Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier will seek the death penalty in the case of two adults who are accused of trapping four children in a tractor-trailer cab for more than six years.
Keisha Monique Epps, 51, and Tamra Marshon Stewart, 37, are charged with sexual battery, molestation, and neglect, according to a report from Fox News.
They were arrested on Aug. 6.
The victims included two boys and two girls — one was 9 years old, another was 6, and two were 5.
“These children were trapped in a rolling prison and abused by the adults who were supposed to protect them,” Uthmeier said.
“We will pursue with everything we have the death penalty. We will seek executions, if you want to come in here and you want to physically molest, abuse, and violate our little kids.”
Under Florida law, those who commit sexual battery against a child under 12 years old can be subject to the death penalty.
Epps and Stewart, who are engaged, allegedly lived in the cab with the children.
Epps worked as a truck driver.
Stewart is accused of sexually abusing the two girls for years.
When the boys confronted Stewart over the abuse they saw, he allegedly punched them in their heads, per Fox News.
Stewart admitted to investigators that he committed three acts of sexual battery against one of the girls.
Beyond the alleged abuse, Epps and Stewart disallowed the children from taking showers or using the restroom.
Uthmeier said they had to relieve themselves in cups and paper bags.
“They might take a shower, but they would leave the kids locked in this rolling dungeon,” Uthmeier said of the occasions when they would make stops.
The children now endure “severe physical infirmities.”
They have not attended school for years, and a detective said the children were “walking with an unnatural gait from being confined to the cab.”
Uthmeier’s office said that Stewart has been charged with “two counts of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority, two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, two counts of battery of a child by expelling certain fluids or materials, two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, and two counts of child neglect causing permanent disfigurement.”
Epps meanwhile faces “two counts of sexual battery by a person in familial or custodial authority, two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, two counts of child neglect causing permanent disfigurement, and four counts of failure to report child abuse.”
Senator Mitch McConnell announced Monday evening that he would return to the Senate to cast a vote after a three-month absence.
McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 after he was found unconscious at his DC home.
The 84-year-old Kentucky Senator said he was hospitalized after he took a fall.
Until Monday, the public has only seen two ‘proof of life’ photos of McConnell in the last three months.
In a statement on Monday, McConnell said he is “not quite back to 100%.”
“Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues,” McConnell said.
“My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier. I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me,” McConnell said.
“Elaine and I are very grateful for all the continued well wishes from our fellow Kentuckians, and I’m glad to get back to more of business as usual on their behalf this month,” he added.
Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues.
My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made…
On August 6, Senator McConnell was discharged from the rehab center and said he will continue his recovery at home.
“Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home. Elaine and I are grateful for the many well wishes and support from friends, colleagues, and Kentuckians, and for the attentive care I’ve received from excellent doctors, nurses, therapists, and hospital staff,” McConnell said in a statement.
“On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business,” McConnell said.
Heliport Landing Zone at South Lawn of White House
President Trump on Monday released the first photo of the Heliport Landing Zone on the South Lawn of the White House.
Trump said the black and white granite helicopter landing pad was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
Full statement from President Trump:
This is the first picture taken of the new Heliport Landing Zone on the South Lawn of the White House!
It is magnificently made of carved granite in shades of Black and White. It is truly a work of art and, even the Trump Haters are saying, “Wow, that’s really good!” It was completed ahead of schedule, under budget and, again, though expensive, was a Gift to America!
As part of the Project, the poorly conditioned asphalt at the Main Entrance was replaced with Highest Grade, 4 and 5 inch thick, White Granite! At a strength of 35,000 pounds per square inch, and rated “1 Million Years, PLUS, the Highest Rating there is for stone, aside from being beautiful, it is essentially indestructible. There will be no cracks, or defacement, EVER!
The Heliport path travels directly into the Main Entrance where the green entrance doors, from what was years ago a maintenance area, were changed to White House White with new, highest level hardware, locks, and hinges.
It is an Honor, “in my spare time,” to bring back the Beauty and Magnificence of the White House, to levels it has never seen before, not even after its construction in 1792. Like our Nation, under the Dumocrats, was in decline, the White House was a badly maintained “dump.”
Senator Mitch McConnell is wheeled out to his vehicle on Monday to vote at US Senate after 3-month absence. – Myles Morell video
The Gateway Pundit reporter Myles Morrell was outside former Senate Majority Leader and current Senator Mitch McConnell’s DC home on Monday when he was wheeled out to attend the US Senate to vote on Monday.
