Real estate agent brothers Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander – known as ‘closers' – are on trial in New York for sex trafficking In their time as real estate brokers, the Israeli-American Alexander brothers – twins Alon and Oren and older brother Tal – were known as “closers”, the salesmen who could a get a sale over finish line, often to wealthy hedge funders who were then making hay in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Nightclubs in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Miami, Aspen, Tulum and Ibiza were seasonal stops. Tal and Oren, 38, were profiled in the New York Times on “How Two Luxury Real Estate Agents Spend Their Sundays”. US Vogue featured Oren's wedding to a Brazilian model. But a far nastier picture of their high life has been on display in court for the past few weeks, where the three brothers are on trial for sex trafficking. The civil case against Oren and his twin began in March 2024 when they were sued by Kate Whiteman, a woman who said she had met at a Manhattan nightclub in 2012. She claimed they had forced her into an SUV as she was leaving and drove her to the Hamptons, where she was assaulted at a party mansion called Sir Ivan's Castle. But Whiteman is not in court to testify. Authorities in New South Wales have said the circumstances of Whiteman's death “were found to be non-suspicious”. Bodjnoud told jurors she was in the house when a party of men returned and she saw Tal “dragging” a woman who “was not walking on her own” to the pool. “Then the next thing I heard was a woman screaming and just asking people to stop,” she testified. Bodjnoud, who said she was “terrified” to intervene, said she had written “rapist” and “you need to apologize” on the brothers' door before she left the house but acknowledged she had not called 911 and was warned that the Alexander brothers “were very powerful”. A day earlier, jurors were shown text exchanges the government says showed that the brothers coordinated to secure drugs – including ketamine, Xanax, Ambien and GHB – they allegedly used to incapacitate women lured with the promise of luxury travel and exclusive experiences. In one exchange from September 2011, Alon texted about an upcoming party, telling the recipient to “throw some panty dropper pills in the dishes sent to our table”. Maylen Gehret, who is suing Alon and Oren for sexual assault, told the court that Alon raped her in Aspen, Colorado, in 2017 when she was 17. After a second drink, her head began to feel “really heavy” and she could “barely hold it up”. “It really hurt, and I was so scared,” Gehret testified. But when the defense takes its turn, attorneys are set to argue that both the civil lawsuits and criminal allegations against the brothers are an intertwined conspiracy led by women seeking to extort them. Outside court last week, their father Shlomi Alexander, who emigrated from Israel to the US to start a successful security company before branching into Miami real estate, claimed the cases had begun with a $35m effort to extort him. Under cross-examination, defense attorneys have pressed witnesses on changes to their testimony, timelines, and claimed that prior statements don't align with what the jury heard. In opening arguments last month, defense attorney Teny Geragos said the brothers were successful, arrogant young men “who liked and pursued women”, adding “that's not trafficking. But she acknowledged the jury may frown upon their lifestyle and vulgar communications. “Two things can be true at once – you can disapprove of their lifestyle and still find them not guilty”, Geragos said before a courtroom packed with family and supporters of the brothers.

The Department of Justice on Saturday sent Congress a list of “politically exposed persons” in the millions of files released related to its probes into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The six-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, includes the names of many prominent figures who appear in the files, regardless of the context, and does not specify the degree to which the people were linked to or in contact with Epstein. The letter is signed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and addressed to top members on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. While some of the people on the list have well-documented ties to the convicted sex offender, others, are not known to have ever personally interacted with Epstein. The list includes presidents, cultural icons, business leaders and government officials. No one on the list, other than Epstein and his accomplice Ghislane Maxwell, have ever been charged in connection with Epstein's crimes. He claimed the DOJ is “purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email.” Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a vocal ally of Epstein survivors, slammed the DOJ in a Saturday night social media post, claiming there are “missing names on the list disclosed this evening.” As in its previous letters to Congress, the DOJ lists reasons for redacting information in the files that go beyond what the law passed by Congress requires, including documents showing deliberative process, work product and attorney-client communications that would be privileged. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.

