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The milestone was the result of the federal Safer Skies Act, which was passed by Congress in December and went into effect in July, the top cop said.  

His stint in Dallas concluded after two seasons, and Thompson had one year remaining on his three-year, $50 million deal from back in 2024.

The ski-guiding company at the center of the deadly February avalanche has been hit with a hefty fine.

ICE Arrests 5 Suspected Child Predators In Undercover Operation

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested five suspected child predators during an operation in Omaha, Nebraska, between Aug. 12 and 14, the agency said in an Aug. 20 statement.

(L–R) Bryan Dady, Jocsan Aparicio Santos, Logan Trigg, Law Eh, and Tillian Hutton were arrested for suspected sexual crimes against children in Omaha, Nebraska, between Aug. 12 and 14. Courtesy of ICE

The undercover operation was carried out by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Omaha unit together with state and local partners. Among the five arrested and charged, three had prior convictions for sexual crimes against children and were also listed on sex offender registries, the agency said.

If convicted on the new charges, these three individuals could face enhanced penalties, likely adding 10 more years to any sentence.

ICE said the HSI is "delivering on President Trump and Secretary Mullin's mandate to protect America's children."

More than 5,000 child predators and human traffickers have been arrested since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to an Aug. 18 White House statement.

Trump has backed law enforcement agencies and empowered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "hunt predators instead of political targets," the White House said.

In its recent statement, ICE said that one of the arrested individuals, Bryan Dady, 48, a U.S. citizen, has been listed in Nebraska's sex offender registry for a 2023 conviction for enticing a 9-year-old girl. The person was also arrested in January this year on new charges alleging the grooming and enticement of a 13-year-old.

Another individual, Jocsan Aparicio Santos, 39, a Mexican citizen with lawful permanent residency in the United States, is currently on a sex offender registry for a 2010 conviction linked to assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

A third individual, Logan Trigg, 29, an American citizen, is also on a sex offender registry for a conviction related to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The fourth person, Law Eh, 39, a naturalized American from Burma, also known as Myanmar, was charged with possessing files containing child sexual abuse material, while the fifth, Tillian Hutton, 25, another U.S. citizen, is facing charges of sex trafficking children.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations logo. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

All five suspects intended to engage in sexual acts with children, according to ICE.

"These cases are not hypothetical; they show a real demand for the sexual exploitation of children in our community," HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Rick Sabatini said in the statement.

"They show why law enforcement must continue to identify and disrupt offenders before they have the opportunity to harm a child."

According to ICE, the HSI Omaha Metro Juvenile Sex Trafficking Task Force has obtained 21 federal convictions for sex trafficking children since 2021.

The Epoch Times reached out to the public attorneys representing the charged individuals but did not receive any response by publication time.

Child Trafficking, Exploitation

According to data from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, it received more than 113,500 reports of potential child sex trafficking last year, a 323 percent increase from 2024.

A child can be trafficked by family members, strangers, and gangs. In some cases, exploitation of children may not involve any trafficking. Instead, the children may be offered food, money, or shelter in exchange for sexual engagement.

Some of the risk factors of child trafficking include intergenerational sexual abuse, low self-esteem, substance abuse, gang activity, and developmental or physical disabilities, the center said.

Legislative actions have been taken to address the issue of child exploitation. On June 10, Trump signed the Secure America Act into law, which contained a provision to combat child exploitation.

The provision provided the Department of Homeland Security with $108.5 million to hire 200 new child exploitation investigators and analysts, according to a June 9 statement from the office of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who introduced the provision.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in Washington on Sept. 21, 2021. Ken Cedeno/Getty Images

Before the legislation was in place, Homeland Security employed seven full-time specialists to identify child exploitation victims, the statement said.

"That's two hundred new law enforcement officers to find and rescue kids trafficked by predators and a new initiative to coordinate local, state, and federal enforcement," Hawley said in the statement. "This is the biggest surge against online child exploitation ever by the federal government. It's time to rescue these kids."

Members of the U.S. Marshals’ Missing Child Unit during "Operation Never Forgotten 2021" in Atlanta, Georgia. Courtesy of Shane T. McCoy/U.S. Marshals

In an unrelated operation, the U.S. Marshals Service said on Aug. 10 that 48 missing children from Massachusetts were rescued during a multi-agency operation tied to the FIFA World Cup.

The agency said the rescued children were between 12 and 17 years old. Several of them were found outside state borders after investigators tracked leads across the country and to multiple states. The children have since been reunited with their families or referred to child welfare and victim services, the service said.

In another major operation conducted in April, Operation Iron Pursuit, the FBI targeted alleged child exploitation predators across the United States. The effort led to the rescue of more than 200 child victims and the arrests of more than 350 individuals, the FBI said in a May 15 statement.

