Overnight, Israel launched large-scale strikes against the Islamic Republic, saying it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, and military commanders as part of an operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic bomb.
Israel said the operation will continue for days until it deems that the threat is neutralized.
Iran promised harsh retaliation, and Israel later said it was in the process of trying to intercept some 100 drones launched toward its territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday urged the Islamic Republic to reach a nuclear deal “before it is too late.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said 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.”
Officials from Tehran and Washington are due to begin the sixth round of talks regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in Muscat, Oman, on Sunday.
Officials in Washington have said that the United States was not involved in the attack.
—Guy Birchall
CODIFYING DOGE CUTS
A bill that takes back $9.4 billion in federal spending narrowly passed the House on Thursday, in a 214–212 vote.
Since the bill is a “rescission,” pulling back previously allocated funds, it will only need a simple majority in the Senate, and cannot be held up by a filibuster.
The GOP has the votes, in theory, since it holds a 53–47 majority.
The seven-page bill eliminates funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public Radio.
It also rescinds $15 million from the Institute of Peace and $22 million from the African Development Foundation.
Additionally, it scales back billions of dollars in economic assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The bill also codifies some of the cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously led by Elon Musk.
“President [Donald] Trump and congressional Republicans campaigned on attacking wasteful spending,” House Rules Committee chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said.
“So the new administration … found wasteful spending. President Trump then acted and recommended that these funds be permanently canceled. I cannot think of a more textbook scenario of the proper utilization of this process.”
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), the committee’s ranking member, disagreed.
“It’s gutting essential services that people rely on, gutting programs that save lives,” McGovern said.
He cited the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which seeks to eliminate HIV and AIDS worldwide, as an example.
“This program alone has saved 26 million people from dying of HIV, and enabled more than 8 million babies to be born HIV-free,” McGovern said.
“There are now tens of millions of people on lifesaving treatment with PEPFAR accounting for over 90 percent of preventative treatments around the world.”
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times that the PEPFAR matter is “not an issue.”
“Reports of it affecting that are not true,” he said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) told The Epoch Times that allegations about PEPFAR being affected are “saber-rattling.”
—Jackson Richman, Nathan Worcester, Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
At least 241 people were killed in a plane crash in Ahmedabad, western India, on Thursday. Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, was the lone survivor of the crash and is recovering in hospital.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government remains intact after Israel’s parliament rejected a vote to dissolve the government on Thursday. The vote means Netanyahu will have more time to gain support for a controversial military conscription bill that faces pushback from Orthodox Jews.
Colombian presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay may be on the mend, following an attempt on his life on June 7. “Mr. Uribe Turbay remains in critical condition and is under strict neurological monitoring and comprehensive care with the necessary support,” but is showing signs of neurological improvement, doctors said.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) interrupted a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles, but was rapidly kicked out and held by security. The Department of Homeland Security described Padilla’s actions as “political theater,” but Noem met with him briefly after the press conference ended.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent notices terminating the temporary resident status and work permits of hundreds of thousands of immigrants on Thursday, ordering them to leave the country. This follows a Supreme Court decision last month that allowed Donald Trump’s administration to end a program that temporarily “paroled” more than 500,000 Cuban, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan, and Haitian illegal immigrants into the United States while they awaited processing.
—Stacy Robinson
