A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who helped capture Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro is now facing federal charges after being accused of turning that same operation into a six-figure payday on a prediction market. Prosecutors say 38-year-old Gannon Ken Van Dyke used classified information tied to Operation Absolute Resolve, the covert mission that led to Maduro’s capture, to place a series of highly specific wagers on Polymarket. Those bets, totaling roughly $33,000, were placed in late December and early January on specific outcomes, like whether U.S. forces would enter Venezuela and whether Maduro would be removed from power by the end of January. Hours after the operation concluded and Donald Trump publicly confirmed Maduro’s capture, those markets resolved in Van Dyke’s favor. The result: a profit of approximately $409,000, a staggering 1,200% return that immediately raised red flags. “Prediction markets are not a haven for using misappropriated confidential or classified information for personal gain,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in announcing the charges. “The defendant allegedly violated the trust placed in him by the United States Government… all to turn a profit. That is clear insider trading and is illegal under federal law.” Van Dyke, who was stationed at Fort Bragg, had signed nondisclosure agreements explicitly barring him from revealing or using sensitive operational details. Yet prosecutors claim he not only bet on those details, but moved quickly to cash out and conceal the proceeds, transferring funds to foreign cryptocurrency accounts and attempting to delete his trading account once scrutiny ensued. He now faces multiple charges, including commodities fraud, wire fraud, unlawful use of confidential government information, and financial transaction violations. If convicted on all counts, Van Dyke could face decades in prison. The case is believed to be the first major U.S. prosecution involving insider trading on a prediction market, a rapidly growing sector where users bet on real-world events, from elections to military conflicts. Platforms like Polymarket operate in a gray area of finance and forecasting, often relying on publicly available information. But this case underscores a key vulnerability: what happens when the bettor has access to the outcome before the public does? “This involved a U.S. soldier who allegedly took advantage of his position to profit off of a righteous military operation,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X while indicating that the investigation is ongoing. The broader implications stretch beyond one soldier. Prediction markets have already faced scrutiny for suspiciously timed bets tied to geopolitical events, including strikes on Iran and leadership changes abroad. And as these prediction market platforms grow, the line between forecasting events and shaping — or exploiting — them is likely to draw even closer scrutiny.

Iran’s newly installed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is reportedly recovering from severe injuries and may require plastic surgery after an airstrike that killed his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei. The attack, which also killed his wife and son, has left the 56-year-old leader physically debilitated, largely isolated, and increasingly reliant on hardline military commanders to govern, according to the New York Times, citing senior Iranian officials. Khamenei has been cut off from most officials as he recovers, surrounded primarily by medical staff amid concerns that revealing his location could make him a target, according to the report. Despite his condition, officials say he remains mentally alert and continues to weigh in on major decisions, though day-to-day authority has increasingly shifted toward hardline military commanders. Questions about his health have intensified in recent weeks. Since being selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts following his father’s death in March, Khamenei has not made a public appearance, with only written statements released in his name.  The Times reported that his injuries include significant damage to one leg and one hand, requiring multiple surgeries, as well as severe facial burns that have limited his ability to speak and could likely necessitate reconstructive surgery. Iranian regime officials have reportedly taken dramatic steps to conceal Khamenei’s location from the United States and Israel. The regime is relying on handwritten messages delivered through a network of trusted couriers traveling by car and motorcycle to avoid detection. Born into Iran’s ruling elite, Khamenei followed a path that blended religious study with military involvement. As a teenager, he joined an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigade known as the Habib Battalion during the Iran-Iraq War. He later completed his education at a theological seminary, attaining the rank of ayatollah, and worked closely within his father’s inner circle, helping coordinate military and intelligence operations. Despite his influence behind the scenes, he has never held elected office or served in a formal senior government role. He has also faced international scrutiny, including sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department in 2019, and has been accused of involvement in the regime’s crackdown on the 2009 Green Movement protests. The elder Khamenei was selected as supreme leader following the death of the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who overthrew Iran’s dynastic shah during the 1979 revolution. With his son now assuming the position, the transition has raised questions about whether the Islamic Republic is drifting toward another form of dynastic rule. His rise to power followed the sudden killing of his father on the first day of the United States and Israel’s attack on the Iranian regime. But unlike his father — who maintained a tight grip over nearly all aspects of the government and the IRGC — Khamenei lacks the same religious authority and political stature and appears far more dependent on military leaders. With Khamenei sidelined by his injuries, hardline generals have taken on a dominant role in decision-making, shaping Iran’s posture at a critical moment. Their growing influence is believed to have played a role in Tehran’s refusal to participate in a second round of talks with American officials in Pakistan this week. Following the Times report, senior Iranian officials moved quickly to project unity, issuing closely aligned statements reaffirming loyalty to the regime — even as military leaders are reportedly taking on a larger role in decision-making. President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted there are no internal divisions, writing, “In Iran there are no ‘hardliners’ or ‘moderates’… only unity and obedience to the Supreme Leader,” while Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i echoed the same message.

Would you steal from Whole Foods to make a statement? Some Democrats answer that question with a resounding yes, but it leads one to wonder what happens to a society when the most basic forms of morality are at stake. In a recent episode of The New York Times podcast “The Opinions,” leftist streamer Hasan Piker and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino joined Times opinion editor Nadja Spiegelman to discuss a new kind of public expression — “Why petty theft might be the new political protest.” The conversation began with a quick exercise on their moral code, in which Spiegelman asked questions such as “Would you dine and dash from your local diner?” and “Would you steal a book from the library?” To these, Piker and Tolentino both responded “No.” When asked, “Would you steal from the Louvre?” Piker said he thinks it’s “cool,” and that “we’ve got to get back to cool crimes like that: bank robberies, stealing priceless artifacts, things of that nature.” From there, the conversation pivoted to the kind of growing socialist rhetoric where actions that used to be widely considered wrong are now justifiable: “Because the rich don’t play by the rules, so why should I?” When Spiegelman asked, “Would you steal from Whole Foods?” the duo was almost gleeful in declaring that they had no reservations about doing so. Tolentino proudly said she would, and admitted she regularly had, “I think that stealing from a big-box store — I’ll just state my platform — it’s neither very significant as a moral wrong, … But I didn’t feel bad about it at all,” she added. This is the same Tolentino who owns a $2 million house in Brooklyn. Piker agreed, declaring he is “pro stealing from big corporations, because they steal quite a bit more from their own workers.” His defense is that stores already inflate prices with inevitable robbery in mind and still “end up having increased profit margins.” The anti-capitalist who praises Hamas and believes America deserved 9/11 is also a millionaire who owns a nearly $3 million house in Los Angeles. Though Piker admitted he himself does not steal, he added, “if someone needs the food, they should absolutely steal it.” But when pressed whether the same mindset would apply to a Zohran Mamdani-run, city-owned grocery store with lower prices, apparently, the sentiment is markedly different. “No, I would not, because I feel like that’s taxpayer-funded, it’s union labor, and the prices are also adjusted regardless,” Piker admitted. Spiegelman further questioned the root of the new protest — anger at the wealthy. “What I’m seeing on TikTok and social media is people saying that they’re stealing from Whole Foods not just for the thrill of it, but out of a feeling of anger and moral justification.” “I feel part of what I’m seeing around me is that people feel like the laws are immoral. The rich don’t play by the rules. We live in a society where there are billionaires; where the top 1% holds 32% of the net worth and the bottom 50% holds 2.5%.” “So, at some point, if the laws don’t feel moral, do you start to question your own sense of having to abide by them?” Spiegelman asked. To which Tolentino responded, “Of course.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) swept up a woman believed to be an MS-13 killer, who was hiding in a Washington, D.C., suburb. Idalia Isabel Morales-Mejia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was wanted in her home country over charges of aggravated homicide and illicit associations before she was nabbed, according to ICE. Authorities in El Salvador notified ICE in February that they believed Morales-Mejia was in Northern Virginia. The Salvadoran woman was charged with her alleged crimes in 2013, ICE said. Once ICE officers learned of her possible presence in the area, they began looking for her. They eventually caught her in Woodbridge. On March 12, ICE arrested her in Woodbridge, the agency said. “Idalia Isabel Morales-Mejia is not only a known associate of the notorious MS-13 transnational criminal organization, but she apparently attempted to flee justice in her native country by illegally residing in Virginia,” ICE Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Robert Guadian said in a statement Thursday. Guadian took aim at some members of the media who have criticized ICE for arresting illegal immigrants who lack any rap sheets. The ICE official said the narrative is all wrong. “The media would consider her to be a ‘non-criminal’ because she has no known criminal history in the United States — despite the fact that she is facing charges for aggravated homicide in El Salvador. ICE Washington, D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities,” Guadian said. Morales-Mejia entered the United States as what’s known as a gotaway, meaning she crossed the border illegally without facing apprehension, ICE said. It is not known when exactly she entered the country. Virginia has become a hub for illegal immigrant crime. Another illegal immigrant from El Salvador, who was convicted of groping multiple female students at a Virginia high school, was sentenced Tuesday to just 360 days behind bars and two years of probation, according to 7News. A Guatemalan illegal immigrant, Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, 28, allegedly tried to rape a woman as she was waiting for her rideshare in Arlington, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday. Fairfax County, which notoriously operates as a sanctuary jurisdiction, has seen three murders tied to illegal immigrant suspects in 2026.

Some conservatives are pushing back against a possible federal government deal to avoid Spirit Airlines’ collapse, as the company struggles to emerge from bankruptcy. The Trump administration is weighing a $500 million bailout that could result in the federal government taking a significant ownership stake in the budget airline, according to the Wall Street Journal. Several Republican lawmakers blasted the idea. “If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either. Not the best use of taxpayer dollars,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) posted to X on Wednesday. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) described the proposal on social media as “an absolutely TERRIBLE idea.” “The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake & the government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline (that the Biden admin killed),” he continued, referencing the 2008 recession-era Troubled Asset Relief Program. Outside groups on the Right also weighed in. Advancing American Freedom, an organization aligned with former Vice President Mike Pence, released a memo slamming a possible deal. “Why should taxpayers bail out one company that has been uniquely unprepared?” the memo asked. “American families shouldn’t be forced to bail out Spirit and the shareholders or pay the bill to see if the federal government can run an airline.” Labor groups, however, expressed support for the potential federal assistance. The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), argued that federal intervention could protect jobs and stabilize the airline. “Federal relief is not a handout,” said Capt. Ryan P. Muller, chair of the Spirit Airlines ALPA Master Executive Council (MEC). “It is a loan that will allow the airline to finish the work that is already well underway, and it is the right call for 14,000 workers, nearly 2,000 pilots, the families who depend on those paychecks, and the millions of passengers who rely on affordable air travel.” On the Left, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) blamed the war with Iran for the airline’s demise. “Donald Trump’s war with Iran caused the sky-high fuel prices that finally did Spirit Airlines in. What do the American people get out of this taxpayer bailout? Will the failed airline executives be held accountable?” Warren posted on X. The White House has not confirmed whether a bailout is on the table, but pointed to a Biden-era lawsuit that led to the rejection of the Spirit-JetBlue merger. “Spirit Airlines would be on a much firmer financial footing had the Biden administration not recklessly blocked the airline’s merger with JetBlue,” White House Spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. President Donald Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he would prefer a private-sector solution, saying he would “love somebody to buy Spirit, it’s 14,000 jobs.” Economist Peter St. Onge of The Heritage Foundation told The Daily Wire that the merger likely led to the airline’s decline. “The main thing that drove them over the edge was blocking the JetBlue merger,” St. Onge said. “On the day that it was denied, their stock fell 47%. And the big picture here is that the low-cost carriers can’t pass anything on, right? They have razor-thin margins, like 2 or 3%. So they need scale in order to survive.”