Authored by Jose Nino via HeadlineUSA,

A federal correctional officer assigned to monitor Jeffrey Epstein conducted internet searches about the convicted sex offender just moments before his body was discovered and received thousands of dollars in cash deposits in the weeks preceding his death, newly released Justice Department documents show.

Tova Noel worked as one of two Metropolitan Correctional Center employees who authorities later accused of fabricating logs claiming they had conducted required welfare checks on Epstein throughout the overnight hours before his August 10, 2019 death. Both guards lost their jobs, though prosecutors eventually dismissed criminal charges against them.

According to FBI forensic analysis of Bureau of Prisons computers, Noel entered the search term “latest on Epstein in jail” at 5:42 a.m. and repeated the query ten minutes later at 5:52 a.m. Her fellow officer Michael Thomas located the financier hanging in his cell at 6:30 a.m., less than 40 minutes after her final search.

Prosecutors stated that during the overnight shift, the 37-year-old Noel browsed furniture websites and slept rather than performing the required inmate checks every half hour. Thomas spent time looking at motorcycle listings online.

The New York Post reported that federal investigators produced a 66-page forensic report examining the desktop computers used by both officers. The Epstein related search was the sole query that the FBI chose to highlight in its analysis.

During sworn questioning by Justice Department officials in 2021, Noel disputed the FBI’s findings. “I don’t remember doing that,” she stated in the transcript. She characterized the federal records as not “accurate. I don’t recall looking him up.”

Noel also asserted that the failure to conduct proper monitoring was widespread at the Manhattan detention facility. “I’ve never worked in the Special Housing Unit and actually done rounds every 30 minutes,” she informed investigators.

Separate DOJ files reveal that Chase Bank submitted a “suspicious activity report” to the FBI in November 2019 regarding cash transactions in Noel’s account. The financial institution documented a total of 12 deposits starting in April 2018, with the largest single transaction of $5,000 occurring on July 30, 2019, just 11 days before Epstein died.

Available bank records beginning in December 2018 document seven separate cash deposits amounting to $11,880. Noel began her assignment in the Special Housing Unit where Epstein was held on July 7, 2019, approximately one month before his death.

Records indicate Noel operated a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover valued at $62,000. DOJ interviewers never questioned her about the cash transactions, according to the documents.

An internal FBI briefing contained in the released files indicates the bureau concluded that Noel was most likely the unidentified orange figure visible in grainy security camera footage near Epstein’s cell at approximately 10:40 p.m. on the night before his death.

“At approximately 10:40 pm, a correctional officer, believed to be Tova Noel, carried linen or inmate clothing up to the L-Tier, last time any correctional officer approached the only entrance to the SHU tier,” federal agents documented. Investigators determined that Epstein used strips of orange fabric to hang himself.

In her sworn testimony, Noel, who had been working consecutive shifts that day, stated she last observed Epstein alive “somewhere around after 10” that evening. She maintained that she “never gave out linen, ever” or clothing to inmates, asserting that such distributions occurred during earlier shifts.

The blurred orange shape captured on video has fueled speculation and conspiracy theories since the FBI made the footage public last summer. An inspector general report from 2023 described the figure only as “unidentified correctional officers,” making these newly released FBI documents the first official record to connect a specific name to the image.

Noel stated she could not explain why Epstein possessed additional bedding in his cell. She noted that Thomas, the other officer on duty, was asleep from 10 p.m. until midnight. Facility protocols prohibit staff members from entering the cell area without accompaniment, according to prison employees.

Legal representatives for Noel offered no comment. When investigators directly asked whether she played any role in Epstein’s death, Noel answered “no.”

As the New York Post reported, Noel currently faces a civil lawsuit in Westchester County Supreme Court alleging she committed assault while employed as a medical office assistant at Montefiore Einstein Advanced Care.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino

Summary:

• Divergent signals flying between Tehran and Washington: Witkoff says Trump “always willing to talk” to Iran, the question is whether or not it is worth it. Trump-Putin spoke Monday, and Putin-Pezeshkian spoke Tuesday. Meanwhile Tehran defiant: no ceasefire, vows maximum pain.

• Operation ‘mostly achieved goals’ – Trump says as WSJ reports officials seeking plans for offramp. 

• Tehran vows ‘eye for an eye’ if US-Israel hit infrastructure. Iran leaders on various levels sounding hawkish and not backing down.

• Oil/Energy: Iraq has shut down some oil wells, while Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia taking similar steps to curtail production. Qatar too: halted operations at several gas wells and shut down the liquefaction “trains” used to process natural gas for export.

• Qatar urges halt to attacks, quick return to diplomacy – Foreign Ministry: “Reaching the negotiating table quickly and halting attacks would serve the interests of the peoples of the region as well as international peace and security, in addition to strengthening global economic stability.”