McConnell on Monday announced his return to the Senate to cast a vote after a three-month absence.
Myles tells us he knew the US Senate was voting around 5 PM on Monday so he went to McConnell’s homee to get a glimpse of the 84-year-old senator.
Myles had a hunch when McConnell would be wheeled out.
He was right!
This is Mitch McConnell’s first public appearance since his reported stroke earlier this year.
Watch as McConnell is wheeled out of his home on Monday.
McConnell released a statement earlier in the day.
McConnell said he is “not quite back to 100%.”
“Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. I’m really looking forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing my colleagues,” McConnell said.
“My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier. I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me,” McConnell said.
JD Vance was the first sitting U.S. vice president to visit Armenia, where the two countries signed cooperation agreements that weakened Russian and Iranian influence in the region. Photo courtesy of Armenian Public Radio. ‘
President Trump brokered a 2025 peace framework between Armenia and Azerbaijan that is advancing a U.S.-controlled trade corridor along Iran’s northern border, drawing Armenia toward Washington and expanding American influence in a region long dominated by Russia and Iran.
Recent developments show the project moving from diplomacy into physical implementation, with bipartisan support in Congress for finishing the deal before Trump leaves office.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on September 9, 2026, to delimit their border from north to south, including sections where the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, will pass.
The announcement followed a September 8 meeting in Baku between U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Armenia David Allen and Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov. They discussed implementing TRIPP and creating a company to manage construction along the route. That week, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov confirmed that Baku is monitoring Armenia’s constitutional amendment process, which Azerbaijan has made a precondition for signing the final peace agreement.
The peace process follows decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian enclave internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan recaptured the territory in a September 2023 military offensive, ending three decades of Armenian separatist control and prompting the exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.
On August 8, 2025, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a joint declaration at the White House, mediated by President Trump. They agreed to end the fighting, open trade and travel, establish diplomatic relations, and build TRIPP, a 44-kilometer rail and road corridor through Armenia’s Syunik province connecting mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave. Under the agreement, the United States would lease the route for 99 years with exclusive development rights, while the corridor would remain under Armenian jurisdiction.
Following the signing, Pashinyan and Aliyev jointly nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in an application submitted to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Aliyev separately said Trump “really deserves” the prize.
TRIPP moved toward implementation on September 1, 2026, when its official Facebook page launched in Armenia. The page was created jointly by Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Department of State and is managed by the Armenian ministry and the U.S. Embassy in Armenia.
On September 9, Rep. Abraham Hamadeh of Arizona, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, predicted a final Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement well before the end of Trump’s term. He said TRIPP could bind the countries together politically and economically while opening the South Caucasus to greater Western trade and investment. Hamadeh visited Azerbaijan in June and Armenia in August, meeting with both countries’ leaders and emerging as an active congressional interlocutor in the region.
TRIPP runs along Iran’s northern border. Iran has opposed the corridor and similar arrangements, viewing them as threats to its transit role, influence in Armenia, and border with Armenia. Tehran once called the region, historically known as Zangezur and including Syunik, its own “red line.” It also increased its military presence near the border during years of negotiations.
U.S. engagement accelerated from February 9 to 11, when Vice President JD Vance became the first sitting U.S. vice president to visit Armenia and the highest-ranking American to visit either country. In Yerevan, Vance met with Pashinyan, signed a civil nuclear agreement, and visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial with his wife, Usha. The following day, he met Aliyev at the Zagulba Presidential Residence in Baku and signed a strategic partnership charter covering trade, energy, and security.
The State Department said the trip was intended to advance Trump’s peace initiative and promote TRIPP. In Armenia, Vance announced up to $9 billion in nuclear investment and an $11 million reconnaissance drone sale. The corridor is projected to reduce cargo transit between Asia and Europe from 18 days to 12 along the Middle Corridor.
Iran’s ambassador to Armenia announced in February 2026 that the two countries planned to form a comprehensive strategic partnership within the year. That month, the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, beginning a conflict that remains ongoing. Iran and Armenia continued discussing a long-term cooperation agreement.
On July 8, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reportedly warned Pashinyan that “extra-regional powers,” referring to the United States and TRIPP, must not be allowed to interfere in Armenian-Iranian relations.
