In the first major case on transgender issues, the Supreme Court decided that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical transition treatments for minors can stay in place. 

On Wednesday, the court ruled 6–3 in favor of the ban, emphasizing that it did not violate equal protection for the sexes under the 14th Amendment. 

“This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the court’s opinion. “The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound.”

“Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us,” the court added, “but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”

Kristen Waggoner, president of the Christian legal advocacy organization Alliance Defending Freedom, said rejecting Tennessee’s ban “would have forced states to base their laws on ideology, not evidence—to the immense harm of countless children.” She called Wednesday’s ruling “a monumental victory for children, science, and common sense.”

Read it all.

In the first major case on transgender issues, the Supreme Court decided that a Tennessee law prohibiting certain medical transition treatments for minors can stay in place. https://t.co/hs0tZiZfaT

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) June 18, 2025

Read it all.

O, o, o, o, o, o, o, o,
O deus sine termino!

1. O Father without beginning,
O Son and Holy Ghost also,
O three and one without ending,
O deus sine termino.

2. O three persons in one unity
Being but one god and no mo, [more]
One in substance, essence and might,
O deus sine termino.

3. O, which hast made both day and night,
Heaven and earth round like an O
By thy wisdom and endless might,
O deus sine termino.

4. O, which of nought all thing hast wrought,
O verbum in principio,
O, without whom is wrought right nought,
O deus sine termino;

5. O prince of peace, O heavenly king,
O final ender of our woe,
O, whose kingdom hath no ending,
O deus sine termino;

6. O maker of each creature,
O supplanter of our foe,
O son of Mary, virgin pure,
O deus sine termino;

7. We beseech thee with all our might,
Ere we depart this world fro, [from]
Of forgiveness of our delicte [sins]
O deus sine termino;

8. Christ grant us grace, that we come may
To heaven’s bliss, when we hence go,
Who died for us on Good Friday
Et regnat sine termino.

One of the points I like to emphasise on this blog is that (contrary to what many people mistakenly believe) medieval religious literature is often full of creativity, imagination and joy. 

Trinity Sunday✝️ pic.twitter.com/gXxvUdfXfm

— The War on Beauty (@thewaronbeauty) June 15, 2025

All that the Father is, we see revealed in the Son; all that is the Son’s is the Father’s also; for the whole Son dwells in the Father, and he has the whole Father dwelling in himself… The Son who exists always in the Father can never be separated from him, nor can the Spirit ever be divided from the Son who through the Spirit works all things. He who receives the Father also receives at the same time the Son and the Spirit. It is impossible to envisage any kind of severance or disjunction between them: One cannot think of the Son apart from the Father, nor divide the Spirit from the Son. There is between the three a sharing and a differentiation that are beyond words and understanding.

The distinction between the persons does not impair the oneness of nature, nor does the shared unity of essence lead to a confusion between the distinctive characteristics of the persons. Do not be surprised that we should speak of the Godhead as being at the same time both unified and differentiated. Using riddles, as it were, we envisage a strange and paradoxical diversity-in-unity and unity-in-diversity.

–Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nyssa’s Mystical Writings, translated and edited by Herbert Mursillo (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. V1adimir’s Seminary Press, 1979).

Today is Trinity Sunday (also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity), honouring the Triune nature of God, and marking the beginning of Trinitytide. pic.twitter.com/pVtkNzV5uF

— Tradical (@NoTrueScotist) June 16, 2019

‘For many people, the doctrine of the trinity is one of the most baffling areas of Christian theology. How can we think of God as “three persons”? There are many who suspect that this is simply an attempt by theologians to make their subject in accessible to outsiders. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third President of United States of America was severely critical of what he termed, the “incomprehensible jargon of the Trinitarian arithmetic.” Why on earth do we need to speak of God in this convoluted and puzzling way? Might it suggest that theology is thoroughly irrational?

More recently, Christians have become aware of the Islamic critique of the doctrine, which holds that it compromises the unity of God. Many Christians neglected the notion, partly because it was seen as obscure. Karl Rahner remarked that the modern Christians were “almost mere monotheists,” paying lip service to the Trinity in theory, but ignoring it in practice. “We must be willing to admit,” he remarked, “that, should the doctrine of the Trinity have to be dropped as false the major part of religious literature could well remain virtually unchanged.”