• Pentagon claims “winning”: After ten days into Operation Epic Fury, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth lists objectives that include destroying Iran’s missile infrastructure, defense industry, navy, and ensuring Tehran is “permanently” denied nuclear weapons.

• Trump’s mixed messaging as war could end ‘soon’ while saying Iran’s military is crippled, but also warns Tehran would be hit “20 times harder” if it disrupts oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Signs of Washington officials looking for an offramp. A mere few days ago Trump stressed the US would stop at nothing short of Iran’s “unconditional surrender” – but that continues to look dubious.

• Iran rejects U.S. narrative: The IRGC says its missile program remains intact and claims it is firing larger salvos with heavier warheads, while officials insist Iran, not Washington, will decide when the war ends.

• Regional escalation especially in Lebanon: Heavy IDF fighting continues with Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Gulf states intercept missiles and drones, and all the while Iranian leaders say US and Israeli regime-change efforts have failed and vow to prepare for a “long war” – even involving those who host American bases in region.

* * *

Ten days of Operation Epic Fury have passed, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted that the United States is “winning” against the “barbarian” Iranians, and that Tehran has been “racing” toward a nuclear bomb.

He listed in a Pentagon press briefing Tuesday morning that war objectives are to destroy missiles and the defense industrial base, to destroy Iran’s navy, and to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. He stressed that the goal includes to “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever.“

He added: “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and entirely defeated.” This comes the day after President Trump said that he believes the war could end soon, even as Iranian officials signal they are preparing for a prolonged conflict.

“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS News. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force.” Hours later in afternoon remarks from Florida, Trump warned that Iran would face massive retaliation if it tried to disrupt global oil flows, saying the United States would strike Tehran “20 times harder” if it attempted to block tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon’s Tuesday morning briefing really emphasized steady destruction of Iranian missile sites – even underground ballistic launch bunkers – with heavy bunker busters. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has rejected Washington claims that its missile program has been destroyed, saying it is launching larger volleys of missiles with warheads weighing more than one ton.

Iran has continued retaliatory strikes on Israel and Gulf allies, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. One person was killed in Manama and two others were killed in central Israel Monday into Tuesday.

While Israel’s military has heavily censored potential damage on the ground and the rate of Iran’s missile and drone attacks, unverified but widespread online accounts suggest it continues to get hit hard on a nightly basis.

Tehran meanwhile has experienced some of the heaviest bombardment of the war overnight, with at least 40 people reported killed near Risalat Square. Since the start of the war, at least 460 people have been killed and 4,309 wounded in Tehran alone, according to the figures of Mehr Soroush, deputy head of the Tehran Emergency Health Department. The Iranian capital is densely packed with a size and population comparable to New York City.

⚡️ Israeli Airstrikes Hit Oil Infrastructure in Kerman, Iran pic.twitter.com/u4Drq2BgXs

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 10, 2026

Across Iran, more than 1,200 people have been killed and over 10,000 injured. Even the newly named Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, may have been injured – reportedly before he was declared head of the country, state media has suggested.

Mohammad Jamalian, a member of Iran’s parliamentary health committee, has said nine hospitals are no longer operational due to the ongoing bombardment. Pharmaceutical stockpiles remain sufficient for about six months, he has described according to Al Jazeera, while non-elective surgeries have been suspended to free hospital capacity for emergency cases.

The conflict continues to expand regionally, with the Bahrain military saying it has intercepted and destroyed 105 missiles and 176 drones since Iran began attacks on countries hosting American forces. There remains a big open question on whether Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will send their militaries to formally enter Operation Epic Freedom. Hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham has certainly been calling for it, saying the Gulf should do much more in its own defense.

Israel’s northern front also remains active, with Israeli strikes in Lebanon having pushed the death toll there to at least 486 people as Israel and Hezbollah continue exchanging fire.

“Rally round the flag” effect in the wake of Trump’s ‘shock and awe-style’ bombs on Tehran and elsewhere…

Powerful explosions erupt live on Iranian state TV — right from Revolution Square in Tehran

The Iranians didn’t flinch, showing even more defiance and waving their country’s flags even harder pic.twitter.com/Q17UvbUqI3

— RT (@RT_com) March 10, 2026

Israeli officials are also signaling that the war is far from over, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in a visit to IDF troops, “Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet.”

As for the narrative from Tehran, leaders remain defiant – also as there’s some degree of evidence of a “rally around the flag” effect, meaning Iranians have been filmed out in the street pledging allegiance to the nation and the new Supreme Leader. Iranian officials are loudly and boldly declaring Washington and Tel Aviv failed in their initial war objectives.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei has proven that regime change efforts have collapsed. “They thought that, in a matter of two or three days, they can go for a regime change, they can go for a rapid, clean victory, but they failed… they failed to achieve their goals at the beginning, and now, after 10 days, I think they are aimless,” Foreign Minister Araghchi told PBS News Hour.