An earlier effort, the two-week Operation Relentless Justice conducted in December, resulted in 205 child victims being located and 293 alleged offenders being arrested.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 15:45

The San Antonio-based chain Whataburger, beloved by fans for its five-inch toasted buns and fresh, never-frozen beef patties, has served customers a new one-upper in its recent efforts to compete with larger fast food chains  — a $4 value meal menu, aptly coined “More for $4.” The high-value, low-cost selections on the freshly released menu...

"In the current state of politics, I think, 'oh my God, we need something like this,'" the NJ native told us.

Memory indicates what happened. Context indicates what still matters.

The on-again-off-again Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua fight is taking another bizarre twist. 

The former "Wendy Williams Show" host was placed in a conservatorship in 2022.

The former "Wendy Williams Show" host was placed in a conservatorship in 2022.

China Firmly Rejects US Demand To Back Its 'Most Crushing Economic Operation' Against Iran

China has firmly rejected Washington's call to join in implementing US sanctions to "squash" Iran's economy, pushing back against Trump administration pressure to be part of the "toughest sanctions in history" which has marked a new phase of conflict focused on extended economic warfare, as a military solution is seen as increasingly unrealistic and unlikely.

"Regarding the Iran issue, sanctions and pressure do not help resolve the problem," Reuters quoted a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington as saying. The White House's new plan is to include heavy reliance on international pressure on external countries to impose extreme isolation on the Islamic Republic.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the same to reporters Friday in a regular briefing. "China calls on all relevant parties to take responsible measures and resolve the problem through political and diplomatic means," he said.

Asked specifically about the latest comments of US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Lin emphasized the need for all parties to take "responsible measures" in resolving the war. "China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council," Lin said.

via EPA

Bessent had on Thursday told CNBC: "It is a one-two punch. We have ​the blockade (on Iran), and we are going to have the toughest sanctions in history." He then vowed, "It is going to work in Iran and we are going to collapse this ⁠regime."

He further invoked some (infamous) words of President George W. Bush issued to allies in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. "You are either with us, or against us," Bessent said in the interview. "This is going to be the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world."

Such back-and-white rhetoric is very unlikely to sway the Chinese, given also that of course they know what happened next after that original proclamation by Bush - American forces got stuck in no less than two quagmires in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iraq, in what came to be viewed cynically as 'forever wars'. 

What's more as the blowback in Baghdad was pretty immediate, as a key unintended consequence of the US regime change war was the ascendancy of pro-Iran Shia politicians ruling Iraq. Beijing is all too aware of the US score card in the region, even as Washington decision-makers continue ignoring the glaring lessons of recent history.

Bessent seemed perplexed at the reaction in oil prices on Thursday, while he also said that discussions with Beijing would be best done in private:

"I think oil markets are misinterpreting what this economic pressure ​means," Bessent said on Thursday. Oil ​prices climbed to more ⁠than three-week highs on Thursday.

"We have asymmetric information, and I'm not sure why oil has popped up on this," Bessent said. "If we are doing the maximum economic ​pressure, then that means that likely there will not be a large-scale kinetic ​restart."

When asked ⁠if the U.S. could target China for doing business with Iran, Bessent said many conversations were best to have in private.

"We are confident that everyone wants the Strait (of Hormuz) reopened, and for energy prices to come back down," ⁠he continued. "Keep ​in mind that the Chinese get 50% (of their) energy from ​inside the Gulf. So it would do them a big service to get with the program."

Still, Bessent has been busy doubling-down on Trump's message shift this week (opting for an economic siege warfare 'solution' as after military strategy hasn't gone so well)...

Any remaining tie to Tehran will hasten a nation's economic oblivion, whether that tie be purposefully constructed or willfully ignored. pic.twitter.com/T3vticluAg

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) August 20, 2026

Tehran has been consistently saying that is is ready for a long war, whether that come in the form of more US-Israeli bombs, or else an economic siege. Even Reuters has acknowledged the obvious in its own coverage, saying "Iran has weathered punishing economic sanctions for nearly 50 years, since the Islamic Revolution of 1979."

"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi called Trump's comments an attempt to divert American public opinion from domestic financial problems, including record debt and rising interest rates," the report added.

There's an additional important factor. At this point there's no way that the two key UN Security Council permanent members Russia and China will sign off on any big new anti-Iran sanctions regimen brought before the United Nations.

Closer to home, the White House risks more China blowback, especially with President Xi Jinping slated to visit the US next month. Bloomberg poses the following in Friday analysis:

“Is the White House willing to prioritize this new economic warfare campaign above its China relationship? And if it chooses to, there are serious ramifications,” said Chris Kennedy, an economic statecraft analyst at Bloomberg Economics. Kennedy said the new threats are also an “admission that the US is running out of options.”