–Alister McGrath, Theology: The Basics (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2012), p.116 [chapter 7])

Who is God?
God is one divine Being eternally existing in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the Holy Trinity. (Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19)#trinitysunday #holytrinity #catechism #theology pic.twitter.com/53x20xY0C3

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) June 12, 2022

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst enkindle the flame of thy love in the heart of thy holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, thy humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today we remember Bernard Mizeki, missionary and martyr. He was killed because he refused to leave his people and seek his own safety. ‘Fear not, little flock’, Jesus says (Lk 12.32), God is still King. Let Bernard Mizeki’s courage inspire us to be steadfast today. pic.twitter.com/flEU4ZcTa1

— St Mellitus College (@stmellitus) June 18, 2020

Almighty and everlasting God, who hast revealed thyself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and dost ever live and reign in the perfect unity of love: Grant that we may always hold firmly and joyfully to this faith, and, living in praise of thy divine majesty, may finally be one in thee; who art three persons in one God, world without end.

Wolkig water. Fijne zonnige woensdag😃 #zonsondergang #reflectie pic.twitter.com/QBd2QfXGkY

— Tjark Dieterman (@DietermanTjark) June 18, 2025

There came to him some Sad′ducees, those who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children; and the second and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. Afterward the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.” And some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

–Luke 20:27-40

Guten Morgen☀, habt einen wunderschönen Tag.🍀 pic.twitter.com/3fcUVO4fKL

— Constanze Riegel (@ConstanzeRiegel) June 18, 2025

In the House of Lords recently, there was a question about the rise in the number of old-age pensioners shoplifting. The peer who asked it was clearly trying to draw attention to the extent of poverty among older people. The Minister, Lord Hanson of Flint, in his answer, said that shoplifting by anyone, whether a pensioner or not, was “unacceptable” and should not be “tolerated”.

Why those words? Why not just say that it was wrong? For some time now, we have been frightened of using the word. We even talk about shoplifting rather than stealing. Those who use social media can be very judgemental, but, even there, words such as “right” and “wrong” do not necessarily come naturally.

For centuries, all children were taught the Ten Commandments; in many churches, they were written on either side of the altar. People grew up believing that they lived in a universe in which moral choices had to be made: it was not just a matter of what was legal or expedient, but what was right.

This certainly prevailed until the end of the 1950s….

Read it all.

Why are people reluctant to use the words ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ wonders Richard Harrieshttps://t.co/TR1q7hhsZZ

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 5, 2025

This isn’t the steady march of technological progress we’re used to. It’s a cliff jump that has left experts, filmmakers, and society scrambling to understand what just happened. The sudden leap from obviously fake AI videos to nearly indistinguishable synthetic content represents one of the most dramatic capability jumps in recent tech history.

One place where it is being embraced is Hollywood. Media executives who sat nervously in conference audiences taking notes about AI experimentation as recently as a few years ago are now publicly discussing their active use of these tools. Amazon Studios recently spoke openly about integrating generative AI into its creative pipelines, marking what one industry insider called “a come to Jesus moment” where the technology became too useful to ignore. The shift makes sense: When daily shooting costs reach $200,000 in Los Angeles and traditional VFX houses are shutting down, AI isn’t just innovation — it’s survival.

But the real disruption isn’t happening in studio boardrooms. It’s in the complete democratization of sophisticated video manipulation. What once required teams of VFX artists, expensive software, and Hollywood budgets can now be accomplished by anyone with $1.50 and an internet connection. Veo 3’s pricing structure puts the creation of convincing fake videos within reach of essentially everyone, collapsing barriers that previously served as natural safeguards against widespread media manipulation.

Read it all.

AI video is getting real. What comes next won't be: A leap from obviously fake AI videos to nearly indistinguishable synthetic content is one of the most dramatic capability jumps in recent tech history https://t.co/9XnJ04n8ne pic.twitter.com/ZBXQEK0Dz4

— Quartz (@qz) June 16, 2025

A bird flew out at the break of day
From the nest where it had curled,
And ere the eve the bird had set
Fear on the kings of the world.

The first tree it lit upon
Was green with leaves unshed;
The second tree it lit upon
Was red with apples red;

The third tree it lit upon
Was barren and was brown,
Save for a dead man nailed thereon
On a hill above a town.
That night the kings of the earth were gay
And filled the cup and can;
Last night the kings of the earth were chill
For dread of a naked man.

If he speak two more words,’ they said,
The slave is more than the free;
If he speak three more words,’ they said,
The stars are under the sea.’

Said the King of the East to the King of the West,
I wot his frown was set,
Lo, let us slay him and make him as dung,
It is well that the world forget.’

