The Strait of Hormuz remained closed with no sign of a new round of direct talks to resolve the conflict as a ceasefire to the Iran War entered its 23rd day on Thursday morning.
Axios reported, citing anonymous sources, that President Donald Trump will receive a briefing Thursday on new military options against Iran, with the U.S. Central Command chief Brad Cooper set to present plans ranging from a wave of strikes on Iranian infrastructure to seizing parts of the Strait of Hormuz to reopen shipping. Trump told Axios he considers the naval blockade “more effective than the bombing” but has not ruled out escalation if Iran does not concede.
Iran has said that it will not resume direct talks until the U.S. blockade is lifted.
In a statement carried by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency marking the country’s National Persian Gulf Day, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday that Iran will treat its nuclear and missile programs as national assets, insisting that Iranians will safeguard them “just as they defend their land, sea, and air borders.” Khamenei said Iran would establish new legal frameworks to manage the Strait of Hormuz and “eliminate the misuse of this waterway by hostile enemies,” adding that he envisioned a future “without the United States” in the region.
The Pentagon’s comptroller Jay Hurst told members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on Wednesday that the total cost of the war so far was $25 billion, adding that “most of that is munitions.” HASC member Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) told CNN on Wednesday that the estimate “ is a low ball number. It’s probably two or three times that — guaranteed.”
Oil prices briefly reached their highest levels since the war began, with the price of Brent Crude recorded at $126 on Thursday morning before falling below $120. Gas prices continued to rise, with AAA reporting the national average price of gas at $4.30.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli strikes killed 27 people in Lebanon on Thursday, while the IDF said that Hezbollah drone strikes killed one Israeli soldier and wounded 13.
Woke CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer has said that in the seconds after a gunman opened fire near him at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, his first thought was, “Is he trying to shoot me?”
Blitzer, who was only a few feet from the attacker by a security checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton ballroom, has repeatedly described the encounter as “very frightening” and “terrifying” in interviews since the April 25 shooting.
In a live CNN interview on the night of the attack, Blitzer recounted leaving the men’s restroom, seeing a man with “a very, very serious weapon,” hearing three to six deafening shots, and being thrown to the ground by a police officer who shielded him as the suspect kept firing just a few feet away.
He said he was then escorted back into the restroom with about 15 other men to shelter in place, all while wondering who the gunman was aiming at and whether he himself was about to be shot.
Authorities say the suspect, identified in multiple reports as 31‑year‑old Cole Tomas Allen of California, tried to charge a Secret Service checkpoint at the hotel with multiple firearms, prompting officers and agents to subdue and arrest him as President Donald Trump and other officials were rushed from the ballroom.
Officials and later fact‑checks have said early indications are that the attacker was seeking to target Trump administration figures, not Blitzer or other journalists, though investigators are still reviewing motive.
Clips of Blitzer’s CNN appearance, including his remark that his first thought was “Is he trying to shoot me?”, went viral on X, Instagram and TikTok, drawing mockery from some users who accused the cringe anchor of exaggerating his fear and finding a way to make the event all about himself.
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A 68-year-old man widely known and loved as “Polk County Santa,” who has portrayed Santa Claus at major Florida Christmas parades, events, and photo shoots for nearly a decade, was arrested for allegedly trying to pay $200 to have sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Thomas Allen Hicks of Lakeland was one of 19 suspects taken into custody during “Operation Child Protector VIII,” a multi-day, multi-agency undercover sting led by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office that targeted individuals seeking to sexually exploit minors.
Sheriff Grady Judd announced the arrest during a press conference on Wednesday.
Judd held up Hicks’ booking photo as well as photographs of him in his Santa garb.
“We arrested Santa Claus,” Sheriff Judd said. “I want all the children who are watching to know that it is not the real Santa Claus. This is a guy, though, who is well-known in Polk County, Central Florida, and Lakeland as a for-hire Santa Claus.”
Judd added, “He’s not going to be Santa Claus this next year.”
“Thousands and thousands and thousands of children have sat on this guy’s lap thinking he was Santa Claus when, in fact, he was a child sex predator,” the sheriff emphasized.