Elation as anti-extremists fight back against influence of billionaire megadonors through grassroots organizing Chris Tackett started tracking extremism in Texas politics about a decade ago, whenever his schedule as a Little League coach and school board member would allow. At the time, he lived in Granbury, 40 minutes west of Fort Worth. He'd noticed that a local member of the state legislature, Mike Lang, had become a vocal advocate for using public money for private schools – despite the fact that Lang campaigned as a supporter of public education. With a little research, Tackett found that Lang had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the Wilks brothers and Tim Dunn, billionaire megadonors whose deep pockets and Christian nationalist views have consumed the Texas GOP. Tackett published his findings on social media, and soon enough, people started asking him to create pie charts of their representatives' campaign funds. “There's so many people out there that are so busy with their daily lives, they're walking past and not even seeing some of these bad things going on,” he says. “So that's the first step: you have to see this thing.” Tackett and his wife Mendi, the organisation's sole members, now live in Fort Worth, where they're part of a scrappy community of progressives and anti-extremist organizers who are building momentum amid their town's deeply embedded Christian nationalism. Tarrant county, in which Fort Worth is the largest city, provided a chilling preview of Texas's gerrymandering efforts, and the county is widely regarded as a hotbed for far-right actors. What's more, he bested Republican Leigh Wambsganss despite having one-tenth as much money. Much of Wambsganss's funding came from Dunn and the Wilks brothers. Republicans blamed low turnout for Rehmet's victory, while pundits opined that the Trump administration's unpopularity was to blame. But people in Fort Worth say local organizing was central to the upset – and it will be key to any future victories in Texas, too. Alexander Montalvo, a longtime grassroots organizer in Tarrant county, points to several examples where local advocates have successfully rallied for causes they believe. Then there were the school board elections last May, where every candidate endorsed by the Christian nationalist cellphone carrier Patriot Mobile lost their election. Patriot Mobile – where Wambsganss works as an executive – had previously racked up several wins across Tarrant county, effectively taking over multiple boards. Now, after those May losses and Rehmet's win, the company's political influence is in doubt. Tackett says he's in close contact with organizers like Montalvo and other Tarrant County residents who meet up for what's called the “817 Gather”: a monthly meeting of people activated by the extremism that's run rampant in their area. It's really all about what we stand for, because we can agree that public education is foundational to the success of our democracy. We can agree that a person should have rights over their own body, and it should be easier to vote, not harder to vote.” The Tacketts publish social media videos spotlighting their concerned neighbors – often as they speak at those local meetings – and putting local extremists on display. That meeting was hosted by For Liberty & Justice, a local political organisation affiliated with a Fort Worth church called Mercy Culture which is seeking actively encourage conservative Christians to run for office and break down barriers between church and state in the US. When it comes to Christian nationalism in Tarrant County, multiple people interviewed for this story say no institution looms larger than Mercy Culture. “Mercy Culture is not just a church,” says Wesley Kirk, a lifelong Fort Worthian and one of the hosts of the 817 Pod. Chanin Scanlon, a former Fort Worth resident who recently moved to San Antonio, puts it bluntly. The Tacketts have used their popular social media presence to chronicle Mercy Culture's rising influence. Using a voter score analysis, Tackett also found that 57% of runoff voters fell into one of two groups: true independents, or “Democratic-leaning voters who regularly vote in Republican primaries because, in ‘deep-red' Texas, the GOP primary is the only election that matters in most cycles.” (Fifty-seven percent is the total percentage of the electorate that Rehmet won.) “What we saw wasn't massive Republican crossover,” he wrote. “It was Democrats – many of whom have been forced to play in GOP primaries for years – finally getting a meaningful choice and showing up.” “Being an authentic person goes a long way for voters these days.” “There's actually a big enough and a diverse enough base amongst Democratic voters in Tarrant county that if we actually invest in those communities, we have the votes to be able to win,” he says.