Case in point, from the speaker of the Iranian parliament right now: https://t.co/8XmCfHrk7Q pic.twitter.com/8lVJt7zQh0

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 10, 2026

Araghchi also rejected claims that Iran is responsible for rising oil prices and disruptions to global shipping, describing that “This is not our plan” and that “The oil production, the transportation of oil has been slowed down or stopped not because of us, because of the attacks and aggression made by Israelis and Americans against us.”

Iran says it is still prepared for a “long war” and to fight to the end. On the question of closing Hormuz, the Iranian top diplomat claimed, “We have not closed that strait. We are not preventing them to navigate in that strait. But this is the result of the aggression by Israelis and Americans, which has made the whole region insecure, unstable.” Additionally the IRGC has said that Iran, not the United States, will determine when the war ends.

Pressed on Iranian strikes targeting oil facilities in the region, Araghchi insisted Tehran is acting in self-defense. “We are facing an act of aggression, which is absolutely illegal. And what we are doing is the act of self-defense, which is legal and legitimate.”

Amid continuing Hormuz crisis, more analysts are waking up to fact that Iran’s capability to disrupt transit through the strait has little to do with the large surface vessels that Trump has been exuberant about sinking.

Iran will use its geography and unconventional warfare. https://t.co/mwGIvPSyLE

— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 10, 2026

“Well, we have already warned everybody in the region that, if the US attacks us, since we cannot reach the American soil, we have to attack their bases in the region, their facilities, their installations, their assets.”

Iran’s foreign ministry has also taken the opportunity to fire back at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after she said the Iranian people “deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future.”

“Please spare the hypocrisy,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X. “You’ve made a career out of standing on the wrong side of history — green-lighting occupation, genocide, and atrocities, and now laundering U.S./Israeli crime of aggression and war crimes against Iranians.”

“Where was your voice when more than 165 innocent IRANIAN little angels were massacred in the city of Minab?” he questioned. “Why don’t you say anything when hospitals, historical sites, oil facilities, diplomatic police headquarter, firefighting stations and residential neighborhoods are wickedly targeted?” He concluded that it’s been: “Silence in the face of lawlessness and atrocity is nothing less than complicity.”

Just days after we covered the story on Quantum Leap Energy’s non-binding MOU with a major U.S. nuclear utility, Canaccord Genuity analyst George Gianarikas reiterated his buy rating on the beaten down ASP Isotopes, with an $11 price target citing “material progress” toward commercial uranium enrichment on two continents.

On February 23, QLE inked a Pre-Implementation Services Contract with South Africa’s Necsa to site, design, build, and operate an enrichment facility at the Pelindaba complex. The deal gives QLE access to existing nuclear infrastructure, utilities, and a joint oversight committee. Gianarikas says it’s the clearest signal yet that licensed HALEU production in South Africa is moving from lab to market readiness.

The March 6 MOU we highlighted last week adds the U.S. piece: the unnamed utility will potentially help stand up domestic HALEU and LEU+ enrichment, conversion, and deconversion capacity while discussing offtake and financing. That’s critical ahead of the 2028 Russian uranium import ban we’ve repeatedly flagged as the biggest catalyst for non-adversarial supply chains.

The report also spotlights accelerating LEU+ adoption by conventional fleets. Westinghouse loaded the first ~6% LEU+ test assemblies at Southern Company’s Vogtle Unit 2 last April. Urenco secured NRC approval to enrich to 10% and produced its first commercial batch in December. Framatome is upgrading its Richland plant and just filed for an 8% enrichment limit. Partners include Constellation (23% of U.S. nuclear output), Duke, Entergy, and Vistra.

As we first detailed after the Silicon-28 mega-contract and US radiopharmacy buy, then again when Trump Jr. and Eric Trump-backed funds poured in and when Renergen cleared regulatory hurdles, Canaccord is framing ASPI is one of the few names positioned across HALEU, medical isotopes, and quantum materials: a veritable cornucopia of next gen energy buzzwords. The South Africa and U.S. milestones now de-risk the commercial ramp in exactly the way we’ve been tracking.

Canaccord flags the usual risks including regulatory approvals, South African political noise, and balance-sheet needs, but ASPI is attempting to fill the HALEU gap that TerraPower, Oklo, and the entire advanced-reactor wave need. With the 2028 ban looming and AI data centers screaming for carbon-free baseload, the window for first-mover domestic enrichment is closing fast.

ASPI stock has been beaten down in recent months, although as its story continues to spread, expect more sellside coverage. As of today, just three banks (Canaccord, Cantor, and Lucid) cover the stock with a $13 average price target.