WATCH:
According to the official arrest affidavit, an undercover detective posted an ad on a known prostitution site posing as a human trafficker offering his fictitious 13-year-old daughter for sex acts.
Hicks responded, continued communicating after learning the girl’s age, negotiated $200 for one hour, and explicitly told the undercover officer he “would be gentle.”
Hicks sent social media messages to an undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl’s guardian. He told the UC that he would pay $200 to have sex with the girl and was explicit in describing the sex acts he wanted to perform on the child, but said that he would be gentle. He told detectives that he has been married over 50 years, but regularly goes onto known “prostitution sites” looking for prostitutes or companions.
The sick pervert showed up at the arranged meeting spot, a retail parking lot, carrying $382 in cash, and was immediately arrested.
Hicks also claimed to have been a preacher for more than 40 years.
When he wasn’t playing Santa, Hicks worked in marketing for Tri-County Behavioral Health/Human Services in Polk County. He has also worked in the Lakeland Christmas Parade since at least 2017 and has been hired by multiple local photographers for children’s holiday photo sessions.
Tri-County Human Services issued a statement confirming he has been terminated and they are cooperating with authorities.
Hicks, according to the document, admitted that he knew the ad was for a girl who was 13 years old, and acknowledged that he should not have had continued contact or sexual thoughts about her.
The document states that Hicks said he wasn’t sure if he would have tried to have sex with the child victim if he knew she was real.
According to the affidavit, the suspect was calm while being interviewed, but did show emotion when asked about his wife or his reputation.
Hicks faces multiple felony charges, including human trafficking for commercial sexual activity involving a minor, traveling to meet a minor for unlawful sexual conduct, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and using a computer to solicit a parent/guardian for access to a child.
This is the latest in Sheriff Grady Judd’s long-running series of aggressive “Child Protector” stings that have removed dozens of predators from the streets in recent years.
Auburndale Police Chief Terry Storie urged parents to be vigilant in protecting their children because there are so many more predators out there.
“The most frustrating thing they’ll say is, ‘I just want to give my kids privacy.’ That is a load of crap,” Storie said. “You get one chance to raise your children, and you need to be involved in every aspect of their life and digging deep into that cell phone, and seeing what they’re doing online and who they’re chatting with.”
A jihadist network is expanding across West Africa’s Sahel region, where the U.S. lost its last regional counterterrorism base in 2024. JNIM, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has combined insurgency with shadow governance, a model analysts compare to HTS in Syria. Photo courtesy of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
A jihadist network the U.S. government has specifically identified as a homeland threat is seizing control of a West African nation the size of Texas and California combined. In his posture statement to Congress, AFRICOM commander General Michael Langley warned that if ISIS and al-Qaeda groups, including JNIM, the al-Qaeda affiliate that on April 25, 2026, launched the largest coordinated attack in Mali’s history, continue their expansion, they will pose a direct threat to the U.S. homeland.
In a State Department press briefing, Langley stated directly that JNIM and other violent extremist organizations in the Sahel “have aspirations of attacking the United States homeland.”
The 2026 Homeland Security Threat Forecast named JNIM specifically among groups capable of sustaining training infrastructures, facilitating cross-border fighter movement, and inspiring or directing strikes abroad from Sahel safe havens. The CFR’s Global Conflict Tracker assessed that the growing strength of violent extremist organizations in the Sahel poses significant security and financial risks to the U.S. and Europe.
The Soufan Center’s 2026 threat forecast concluded that JNIM, which has effectively conducted an insurgency while building shadow governance structures, will likely continue to expand with only minimal state resistance.
That expansion has been enabled, in part, by the junta’s own conduct. Mali is governed by Gen. Assimi Goïta, who seized power in a 2020 coup, staged a second coup in 2021, dissolved all political parties in May 2025, and in July 2025 granted himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable indefinitely. According to ACLED data, Russian fighters and Malian soldiers killed at least 918 civilians in the previous year, compared with 232 killed by JNIM and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP) combined.
The Africa Center reports that since 2023, civilian fatalities linked to Malian security forces and their Russian partners have far exceeded those attributed to militant Islamist groups, a pattern that has driven rural populations toward JNIM for protection and fueled the group’s recruitment. With political parties banned and elections indefinitely deferred, there are no domestic channels through which grievances can be addressed.