When Howard Lutnick had a problem in 2018, he turned to his next-door neighbor for help: Jeffrey Epstein. Lutnick emailed Epstein's assistant in May 2018 about a proposed expansion to the Frick Collection, a museum one block south of Lutnick's and Epstein's adjacent townhouses on East 71st Street in Manhattan. “No i was not,” Epstein responded after his assistant forwarded Lutnick's email. The email exchange shows that Lutnick, now President Donald Trump's commerce secretary, communicated with Epstein more than a decade after he claimed he cut off all contact with the convicted sex offender who died in 2019. Lutnick, the highest-ranking Trump administration official prominently named in the Epstein files — outside of the president himself — has faced calls for his resignation on Capitol Hill, where he was grilled Tuesday during a Senate hearing over his ties to Epstein and confirmed he visited Epstein at his island with his family for lunch. Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein. Interviews with executives and others on Wall Street, where the former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO is viewed skeptically in some corners, show that the Epstein disclosures have sparked a fresh round of questions about Lutnick's future and his role as cheerleader of Trump's tariff-driven trade agenda. And it's not an ambiguous call,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, founder of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, said of Lutnick's claims he ended all contact with Epstein in 2005. “Every CEO who shakes hands with Howard Lutnick will want to wash them afterwards.” But inside the White House, there's no indication that Lutnick — perhaps one of the few Cabinet secretaries Trump considers a personal friend — will face any repercussions. Lutnick traveled with the president on Friday on Air Force One to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where Trump gave his commerce secretary a shoutout during his speech. If the president's support for Lutnick ever wavers, it won't be over the Epstein files — an issue that Trump has sought unsuccessfully to bury for months, including urging Americans earlier this month to “get onto something else,” people familiar with internal White House discussions told CNN. A Commerce Department spokesperson said in a statement: “This is nothing more than a failing attempt by the legacy media to distract from the administration's accomplishments including securing trillions of dollars in investment, delivering historic trade deals and fighting for the American worker.” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said: “President Trump maintains complete confidence in Secretary Lutnick because he has been the most transformative Commerce Secretary in modern history and is a champion of the President's America First trade and tariffs policies.” Within the White House, one of the people said, Lutnick is increasingly unpopular among aides who view him as an abrasive figure who frequently fans Trump's worst impulses on issues like tariffs — and who has a knack for finding ways to be by the president's side. Lutnick alienated a swath of Trump advisers and allies shortly after the 2024 election over his campaign to become Treasury secretary, which touched off a bruising behind-the-scenes battle against Scott Bessent that delayed Trump's decision on the critical Cabinet role for days. Others still hold Lutnick responsible for cheerleading the rollout of Trump's “Liberation Day” tariffs — a disastrous event that shook global markets and forced the administration to quickly walk back much of its disruptive trade strategy. They are fellow New Yorkers who have known each other for decades, and one person familiar with the internal discussions said Lutnick enjoys a protected status as an “FOT” — or Friend of Trump. “From what I hear, he was there with his wife and children, and I guess in some cases some people were,” Trump said. In October 2025, Lutnick told the New York Post in a podcast interview that he and his wife decided to cut off contact with Epstein in 2005 after the financier showed off a massage table and made suggestive comments while giving the Lutnicks a tour not long after they had moved in next door. “In the six or eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again,” Lutnick said. “So I was never in the room with him, socially, for business, or even philanthropy. But a CNN review of emails in the Epstein files shows that both Lutnick and his wife in fact communicated with Epstein for many years afterward, including on social, business and philanthropic matters. His office would like to know if you would like to set up a call while he is away or if you prefer to speak with him on Monday April 4th when he is back,” a redacted person emailed Epstein in March 2011. The next month, Epstein was told in an email from a redacted sender, “Howard Lutnick returned your call.” Lutnick asked for coordinates for his boat captain, proposing a dinner and noting he was accompanied by his wife, another couple and each family's four children. little st jamcs on the map, behind christmans cove,” a redacted sender responded to Lutnick. Lutnick's wife followed up with Epstein's assistant asking where to anchor, writing in a subsequent email that they were arriving on a “188 foot yacht.” At Tuesday's Senate hearing, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pressed Lutnick about the lunch and his prior claims of cutting off contact in 2005. Lutnick acknowledged visiting the island while on vacation, but said that he saw nothing untoward and that he was there only briefly with his family. I did not have any relationship with him,” Lutnick said. “I barely had anything to do with that person, OK.” Lutnick's dealings with Epstein continued in the years that followed. And in 2017, Epstein donated $50,000 to a dinner honoring Lutnick hosted by the UJA-Federation of New York. Billionaire investor John Paulson, who was UJA's chairman of its Wall Street & Financial Services division, wrote in an email invitation to Epstein's assistant: “As Chairman of the Wall Street Division, I want to make sure that as a close friend of the Lutnicks, you are aware of the event and have the opportunity to support them.” Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican who also pressed for release of the Epstein files, said she was “concerned with anyone who would hang out with a convicted pedophile” when asked about Lutnick. On Wall Street, there was mixed reaction over the Lutnick disclosures. An economist close to large institutional investors said that Lutnick has long been seen negatively by much of Wall Street thanks to his push for Trump to embrace tariffs, and that the markets might even react positively if he left the administration. “When a trade goes bad, you cut your losses and move on,” the economist said. But one Wall Street executive told CNN that Lutnick has become a key part of the business side of the Trump administration, so investors might get concerned if he were pushed out. CNN's Austin Culpepper, Em Steck, MJ Lee, Manu Raju and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.

Tech billionaires are leveraging tens of millions of dollars to influence California politics in a marked uptick from their previous participation in affairs at the state capitol. Behemoths such as Google and Meta are getting involved in campaigns for November's elections, as are venture capitalists, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and Palantir's co-founders. The industry's goals run the gamut – from fighting a billionaire tax to supporting a techie gubernatorial candidate to firing up new, influential super political action committees (Pacs). Gavin Newsom, California's tech-friendly governor who's been quick to veto legislation that cramps the sector's unfettered growth, is reaching his term limit. That means Silicon Valley needs to find a new ally. The industry may have found its candidate in an upstart mayor from San Jose, Matt Mahan. Rather than going all-in on one candidate or issue, McCuan said the tech sector is using a multi-pronged attack in California. They are also donating heavily to groups campaigning for relaxed taxation and minimal regulation around AI. Unlike other industries, such as oil and pharma, tech has been relatively tame when it comes to lobbying in the state. California is now ground zero for tech titans working to become omnipresent in politics. Robert Singleton, the senior director of policy in California for the tech industry group Chamber of Progress, said this moment has been brewing for a long time and it just needed the right thing to set it off. “The introduction of that billionaire tax obviously galvanized a lot of wealthy individuals who don't want to see that happen, and who will spend money to make sure it doesn't happen,” Singleton said. “That tipped them into wanting to get more involved.” The “California Billionaire Tax Act”, often referred to simply as the billionaire tax, is a proposal that would require any California resident worth more than $1bn to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, worth $229bn, has also bought a property in south Florida valued between $150 and $200m. Other major donors include realtors, entrepreneurs and private equity firms. James Siminoff, who founded the camera-embedded Ring doorbell company, also donated $100,000, according to public records. “You can even pre-empt something getting to the ballot, like a billionaire's tax, by explaining to everyone out there that this is a bad idea for economic growth.” Tech investors and venture capitalists have been extremely vocal in their opposition to the tax, saying that the state will lose revenue as billionaires flee and it will hurt the state's ability to be economically competitive. Just this week, Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive and current venture capital investor, wrote “the loss of this tax revenue was totally avoidable but is now forever”. Adding on, Paul Graham, the co-founder of seed capital firm Y Combinator, wrote: “It's important that people like Zuck and Larry Page are willing to move in response to the proposed wealth tax. It shows politicians what will happen if they try things like this.” Several Super Pacs have popped up over the past few months and tech is injecting these committees with tens of millions. McCuan said this strategy is helpful for the ultra-wealthy because it allows them to stay behind the scenes, while donating limitless money. “You could create some amorphous sounding organization like ‘Californians for All That is Good and Right Under the Sun',” McCuan said. Meta launched two new Super Pacs last fall, which are focused on dialing back AI regulation and supporting AI-friendly candidates. The company contributed $45m to one, the American Technology Excellence Project, which will operate in several states but hasn't yet established a committee