Azerbaijan is uniquely positioned as the only country sharing substantial borders with both Russia and Iran, placing it between two of Washington’s principal geopolitical challengers. The 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy identifies the South Caucasus as a critical Eurasian node and Azerbaijan’s location on Iran’s northwestern flank as a strategic asset. The Heritage Foundation has identified U.S. interests in the region as limiting Russian and Iranian influence, securing energy routes to global markets, and preserving American access to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which passes through Azerbaijan and Georgia, supplies approximately 40 percent of Israel’s oil annually. Iran and Russia have deepened regional coordination through military technology transfers connected to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia has also pursued the International North-South Transport Corridor linking Russia with Iran and India.
Armenia and Georgia are the region’s two historically Christian states, distinct from Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, and each has followed a different course with Washington, Moscow, and Tehran. Armenia was once considered the Kremlin’s outpost in the South Caucasus, hosting a Russian military base in Gyumri and belonging to the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization and Eurasian Economic Union. Trade between Russia and Armenia grew by more than 300 percent from 2021 to 2024, and an estimated 2.5 million to 3 million ethnic Armenians live in Russia, with remittances providing significant revenue for Armenia.
Since Azerbaijan’s 2023 recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia considered inadequately supported by Russia, Armenia has been exploring EU membership and moving toward the West. Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party was returned to power with roughly 50 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections held June 7, 2026, extending his mandate to continue that course.
Armenia’s break with Moscow has unfolded in stages rather than through a single formal act. It froze its CSTO participation in February 2024 and stopped funding the organization. Later that year, Pashinyan called withdrawal the “next logical step.” By November 2025, Armenia’s National Assembly speaker said the country had “effectively withdrawn”, although the deputy foreign minister said no formal mandate had been issued. As of April 2026, Armenia had not formally withdrawn but had ended all participation, including joint military exercises, and Russia told Armenia to stop claiming membership. Russian border guards have left parts of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan but remain stationed along its borders with Turkey and Iran.
The fate of Russia’s Gyumri base is similarly unresolved. Pashinyan has said the base is not “vital” to Armenia’s security, and Putin told reporters on September 2, 2026, that Russia would withdraw “tomorrow” if Armenia no longer wants it there. As of this writing the base remains operational, and Jamestown’s most recent analysis describes a Pashinyan-Putin meeting the same day as “frosty,” with no resolution in sight.
Georgia’s relationship with Washington has moved in the opposite direction. The U.S.-Georgia strategic partnership was effectively frozen in November 2024 amid democratic backsliding under the ruling Georgian Dream party and the government’s suspension of its EU accession process. Georgia’s attempts to reset relations with the Trump administration have been unsuccessful. TRIPP’s passage through Armenia is also expected to reduce Georgia’s importance as the region’s traditional east-west transit corridor.
Georgia describes its foreign policy as “sovereign and pragmatic”. It maintains limited economic engagement with Russia, expands relations with China and Arab states, and continues positioning itself within the Middle Corridor.
Neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan has signed the final peace agreement. Baku says it will not sign until Armenia removes claims to Azerbaijani territory from its constitution. Armenia is preparing constitutional changes, but they require approval in a referendum scheduled for 2027.
TRIPP has triggered domestic opposition in Armenia over the 99-year U.S. lease. Russia has been sidelined in the peace process and is watching the expansion of U.S. influence in the region with unease.
Cleaning worker in Ceuta: “They are killing animals, we have found emaciated cats”
Street cleaners in the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta have gone on Spanish television and described a sickening scene that local residents have been whispering about for weeks: cats found sliced in half and torn apart, not because anyone was starving, but “for fun” and “for pleasure.”
The workers appeared on the Spanish television program En boca de todos and said they have been finding mutilated street cats while doing their jobs, according to La Gaceta.
“Here they sometimes kill cats even for pleasure,” the worker alleged, arguing that hunger could not explain the incidents because migrants receive food daily. She said the animals were allegedly killed “for pleasure and to distract themselves.”
Migrants in Ceuta are being fed every day by official services and NGOs, the cleaners said. “They are not hungry, I can tell you that, because they give them food every day.” What they do find in large numbers, the workers added, are empty alcohol bottles and broken glass left behind after nights of drinking.
Another worker said sanitation crews had discovered dead cats and seagulls while cleaning areas affected by the ongoing migration crisis. The employees also described allegedly facing insults and threats while performing their jobs.
Live from Trampolín Beach in Ceuta , the reporter from ‘En boca de todos’, Javier Jiménez, could not contain his emotion as he showed us the very difficult situation that the cleaning service workers of the city of Ceuta are experiencing due to the threats and insults they receive when trying to do their job.