The U.S. spent more than two decades and hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to prevent exactly this outcome. U.S. counterterrorism investment in Mali dates to the immediate aftermath of 9/11. In 2002, the State Department launched the Pan Sahel Initiative to assist Mali, Niger, Chad, and Mauritania in detecting and responding to suspicious movement of people and goods. Funded at nearly $8 million over two years, it deployed the 10th Special Forces Group to train rapid-reaction companies of roughly 150 soldiers in each partner nation.
In 2005, Congress approved $500 million for the successor Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative over six years, with Mali as a primary recipient. Of the $230 million obligated between 2005 and 2007 alone, approximately 74 percent went to Sahel countries, including Mali, according to a GAO audit. The initiative was later absorbed into AFRICOM, which has sustained operations and training across the continent since 2008.
Mali’s political collapse unfolded in two stages. On August 18, 2020, senior military officers led by Goïta launched a coup from the Kati military base outside Bamako, citing the government’s ineffectiveness and corruption in handling the northern conflict. Goïta was initially installed as vice president of a transitional government, with a civilian figurehead as president and a promise to hold elections within 18 months.
A second coup followed in May 2021, when Goïta arrested the transitional president and prime minister and assumed the presidency himself after a dispute over whether to cooperate with France or Russia. By the end of 2021, hundreds of Wagner Group mercenaries had deployed across Mali, prompting France, Canada, and European partners announced a full troop withdrawal by mid-2022, citing Wagner’s presence. By December 2023, more than 15,000 French, EU, and UN troops had departed from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
Prior to the coups, the U.S. maintained training missions and cooperative security locations across Mali, Niger, and the broader Sahel. This included a $110 million drone base in Niger that served as a regional hub for counterterrorism operations. Niger’s July 2023 coup proved the most consequential, as Washington was ultimately forced to hand over its last military base there to local authorities in August 2024. The loss of Niger’s basing, combined with the earlier exclusion from Mali, has effectively ended persistent U.S. counterterrorism coverage across the central Sahel.
Mali’s collapse is the product of compounding failures. These include the expulsion of French forces and UN peacekeepers, the turn to Russian mercenaries who alienated the population through civilian killings, the destruction of political legitimacy under an indefinitely extended military junta, and the steady geographic expansion of jihadist networks. These groups have now demonstrated the capacity to strike simultaneously across 1,500 kilometers of territory.
The Soufan Center assessed after the April 25 attacks that having a country the size of Mali under the control of a terrorist group would set off alarm bells from Washington to Paris. Yet both the U.S. and France are not currently postured to respond. Counterterrorism budgets and personnel continue to be rolled back, and a general sense of terrorism fatigue has set in across the U.S. government, despite repeated warnings from its own intelligence and military leadership of a growing threat to the homeland.
Former FBI Director James Comey released a video statement on Substack Tuesday defending himself after a federal grand jury indicted him for a second time over an Instagram post prosecutors say threatened President Donald Trump. In the video, Comey opened by saying, “Well, they’re back – this time about a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach a year ago, and this won’t be the end of it,” before insisting that “nothing has changed with me.”
He reiterated, “I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go,” casting the new case as a test of judicial independence rather than his own conduct.
The indictment charges Comey with two felony counts for allegedly using a 2025 Instagram photo of seashells arranged as the numbers “86 47” to convey a threat to “take the life of, and inflict bodily harm upon,” the president and to transmit that threat in interstate commerce.
Comey has attempted to claim he viewed the shell arrangement as a political statement he stumbled upon on a beach walk, claimed he did not realize some people associated “86 47” with violence, and noted that he took the post down because he opposes violence of any kind. In his new video, he argued that the prosecution is “not who we are as a country” and “not what the Department of Justice is supposed to be,” suggesting the charges reflect a political vendetta from Trump’s DOJ rather than a good‑faith application of the law.
Clips of Comey’s remarks were quickly repackaged on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, where short news reels about the “86 47” case drew significant viewership and rapid-fire comment threads. Under one widely shared Instagram reel summarizing the indictment and Comey’s video response, the top comments simply read “Guilty,” as users echoed Trump allies’ claim that the shell photo was a veiled threat against the president.