in California. Ron Conway, a longtime Democratic tech donor, has also donated $100,000 to this committee, which says it aims to support favorable candidates in the state but will not just focus on issues affecting the tech industry, according to Politico. The crypto industry is getting into Super Pacs too, debuting a group called Grow California. The committee opened with $10m from crypto executive Chris Larsen and evangelist Tim Draper. Larsen told the New York Times he plans to give $30m more. They're completely fucking owned by one side,” Larsen, who's the chair of crypto company Ripple, told Politico. Backed with Silicon Valley money, several different 501(c)(4) groups formed over the past couple election cycles to throw support behind preferred mayoral and board of supervisor candidates. They also bankrolled successful recall campaigns for a progressive district attorney and members of the school board. The California governor's race has been a crowded field without notable frontrunners. Newsom had been a long-time friend of the tech industry, hosting Google's Page and Brin as guests at his wedding and referring to Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff as “family”. But then, late last month, Mahan, a moderate Democrat and the mayor of San Jose, announced his candidacy. He was an undergraduate at Harvard with Zuckerberg, and in 2014 co-founded a startup with funding from Conway, Benioff and Napster co-founder Sean Parker. According to public records, he's received donations from several venture capitalists, along with Roblox CEO David Baszucki, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, GitHub co-founder Chris Wanstrath, Cloudkitchen co-founder Diego Berdakin, and Ring founder Siminoff. Mahan has even courted donors who helped launch companies known for working with the Trump administration, including Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Anduril co-founder Matt Grimm and his wife Kimberly Grimm, according to public records. Google's Brin has also backed Mahan, maxing out the limit for an individual campaign donation at $78,400. Several of Mahan's other tech backers also maxed out their donations. At this point, Mahan has now raised more than double the two most prominent democrats in the race, Eric Swalwell and Katie Porter. “It's going to be a fun session,” Singleton said.

Critics accuse administration of ‘cooking the books' by claiming US would save $1.3tn from climate finding reversal The Trump administration claims its latest move to gut climate regulations and end all greenhouse gas standards for vehicles will save Americans money. Late on Thursday night, EPA published a regulatory impact analysis to back up that number. The savings will come from two places, the document says: some $1.1tn will stem from reduced vehicle prices, while another $200bn will come from slashed electric vehicle purchases and lowered spending on charging infrastructure. But a chart within the analysis indicates that the US will through 2055 incur $1.4tn in additional costs from increased fuel purchases, vehicle repair and maintenance, insurance, traffic congestion and noise. An additional $40bn in costs will come from reduced energy security, increased refueling time and lowered “drive value”, or costs associated with operating a vehicle. That low fuel price case is based on report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). But that imagined circumstance is “not really realistic”, said Harris. “That EIA's low oil price [scenario] was never meant to show the effect of any policies that Trump would implement,” she said. The EPA also fails to provides evidence to support the claim that Trump's policy will “or even could” drive down fuel prices to the extent envisioned in that scenario, Harris said. Trump has repeatedly pledged to lower gasoline prices for Americans. But when the analysis compares a case study in which vehicle regulations continue, versus one where they are repealed, it does not appear that promise will be met. Eliminating the greenhouse gas standards, the regulatory impact analysis shows, will increase gasoline prices by some 75 cents per gallon by 2050. “That's about a 29% increase in gasoline prices compared to if we maintain the policies that are in place,” said Harris. The administration's analysis also fails to examine the additional costs that deregulation could create due to increased global warming, which experts say could be massive. “This is aligned with what we've been seeing from this administration, where they focus on the cost to industry while completely ignoring the costs to the health and climate costs,” said Harris. Repealing the endangerment finding could increase the country's greenhouse gas emissions by a stunning 10% by 2055, and impose up to $4.7tn in additional expenses tied to harmful climate and air pollution by that time, according to projections from advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund. ‘Like most actions within this administration, this decision lacks any regard for everyday people and seems to be a play to deepen its loyalty to fossil fuel companies and billionaires who have proven that they are willing to take actions that endanger human life,” said Abre' Conner, director of climate and environmental justice at the NAACP. The people who expressing outrage now are simply upset that their preferred ideology can no longer bypass Congress and the will of the people to dictate how Americans live, work, and drive.”

