I agree. pic.twitter.com/mqAOAnqu1q

— PLANES OF LEGEND ✈️ (@PlanesOfLegend) June 12, 2025

Speculation about what exactly happened has mounted due to an information vacuum, as India’s civil aviation ministry has only held one press conference since the crash.

While rescue crews have recovered the plane’s black boxes, no probable cause has been identified. Foreign aviation experts, including those from Boeing and U.S. agencies, are assisting investigators on the ground. 

India has established a committee to review the official response to the crash.

Here’s more from Bloomberg:

A representative for India’s civil aviation ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. India has set up a committee to look into various aspects of the crash response, including formulating a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure and suggest the roles of all agencies and organizations at the federal and state level in dealing with such incidents.

Air accident investigations can take months, if not years, to find the sources contributing to a crash, such as possible maintenance errors, pilot missteps, or design flaws.

In an interview with India’s public broadcaster, the sole survivor, a British national, recalled that the plane appeared to freeze midair for several seconds shortly after takeoff. Flight data shows the 787 reached a maximum altitude of 625 feet before transmitting location data stopped about 50 seconds into the flight.

Authored by Cara Michelle Miller via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Every year, the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) new list causes a stir in the produce aisle—and this time, two newcomers, blackberries and potatoes, have landed on the Dirty Dozen list, prompting many shoppers to give their grocery carts a second look.

The EWG’s updated 2025 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ highlights the fruits and vegetables most likely to carry the most pesticide residues.

While the findings offer new insight into pesticide exposure, the report is meant to inform—not alarm.

The EWG Shopper’s Guide is a tool to help people avoid consuming potentially harmful chemicals, Alexa Friedman, senior scientist at EWG, said in a press release. “Everyone should eat more fruits and vegetables—organic or conventional.”

“My goal is to get people to eat more produce, not less,” Elizabeth Shaw, a registered dietitian and author of four books on practical, healthful eating, who was not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times in an email.

Shaw says that fruits and vegetables—organic or not—are still essential for a healthy diet.

Why They Made the List

The Dirty Dozen list highlights fruits and vegetables that tend to carry the highest levels and varieties of pesticide residue, based on federal data.

EWG researchers assessed data from pesticide residue tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on more than 53,000 samples of 47 fruits and vegetables.

This year, blackberries and potatoes joined the list after testing revealed frequent contamination with chemicals like cypermethrin, a pesticide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies as a probable human carcinogen, and chlorpropham, a sprout inhibitor banned in the EU in 2019.

USDA testing found that 93 percent of conventional blackberry samples carried pesticide residues, with an average of four different substances per sample. Potatoes showed chlorpropham in 90 percent of samples tested.

These changes reflect how the EWG ranks pesticide risk. For the first time, the list weighs not just how often pesticides are found or in what amounts—but also how toxic the chemicals are, based on safety thresholds.

“This means we’re not only flagging produce with the most pesticides, we’re also highlighting those with potential health hazards,” Varun Subramaniam, associate scientist at EWG, said in the press release.

The full 2025 list, ranked by pesticide contamination and toxicity, includes spinach, strawberries, kale, grapes, peaches, cherries, nectarines, pears, apples, blackberries, blueberries, and potatoes.

These items often have thin or porous skins that can absorb pesticides more readily, and even washing may not remove all pesticide residues. While peeling can reduce exposure, some chemicals may still be present beneath the surface.

The Clean Fifteen: Safer Picks

For shoppers seeking lower-risk options, the EWG also publishes its Clean Fifteen list—fruits and vegetables with the lowest levels of detectable pesticide residues.

This year’s newcomers include bananas and cauliflower, joining items like avocados, pineapples, onions, and papayas.

These fruits and vegetables are considered “clean” because their thick, inedible skins or outer layers act as natural barriers, limiting pesticide exposure to the edible parts. In the case of cauliflower, its outer leaves—typically removed before cooking—help protect the inner head from pesticide contact, much like the skins of avocados or bananas.

In addition, asparagus, cabbage, watermelon, mangoes, carrots, mushrooms, kiwi, and fresh or frozen sweet corn and sweet peas rounded out the list.

Nearly 60 percent of Clean Fifteen items had no detectable residues at all, and only 16 percent carried two or more pesticides.

Bananas are a staple in children’s diets, so it’s encouraging to see them on the list, noted EWG scientists. Vice president for science, Alexis Temkin, added that “For people looking to reduce pesticide exposure, buying from the Clean Fifteen is a great place to start.”

