News To Know: Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Iran Warns Against U.S. Involvement after Pres. Trump’s Series of Truth Social Posts

The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a post on X Wednesday. His statement follows President Trump’s Truth Social posts on Tuesday, calling for Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” and warning the U.S. knows the ayatollah’s location and could target him — though “not for now” — and that America’s patience is “wearing thin.” This exchange comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran enters its sixth day, with Iran’s nuclear program at the center of tensions. At a press conference Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador to the U.N. Ali Bahreini said Iran has no plans to stop uranium production, saying the country “will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”

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Live updates: Iran warns that US involvement would risk ‘all-out war’ as Israel strikes Tehran (AP)
The War, Explained (New York Times Gift Link)

Kraft and General Mills Will Remove Food Dyes by End of 2027

The vast majority of our products use natural or no colors, and we’ve been on a journey to reduce our use of FD&C colors across the remainder of our portfolio.
North America President at Kraft Heinz, Pedro Navio, on the company committing to remove the remainder of artificial dyes from its products before the end 2027. About 90% of Kraft Heinz’s products in the U.S. are free of artificial colors, according to a statement, and new products will have no dyes, effective immediately. General Mills also announced a plan to remove artificial dyes from all products by the end of 2027. Back in April, the heads of the FDA and Department of Health and Human Services announced intentions to “phase out” certain artificial ingredients by 2027.

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Two major US food producers to remove artificial dyes from products sold domestically (The Associated Press)
Response from Sec. Kennedy (X)

Amazon CEO: AI Will Lessen Number of Needed Employees

In the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in a memo to employees on Tuesday. The second-largest private employer in the U.S. described how artificial intelligence will affect employees across the company, ranging from corporate offices to software developers and warehouse workers. The memo, made public, comes as other tech leaders predict increased unemployment in coming years due to developing AI technology.

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Amazon CEO tells employees that AI will shrink its workforce (The Washington Post)

Listeria Outbreak on Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Products

FISIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) in a safety alert regarding a listeria outbreak linked to ready-to-eat chicken fettuccine alfredo products sold in Kroger and Walmart retail locations nationwide. The outbreak has caused one pregnancy loss and three deaths, with 17 cases across 13 states. The company, FreshRealm, is recalling all products produced before June 17, 2025.

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READ the full recall list and statement HERE (USDA)
Deadly listeria outbreak linked to chicken alfredo fettucine sold at Kroger and Walmart (AP)

Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Law Banning Gender-Affirming Care for Minors

Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us, 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.
Chief Justice John Roberts on the 6-3 ruling in the case of U.S. v. Skrmetti. Several families and a doctor argued that Tennessee’s 2023 law banning transgender care for minors violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law, but the Supreme Court ruled it does not. In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sotomayor wrote, “The Court today renders transgender Americans doubly vulnerable to state-sanctioned discrimination.”

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