Investigators name senior figures among those responsible for alleged abuses at detention facilities.
United Nations investigators say they have gathered evidence of systematic torture in Myanmar’s detention facilities, identifying senior figures among those responsible.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), set up in 2018 to examine potential breaches of international law, said on Tuesday that detainees had endured beatings, electric shocks, strangulation and fingernail removal with pliers.
“We have uncovered significant evidence, including eyewitness testimony, showing systematic torture in Myanmar detention facilities,” Nicholas Koumjian, head of the mechanism, said in a statement accompanying its 16-page report.
The UN team said some prisoners died as a result of the torture.
It also documented the abuse of children, often detained unlawfully as proxies for their missing parents.
According to the report, the UN team has made more than two dozen formal requests for information and access to the country, all of which have gone unanswered. Myanmar’s military authorities did not respond to media requests for comment.
The military has repeatedly denied committing atrocities, saying it is maintaining peace and security while blaming “terrorists” for unrest.
The findings cover a year that ended on June 30 and draw on information from more than 1,300 sources, including hundreds of witness accounts, forensic analysis, photographs and documents.
The IIMM said it identified high-ranking commanders among the perpetrators but declined to name them to avoid alerting those under investigation.
The report also found that both government forces and armed opposition groups had committed summary executions. Officials from neither side of Myanmar’s conflict were available to comment.
The latest turmoil in Myanmar began when a 2021 military coup ousted an elected civilian government, sparking a nationwide conflict. The UN estimates tens of thousands of people have been detained in efforts to crush dissent and bolster the military’s ranks.
Last month, the leader of the military government, Min Aung Hlaing, ended a four-year state of emergency and appointed himself acting president before planned elections.
The IIMM’s mandate covers abuses in Myanmar dating back to 2011, including the military’s 2017 campaign against the mostly Muslim Rohingya, which forced hundreds of thousands of members of the ethnic minority to flee to Bangladesh, and postcoup atrocities against multiple communities.
The IIMM is also assisting international legal proceedings, including cases in Britain. However, the report warned that budget cuts at the UN could undermine its work.
“These financial pressures threaten the Mechanism’s ability to sustain its critical work and to continue supporting international and national justice efforts,” it said.
As authorities identified the shooter in the deadly attack on CDC headquarters as a Georgia man who blamed the COVID-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal, a union representing workers at the agency is demanding that federal officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it was putting scientists at risk.
The union said that Friday’s shooting at the Atlanta offices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which left a police officer dead, was not a random incident and that it “compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.”
The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, said the CDC and leadership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must provide a “clear and unequivocal stance in condemning vaccine disinformation.”
The 30-year-old gunman, who died during the event, had also tried to get into the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta but was stopped by guards before driving to a pharmacy across the street and opening fire, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Saturday.
The man, identified as Patrick Joseph White, was armed with five guns, including at least one long gun, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.
Here’s what to know about the shooting and the continuing investigation:
An attack on a public health institution
Police say White opened fire outside the CDC headquarters in Atlanta on Friday, leaving bullet marks in windows across the sprawling campus. At least four CDC buildings were hit, agency Director Susan Monarez said on X.
DeKalb County Police Officer David Rose was mortally wounded while responding. Rose, 33, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan, had graduated from the police academy in March.
White was found on the second floor of a building across the street from the CDC campus and died at the scene, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. “We do not know at this time whether that was from officers or if it was self-inflicted,” he said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the crime scene was “complex” and the investigation would take “an extended period of time.”
CDC union’s call
The American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2883, is calling for a statement condemning vaccine misinformation from the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to public prominence on healthcare issues as a leading vaccine skeptic, sometimes advancing false information.
A public statement by federal officials condemning misinformation is needed to help prevent violence against scientists, the union said in a news release.
“Their leadership is critical in reinforcing public trust and ensuring that accurate, science-based information prevails,” the union said.
Fired But Fighting, a group of laid-off CDC employees, has said Kennedy is directly responsible for the villainization of the CDC’s workforce through “his continuous lies about science and vaccine safety, which have fueled a climate of hostility and mistrust.”
Kennedy reached out to staff on Saturday, saying that “no one should face violence while working to protect the health of others.”
Thousands of people who work on critical disease research are employed on the campus. The union said some staff members were huddled in various buildings until late at night, including more than 90 young children who were locked down inside the CDC’s Clifton School.
The union said CDC staff should not be required to immediately return to work after experiencing such a traumatic event. In a statement released Saturday, it said windows and buildings should first be fixed and made “completely secure.”
“Staff should not be required to work next to bullet holes,” the union said. “Forcing a return under these conditions risks re-traumatizing staff by exposing them to the reminders of the horrific shooting they endured.”
The union also called for “perimeter security on all campuses” until the investigation is fully completed and shared with staff.
Shooter’s focus on COVID-19 vaccine
White’s father, who contacted police and identified his son as the possible shooter, said White had been upset over the death of his dog and had become fixated on the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a law enforcement official.