Weeks after New Mexico officials launched an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico – which has since been purchased to turn into a Christian retreat, the FBI and local law enforcement descended on the 7,500 acre property in search of dark secrets, including the possible graves of trafficked girls who may have been strangled to death during violent sex sessions on the property. 

For years the rumors have swirled around the isolated estate near the tiny town of Stanley (about 30 miles south of Santa Fe), however the identities of the alleged victims – and whether their bodies are on the property – has remained a mystery. 

The search – conducted on Monday and into Tuesday, is part of a planned state “truth commission” established by New Mexico lawmakers last month to investigate allegations surrounding Epstein’s activities at the ranch because the feds have dropped the ball. 

The operation began just a day after hundreds of protesters gathered outside the ranch on International Women’s Day to show support for victims of sexual abuse, the Daily Mail reports.

“We have heard years of allegations and rumors about Epstein’s activities in New Mexico, but unfortunately, federal investigations have failed to put together an official record,” said New Mexico state Rep. Andrea Romero, who pushed to create the commission.

“With this truth commission, we can finally fill in the gaps by investigating the failures that led to the horrific allegations of abuse and crime at Zorro Ranch, so we can learn from them and prevent such atrocities from taking place in our state going forward,” Romero said.

Everyone is focusing on Epstein Island. There is so much more dirt at the Zorro Ranch

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) February 4, 2026

One Epstein Files email references a woman who claimed Epstein offered her money to ‘birth babies for black market use.’

In another Epstein file, a former staff member at Zorro allegedly claimed that “somewhere in the hills outside Zorro, two foreign girls were buried on orders of Jeffrey and Madam G” – referring to Ghislaine Maxwell. 

According to the Daily Mail, witnesses have begun claiming that Epstein may have also used the secluded ranch for disturbing medical procedures tied to his reported interest in eugenics.

“We have people coming forward saying they were drugged, had sex organs and sperm harvested from their bodies, and woke up around medical equipment not knowing where they were or what happened to them,” Romero told the Daily Mail.

In addition to the allegedly strangled women, one of the most disturbing threads surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico estate involves allegations that the ranch may have been tied to his unusual fascination with human experimentation – particularly eugenics and genetic engineering, ideas he reportedly discussed with scientists and wealthy associates. According to accounts cited by various outlets, Epstein spoke openly about a plan to use the remote property as a kind of “baby ranch,” where women would be impregnated with his sperm in order to create a genetically “superior” bloodline.

Investigators and journalists say Epstein had a long-standing interest in transhumanism and eugenics – the controversial belief that the human race can be improved through selective breeding – and he surrounded himself with scientists and academics for frequent discussions. 

In another document from the Epstein dump, a victim writes a coded diary where she describes being a ‘human incubator’ who was forced to give birth to a child that was taken from her.

Eft a 02731361 by Zerohedge Janitor

Romero acknowledged that the allegations sound unusual but said investigators must examine the claims.

“It’s so dark and perplexing, and I know that if you mention this to someone, it sounds very conspiratorial,” Romero said. “But we need to get down to the truth of what really happened here in our own backyard.”

The property was bought by Epstein in 1993 from former New Mexico governor Bruce King. It spans roughly 13 square miles of high desert and includes a massive luxury hacienda, guest lodges, staff dwellings, horse stables, a private airstrip, hangar and helipad. Epstein owned the ranch until his death (or escape) in (from) a New York federal jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. After his death (or escape), the ranch was listed for sale for $27.5 million in 2021 before the price was reduced to $18 million. The property was eventually sold in 2023 to a limited liability corporation that renamed it San Rafael Ranch.

New Mexico DOJ spokesman Lauren Rodriguez said the current owners – the family of Texas real-estate developer Don Huffines – granted investigators access to search the property and nearby public land.

Epstein’s ranch has long been alleged to have served as one of several locations where the financier trafficked and abused young women, alongside properties in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Civil filings have claimed that prominent guests visited the compound, including Britain’s (former) Prince Andrew, who was accused by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre of being one of the men she was trafficked to. Andrew has denied wrongdoing. There have also been unverified claims by contractors and journalists that former President Bill Clinton and other prominent figures spent time at the ranch, although Clinton denied being there during a deposition before Congress.

Accuser Maria Farmer has said she and her younger sister Annie were brought to Zorro Ranch in 1996 under the pretense of working on an art project. Maria has alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of child sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence. Annie Farmer has said she was 15 when she was flown to the ranch and directed by Epstein and Maxwell “to take off all her clothes and get on a massage table.”

Since plans for the Truth Commission were announced, Romero said lawmakers have received between 25 and 30 tips from people claiming to have information about activities at the ranch.