Jiménez couldn’t contain his emotion as he tried to explain the extremely difficult situation the cleaning staff are facing: ” They film us, upload it to Moroccan social media, and then threaten us if we go to Morocco .” Nacho Abad expressed his pride in the reporter’s work and sensitivity in the face of a situation they can no longer endure: “The cleaning service is essential; they’re working themselves to the bone… Yesterday they were complaining that as they cleaned, things were getting dirty again, and today, while they were cleaning, they were being threatened and everything .”
[…]
Furthermore, he denounced that immigrants are killing animals for fun: “ They are killing animals in the streets , they are killing cats, seagulls, the dolphin the other day . They aren’t hungry, they want the money to drink whiskey, not all of them, but a large part are.”
They have the feeling that they do it for fun: “ They kill cats for pleasure, we have found cats cut in half, stunted … They come out at night like a plague and they have to distract themselves with something, if they don’t kill each other, they kill cats.”
Gema also explained that her job doesn’t even last minutes: ” Nothing stays clean, as soon as they clean they’re putting in more … There are so many people, you can’t imagine how many there are… We’re overwhelmed in every way.”
The claims come as a court in Ceuta investigates the disappearance of cats from several colonies across the city. According to Moncloa.com, animal-protection group Zoelandia filed a complaint after reports of missing cats, damaged shelters, and partially mutilated animal carcasses.
The reported areas include Huerta Téllez, Carmelitas, Goya Street, Príncipe, Sidi Embarek, Punta Blanca, and the area surrounding a desalination plant. Dead or partially devoured pigeons and seagulls have also reportedly been found.
On July 30–31, tens of thousands of mostly military-age men from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa stormed the tiny Spanish city of roughly 84,000 people.
Spain’s Socialist government under Pedro Sánchez was slow, then insisted the situation was “under control” even as beaches turned into squalid camps, shops were looted, residents were attacked, and sexual assaults spiked, including against minors.
The disturbing allegations also echo reports previously covered by The Gateway Pundit in Ohio.
TGP also reported on a Springfield resident’s claim that a missing cat was found hanging from a tree and allegedly being carved up by a Haitian family, an account detailed in this report.
Japanese Self-Defense Forces training – Wiki Commons
Victory in Okinawa strengthens the Prime Minister’s hand in her defense plans.
Ever since right-winger Sanae Takaichi became the first female Prime Minister of Japan, it has become clear that a defense buildup and a complete overhaul of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces was going to be a top priority.
And an electoral victory by an ally in a key governorship is widely expected to pave the way for Takaichi’s action.
Okinawa political shift clears way for Japan defense buildup near Taiwan
First conservative governor in 12 years backs military upgrades, air base relocationhttps://t.co/ZyXjKn1vsK
A candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government won Okinawa’s gubernatorial election, ousting an opponent of Tokyo’s military build-up across the strategically important island chain near Taiwan and China https://t.co/3Tgdtl2sMR
“Genta Koja, backed by prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s government, unseated the two-term incumbent Denny Tamaki in a contest for the governorship that was influenced by a debate over defense.
Mr. Tamaki had been critical of efforts by Ms. Takaichi to increase Japan’s military capabilities, while Mr. Koja is closely aligned with Ms. Takaichi’s defense-focused agenda.
‘The security environment surrounding Okinawa is becoming increasingly severe’, Mr. Koja said after the results were announced.”
Japan is rapidly transforming into a major military power.
Tokyo is doubling defense spending from 1% to 2% of GDP under a five year buildup plan, a move that could soon give Japan the world’s 3rd largest defense budget after the U.S. and China.
For her part, the Prime Minister credited the victory of Genta Koja in the Okinawa election reflected the wishes of residents for stronger economic growth.
“’I believe this was an election that reflected the wishes of the people of Okinawa for economic growth’, Takaichi said. ‘I want to work closely with the new governor and do everything I can to strengthen Okinawa’s economy’.
A senior Liberal Democratic Party official described the Okinawa victory as significant, saying it would provide favorable momentum for Takaichi’s management of the government.
The result was a setback for the Japanese Communist Party and other groups that supported defeated incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki.”
(Note: Thank you for supporting businesses like the one presenting a sponsored message below and working with them through the links below which benefits Gateway Pundit. We appreciate your support!)
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A heckler was tossed out of Vance’s campaign event to support Republican Senator Roger Marshall ahead of the midterm elections.
Vice President JD Vance on Monday held a press conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and announced federal officials launched “Operation No Doze” targeting Covid-era PPP and SBA loan fraud.
Later Monday, Vance crossed into Kansas to stump for Senator Marshall in Olathe.
Senator Marshall is running for reelection against Democrat Adam Hamilton.
Vance and Marshall toured Webco Manufacturing Inc. and highlighted the manufacturing boom across Kansas.
JD Vance walked out to a cheering crowd and praised the welders and machinists in the room.
A heckler interrupted the rally a few minutes into Vance’s speech.
“I see we have a guy who’s protesting,” Vance said.
“Sir…. the last time I gave a speech, and we had a guy who was interrupting, he had the common courtesy to bring a Mexican flag so we knew where he stood!” Vance said.
A burly officer grabbed the heckler and tossed him out as the crowd chanted “USA! USA!”
Vance continued his speech and blasted Democrats for inviting illegal aliens into small cities.
Sanctioned and included in the Ukrainian ‘kill list’, Mendel is in the crosshairs of Kiev.
Yesterday (13), it arose that Kiev regime leader Volodymyr Zelensky sanctioned his former spokeswoman, Yulia Mendel.
Mendel has left Ukraine, and gone public with a torrent of detrimental information about her former boss, including the fact that Zelensky profits from the continuation of the war, and – what’s even worse – she dared talk about the ‘open secret’ of his drug abuse.
Zelensky just sanctioned his OWN former spokeswoman…
Yulia Mendel ran his press shop from 2019 to 2021.
Today, she landed on a presidential list with Russian shadow-fleet tankers, Rostec suppliers, and people Kyiv calls propagandists.
“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on a former press secretary on Sunday, accusing her and nine others of spreading Russian propaganda and of supporting Russia’s aggressive policy toward Ukraine.
Yulia Mendel — who worked with Zelenskiy from 2019 to 2021, before Russia’s invasion — responded with a message on Facebook saying it was unconstitutional to impose sanctions on Ukrainian citizens. She did not comment on the specific accusations.
[…] The sanctions — announced by Zelensky in a decree — would last for 10 years and included asset freezes and restrictions on trade, the document read.”
A few days before my address to the European Parliament, Volodymyr Zelenskyy—my former boss—imposed sanctions on me. Sanctions against Ukrainian citizens are unconstitutional, just like many of Zelenskyy’s other decisions. Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses them against anyone who…
We have reported on Mendel’s allegations – specially the ones made on Tucker Carlson’s podcast, where she opened up about a slew of scandals, including the taboo reports regarding his alleged abuse of drugs, notably cocaine.
“Mendel worked for Zelensky from 2019 to 2021 and has since become highly critical of her former boss. In an interview released on Monday, Carlson asked whether Zelensky used drugs, to which Mendel replied: ‘This is an open secret’.
‘The thing is that I’ve never seen him taking drugs. However, [while] writing my book, I met a lot of people who confirmed that they saw him taking drugs in different clubs. Only one saw him taking drugs in 2021’, she claimed. Mendel added that she learned about an alleged ‘supplier’ from a person working at Kvartal 95 Studio, the entertainment company Zelensky co-founded in the 2000s.
‘All these people are talking about cocaine, yes’, Mendel said, adding that before interviews, Zelensky had a habit of spending 15 minutes in the bathroom and emerging as a ‘different person’.”
Watch: Mendel talks about Zelensky drug abuse.
KVARTAL-CUT: Zelensky is a drug user, his formal spokeswoman says.
Many of the “Russian narratives” come true … hey, she knows him personally and worked with him. pic.twitter.com/nvngDhJvpd
“Among the reasons cited for her inclusion on the list are participation in acts of humanitarian aggression against Ukraine, dissemination of Russian propaganda narratives, manipulation of socially significant information in the interests of the Russian aggressor, calls for Ukraine’s capitulation to the Russian-fascist invaders, as well as indirect participation in Russia’s information and psychological special operations against Ukraine on the part of the Russian aggressor and pro-Russian lobbying groups in the United States.
In particular, during an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, Mendel called President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘one of the main obstacles to peace’, and also stated that Ukraine is ‘on the verge of disappearing’ and is ‘declining’, while alleging manifestations of ‘unhealthy nationalism’ in the country. She added that during negotiations with Russia in 2022, Ukraine had allegedly been ready to surrender Donbas.”