As Hakeem Jeffries sits in the minority of a GOP-controlled Washington, he is still haunted by a Republican gerrymandering gambit that he believes cost him the speaker's gavel — and cost his party control of the House. Jeffries is leading the Democratic party's counterpunch to President Donald Trump's aggressive mid-decade redistricting push. He's going all in with money, legal firepower and his own political capital to make sure no seat is left on the table for Democrats — forcing the party to abandon the left's longtime moral opposition to party-line map meddling. “Republicans started this redistricting war, and Democrats have made clear, we're going to finish it,” Jeffries said in an interview with CNN. Top Democrats, including Jeffries, are buoyed by signs of surging anti-Trump sentiment across the country — with special election wins even in ruby red parts of Texas — and believe they will capture the House, and possibly the Senate, in November. But Jeffries believes he can't afford to ignore the GOP's gerrymandering, when just three seats in North Carolina in 2024 were enough to cost Democrats the majority. Jeffries and other top Democrats are now intensifying pressure on a key party leader, the 42-year-old Baltimorean who runs the state Senate, who refuses to help draw his party another more favorable seat that would target the state's lone GOP-held congressional district. Jeffries issued a stark warning to that Democrat, state Senate President Bill Ferguson — suggesting the move could help Trump's GOP win the midterms. “One man shouldn't stand in the way of the people of Maryland … being able to decide, ‘Should we go in this direction? Or should we not answer Donald Trump's continued efforts to rig the midterm election? They insist a new map at this point would only backfire on Democrats. Top Democrats, including Jeffries, never expected a mid-decade redistricting push to be the centerpiece of their midterms strategy. It's expensive and legally fraught with plenty of political pitfalls. JB Pritzker struggled to find support for a mid-decade map redraw in blue Illinois. Jeffries and his team are already looking ahead to states like Washington, Colorado and even Pennsylvania for the 2028 cycle, according to multiple people familiar with party strategy. “(Trump) wanted to rig the midterm elections, and for whatever the reason, didn't think that Democrats were going to forcefully respond. Just months after the GOP's Texas effort, Democrats believe they are on track to gain as many as five seats in California, one in Utah and several in Virginia — moves that could nearly neutralize the GOP's own gerrymandering push. Another seat could be coming in New York if a court challenge goes their way. Republicans, meanwhile, have enacted new congressional maps in four states, targeting nine House seats held by Democrats. Jeffries, though, believes it could end up as a wash. “The best-case scenario for Republicans at this point is status quo, which is very different than what they were claiming when they were beating on their chest last year, saying they were going to gerrymander our opportunities out of existence,” Jeffries said. Both parties are closely watching another big state fight: Virginia. They are looking to eliminate as many as four GOP seats, transforming their House delegation — which has six Democrats and five Republicans — into one with 10 Democrats and just one Republican. That's all in a state where Kamala Harris won by about 6 points. Jeffries told CNN he is willing to devote “tens of millions of dollars” to make sure Democrats are successful on the ballot in April. (House Majority Forward, a group linked to Jeffries, committed $5 million last week, and it is expected to spend more before April, the group told CNN.) Democrats are much more anxious about neighboring Maryland, where Jeffries and others are ratcheting up pressure on the state Senate president to yield in time. Ferguson and others in the caucus are insisting there is no path forward, both publicly and privately, according to interviews with a half-dozen people closely tracking the state's push. “At the end of the day, if he won't bring it to a vote, there's not much you can do about that,” Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Maryland Democrat, told CNN. But Ivey, like many