Said the King of the West to the King of the East,
I wot his smile was dread,
Nay, let us slay him and make him a god,
It is well that our god be dead.’

They set the young man on a hill,
They nailed him to a rod;
And there in darkness and in blood
They made themselves a god.

And the mightiest word was left unsaid,
And the world had never a mark,
And the strongest man of the sons of men
Went dumb into the dark.

Then hymns and harps of praise they brought,
Incense and gold and myrrh,
And they thronged above the seraphim,
The poor dead carpenter.

Thou art the prince of all,’ they sang,
Ocean and earth and air.’
Then the bird flew on to the cruel cross,
And hid in the dead man’s hair.

Thou art the son of the world.’ they cried, `
Speak if our prayers be heard.’
And the brown bird stirred in the dead man’s hair
And it seemed that the dead man stirred.

Then a shriek went up like the world’s last cry
From all nations under heaven,
And a master fell before a slave
And begged to be forgiven.

They cowered, for dread in his wakened eyes
The ancient wrath to see;
And a bird flew out of the dead Christ’s hair,
And lit on a lemon tree.

–G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

"When people begin to ignore human dignity, it will not be long before they begin to ignore human rights."

—G. K. Chesterton pic.twitter.com/k3Jsh7MgbJ

— G. K. Chesterton (@GKCdaily) January 23, 2021

O God of earth and altar, who didst give G. K. Chesterton a ready tongue and pen, and inspired him to use them in thy service: Mercifully grant that we may be inspired to witness cheerfully to the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (moved from Saturday).

"So strong is tradition that later generations will dream of what they have never seen."

— G.K. Chesterton pic.twitter.com/CjYfodS1ad

— Humble Flow (@HumbleFlow) June 1, 2025

Almighty God, most blessed and most holy, before the brightness of whose presence the angels veil their faces: With lowly reverence and adoring love we acknowledge thine infinite glory, and worship thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternal Trinity.  Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power be unto our God, for ever and ever.

Another day dawns, another lovely sunrise – no two are ever the same. #BushyPark 17.06.25 @theroyalparks @TLTeddington @Teddington_Town @TeddingtonNub @SallyWeather @itvweather @Visit_Richmond1 @TWmagazines @SurreyLife pic.twitter.com/hrZ2a9ThkI

— Sue Lindenberg (@patlinberg) June 17, 2025

The scribes and the chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people; for they perceived that he had told this parable against them. So they watched him, and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might take hold of what he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, “Show me a coin. Whose likeness and inscription has it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him by what he said; but marveling at his answer they were silent.

–Luke 20:19-26

IC434 Horsehead and flame nebula in Orion by cosmonautroger: https://t.co/bld1GQ4DdY pic.twitter.com/o2JCN6qCiQ

— Julio Maiz (@maiz_julio) June 16, 2025

Based on the 2022 Cambridge Hulsean Lectures, this short book (c.50,000 words) is a finely argued text that successfully covers a wide range of issues. Imagination is seen at work in ordinary, everyday perception in the interaction between what we suppose ourselves to see and how this is modified and restructured by more social determinants such as wider inherited assumptions and presumed roles. This is to reject the existentialist search for an internal, self-sufficient authenticity, and instead to find “Christian faith . . . as a mode of seeing the world which beholds in that world an unseen depth of goodness, significance and love which we do not make but in which we can participate”.

In the next chapter, the late plays of Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett are then used to illustrate how we can be challenged to revise those roles, sometimes in a more explicitly Christian direction, while, in the subsequent chapter, the way in which the visual artist or poet encourages new ways of perceiving (depth perception) is explored, and the parallel drawn with Christian faith in its capacity to “invest that world imaginatively (or inspiredly) with an unseen depth of divine intention and spiritual significance”.

Read it all.

Book review: David Brown considers the part played by the imagination in theologyhttps://t.co/y892qeqqoe

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 16, 2025

Mr Khamanei’s recent sermons have been chilling. “We will show them no mercy,” he said of Israel on June 13th, referring to the “evil, despicable, terrorist Zionist identity”. But he also has hinted that whoever or whatever might replace him could make things worse. His successors might abandon his fatwa against nuclear weapons that has prevented Iran from breakout, warn his advisers. A different leader, a military commander or a monarch, might rush to a bomb and wave the nationalist card. After all, it was the Shah who pushed forward Iran’s nuclear programme in the 1970s. Mr Khamanei suggests that his exit could spark violent struggles between the regime’s competing clusters of clerics, democratic reformists and the armed forces. Separatists might resurface in Kurdish and Azeri provinces, as after the fall of the Shah. A civil war is possible, as in Syria and Iraq, a prospect that terrifies many Iranians.