What We Know About Pesticide Risk

Research has linked certain pesticides to a wide range of health effects, including cancers, hormone disruption, fertility issues, and developmental harm in children.

Children may be more vulnerable to harm from chemicals. A 2024 study showed early-life exposure could impact cognitive development from infancy through adolescence.

Still, Shaw cautions that legal safety limits matter—and most produce clears that bar.

“I work with the nonprofit Alliance for Food and Farming, which supports both organic and conventional growers,” Shaw said. “More than 99 percent of the produce tested by the USDA is below legal safety limits set by the EPA.”

She pointed to data from the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program, which annually analyzes residue levels in foods—especially those eaten by babies and children. The most recent findings showed that even when residues are detected, they’re almost always well under federal safety thresholds.

Smart Shopping, Safer Produce

The EWG’s guide is a tool—not a rulebook.

“Buy what you can afford, be it organic or conventional produce, rinse it, and eat it,” Shaw said. “I think it’s important we put more of a spotlight on numbers and facts [of health benefits].”

She points to large studies showing that eating more fruits and vegetables—regardless of how they’re grown—can significantly lower your risk of chronic disease. One study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that eating seven or more servings a day reduced premature death risk by 42 percent, and lowered cancer and heart disease deaths by 25 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

A peer-reviewed study published in the British Journal of Cancer found no significant difference in cancer rates between middle-aged women who ate organic foods and those who ate conventionally grown produce.

If you want to lower your exposure to pesticides without the expense of going fully organic, experts recommend a few simple prep steps:

• Rinse all produce under running water for at least 15 seconds to remove surface residues, dirt, and microbes.
• Scrub firm-skinned items like potatoes and apples with a clean produce brush. Firm-skinned produce can hold residues even beneath the surface—brushing helps remove more than rinsing alone.
• Peel or trim outer layers from leafy greens like cabbage or lettuce. Pesticides are most concentrated on the outer leaves.
• Soak in warm water to help remove dirt and residues, along with bacteria. This can be especially helpful for produce with crevices or textured surfaces, like berries or broccoli.
• Skip the soap. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the USDA guidelines recommend using water only. Soaps and detergents are not approved for produce and may leave harmful residues.

These steps will reduce residues—along with bacteria and dirt that could cause illness.

Shaw’s key message is about keeping produce on the plate—not off it.

“You will do far more harm than good to your body in the name of ‘health’ by taking away important nutrients the body needs from fruits and vegetables if you stop eating them altogether.”

 The US Embassy in Jerusalem is working on dispatching evacuation flights and cruise ships for American citizens who are seeking to leave the country, following several recent State Department travel alerts and warnings.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced Wednesday, amid five days of Iranian ballistic missiles raining down on Israeli cities in response to Israel attacking Iranian nuclear sites, that cruise ship departures are also being lined up.

“Urgent notice! American citizens wanting to leave Israel- US Embassy in Israel … is working on evacuation flights & cruise ship departures,” Huckabee wrote on X. “You must enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). You will be alerted w/ updates.”

It marks the first announcement from the US government of a federally assisted evacuation program for American citizens from Israel.

On Monday, the US State Department elevated its travel advisory for Israel to Level 4, the highest level, urging Americans not to travel there.

Already, going back to the Hamas terror attack of Oct. 7, 2023 – and Israeli military assault on Gaza – there have been a steady stream of Americans and foreigners departing Israel.

Some 600,000 Americans had lived in Israeli prior to the start of the Gaza war, however, most are residents and have dual citizenship.

Interestingly, China, which lately condemned Israel’s aerial assault on Iran, has also started urgent evacuations, and has even encouraged citizens to find land routes for themselves.

Airspace over Israel remains closed to all commercial aviation. “The ministry and embassies are making every effort to protect the safety of Chinese nationals in Iran and Israel and to swiftly organize the evacuation of Chinese nationals,” Guo said.

Thailand is also organizing evacuations via its air force, given many Thai citizens work in the country – an estimated 40,000. Some Thai citizens were actually kidnapped by Hamas on Oct.7.

VIDEO: Foreign passport holders board buses in Tel Aviv for evacuation out of Israel.

The operation, coordinated by the Polish embassy, aims to evacuate several hundred people who will board buses headed to Sinai in Egypt, and from there continue to Warsaw, Poland pic.twitter.com/SQDxosEUbJ

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 18, 2025

Other European countries are also telling their citizens to urgently get out as the war ramps up, and are organizing government assistance.