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Tranche of government-held files filled with ham-fisted redactions' and expose survivors' identities, say attorneysSurvivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation have reacted to the voluminous - and possibly last - tranche of government-held investigative documents with calls for further accountability for the scheme's alleged clients.It is without question that a significant piece of Epstein and [his convicted associate Ghislaine] Maxwell's vast sex trafficking operation was to provide young women and girls to other wealthy and powerful individuals," said Sigrid McCawley, a partner with Boies Schiller Flexner, a firm representing survivors of the scheme. Continue reading...

The Doomsday Clock is ticking ever more loudly as arms-control mechanisms fail and leaders become more reckless. The time to be alarmed is nowKeir Starmer's tentative pivot to the Dragon Throne has played well in Beijing, though not in Trumpland. That's partly because, like other needy western leaders, Britain's prime minister did not dwell on awkward subjects such as human rights abuses, the Jimmy Lai travesty, spying and Taiwan. But in talks with President Xi Jinping, one vital issue was avoided altogether and should not have been: China's dangerous, unexplained, secretive and rapid buildup of nuclear weapons.More than the climate crisis, global hunger, Kaiser Trump's Prussian militarism and the ever prevalent threat of pandemic disease, the uncontrolled proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the most immediate, existential threat to humanity. Last week, the Doomsday Clock advanced to 85 seconds to midnight - closer to Armageddon than ever before. Nuclear and other global risks are escalating fast and in unprecedented ways," warned the clock-watchers, via the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Continue reading...

Louisiana governor says the shooting in Clinton is absolutely horrific and unacceptable'Five people, including a six-year-old child, have been wounded in a shooting during a parade in Louisiana, sending people in the crowd fleeing for cover, authorities say.The shooting occurred shortly after the midday start of the Mardi Gras in the Country parade in Clinton, East Feliciana sheriff Jeff Travis told reporters. Continue reading...

Kristi Noem's department told to under no circumstances' get involved with protests in cities led by Democrats unless they ask for help - key US politics stories from 31 January at a glanceDonald Trump has instructed the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, not to intervene in protests occurring in cities led by Democrats unless local authorities ask for federal help amid mounting criticism of his administration's immigration crackdown.On his social media site, Trump posted that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help". Continue reading...

Latest Epstein file release shows 2003 emails between Casey Wasserman and the convicted sex traffickerCasey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, said on Saturday that he deeply regrets" emails from 2003 between him and Ghislaine Maxwell that appeared in the latest collection of government files released Friday on Jeffrey Epstein.Among the exchanges included one from Wasserman telling Maxwell I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?" Continue reading...

Brandon Johnson gives police clear procedure' to follow if they witness or get reports of agents involved in illegal activityChicago's mayor Brandon Johnson has ordered Chicago police to investigate and document alleged illegal activity by federal immigration (ICE) agents in the city, a move that will escalate tensions over jurisdiction between local and federal authorities.The executive order, titled ICE on Notice, gives Chicago police clear procedure" to follow if they witness or receive reports of ICE agents involved in illegal activity and refer evidence of potential violations to city prosecutors. Continue reading...

Justice department on Friday released 3m pages and lawmakers accuse it of not releasing roughly 50% of recordsSurvivors, lawmakers and watchdog groups accused Donald Trump's justice department of withholding records it is legally required to release following the disclosure of millions of files from the investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The justice department on Friday released 3m pages of documents from its investigation into the millionaire financier's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with wealthy and powerful figures, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton. The release was an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and, according to US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, all subject to extensive redactions". Continue reading...

Less than two weeks before convicted abuser was found dead, lawyers met with Manhattan federal prosecutorsLess than two weeks before Jeffrey Epstein's death in jail, his lawyers and Manhattan federal prosecutors met and discussed his potential cooperation, several documents within a cache of newly released investigative files state.On July 29, 2019, FBI and [prosecutors] met with Epstein's attorneys, who, in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant's cooperation," an FBI document titled Epstein Investigation Summary & Timeline" statement. Continue reading...

Federal immigration operation has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protestsA federal judge has denied a request by Minnesota's state government to end the federal immigration operation in Minneapolis that has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protests.The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, had lodged a lawsuit after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent this month, demanding an end to the Trump administration's Operation Metro Surge in the city. Continue reading...

Bovino, recently demoted, used the term chosen people' in sarcastic way as attorney Daniel Rosen observed ShabbatRecently demoted border patrol official Gregory Bovino reportedly made mocking and sarcastic remarks about the Jewish faith of Minnesota's US attorney, Daniel Rosen, during a phone call with prosecutors in the state earlier in January.According to the New York Times, Bovino mocked Rosen for observing Shabbat, a weekly day of rest that begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday - and used the term chosen people" in a sarcastic way during a phone call with the lawyers on 12 January. Continue reading...

Newly released files reveal how the paedophile tried to leverage his relationship with the former Duchess of York

The killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti have inspired people across the US to document federal agents' activities in their communitiesOn Monday night, nearly 80,000 people hopped on a video call to learn how to observe ICE", a non-violent and constitutionally protected practice of documenting federal immigration agents' activities in public. Some wrote in the chat where they were from: Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, Florida and many other corners of the country. Others typed why this was important to them: calling for ICE out" of their communities and demanding the abolition of the agency itself. The fact we're all here gives me hope we'll come out the other side," wrote one participant. Within 24 hours, another 200,000 people had watched the recording on YouTube.The rising interest in ICE observing came two days after Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent and less than three weeks after an agent killed Renee Good. Continue reading...

Federal prosecutors had identified 6 million files that were potentially responsive' to the law, but only released 3.5. Why?The justice department released a trove of 3.5m files related to the dead financier and pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, with deputy attorney general Todd Blanche declaring that the release would likely be the last major declassification of files relating to Epstein. Federal prosecutors had identified 6 million files that were potentially responsive" to the law, meaning that there are millions of files that have still not been released.The release marked a belated and partial compliance with a bill passed by Congress late last year, which had mandated that all government documents pertaining to Epstein and the various law enforcement investigations into his sexual abuse of girls be made public by 19 December 2025. Continue reading...

Residents line up to support businesses that became refuges from teargas, and refresh the memorial dailyNothing is quite as it used to be along Nicollet Avenue.The spot where Alex Pretti was gunned down by federal agents has been cordoned off by orange stakes and caution tape, appearing like a giant gash along the block between 26th and 27th streets. Continue reading...

The Save Act - which would do the opposite of its title - could have a huge impact on the midterm electionsIf you are anything like me, then you are currently pickling in your own cortisol. As the US grows increasingly violent, increasingly cruel, every day brings a legion of new horrors. So I'm very sorry to say that I'm here to ruin your weekend by giving you yet another thing to worry about. That thing is called the Save Act and, if the Trump administration gets its way, it could have an oversized impact on the November midterms, particularly when it comes to minorities and married women being able to vote.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Latest documents indicate high-profile figures continued friendships with financier after child sex abuse convictions

At least 10 people have died in freezing temperatures as support groups warn of lack of affordable housingFor years, an older man nicknamed Uncle" came to get dinner each night from a Coalition for the Homeless van that stopped in Hudson Yards.Volunteers could not convince him to go to a shelter because he feared getting attacked. He was often barefoot, but when the organization offered him sneakers, size 12, he only accepted them if they were scuffed because he didn't want to get robbed. Continue reading...

Minnesota should not cave to Trump's demands. The rights of 49 other states and their citizens are hanging in the balanceDonald Trump appears to be practicing his art of the deal" on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz: he is attempting to extract concessions from the North Star state in exchange for a drawdown" of federal ICE agents. While the details of the contemplated agreement are not clear, border czar Tom Homan's remarks on Thursday morning and reports of his negotiations with state and local leaders suggest dialing back Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is contingent on striking an agreement for increased cooperation between federal and local law enforcement: Minnesota must agree to participate in ICE roundups by turning over undocumented immigrants in its custody, ending various sanctuary city" protections, and giving ICE agents more direct access to state penitentiaries to conduct their own roundups prior to the release of undocumented inmates. A letter from Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, sent earlier this week went even further and suggested the justice department's civil rights division might be demanding access to state voter rolls in exchange for the ICE drawdown. Trump's offhand remark Thursday evening denying plans to draw down ICE confused matters by contradicting Homan's statement from earlier in the day - but perhaps that was just an indication that negotiations on Thursday did not go all that well for Team Trump.That would not be surprising. If Walz were to agree to such terms - concessions literally extracted at gunpoint under threat of continued use of unlawful force by federal immigration agents - he would be abandoning critical domains of state autonomy for the fruitless attempt to appease a president that will accept no limits except those forced upon it by necessity or recommended to it by self-interest. As law firms, universities, foreign leaders, and even former partners in crime have discovered, it is perilous to negotiate with a rank opportunist who lives by no other rule than that of self-interest. For Trump, the alternative to getting handed what he wants voluntarily is taking it by force. The FBI raid on the Fulton county elections office in Georgia to seize about 700 boxes of ballots from the 2020 election sent a well-timed message to Minnesota as well as to any other swing state from which the Trump administration may demand such data: if you don't give us what we asked for, we'll take it anyway.Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle professor of law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. She is also the founder and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at Penn's Annenberg Public Policy Center Continue reading...

Rybakina won her first Australian Open title and avenged her loss to Sabalenka in the 2023 final after staging a third-set fightback to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

ICE Out of Everywhere' demonstrations, including vigils and marches, follow Friday's national strikeMore than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC, today, in what organizers are calling ICE Out of Everywhere".Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say today's protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Revelation that subsidiary of Capgemini is to help trace and expel migrants in US provokes outrage in FranceFrench lawmakers have demanded an explanation after one of the country's biggest tech companies signed a multimillion dollar contract to help the US enforcement agency ICE trace and expel migrants.The revelation that a subsidiary of Capgemini, a multinational digital services firm listed on the Paris stock exchange, had agreed to provide skip tracing" - a technique for locating targeted people - with big bonuses if successful, has provoked outrage in France. Continue reading...

Democratic senators refuse to vote for bill authorizing continued DHS spending after killings of two US citizensFunding lapsed for several US government departments on Saturday, the result of a standoff in Congress over new restrictions on federal agents involved in Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign following the killings of two US citizens in Minneapolis.The partial government shutdown is the result of Democratic senators refusing to vote for a bill authorizing continued spending by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), after federal agents killed Alex Pretti in Minnesota's largest city last week, and Renee Good earlier in January. The minority party's blockade imperiled a push by Republicans for approval of larger package of legislation funding other departments, which needed to pass the Senate before the government's spending authorization expired Friday. Continue reading...

People demonstrate in cities across country to demand end to Trump's violent immigration crackdownThousands of protesters hit the streets in cities across the United States on Friday to protests to demand the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.The demonstrations were part of a nationwide day of action, advocating no work, no school, no shopping" in a protest against the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdowns. Continue reading...

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Democrats question redactions and whether Trump officials are holding back more documents - key US politics stories from 30 January at a glanceThe US justice department has released more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a long-awaited announcement that appears to represent the bulk of the so-called Epstein files that have dogged Donald Trump politically.While an analysis is still under way, the release exposes previously unknown financial ties and social connections between Epstein and prominent figures in the US and UK - including some in the president's orbit. Continue reading...

In nationwide day of action, people brave plunging cold temperatures to march in city and demonstrate against ICEThousands chanted and marched in New York City on Friday to protest the Trump administration's escalating mass deportation campaign.Among the protesters were young and old people, all braving plunging cold temperatures in thick coats, hats and gloves. Continue reading...

Lemon and three others charged with civil rights crimes, says DoJ, as White House celebrates arrest on social mediaDon Lemon, the former CNN anchor, was released on Friday after being arrested late on Thursday on charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month.Outside a federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles after his release, Lemon vowed not to be silenced, saying: I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now." Continue reading...

Thursday's arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort demonstrate the administration's lawless crusade against routine journalismTwo federal courts reviewed the government's evidence against journalist Don Lemon and declined to approve his arrest last week. But nevertheless, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, persisted, desperate to please her authoritarian boss no matter what the constitution and law say or what her ethical obligations as an attorney require.Thursday's arrests of Lemon and Georgia Fort, an independent journalist - like the recent raid on Hannah Natanson, the Washington Post reporter - demonstrate the administration's lawless crusade against routine journalism. In normal times the expectation is that even when a journalist's conduct might technically fit the legal elements of a crime - jaywalking to get footage of a protest, for example - prosecutors will exercise their discretion and judgment to not apply the law in a manner that chills the free press.Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer Continue reading...

Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said at a press conference that to protect victims the department 'redacted every woman depicted in any image or video, with the exception of [Ghislaine] Maxwell'. Blanche expressed sympathy for Epstein's victims, saying that they 'have gone through unspeakable pain ... I hope that the work that the men and women within this department have done over the past two months is able to bring closure.' He also added that 'with a production of this magnitude, mistakes are inevitable' and invited 'victims to reach us directly to correct redactions and any concerns when appropriate' Continue reading...

Group advised Kathy Hochul, Zohran Mamdani, and city and state comptrollers of legal obligations' not to abet crimesA human rights group has warned New York state and local officials that investment of public funds in bonds issued by Israel violates both international law and fiduciary duties and may expose officials and beneficiaries alike to substantial legal, ethical and financial risks".The warning, from the human rights group Dawn, was sent on Friday along with a 26-page memo to the New York governor, Kathy Hochul; the state's attorney general, Letitia James; New York City's mayor, Zohran Mamdani; and the state and city comptrollers, Tom DiNapoli and Mark Levine, respectively. It calls on them to immediately cease new purchases and divest any current holdings in Israeli bonds, arguing the investments violate legal obligations not to aid and abet Israeli crimes and their fiduciary duties to taxpayers", Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Dawn, said in a statement. Continue reading...

The arrest of the 59-year-old anchor, who once stood at the apex of news media, has thrust him back into the spotlight

Nurses gathered outside a Veterans Affairs hospital in Manhattan to mourn Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis Continue reading...

Arctic air moving into region will also freeze Tennessee, as 230,000 households still remain without power in areaFreezing weather that will reach deep into Florida was moving across the south-eastern US on Friday as millions braced for another weekend blast of winter storms following last week's deadly assault that killed at least 85 people.Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in southern states were without power for a sixth day on Friday as the next onslaught of blizzards, ice and biting cold winds approached. Continue reading...

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Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the final World Cup downhill before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, leaving the American skiing great limping and clutching her left knee as organisers abandoned the race amid worsening conditions.The 41-year-old lost control after landing a jump on the upper section of the course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, skidding sideways into the safety netting as snow fell steadily and visibility deteriorated.She was later airlifted from the finish area by helicopter, suspended by a rope as she was transported away across the Swiss Alps.