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In the news today: A U.S. soldier is charged with using classified information about the mission to capture Venezuela’s president to win more than $400,000 in a Polymarket bet; Trump defends his mathematically impossible drug price calculations; and he says Israel and Lebanon agree to extend a ceasefire. Also, a record-breaking journey in a three-wheeled car named Sheila.
In yesterday’s Morning Wire, our subject line, “Senate passes DHS funding,” was inaccurate. The bill passed was a plan for Department of Homeland Security funding, but not the funding itself, which would need to be passed in a separate bill.
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The Polymarket prediction market website is displayed on a computer screen, January 11, in New York. (AP Photo/Wyatte Grantham-Philips)
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US soldier charged with using classified intel to win $400K Polymarket bet on Maduro raid
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Gannon Ken Van Dyke was involved in the planning and execution of capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for about a month beginning last December, according to the federal prosecutor’s office in New York. Even though he signed nondisclosure agreements promising to not divulge “any classified or sensitive information” related to the operations, prosecutors say the Army soldier used this information to make a series of bets related to Maduro being out of power by the end of January. Read more.
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- The high-profile indictment comes as bipartisan lawmakers are considering legislation to ban prediction markets from allowing bets on war, assassinations or terrorist attacks.
Van Dyke has been charged by the Justice Department with unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, wire fraud and making an unlawful monetary transaction. He could face years in prison. A telephone number listed for Van Dyke in public records was not in service. There was not yet an attorney listed for him in court documents.
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‘Two ways of calculating’: Trump defends his mathematically impossible calculations on drug prices
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During a Thursday event announcing a deal with drugmaker Regeneron to lower the cost of its pharmaceutical products, Trump defended his past claims that prices on prescription medications had been cut by well over 100% — something that is mathematically impossible without manufacturers dropping prices to zero and then presumably paying consumers to use their product. Read more.
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Trump says Israel and Lebanon agree to extend ceasefire by 3 weeks
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President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group by three weeks after talks at the White House on Thursday. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday. Read more.
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These were the first direct diplomatic talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon, which have officially been at war since 1948. Trump said the meeting between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States went “very well,” but during an Oval Office gathering he acknowledged that “they do have Hezbollah to think about.” The Iranian-backed group has opposed the talks, and since the initial ceasefire went into effect last Friday, there have been multiple violations by both sides.
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READ
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WATCH
Reza Pahlavi: Iran’s exiled crown prince splattered with red liquid in Berlin
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Oliver Jenks poses with the Reliant Robin called “Sheila the three-wheeler” that he and Seth Scott drove from London to Cape Town in a bid to break a Guinness World Record, in Cape Town, South Africa, March 20. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht)
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How 2 men claimed an absurd record by driving an old 3-wheel car the length of Africa
Would you attempt a 14,000 mile road trip in a car with only three wheels? Well, that’s exactly what one Englishman and a Canadian set out to do. Ollie Jenks and Seth Scott took a Reliant Robin — the humble three-wheeler with cult status in the UK — for a spin, from London all the way to the southern tip of Africa. Read more about the world record setting 22-country journey of Jenks, Scott and Sheila, the silver three-wheeler and one of the last Reliant Robins ever built.
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