Earlier uproar over the same image had already drawn angry posts from conservative figures such as Donald Trump Jr., while officials like former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Comey on social media of “calling for the assassination” of Trump and vowed that agencies would “respond appropriately.”
Echoing those sentiments after the new indictment, right-leaning commentators and politicians amplified the case online by arguing that a former FBI director “should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,” even as Comey and his supporters attempt to portray the prosecution as a dangerous overreach with serious First Amendment implications.
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Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson faces 30 felony charges including malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice after 10 dangerous inmates—including murderers—escaped from her facility last year. Investigators discovered bolts removed from the outside of the jail wall, raising questions about inside help that led to both the sheriff and her chief financial officer being indicted.
The Escape That Shocked New Orleans
Last May, 10 inmates broke free from the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility in a carefully orchestrated escape. Surveillance footage captured the prisoners forcing open a door before fleeing through a hole concealed behind a toilet. The escapees included Antoine Massey, Lenton Venburen, Leo Tate, Kendell Myles, Derrick Groves, Jermaine Donald, Corey Boyd, Gary Price, Robert Moody, Dkenan Dennis, and Keith Lewis. All were eventually recaptured after an intensive manhunt.
Evidence Points to Inside Job
Investigators found critical evidence suggesting the escape required assistance from both inside and outside the facility. Bolts securing the jail wall were removed from the exterior, prompting authorities to examine who had access to the area before the breach. This discovery led to a special grand jury investigation that ultimately resulted in charges against 13 people accused of helping the inmates escape. The charges against those 13 individuals covered both assistance inside the jail and help provided once the prisoners were at large.
Sheriff and CFO Face Serious Charges
Susan Hutson received the most serious charges with 30 felony counts. Beyond malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice, she faces allegations of filing or maintaining false public records and other violations. Bianka Brown, the chief financial officer for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, was indicted on 20 similar felony charges. The Louisiana Attorney General’s office announced both indictments Wednesday, nearly a year after the escape rattled the New Orleans community and raised concerns about jail security.
Questions About Jail Management
The indictments raise fundamental questions about oversight and accountability at the Orleans Justice Center. How bolts were removed from the outside of a jail wall without detection points to potential security failures at multiple levels. The fact that both the sheriff and the chief financial officer face charges suggests systemic problems beyond a single security lapse. As the legal proceedings move forward, the case will likely reveal more about what investigators believe went wrong in the management of the facility that allowed 10 dangerous criminals to simply walk out.
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson and the CFO were both indicted on charges in connection with last year’s jailbreak.
Last May, 10 dangerous inmates, including murderers, at the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility escaped.
Some bolts were removed from the outside of the jail wall, so investigators were looking into who was in the area at the time, leading up to the breach.
Ten inmates broke free from the prison: Antoine Massey, Lenton Venburen, Leo Tate, Kendell Myles, Derrick Groves, Jermaine Donald, Corey Boyd, Gary Price, Robert Moody, Dkenan Dennis, and Keith Lewis.
Footage from inside the prison shows inmates attempting to rip a door open before fleeing, reportedly through a hole hidden behind a toilet.
Law enforcement was able to finally apprehend all of the escapees.
Thirteen people were charged with helping the inmates escape.
Susan Hutson was indicted on 30 felony counts, including malfeasance in office, obstruction of justice and other charges.
Almost a year after 10 Louisiana inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail, the Orleans Parish sheriff and the office’s chief financial officer were indicted by a special grand jury on charges of malfeasance and other crimes in relation to the jailbreak.
Ten prisoners housed in the Orleans Justice Center made their escape last spring, maneuvering out of a small hole in a wall and making their way out into the night. All 10 escapees were eventually recaptured, and 13 people were charged with helping the escapees, both inside jail and once they were at large.
Susan Hutson, the current Orleans Sheriff, was indicted on 30 felony charges, including malfeasance in office, filing or maintaining false public records, and obstruction of justice, among other charges, the attorney general’s office said in a release Wednesday.
Bianka Brown, the chief financial officer for the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, was also indicted on 20 similar felony charges of malfeasance in office, filing or maintaining false public records, and obstruction of justice, according to the attorney general’s office.
The left is losing its collective mind after the California city of Westminster redesignated a portion of its “All American Way” in honor of the late Turning Point USA founder, Charlie Kirk.
Earlier this week, the city installed new bright green street signs redesignating the road leading to City Hall as “Charlie Kirk Way.”
The road renaming was approved by the Westminster City Council in a 4-1 vote last November.
However, the installation of the signs triggered a fresh wave of outrage from local liberals.
“I thought it was a joke,” said Ann Galvan from Garden Grove.
“I think that’s so hateful,” said Ashley Lawrence from Los Angeles.
“Are you effing kidding me? Sorry, that was my gut reaction,” said Westminster resident Terry Rains.
Rains organized a protest back in December in an effort to stop what she says is causing division in her community.
“That street is called All American Way. That is inclusive. That welcomes everyone into our Civic Center,” Rains said. “These are all public buildings, and so tainting the name just completely denigrates the entire… what that stands for.”
Terry Rains was so upset that she held a protest against it in December.
“That street is called All American Way. That is inclusive. That welcomes everyone into our Civic Center,” Rains told the station. “These are all public buildings, and so tainting the name just completely denigrates the entire… what that stands for.”
The outraged liberals even launched a Change.org petition demanding the council reverse the decision.
Westminster Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, a Republican who fled communism in Vietnam as a child, proposed renaming the street himself.
Nguyen said the move is a celebration of free speech and patriotism.
“By doing this, we promote the freedom, the freedom of speech, freedom for everyone to engage in open communication here in the city of Westminster,” Nguyen told the station.
Kirk, 31, was assassinated on September 10 while speaking at a “Prove Me Wrong” event at Utah Valley University.
The mayor added, “I myself am very inspired by what Charlie Kirk has been doing for the country, what he’s been doing to the younger people, for the next generation.”
“You can’t please everyone,” Nguyen said.
WATCH:
GREAT NEWS: The City of Westminster, California just INSTALLED “Charlie Kirk Way” signs in honor of Charlie
These signs are going up NATIONWIDE, from FLORIDA to even California now
In a stunning blow to the radical green agenda that has crippled Europe for years, Belgium has officially chosen REALITY over fantasy.
Prime Minister Bart De Wever just dropped a bombshell: His government has sealed a landmark deal with ENGIE to take full control of the country’s nuclear fleet and restart it completely.
All dismantling work? Halted immediately. No more suicidal shutdowns. No more bowing to EU climate zealots.
This isn’t some half-measure. This is a full-throated commitment to safe, affordable, low-carbon, reliable energy that actually keeps the lights on without begging Russia, China, or the Middle East for scraps.
De Wever’s statement says it all: “This government makes the choice of secure, affordable, and sustainable energy, with less dependence on fossil fuel imports and more control over our own supply.”
Translation: No more virtue-signaling blackouts. No more destroying working power plants to appease the WEF crowd. Belgium is choosing sovereignty, jobs, and lower bills over the Green New Deal’s economic suicide pact.
And here’s the best part: This move positions Bart De Wever as a true rising star on the European stage — a no-nonsense leader who’s not afraid to put his people first.
The Gateway Pundit has been warning for years: Europe’s reckless war on nuclear power — pushed by hysterical climate alarmists and globalist bureaucrats — was always going to end in disaster.
France kept its reactors. Germany shut its down and now begs for coal and Russian gas. Belgium just said ENOUGH.
This is the return of reason. The pragmatic right is winning because voters are sick of freezing in the dark while elites lecture them from their private jets.
The future is nuclear. Is Europe finally waking up? One by one, nations are rejecting the green religion that has driven up energy prices, gutted industry, and made the continent dangerously dependent on foreign powers.
Belgium just proved it can be done. Safe nuclear. Cheap power. Energy independence. De Wever is showing the way. Will the rest of Europe follow? Or will the climate cult keep doubling down until the lights go out for good?
Share this far and wide — the globalist green lobby is melting down as we speak.
Does President Trump know that the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group is no longer working? Shortly after former AG Pam Bondi was sworn in as AG, far-left MSM Outlet ABC News … Read more
GREAT NEWS: The City of Westminster, California just INSTALLED “Charlie Kirk Way” signs in honor of Charlie