others, is deeply anxious about what could happen if blue-leaning Maryland ignores what GOP leaders in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and other states are doing. “We better not lose the House by one seat,” Ivey said. That's why the Senate president doesn't want to do it,” Harris said in an interview with CNN. But Jeffries was blunt when asked about a new map backfiring on Democrats: “That's not going to happen.” Top Democrats believe they can still win back the House even without that single additional seat in Maryland. But they don't want to take the gamble. Asked if Ferguson's move could cost Democrats a possible majority, Jeffries said: “Well, he'd have to live with that.” CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi, Jeffrey Ackermann and Jenna Monnin contributed to this report.

Former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was detained while attempting to cross the border, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said on Feb. 15. Halushchenko is under investigation by NABU in connection with the broader Energoatom corruption case, considered the largest anti-corruption case during President Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's investigative project Schemes reported that he had been detained under Article 208 of Ukraine's Criminal Procedure Code, which allows authorized officers to detain a suspect without a court warrant. Border guards had reportedly received instructions from NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) to alert authorities if he attempted to leave the country. On Nov. 10, NABU searched properties linked to him as part of the Energoatom investigation. During court hearings in November, anti-corruption prosecutors cited audio recordings obtained by investigators. In the recordings, suspects allegedly discuss dividing kickbacks and refer to a figure nicknamed "Professor," whom prosecutors believe to be Halushchenko. Ukraine's parliament approved Halushchenko's resignation on Nov. 19 after President Zelensky publicly urged him to step down. Tania Myronyshena is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent. in publishing and editing from Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv University. In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent's Anna Belokur examines how Ukraine appears in recently released Jeffrey Epstein files. The files reference flight arrangements for models linked to Kyiv agencies, a failed real estate deal in Lviv, and brief mentions of Ukraine's 2019 presidential election. Former Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko was detained while attempting to cross the state border, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said on Feb. 15. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Feb. 15 that Russia launched around 1,300 drones, more than 1,200 guided bombs, and 50 mostly ballistic missiles at Ukraine over the past week, targeting energy infrastructure and residential areas. Ukraine carried out strikes on an oil terminal in southern Russia and a Russian air defense system in Crimea overnight on Feb. 14–15, according to Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR). "There were three attacks on the energy infrastructure of Azerbaijan in Ukraine, and there were also three attacks on the Azerbaijani embassy in Ukraine," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told the independent outlet Ukrainska Pravda. "Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him." "It would be an illusion to believe that this war can now be reliably ended by dividing Ukraine – just as it was an illusion to believe that sacrificing Czechoslovakia would save Europe from a greater war," Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference. We cannot wait any longer," European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said. The General Staff reported that Russia's BK-16 landing vessel, a high-speed landing craft for coastal operations and troop transport, was "successfully hit" on Feb. 12 in Russian-occupied Crimea. Millions read the Kyiv Independent, but only one in 1,000 supports us financially. One membership might not seem like much, but to us, it makes a real difference. If you value our reporting, consider becoming a member — your support makes us stronger.

