James Bryson talks about what awaits those who take the plunge
|
|
|
Good morning, happy Thursday! President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated meeting with Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping is today. Here’s what to know: |
-
While AI and trade are expected to dominate talks, families of political prisoners in China are hoping the White House will call for the release of their loved ones.
-
At the summit, the Chinese regime will be looking for U.S. concessions on trade, technology, and Taiwan, according to insiders familiar with the discussions.
-
The U.S. and China have agreed to extend the trade truce for two months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last night, after another round of talks with his Chinese counterpart.
- Top Democrats are calling for Trump to block Chinese access to advanced U.S. AI chips and chip-making equipment.
|
In other news, today marks one month since the U.S. started its economic pressure campaign against Iran, marking the start of a new phase in the seven-month-long war. Timothy Frudd has more on “Operation Economic Outcast.”
AI firms have been hit with a raft of copyright lawsuits alleging that their use of information—from news to music to books—to train their AI models amounted to intellectual property theft. AI execs seemed to be aware that this process could harm businesses, flood the market with inferior work, and damage human society’s creative capacity as a whole, according to internal documents disclosed in one of those lawsuits.
|
- One Microsoft document stated, “Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.”
-
OpenAI’s head of ChatGPT wrote that their AI products pose an “existential threat” to publishers, “are largely substitutive, period” and “will get more and more substitutive as they get better.”
|
On to 🍵 Health. Here’s a look at five habits of people who stay sharp as they age. |
(Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images) |
“Homeschoolers outperform their public-school counterparts on standardized tests such as the SAT, report higher emotional satisfaction later in life, demonstrate greater political tolerance, are more likely to volunteer their time, and are less likely to engage in substance abuse,” James Bryson says.
“But these statistics come from studies that make predictions based on large sample sizes; they don’t really help you or me figure out what is best for our children.” So what helps you decide? Bryson talks us through the process, the welcoming subculture, and the “unschooling” shock that awaits those who take the plunge. |
|
|
The Kind of Publication You’ve Been Waiting For |
In a world where partisan and biased reporting has become commonplace, you can always count on The Epoch Times for a refreshing dose of factual, honest journalism without spin. When you don’t feel like reading the news, pick up a daily tip from us. From what walking barefoot does to your body to why science says the 30-gram protein rule is wrong, our health coverage is deep and extensive. You will find your kind of healthy changes to make right away. Yet what makes you truly love The Epoch Times may be none of the above. It is our talks on art, culture, and history that move hearts. At nighttime or on an indolent Sunday afternoon, find yourself indulging in a fascinating read on stories you have been longing for: a remedy for the decline of modern gentleman; the song that captured Dolly Parton’s life; what Disney left out of ‘Snow White’… The list is endless. The inspiration is infinite.
With the Mid-Autumn Offer, explore our entire treasure trove of content as much as you like for six months with just $0.25 a week.
|
|
|
|
Alisa Zhou holds a photo of her mother, Wang Youmei, in Rockville, Md., on May 6, 2026. Wang was arrested in China in April 2026 for practicing Falun Gong. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times) |
WASHINGTON—These are the faces that Beijing doesn’t want the world to see. They are political prisoners, ranging in age from their early 20s to nearly 80, each held behind bars because their beliefs or speech do not align with the Chinese Communist Party.
Each of them is a father or a mother, a son or a daughter. In the United States and elsewhere, someone is thinking of them, waiting for the day they will be allowed to go home. Among those waiting are a mother of an 8-year-old, and a daughter undergoing chemotherapy, wishing to hold her father’s hand.
As the U.S.–China summit looms over Washington, advocates see an opening to make that happen. One phone call to Beijing from the Oval Office, they argue, and these detainees could walk free. On Capitol Hill, the plight of the political prisoners has galvanized bipartisan lawmakers ahead of the bilateral talks. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said at a presser that he believes the “release of the hostages” is on the agenda. Five Democratic lawmakers have also presented the president with the names of 22 prisoners he could bring up with Chinese counterparts. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) hosted two hearings this month championing their cause. “It’s like that could be me. That could be my wife if she lives in China,” he told The Epoch Times. “We’re all God’s children. If we don’t raise [this issue], who will?”
Butterfly in the Kitchen On the kitchen counter of her Florida home, Ziba Murat keeps an embroidered image of a swallowtail butterfly.
It’s a small, tangible piece of Gulshan Abbas, Murat’s reticent mother, who’s now in Chinese jail under a 20-year sentence on terrorism-related charges. The United States has deemed those accusations unfounded. (More) |
|
|
Broadcast news workspaces outside the White House in Washington on Sept. 23, 2026. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images) |
-
A federal judge declined to block Trump’s White House ban of three outlets for now, as he weighs arguments from news outlets and the government.
-
The dispute over Missouri’s new congressional map returned to the Supreme Court for the third time, with justices considering whether the state can use the GOP-backed map in the midterm elections.
-
With diesel regularly hitting record highs, Trump called for a temporary ban on exports of the fuel from the United States.
-
Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that there is no global government and vowed there will be no global taxes while he is president.
|
MORNING READ: A small Texas town, already struggling with water quality, had its police department shut down last week after the arrest of a woman who questioned the safety of the town’s tap water on Facebook. |
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that artificial intelligence could “be a risk to humanity as a whole” during a briefing before the U.N. Security Council.
-
Thousands rallied outside U.N. headquarters calling for international support for the resistance movement in Iran. The protesters demanded that the U.N. condemn political executions in Iran under the current regime and asked the world to stop all support for the regime.
-
Cornell, in a 200-page report, unveiled its plan to deal with the “unprecedented challenges” facing universities, including waning interest in college education, disruptions caused by AI, and greater federal scrutiny of free speech and discrimination on campuses.
-
Shareholders sued The New York Times, alleging the company has failed to prevent false reporting about Israel and other topics. The publication has denied the allegations.
-
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a 2006 sex crime.
|
A drone view of Nuuk, Greenland, on Jan. 25, 2026. (Marko Djurica/Reuters) |
- Days after Trump announced a security agreement with Greenland and Denmark, Greenland Mines applied to double the size of its rare earth mine to supply magnet metals needed for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense systems on the island.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio touted the emergence of more independent media in Venezuela since the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
-
Rubio blamed “external actors” for sabotaging American peace efforts in Sudan.
-
The U.S. Embassy in Australia’s capital warned that an Australian draft law regulating social media could lead to censorship and the overregulation of social platforms.
-
A Falun Gong practitioner protesting outside the Chinese Consulate in Toronto was attacked by a man with a Chinese flag on his jacket.
|
- An Open Letter to President Trump: Prioritizing Human Rights at US–China Summit—by Torsten Trey (Read)
- Are Believers Less Afraid of AI?—by Kay Rubacek (Read)
- The Grocery Store Is the Last Place a Food Crisis Shows Up—by Mollie Engelhart (Read)
- I’ve Gone Back to Fourth Grade—by Jeffrey Tucker (Read)
- Time to Update Our Outdated Beliefs About Food—by Joel Salatin (Read)
|
The best scones have a tender and flaky texture, and are never dry. The secret, says Patty Catalano, isn’t how you use the oven. It’s how you use the fridge.
Here’s her recipe for chocolate chip scones—the perfect marriage of cream scones and cookies that she promises make the ideal breakfast treat. |
|
|
“I would rather discover a single fact, even a small one, than debate the great issues at length without discovering anything at all.” |
|
|
|
🚨 If you enjoyed Morning Brief, subscribe today to get access to everything we have to offer, and support more great stories like this one. You'll get daily news and analysis, health insights, original documentaries, interviews with interesting people, lifestyle advice, delicious recipes, and much more. |
— Simon Veazey, Cathy He, Madalina Hubert, and Kenzi Li |
|
|
Copyright © 2026 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times, 129 West 29th Street, Fl 8, New York, NY 10001 | Contact Us
Our Morning Brief newsletter is one of the best ways to catch up with the news. Manage your email preferences here or unsubscribe from Morning Brief here.
|
|
|
|