All this means that the mockery of the regime that followed Israel’s opening salvo is turning to fear for the country. Iranians share anonymous maps online of Tehran’s neighbourhoods slated for evacuation ahead of an Israeli attack. “It feels like we’re the only ones left,” says a carer after Israel struck the state broadcasting station close to her home. The authorities have begun rationing petrol. With no clear alternative leadership and ever more fearful, Iranians increasingly wonder if they are better off sticking with what they have. Yet an entrenched regime with nothing to lose could pose an even greater threat to its foes, neighbours and citizens.

Read it all.

Israel’s shock-and-awe campaign has humiliated the Iranian regime and revealed the failure of its military strategy. Some hope it may trigger an uprising or a coup d'état, in turn creating chaos or national renewal https://t.co/PxTO843ImH

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) June 16, 2025

The nerd brigade is reporting for duty.

They probably won’t win any push-up contests and might not be sharpshooters. Yet for part of the year, a set of brainy Silicon Valley executives will trade their corporate-branded vests for U.S. Army Reserve uniforms because they know a heckuva lot about artificial intelligence.

The chief technology officers from Palantir and Meta Platforms—Shyam Sankar and Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, respectively—will join Kevin Weil and Bob McGrew of OpenAI pedigree to make up the inaugural cohort of a new Army innovation corps.

Their mission: swap C-suites for bases and bring some badly needed tech upgrades to the Army.

Read it all.

The Army’s Newest Recruits: Tech Execs From Meta, OpenAI and More https://t.co/zmZFh5tInf

— Trip (@TripKrant) June 13, 2025

Prayer for Camp Jubilee this summer

O God, by thy Holy Spirit thou givest to some the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of faith: We praise thy Name for the gifts of grace manifested in thy servants George Berkeley and Joseph Butler, and we pray that thy Church may never be destitute of such gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today in the Church's calendar, we celebrate the lives and work of George Berkeley and Joseph Butler.https://t.co/06BIIzSl5Q pic.twitter.com/bcFGW7mc3G

— Holy Trinity VCR (@htvancouver) June 17, 2019

O Lord God Almighty, eternal, immortal, invisible, the mysteries of whose being are unsearchable: Accept, we beseech thee, our praises for the revelation which thou hast made of thyself, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons, and one God; and mercifully grant that ever holding fast this faith we may magnify thy glorious name; who livest and reignest, one God, world without end.

Gorgeous sky looking from Downtown Charleston this morning! pic.twitter.com/S2SuRVX1aB

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) June 16, 2025

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard; therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you.” But Hannah answered, “No, my lord, I am a woman sorely troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your maidservant as a base woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.” Then Eli answered, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him.” And she said, “Let your maidservant find favor in your eyes.” Then the woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer sad.

They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. And Elka′nah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her; and in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.”

–1 Samuel 1:12-20

Gorgeous sky looking from Downtown Charleston this morning! pic.twitter.com/S2SuRVX1aB

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) June 16, 2025

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday.

We honour the mystery of the Holy Trinity: one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Bible verse:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all… pic.twitter.com/SVSfE6iR1C

— Anglican Communion (@AnglicanWorld) June 15, 2025

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. (John bore witness to him, and cried, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.’”) And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

–John 1:14-18

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow. Praise Father, Son, & Holy Ghost. Blessed Trinity Sunday. pic.twitter.com/zFLHrL4CAy

— Catholic Frequency (@CatholicFQ) June 15, 2025

Almighty God, who hast revealed to thy Church thine eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like thy bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of thee, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

St. Basil the Great, Bishop, Doctor of the Church (379)

He is the author of a monastic rule from which St. Benedict derived many points. His solid and eloquent words silenced the Arian heretics. Two of his brothers became bishops, his mother and sister are honored as saints. pic.twitter.com/4AszJVC9u0

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) June 14, 2025

Almighty and everlasting God, who in days of old didst cause thy Word to grow mightily and to prevail: We praise and magnify thy holy name for the manifestation of thy presence in this our day, and we beseech thee to pour out thy Spirit upon the Church, that thy way may be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles,empowering them with divine inspiration&guidance.Just as flames danced upon their heads,let this Pentecost renew our faith&fill our hearts with the warmth of divine love.#Pentecost #feastofpentecost pic.twitter.com/v4usaCfCut

— The John Bradburne Memorial Society (@BradburneJohn) May 19, 2024

One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” He answered them, “I also will ask you a question; now tell me, Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” So they answered that they did not know whence it was. And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

–Luke 20:1-8

Moonset in Schermerhorn pic.twitter.com/708TpB1S3k

— Albert Dros (@albertdrosphoto) June 14, 2025

In cities, both big and small, across large swaths of Europe and North America, it is becoming common to see groups of Africans engaging with the Christian faith.  

As African migration — driven largely by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities — continues to grow, churches are becoming more than just places of worship.

Churches have evolved into spiritual lifelines and vital community hubs that help preserve cultural identity, reinforce moral values and provide a sense of belonging far from home. In addition to preserving the African way of worship, these churches have also made Christianity vibrant across large parts of North America and Europe, where faith has lost much of its cultural and societal importance.

African Christians are increasingly occupying a prominent place within the multicultural religious and social landscape of these communities. In the past four years, Nigeria and Zimbabwe have topped the list of African countries with the highest numbers of immigrants to the United Kingdom. Alongside this trend, there has been a notable surge in African churches across the U.K. and Europe.

This dynamic has taken on many forms. For instance, services in these African-dominant churches are characterized by energetic singing, dancing and lengthy preaching. The doctrine is typically rooted in Pentecostal or evangelical traditions, with emphasis on divine intervention, prosperity, healing and spiritual warfare. Many incorporate African music styles into worship.

Read it all.

As African migration to Europe and North America — driven largely by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities — continues to grow, churches are becoming more than just places of worship. https://t.co/UBBL4RYqSB

— Religion Unplugged (@ReligionMag) June 11, 2025

Leading scientists have launched an international campaign to stop the creation of synthetic bacteria that could threaten life on earth.

Eminent researchers at a landmark gathering in Paris urged international action to prevent the emergence of so-called mirror life — manufactured microbes that they fear could overwhelm the immune defences of humans, other animals and plants. 

The scale of the danger was still hard to predict but could affect “the preponderance of life as we know it today on this planet”, David Relman, a microbiologist and immunologist at Stanford University, told the Financial Times on the sidelines of the event. “There is a scenario in which a future mirror organism becomes a widely pervasive invasive species and displaces and disrupts many critical ecosystems across the planet — including our own,” he said. “We have to be concerned about the possibility of an extreme, potentially existential, threat.”

Read it all.

Scientists rush to stop mirror microbes that could threaten life on earth https://t.co/Smbs2Nt64o

— Financial Times (@FT) June 13, 2025

The long-standing debate over whether there was a military solution to the threat of Iran’s nuclear program will soon be academic. We will learn in the coming days, weeks, and months whether Iran’s centrifuges and missile factories can survive the wrath of Israel’s air force and Mossad.

It’s too soon to assess the success of the first of what Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said would be a multiphase operation to destroy Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. But for now Operation Rising Lion, what Israel is calling this operation, looks ambitious and lethal.

Let’s start with the fact that Israel is going after the regime’s leadership. Already, Iranian state television is reporting the chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, has perished.

State media is also reporting that the command of Iran’s military, General Mohammad Bagheri, along with his deputy, Gholamali Rashid, have perished in the Israeli attack.

.

The strike may be a catalyst for the collapse of the Islamic Republic altogether. https://t.co/Cwu7R9bFAD

— The Free Press (@TheFP) June 13, 2025

Decades of Israeli warnings against Iran’s nuclear program and preparations for military action to thwart it culminated early Friday morning with the Jewish state launching a major offensive against the Islamic Republic, striking nuclear sites, military facilities, missile bases and senior leadership.

Jerusalem said it had engaged in a “precise, preemptive strike” against Iran, declaring an imminent threat from its nuclear program and announcing a domestic state of emergency as citizens braced for retaliation. Top officials warned of a potential prolonged conflict, noting that Tehran had the power to inflict significant pain upon Israel.

Multiple waves of Israeli strikes were reported throughout Iran for several hours, starting at around 3 a.m. and into the morning. Over 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft were involved in the opening strikes, and fighter jets dropped over 330 munitions on some 100 targets, the IDF said.

Read it all.

Israeli military officials said that “at the end of the operation, there will be no nuclear threat” from Iran

After years of preparation, Israel launches major offensive against Iran and its nuclear programhttps://t.co/bjWHWsdqPG

— Oren Kessler (@OrenKessler) June 13, 2025