“We have this massive international story in New Mexico and all these potential conspiracies, horrible things that have happened there,” she said. “We don’t know what’s fact from fiction, but owe it to the people of our state to sort through these threads of information and get answers.”

Republican state Rep. Andrea Reeb, a former prosecutor who plans to sit on the commission, said the state has not done enough to examine what happened at the ranch.

“Zorro Ranch has given New Mexico a black eye. We as a state haven’t been aggressive enough on figuring out what happened there,” Reeb said.

“My main interest is to see if we can bring justice to some of the victims.”

Building on Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg’s warning last week that surging jet fuel prices pose an “existential threat” to airlines, analysts at UBS offered their own take on the unfolding energy shock set to unleash turbulence across the industry, noting that U.S. airlines are “nearly 100% unhedged” against jet fuel costs above $4 per gallon.

“US airlines are nearly 100% unhedged, with only DAL’s refinery providing it a partial hedge against jet crack spreads. As such, the earnings degradation at $4+ fuel is likely to be significant and widespread,” analyst Atul Maheswari wrote in a note on Monday.

Maheswari said Delta, United, and Southwest could still deliver a “meager profit” with Jet A fuel prices over $4, but “none of the other airlines will make money if fuel remains at these levels, with some airlines likely to be deep in the red.“

The hit to airlines’ first-quarter results will be noticeable but somewhat muted because the energy shock is coming late in the quarter, and airlines typically carry two weeks of inventory.

Maheswari said the real deterioration will come in the second quarter:

We note the impact on 1Q, while material, is cushioned by the fact the fuel spike happened late in 1Q and that airlines tend to carry 2 weeks of inventory. The impact on 2Q, though, could be significant. We continue to believe that DAL, UAL, and LUV are relatively better positioned to navigate higher fuel. AAL and several smaller airlines are more vulnerable.

Based on our math, fuel sustaining at these levels through 2Q could push DAL’s 2Q EPS to $1.13, down 55% versus our current $2.49 estimate. For LUV, our 2Q EPS would go to $0.57 vs. $1.81 currently. UAL’s 2Q EPS has potential to move lower to $0.96, down 80% vs. our $4.78 estimate. AAL would turn to a 2Q loss of -$0.31 vs. our current forecast of +$1.39. ALK would have a modest 2Q loss, while JBLU, ALGT, and ULCC are likely to generate a significant 2Q loss.

We assumed current fuel price (Gulf Coast $3.82/gallon) and added an incremental spread for distribution and other items based on the average historical spread reported by each for 2025. We also assumed 200 bps higher RASM relative to our published current estimate for 2Q in our analysis.

In an unlikely scenario where jet fuel stays at these levels in 2H’26 as well, it would imply about $3 in FY’26 EPS for DAL (vs. UBSe $7.17). LUV’s EPS could be about $1.60 (vs. UBSe $5.05), and UAL’s $2.35 (vs. UBSe $13.56). This is after assuming 200 bps higher RASM relative to our current estimates. AAL, ALK, and other smaller airlines would witness losses for FY’26 in this scenario. Full details on the impact for each airline by quarter are in figure 1.

The result of the energy shock will be “earnings degradation” that will force airlines to “quickly move to cut capacity,” the analyst said. This warning echoes DB’s Linenberg warning last Friday that the “financially weakest carriers could halt operations.” Read the note here.

UBS Chartbook on airlines:

EPS drag from higher fuel – US Airlines

Gulf Coast Fuel Prices

FY’25 Fuel as a Percentage of Sales – by Airlines

Feb-April of 2022 – Airline stock analysis during the fuel hike of 2022

The S&P 500 Airlines Index has erased much of the November-to-February gains.

This is incredibly bad news for U.S. travelers, as capacity cuts by the weakest airlines will only lead to higher ticket prices.

Professional subscribers can read the UBS note here at our new Marketdesk.ai portal

Submitted by The Bureau’s Sam Cooper,

Police responded at 5:29 a.m. Tuesday to reports that someone fired shots at the American Consulate at University Avenue and Queen Street West in the heart of Toronto, in an incident that comes as Western security agencies confront growing fears that the Iran war is triggering retaliatory violence far beyond the Middle East.

In a public statement posted by Toronto Police Operations, police said they had located evidence of a firearm discharge, that no injuries were reported, and that officers remained on scene investigating. CityNews reported damage to a consulate door and about 10 shell casings outside the building.

On Monday, ABC News reported that a federal alert sent to law enforcement agencies said the United States had intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country. According to ABC, the alert cited “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israeli strike. ABC further reported that the encoded transmission appeared intended for “clandestine recipients” holding the proper encryption key, potentially to convey instructions to “covert operatives or sleeper assets” without using internet or cellular networks.