This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi set a men's half marathon race walk world record on Sunday, clocking 1:20:34 at the Japanese Half Marathon Race Walking Championships in Kobe. His time bettered the inaugural world record of 1:21:30, approved by the World Athletics Council in December last year, by 54 seconds. Yamanishi, who was celebrating his 30th birthday, pulled away from a leading pack shortly after the 17-kilometer mark and reached 20-kilometer mark in 1:16:26 – just 16 seconds shy of the 20-kilometer race walk world record he set on the same course last year. With an additional lap now included in the half marathon race walk distance, the two‑time world champion accelerated again over the closing stretch to win comfortably in record time. World Athletics approved inaugural world record standards for the half marathon and marathon race walking events. The approved inaugural world record standard for the men's half marathon race walk was set at 1:21:30. Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat.

Please disable the ad blocking feature. This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. In light of her landslide victory in the House of Representatives election earlier this month, the article said that Takaichi “now has a historic chance to transform her country,” and that “she must be a leader for all of Japan, not only for her right-wing loyalists.” The magazine features an illustration of Takaichi waving with Mt. The article describes Takaichi's moves to strengthen Japan's defense capabilities and praises her measures to revitalize the defense industry. The magazine also said Takaichi did an “admirable job” regarding the relationship she has built with U.S. President Donald Trump and urged her to “also recognise that her country has a crucial role to play as a stabilising force in a turbulent world.” However, it warned against using her vast support to pursue narrow ideological goals, and said, Takaichi “needs to think bigger and broader.” Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The idea of introducing external governance in Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations following the completion of the special military operation is one of the possible options for resolving the conflict, and Russia is prepared to discuss it with other countries, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS. "The idea of introducing external governance in Ukraine under the auspices of the UN after the completion of the special military operation is not new. In March 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that, in the case of Ukraine, the establishment of an external administration under the auspices of the UN is one of the possible options. Such precedents have occurred within the framework of the world organization's peacekeeping activities. In general, Russia is ready to discuss with the United States, European and other countries the possibility of introducing temporary external governance in Kiev," he said. The Russian deputy foreign minister believes that such a step "would make it possible to hold democratic elections in Ukraine, bring to power a capable government with which a full-fledged peace treaty could be signed, along with legitimate documents on future interstate cooperation." "At the same time," the senior diplomat continued, "it should be taken into account that the United Nations does not formally have a standardized mechanism for establishing temporary international administrations in territories affected by conflict."

This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. MUNICH (AP) — About 250,000 people demonstrated on Saturday against Iran's government on the sidelines of a gathering of world leaders in Germany, police said, answering a call from Iran ‘s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi for cranked-up international pressure on Tehran. Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the giant and boisterous rally in Munich was part of what Pahlavi described as a “global day of action” to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests. He also called for demonstrations in Los Angeles and Toronto. At a news conference, Pahlavi warned of more deaths in Iran if “democracies stand by and watch” following Iran's deadly crackdown on protesters last month. He added that the survival of Iran's government “sends a clear signal to every bully: kill enough people and you stay in power.” At the Munich rally, demonstrators sported “Make Iran Great Again” red caps, mimicking the MAGA caps worn by U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s supporters. Many at the rally waved placards showing Pahlavi, some that called him a king. The son of Iran's deposed shah has been in exile for nearly 50 years but is trying to position himself as a player in Iran's future. “We have huge hopes and (are) looking forward that the regime is going to change hopefully,” said Daniyal Mohtashamian, a demonstrator who traveled from Zurich, in Switzerland, to speak for protesters inside Iran who faced repression. “There is an internet blackout, and their voices are not going outside of Iran,” he said. About 500 protesters also rallied outside the presidential palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, with many holding up banners with slogans against Iran's government and in favor of Pahlavi. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,005 people were killed in last month's protests, including 214 government forces. It has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists inside Iran to verify deaths. Iran's government offered its only death toll on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll, given authorities have disrupted internet access and international calls in Iran. Iranian leaders are facing renewed pressure from Trump, who has threatened U.S. military action. Trump wants Iran to further scale back its nuclear program. Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat.