Every commuter becomes an opportunity for cartel operatives
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Good morning, it’s Wednesday. Here are today’s top stories. |
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Cartels are using dating apps to turn Americans into unwitting drug smugglers, border officials told The Epoch Times’ Troy Myers during his visit to the San Diego border.
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American country music legend Dolly Parton passed away yesterday at 80 after a brief battle with cancer, according to her publicist. Tributes quickly poured in from around the world, and President Donald Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-mast for one week. Besides Parton’s music legacy, her Imagination Library program has helped boost childhood literacy, distributing 300 million books to children under 5 since 1995.
- Canada said it’s countering Washington’s levies by imposing dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on hundreds of American goods amounting to nearly $20 billion.
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Sen. Darline Graham beat Rep. Ralph Norman in the South Caroline Republican Senate runoff for the seat held by her late brother.
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🍵 Health: Once known only as a treatment for bipolar disorder, lithium is drawing new attention as a possible essential nutrient with far-reaching effects on the brain and body.
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(John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) |
With illegal border entries plummeting, agents are now free to focus on the ever-evolving world of drug trafficking. Our reporter Troy Myers headed to the busy San Ysidro port of entry in California to see how officials are keeping up with the cartels and their new tactics for smuggling contraband.
Every day tens of thousands of drivers make the short hop from San Diego to Tijuana, via San Ysidro. For the cartels, every commuter becomes an opportunity. |
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• The institution of marriage is failing. But when Jane Austen wrote her masterpiece “Pride and Prejudice,” marriage was at the very heart of the culture. Consider the novel’s famous opening line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Let’s revisit Austen’s world.
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Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has advised Navy sailors, Marines, and civilian employees to remove any content on social media linking them with the Navy and to report suspicious activity.
“U.S. military installations and personnel remain under increased vigilance due to recent uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) encounters, suspicious activities, cyber threats, and acts of violence,” Cao wrote in a recent notice.
The Navy’s warning to military and civilian personnel comes as U.S. forces reinstated a naval blockade of Iranian ports, following the breakdown of a temporary ceasefire and memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.
As of Aug. 24, U.S. forces had redirected 71 commercial vessels, disabled three ships, and boarded two others to ensure compliance with the blockade, U.S. Central Command stated.
Cao said recent incidents around the world have shown a “clear growth” in the procedures, tactics, and techniques of U.S. adversaries. He warned that threats against the Navy were not isolated events but were part of a “deliberate effort to gather intelligence, test our defenses, disrupt our operations, and intimidate our force.”
The acting Navy secretary said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched a force protection initiative to deter, detect, and mitigate threats against the Navy’s personnel and military installations. Cao said the initiative, known as Epic Vigilance, was launched in response to emerging threats as U.S. adversaries and hostile actors carried out a “coordinated, multi-domain campaign” against the Navy. |
An electronic display shows the national debt in Washington on Aug. 19, 2026. The U.S. national debt exceeded a record $40 trillion. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) |
On Aug. 18, the U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion—roughly $117,000 per person— for the first time. On Aug. 20, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States can “grow our way out” of the debt, adding to a broader debate over whether the nation’s debt trajectory is sustainable.
The Epoch Times wants to know what you think. The results will be featured in an article published this Saturday. (Take the Survey) |
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Customers shop for firearms in San Diego on May 30, 2024. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) |
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The Justice Department is offering a path for people who lost their gun rights because of a federal conviction to get their rights restored. As many as 1 million people may apply in the first year under this program—here’s what to know.
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The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to reinstate a blocked border policy, arguing that judges were wrong to limit the president’s power to stop illegal crossings and cut off asylum claims.
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The California Senate passed a bill to fine content creators who make paid political content without disclosing the compensation.
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- A multi-agency operation has led to the recovery of 163 missing children, Florida officials said. The five-day operation resulted in the recovery of 46 missing children in the Tampa Bay region, 41 others in Miami, and 21 others in Jacksonville.
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Federal regulators have cleared a blood test aimed at detecting signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Two people are dead after contracting measles, Pennsylvania officials said. Neither had received a measles vaccine, and both resided in Lancaster County, officials added.
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The trial of a former Libyan intelligence officer accused of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 was postponed by a federal judge, after defense attorneys produced new evidence.
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Firefighters battle a wildfire in Lanton, France, on July 29, 2026. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images) |
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As France reels from one of its worst fire seasons in decades, one prevention measure has emerged at the center of a growing political debate: mandatory brush clearing.
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Trump said that all Iranian mines in the international waters of the Strait of Hormuz had been removed and that the United States was enforcing a “zero tolerance” policy on the placement of additional mines. Meanwhile, Iran and Oman proposed jointly establishing a “temporary navigational corridor” through the Strait of Hormuz.
- The Chinese Communist Party has signaled it won’t stop working with the Iranian regime, after Chinese and Hong Kong entities were hit by U.S. sanctions for aiding Tehran’s economy.
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As China’s official youth unemployment rate in July hit an 11-month high, experts and young Chinese who spoke with The Epoch Times said that the real number could be higher and the reality of the job market is likely much worse.
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- Hormuz and the Law of Diminishing Returns: When Leverage Burns—by Tamuz Itai (Read)
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Economic D-Day: Maximum Pressure, Minimum Coalition—by Michael Wilkerson (Read)
- Goodbye Books?—by Jeff Gardner (Read)
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The Unsustainable $40 Trillion National Debt—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
- Don’t Trust the Midterm Polls—by Victor Davis Hanson (Read)
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Less fiddly than a classic lasagna, more fun than plain spaghetti, and with more pasta than any pie should have, Lauren Allen’s Million Dollar Spaghetti is a mashup masterpiece. With budget-friendly ingredients, and big enough to feed the extended family—with plenty left over for freezing—the secret is all in the homemade sauce. |
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“The commonest, dullest, most thread-bare topic might be rendered interesting by the skill of the speaker.” |
— Jane Austen, "Pride and Prejudice" |
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