Breaking: Shots have been fired at the US Consulate, on University Avenue, in Toronto reportedly around 5:30 this morning.

“there are bullet holes in the glass door, the front door of the building.” pic.twitter.com/OBlpNSgVyK

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) March 10, 2026

That warning aligns with a Department of Homeland Security threat assessment reviewed by Reuters, which said Iran and its proxies “probably” pose a persistent threat of targeted attacks in the Homeland, even though a large-scale physical attack is considered unlikely.

In Toronto, the consulate incident follows a string of shootings that has deepened fears of ideologically driven or conflict-linked violence.

The city has seen multiple Jewish institutions struck by gunfire in recent days, alongside a separate shooting at a boxing gym reportedly tied to an Iranian-Canadian critic of Tehran. Authorities have not publicly connected those incidents to the consulate shooting, but the pattern has heightened concern across the city.

Reflecting that alarm, Canadian newspaper columnist Brian Lilley wrote on X: “This is in the heart of Toronto. I know people who work in that [Consulate] building. Many of them are non-partisan civil servants who may not agree with this war. Political violence in Toronto has been normalized.”

The pattern is not confined to Canada. In Oslo, Reuters reported that a loud explosion struck the U.S. embassy early Sunday, causing minor damage but no injuries, in what Norwegian police said may have been a deliberate attack linked to the crisis in the Middle East. Reuters quoted Oslo police saying one hypothesis was terrorism, while other possibilities were also being explored. Investigators said they were searching for one or several perpetrators.

*   *   * 

Reminding readers that Jared Cohen, President of Global Affairs and Co-Head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute, warned investors on the GS Weekend Macro Call, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps maintains cells across multiple emerging market countries and could begin activating them.

“What I am looking for next is that they have meaningful cells in the Tri-Border Area of Latin America, West Africa, and elsewhere. They could hit an embassy, they could hit a consulate, or they could hit a cultural center in any one of the twelve countries they have already attacked,” Cohen explained. 

Read the report here. 

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A sheriff’s office in Florida announced this week that an undercover operation led to 89 human and sex trafficking-related arrests, resulting in more than 1,200 separate felony charges.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which includes the Tampa metropolitan area, said that the operation was carried out over several weeks and targeted individuals “seeking to sexually exploit children and purchase sex.”

The suspects arrested allegedly believed they were communicating with underage victims and showed up at agreed upon locations but were instead met by undercover sheriff’s detectives, according to a news release issued by the department.

They also located a missing 17-year-old girl who was being exploited, the news release said, adding that she was rescued, and her trafficker, identified by officials as 23-year-old Armani Hopkins, was arrested and charged in connection with the incident. It’s not clear if Hopkins has legal representation.

Authorities gave more details about other suspects who were arrested by sheriff’s officials.

Stephen Fabic, 41, a math teacher at Hillsborough High School, was arrested after he allegedly “offered to pick up a teenager and bring them to his home to engage in sexual activity during conversations with someone he believed to be a minor,” the office stated.

Fabic was arrested and made a court appearance last month. An attorney speaking on his behalf, Daniel Fischetti, was quoted by local media outlet Fox 13 as saying that “it’s unknown what exactly happened the day of, or what the meeting was going to be, so I ask the court to take that into consideration when setting bond.”

The Epoch Times has contacted his attorney for comment.

John Altieri, 69, was also arrested in the operation after he allegedly “arranged for a ride share to pick up a juvenile from their home and bring them to his residence to perform sexual acts,” the office’s news release stated.

“At the time, Altieri was serving home confinement while on probation in Hernando County for two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance,” it said, in part. It’s not clear if he has an attorney.

The office said that it safely recovered a 2-year-old child after it received a tip that the child was being exploited. A suspect, 42-year-old Peter Torres, was later arrested and the child was recovered in a safe manner, it said. It’s not clear if Torres has a lawyer.

Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister, a Republican who was tapped by the second Trump administration to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration before he withdrew himself in late 2024, vowed to pursue human traffickers or individuals who seek to sexually exploit minors.

“If you are using a hotel room, a chat app, or a fake profile to pursue a child, we are there,” Chronister said in a statement. “Our detectives will follow the digital trail all the way to your door.”

The arrests took place several months after the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and local law enforcement officials said 122 missing children were found in Florida as part of an operation. The operation, the results of which were announced in November, encompassed much of Central Florida, including the Tampa area.

Summary:

• Pentagon claims “winning”: After ten days into Operation Epic Fury, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth lists objectives that include destroying Iran’s missile infrastructure, defense industry, navy, and ensuring Tehran is “permanently” denied nuclear weapons.

• Trump’s mixed messaging as war could end ‘soon’ while saying Iran’s military is crippled, but also warns Tehran would be hit “20 times harder” if it disrupts oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Signs of Washington officials looking for an offramp. A mere few days ago Trump stressed the US would stop at nothing short of Iran’s “unconditional surrender” – but that continues to look dubious.

• Iran rejects U.S. narrative: The IRGC says its missile program remains intact and claims it is firing larger salvos with heavier warheads, while officials insist Iran, not Washington, will decide when the war ends.

• Regional escalation especially in Lebanon: Heavy IDF fighting continues with Hezbollah in Lebanon, while Gulf states intercept missiles and drones, and all the while Iranian leaders say US and Israeli regime-change efforts have failed and vow to prepare for a “long war” – even involving those who host American bases in region.

* * *

Ten days of Operation Epic Fury have passed, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted that the United States is “winning” against the “barbarian” Iranians, and that Tehran has been “racing” toward a nuclear bomb.

He listed in a Pentagon press briefing Tuesday morning that war objectives are to destroy missiles and the defense industrial base, to destroy Iran’s navy, and to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. He stressed that the goal includes to “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever.“

He added: “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and entirely defeated.” This comes the day after President Trump said that he believes the war could end soon, even as Iranian officials signal they are preparing for a prolonged conflict.

“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS News. “They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force.” Hours later in afternoon remarks from Florida, Trump warned that Iran would face massive retaliation if it tried to disrupt global oil flows, saying the United States would strike Tehran “20 times harder” if it attempted to block tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon’s Tuesday morning briefing really emphasized steady destruction of Iranian missile sites – even underground ballistic launch bunkers – with heavy bunker busters. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has rejected Washington claims that its missile program has been destroyed, saying it is launching larger volleys of missiles with warheads weighing more than one ton.

Iran has continued retaliatory strikes on Israel and Gulf allies, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. One person was killed in Manama and two others were killed in central Israel Monday into Tuesday.

While Israel’s military has heavily censored potential damage on the ground and the rate of Iran’s missile and drone attacks, unverified but widespread online accounts suggest it continues to get hit hard on a nightly basis.

Tehran meanwhile has experienced some of the heaviest bombardment of the war overnight, with at least 40 people reported killed near Risalat Square. Since the start of the war, at least 460 people have been killed and 4,309 wounded in Tehran alone, according to the figures of Mehr Soroush, deputy head of the Tehran Emergency Health Department. The Iranian capital is densely packed with a size and population comparable to New York City.

⚡️ Israeli Airstrikes Hit Oil Infrastructure in Kerman, Iran pic.twitter.com/u4Drq2BgXs

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) March 10, 2026

Across Iran, more than 1,200 people have been killed and over 10,000 injured. Even the newly named Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, may have been injured – reportedly before he was declared head of the country, state media has suggested.

Mohammad Jamalian, a member of Iran’s parliamentary health committee, has said nine hospitals are no longer operational due to the ongoing bombardment. Pharmaceutical stockpiles remain sufficient for about six months, he has described according to Al Jazeera, while non-elective surgeries have been suspended to free hospital capacity for emergency cases.

The conflict continues to expand regionally, with the Bahrain military saying it has intercepted and destroyed 105 missiles and 176 drones since Iran began attacks on countries hosting American forces. There remains a big open question on whether Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries will send their militaries to formally enter Operation Epic Freedom. Hawkish Senator Lindsey Graham has certainly been calling for it, saying the Gulf should do much more in its own defense.

Israel’s northern front also remains active, with Israeli strikes in Lebanon having pushed the death toll there to at least 486 people as Israel and Hezbollah continue exchanging fire.

“Rally round the flag” effect in the wake of Trump’s ‘shock and awe-style’ bombs on Tehran and elsewhere…

Powerful explosions erupt live on Iranian state TV — right from Revolution Square in Tehran

The Iranians didn’t flinch, showing even more defiance and waving their country’s flags even harder pic.twitter.com/Q17UvbUqI3

— RT (@RT_com) March 10, 2026

Israeli officials are also signaling that the war is far from over, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in a visit to IDF troops, “Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet.”

As for the narrative from Tehran, leaders remain defiant – also as there’s some degree of evidence of a “rally around the flag” effect, meaning Iranians have been filmed out in the street pledging allegiance to the nation and the new Supreme Leader. Iranian officials are loudly and boldly declaring Washington and Tel Aviv failed in their initial war objectives.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei has proven that regime change efforts have collapsed. “They thought that, in a matter of two or three days, they can go for a regime change, they can go for a rapid, clean victory, but they failed… they failed to achieve their goals at the beginning, and now, after 10 days, I think they are aimless,” Foreign Minister Araghchi told PBS News Hour.