Any decision to hit China would risk worsening tensions just weeks before Trump hosts Xi for the Chinese leader’s first visit to Washington in a decade. It also raises the threat of Chinese countermeasures that could inflict pain on the US economy ahead of November midterm elections that will hinge on pocketbook issues.

Beijing has already demonstrated a willingness to push back against Trump, most notably by announcing export restrictions on rare earths that forced the White House into a climbdown from their tariff fight.

Meanwhile, more pushback against this week's Axios report saying that large quantities of oil are moving through the Strait of Hormuz via a US Navy established 'stealth' corridor:

Why aren’t the Iranians attacking more ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to inflict more pain on the US? Why are they so copacetic about it? According to this level-headed (run it through Google translate) analysis by Iran’s official news agency, the US is lying about the… pic.twitter.com/K6A8tgLojB

— Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 (@borzou) August 20, 2026

On Friday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran will "under no circumstances bow to bullying." But he also struck somewhat of a conciliatory tone, perhaps signaling Iran is still open to dialogue so long as Washington is willing to compromise.

"It would be better to end the war today, now that we are strong and have dignity, with the whole world acknowledging our victory," the semi-official Iranian Students' News Agency quoted him as saying.

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 15:30

Megyn Kelly and Dave Portnoy are blasting NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over the league’s international ambitions.

Martin, 56, previously led the Justice Department's Weaponization Working Group.

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A shift towards custom pieces reflects a search for meaning over status.

A shift towards custom pieces reflects a search for meaning over status.

“Like going into an outhouse that’s really bad, that’s been there for a year. It’s horrible,” one resident complained.

Trash can be a real beach.

Mass Casualties As Russian Drones Slam Into Mall In Zelensky's Hometown

At least 15 have been killed and 121 injured after a Friday afternoon apparent Russian drone strike on a busy shopping call in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials say. Casualty numbers could grow amid ongoing search and rescue efforts at the scene. Some of the injured are in serious condition.

President Zelensky quickly issued a statement on the attack which was carried out on his own hometown, calling it "cynical and despicable" and underscoring that it was "an ordinary shopping center".

Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration via AFP

Zelensky described that the strikes came in two waves, with the second drone hitting "half an hour after the first hit and the ensuing fire, there was a second strike on the emergency services. He urged for the "the world" to respond "accordingly - with real pressure on the aggressor."

"Attacks like these are nothing less than terrorist acts," Zelensky wrote further, and pledged a strong response to the aggression.

According to The Associated Press, the same city has suffered immensely from prior attack waves stretching throughout the war:

Local administration head Oleksandr Vilkul put the death toll at 14, adding that 121 people were injured, including 22 children. He said the rescue operation was ongoing as "the rubble is being cleared."

Kryvyi Rih has been hit multiple times during the more than 4-year-old war, with one of the deadliest occurring in April 2025, when 20 people, including nine children, were killed.

Multiple videos have emerged from the scene, showing what appear to be a Geran-4 (jet-powered) drone attack...

Kryvyi Rih right now ‼️

This is the largest shopping mall in the city, Russia keeps attacking it on busy Friday afternoon.

At least 2 people reported killed, at least 12 injured. Continues strikes prevent resquers from helping the victims! pic.twitter.com/s4VJwtrktF

— Kate from Kharkiv (@BohuslavskaKate) August 21, 2026

The Ukrainians have all the while pressured Western backers to give more anti-air missiles, especially Patriot batteries, which have been in short supply worldwide, also amid the Iran war in the Middle East.

Ukraine's own deadly long-range attacks deep inside Russian territory have continued, meanwhile.

"A Ukrainian drone attack killed one person and wounded four others when a car was struck Friday in Russia’s Belgorod region near the village of Razumnoye, local officials said, adding that two of the injured were in serious condition," AP also notes.

The death toll in Kryvyi Rih has climbed since initial reports began circulating:

🇷🇺⚡️🇺🇦 ⚠️ Russian Geran-4 jet-powered drones struck the Sun Gallery Mall in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, killing at least 5 civilians and injuring more than 90 others. pic.twitter.com/ayIWIt5meT

— #Inside_News (@insider_der) August 21, 2026

"Earlier, Zelenskyy said a separate Ukrainian drone attack hit an oil refinery in Perm, more than 1,600 kilometers (about 995 miles) from his country’s border. Also struck was the Marinovka military airfield in Russia’s Volgograd region, he said," the report adds.

Washington is lately calling for renewed efforts to get the warring sides to the negotiating table to finally end the war. The Kremlin on Friday said it is open to 'new ideas' - though any final settlement must be in line with Putin's demands as well as "realities on the ground".

Tyler Durden Fri, 08/21/2026 - 15:05

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