3 h. ago US judge orders release of grand jury transcripts in Epstein case

A US federal judge on Friday ordered the release of the grand jury transcripts from the investigation in Florida of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department requested the unsealing of the transcripts after US President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring the public release of all government records regarding Epstein. Grand jury proceedings are generally kept secret and a previous Justice Department request to unseal the transcripts from Epstein’s Florida case...

Events

54 h. ago Photos of Epstein’s notorious private island released by US Democrats

Democrats in the US Congress released photos and videos on Wednesday showing the luxury island home where convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly forced underage girls into sex with powerful men. The images of Epstein’s former Caribbean hideaway shed little new light on the complex scandal. However, they could add pressure on the Trump administration to comply with a requirement to release all the investigative files compiled during years of probes into Epstein’s activities – with...

Politics

67 h. ago China’s move to seal records of offences like drug use sparks public backlash

Records of minor offences will be sealed under a new regulation rather than linked to a person’s identity information – a move that is proving unpopular among the public though it has been welcomed by legal experts. The new rule is part of the amended Public Security Administration Punishments Law, which was introduced in 2006 and includes minor offences such as drug use, soliciting prostitutes and minor brawls. National People’s Congress lawmakers approved the revision in June and it will take...

Events

3 d. ago Trump’s America still needs its allies to manage China competition

“Some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” US President Donald Trump declared while hosting New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the Oval Office. “I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job,” he added, marking a dramatic turnabout after months of attacking Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” endangering Trump’s beloved city. In another reversal, Trump also cleared the release of the Epstein files after months of stiff resistance in the face of growing...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘America first’ can’t mean America alone if West hopes to counter China

“Some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” US President Donald Trump declared while hosting New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the Oval Office. “I want him to do a great job, and we’ll help him do a great job,” he added, marking a dramatic turnabout after months of attacking Mamdani as a “communist lunatic” endangering Trump’s beloved city. In another reversal, Trump also cleared the release of the Epstein files after months of stiff resistance in the face of growing...

Politics

1 week ago AI fake audio clip of Trump ‘not releasing’ Epstein files goes viral

Left-leaning social media users have amplified an AI-generated audio clip purporting to show US President Donald Trump screaming at US officials to block the release of documents related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, researchers said on Friday. In recent weeks, renewed public furore over the so-called Epstein files has consumed US politics, spurring a showdown between lawmakers and Trump, a former friend of the late convicted sex offender. “Not releasing the Epstein files,” a...

Politics

2 w. ago White House defends Trump calling a female reporter ‘piggy’ after Epstein question

The White House on Thursday defended US President Donald Trump after he called a female reporter “piggy” as she questioned him about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the president’s remarks reflected his frankness and transparency. In the exchange aboard Air Force One last week, which has since gone viral, Trump leaned towards the reporter, pointed his finger and said “Quiet, piggy” as she pressed him about a recently released Epstein email in which the New York financier...

Politics

2 w. ago Bondi says she’ll ‘follow the law’ on Epstein files, as bill heads to Trump

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department “will follow the law” after the passage of legislation forcing the government to release files on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Bondi, speaking to reporters Wednesday after the Senate sent the bill to US President Donald Trump for his signature, said the law will be followed “while providing maximum transparency and protecting victims”. The attorney general, who, like Trump, has faced criticism for previously declining to release the...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump signs bill approving Epstein files release after fighting it for months

US President Donald Trump signed legislation Wednesday that compels his administration to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting those efforts. Trump could have chosen to release many of the files on his own months ago. “Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories,” Trump said in a social media post...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump signs bill for Epstein files release after fighting it for months

US President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday that compels his administration to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to political pressure from his own party after initially resisting those efforts. Trump could have chosen to release many of the files on his own months ago. “Democrats have used the ‘Epstein’ issue, which affects them far more than the Republican Party, in order to try and distract from our AMAZING Victories,” Trump said in a social media...

Politics

2 w. ago Harvard reopens probe into Larry Summers after release of Epstein emails

Harvard University has reopened an investigation into connections between former President Larry Summers and Jeffrey Epstein, a university spokesman said on Wednesday, and Summers’ office said he would resign from the board of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. The university did not mention Summers by name, but the decision to restart the probe follows the release of emails showing that Summers, a former Treasury secretary, maintained a friendly relationship with Epstein long after the financier...

Politics

2 w. ago Larry Summers takes leave from teaching at Harvard after Epstein emails

Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers abruptly went on leave on Wednesday from teaching at Harvard University, where he once served as president, over recently released emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Summers’ spokesperson said. Summers had been retreating from his public commitments amid the fallout of the emails revelation, but he had maintained that he would continue teaching economics classes at Harvard. Yet by Wednesday evening, Summers had...

Politics

2 w. ago US lawmakers vote overwhelmingly to force release of Epstein files

The US House voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill on Tuesday to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership. When a small bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to manoeuvre around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the House...

Politics

2 w. ago US Congress approves release of Epstein files, sending bill to Trump

The Republican-controlled US Congress voted almost unanimously on Tuesday to force the release of Justice Department files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an outcome President Donald Trump had fought for months before ending his opposition. Two days after Trump’s abrupt about-face, the House of Representatives passed the measure with a vote of 427-1, sending a resolution requiring the release of all unclassified records on Epstein to the Republican-majority Senate, which...

Politics

2 w. ago US House to push forward on Epstein vote after Trump reversal

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday to force the release of investigative files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with passage seen as all but guaranteed after US President Donald Trump dropped his long-standing opposition. Trump’s reversal late on Sunday came days after a House petition gathered enough support to force a vote, a rare instance of House Republicans defying the president’s wishes. Until the weekend, Trump and...

Politics

2 w. ago US House pushes forward on Epstein files vote after Trump reversal

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives will vote on Tuesday on forcing the release of investigative files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with passage seen as all but guaranteed after President Donald Trump dropped his long-standing opposition. Trump’s reversal late on Sunday came days after a House petition gathered enough support to force a vote, a rare instance of House Republicans defying the president’s wishes. Until the weekend, Trump and his staff had lobbied hard...

Politics

2 w. ago In reversal, Trump says he supports a House vote to release the Epstein files

US President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it. “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a...

Politics

2 w. ago In reversal, Trump says House should vote to release the Epstein files

US President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it. “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump thought Epstein’s ghost was gone, it could haunt him in midterm election

President Donald Trump was eager to claim victory this week after the record-long US government shutdown ended on his terms. But almost immediately, the White House was forced to battle a familiar bogeyman: Jeffrey Epstein. A trove of emails released by Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday reignited questions about Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier and how much the president knew about Epstein’s alleged abuse of girls. While the White House swiftly dismissed...

Politics

3 w. ago Epstein alleged in private emails Trump ‘knew about the girls’: Democrats

Democrats released emails on Wednesday in which Jeffrey Epstein suggested that Donald Trump was aware of the financier’s sexual abuse and definitely “knew about the girls”. Trump has denied any involvement in or knowledge of the sex-trafficking activities of his former friend, who died by suicide in federal prison in 2019, as he was awaiting trial. But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the emails “raise serious questions about Donald Trump and his knowledge of Epstein’s horrific...

Politics