Case in point, from the speaker of the Iranian parliament right now: https://t.co/8XmCfHrk7Q pic.twitter.com/8lVJt7zQh0

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 10, 2026

Araghchi also rejected claims that Iran is responsible for rising oil prices and disruptions to global shipping, describing that “This is not our plan” and that “The oil production, the transportation of oil has been slowed down or stopped not because of us, because of the attacks and aggression made by Israelis and Americans against us.”

Iran says it is still prepared for a “long war” and to fight to the end. On the question of closing Hormuz, the Iranian top diplomat claimed, “We have not closed that strait. We are not preventing them to navigate in that strait. But this is the result of the aggression by Israelis and Americans, which has made the whole region insecure, unstable.” Additionally the IRGC has said that Iran, not the United States, will determine when the war ends.

Pressed on Iranian strikes targeting oil facilities in the region, Araghchi insisted Tehran is acting in self-defense. “We are facing an act of aggression, which is absolutely illegal. And what we are doing is the act of self-defense, which is legal and legitimate.”

Amid continuing Hormuz crisis, more analysts are waking up to fact that Iran’s capability to disrupt transit through the strait has little to do with the large surface vessels that Trump has been exuberant about sinking.

Iran will use its geography and unconventional warfare. https://t.co/mwGIvPSyLE

— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 10, 2026

“Well, we have already warned everybody in the region that, if the US attacks us, since we cannot reach the American soil, we have to attack their bases in the region, their facilities, their installations, their assets.”

Iran’s foreign ministry has also taken the opportunity to fire back at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after she said the Iranian people “deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future.”

“Please spare the hypocrisy,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X. “You’ve made a career out of standing on the wrong side of history — green-lighting occupation, genocide, and atrocities, and now laundering U.S./Israeli crime of aggression and war crimes against Iranians.”

“Where was your voice when more than 165 innocent IRANIAN little angels were massacred in the city of Minab?” he questioned. “Why don’t you say anything when hospitals, historical sites, oil facilities, diplomatic police headquarter, firefighting stations and residential neighborhoods are wickedly targeted?” He concluded that it’s been: “Silence in the face of lawlessness and atrocity is nothing less than complicity.”

Whether it is Chevron, Tesla, Oracle, Caterpillar, CBRE, Fisher Investments, and/or an expanding roster of other major companies, corporate America has spent the better part of the post-Covid era shifting headquarters to Texas for one simple reason: the state offers a much more business-friendly environment than left-leaning blue states.

In a proxy filing on Tuesday, Exxon Mobil asked shareholders to approve moving its legal domicile from New Jersey to Texas after more than a century in New Jersey.

The main reason executives want to move to the red state is its friendlier business climate, which offers more predictable decision-making and could also reduce exposure to frivolous lawsuits.

“The Texas Redomiciliation may reduce the risk of future frivolous litigation against the Texas Corporation and its directors and officers,” Exxon wrote in the filing.

If approved at Exxon’s May 27 shareholder meeting, the company would be governed by Texas law on issues such as bylaws, director duties, and shareholder rights. Exxon noted that most of its senior leadership and about a third of its global workforce are already based in Texas.

Exxon’s evolution from its Standard Oil days has left it incorporated in New Jersey since the 1880s, and its attempt to move is yet another example of corporate America abandoning states run by left-wing politicians pushing a failed green agenda and other destructive progressive policies in favor of red states governed by common sense.

Here’s a partial list of physical headquarters moved to Texas:

• Chevron — from San Ramon, California, to Houston, announced in August 2024.

• Tesla — from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, announced in 2021.

• Oracle — from Redwood City, California, to Austin, announced in 2020.

• Caterpillar — from Illinois to Irving, Texas, announced in 2022.

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise — from San Jose, California, to Spring, Texas, announced in 2020.

• CBRE — from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2020.

• Frontier Communications — from Connecticut to Dallas in 2023.

• Fisher Investments — from Washington to Plano in 2023.

• Professional Bull Riders (PBR) — from Colorado to Fort Worth in 2024.

• Verily Life Sciences — from California to Dallas in 2024.

The Texas governor’s office reports that Texas logged 314 headquarters relocations from 2015 to 2024, including 24 in 2024 alone.

Now, Texas is taking on Wall Street with its own exchange, the Texas Stock Exchange.

For the four weeks ending February 21, 2026, ADP reports that private employers added an average of 15,500 jobs a week. 

Employment gains reached their highest since Thanksgiving week last year, holding steady in February after five straight weeks of strengthening. 

This positive labor market signal stands in the face of last week’s surprised plunge in non-farm payrolls – driven by a strike-triggered drop in Healthcare jobs and a huge revisions in the labor force as native workers suddenly disappeared.

Combined with the ongoing strength of the jobless claims data, once could argue that the ‘no hire, no fire’ economy is edging back towards jobs growth.