A neighbor of White told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that White “seemed like a good guy” but spoke with her multiple times about his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines in unrelated conversations.
“He was very unsettled, and he very deeply believed that vaccines hurt him and were hurting other people,” Nancy Hoalst told the newspaper. “He emphatically believed that.”
But Hoalst said she never believed White would be violent: “I had no idea he thought he would take it out on the CDC.”
Israel’s elite cyber-intelligence unit stored vast volumes of intercepted Palestinian phone calls on Microsoft’s cloud servers, according to a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call.
The surveillance system, operational since 2022, was built by Unit 8200, the Israeli military’s secretive intelligence branch. It enables the unit to collect and retain recordings of millions of daily phone calls from Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The revelations initially reported on Wednesday stem from leaked Microsoft documents and testimonies from 11 sources, including from Israeli military intelligence and the company.
According to the leaks, a large amount of the data appeared to be stored on Microsoft’s Azure servers located in the Netherlands and Ireland, the Guardian reported.
Three sources from Unit 8200 said that the cloud-based system helped guide deadly air strikes and shaped operations across the occupied Palestinian territories.
Microsoft said that CEO Satya Nadella, who met with Unit 8200’s commander Yossi Sariel in 2021, was unaware of the nature of the data to be stored. The company has said an internal review found “no evidence to date” that Azure or its artificial intelligence (AI) tools were “used to target or harm people”.
The revelations come after the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, issued a report mapping the corporations aiding Israel in its occupation and war on Gaza.
The report noted that Microsoft, which has operated in Israel since 1991, has built its largest hub outside the US in Israel and began integrating its technologies across the country’s military, police, prisons, schools, and settlements.
Since 2003, the company has deepened ties with Israeli defence, acquiring surveillance and cybersecurity start-ups and embedding its systems in military operations. In 2024, an Israeli colonel called cloud technologies such as those offered by Microsoft “a weapon in every sense”.
The Guardian reported that internal records at Microsoft showed that Nadella offered support for Sariel’s aim to move large volumes of military intelligence into the cloud.
A Microsoft statement cited by the Guardian said it “is not accurate” to say he provided his personal support for the project.
Microsoft engineers later worked closely with Israeli intelligence to embed security features within Azure, enabling the transfer of up to 70 percent of Unit 8200’s sensitive data to the platform.
While Israeli officials claim the technology helps thwart attacks, Unit 8200 sources said the system collects communications indiscriminately, which are often used to detain or blackmail Palestinians. “When they need to arrest someone and there isn’t a good enough reason … that’s where they find the excuse,” one source was cited as saying.
Some sources alleged the stored data had been used to justify detentions and even killings.
The system’s expansion coincided with a broader shift in Israeli surveillance, moving from targeted tracking to bulk monitoring of the Palestinian population. One AI-driven tool reportedly assigns risk scores to text messages based on certain trigger words, including discussions of weapons or martyrdom.
Sariel, who resigned in 2024 after Israel’s intelligence failure on October 7, 2023, had long championed cloud-based surveillance.
As Israel’s war on Gaza continues, with more than 61,250 Palestinians killed, including 18,000 children, the surveillance programme remains active. Sources said the existing data, combined with AI tools, continues to be used in military operations.
Microsoft claimed it had “no information” about the specific data stored by Unit 8200.
Human Rights Watch says US arms were used in ‘unlawful indiscriminate’ Israeli attacks that killed Palestinian civilians.
Israel has used US-made bombs in “unlawful attacks” on schools sheltering displaced civilians in Gaza, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
In a report released Thursday, HRW said Israel had carried out hundreds of strikes on schools since the start of its war on Gaza in October 2023, including “unlawfully indiscriminate attacks” using US munitions, which violated international law.
In its report, HRW investigated two incidents in 2024 in which it found that GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs supplied by the United States were used. One attack on the Khadija girls’ school in Deir el-Balah on July 27, 2024, killed at least 15 people, and another attack on the Zeitoun C school in Gaza City on September 21, 2024, left at least 34 dead.
Israeli authorities have not publicly shared information relating to the attacks. Israel has often said that its attacks on schools were targeting Hamas fighters. It has provided no evidence to indicate the presence of military targets at the sites of the attacks documented by the rights group.
In both attacks, HRW and that there was no evidence of a military presence at the schools on the days of the attacks.
The rights group also warned that recent Israeli attacks on schools sheltering displaced people were worsening the dire humanitarian situation in the territory.
HRW said that from July 1-10, 2025, Israeli forces struck at least 10 schools where displaced people were sheltering, killing 59 people and displacing dozens of families, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The group emphasised that schools used to house civilians remain protected under international law unless used for military purposes.
The rights group called for an immediate halt to arms transfers to Israel, warning of potential complicity by governments providing military support.
“These strikes on schools sheltering displaced families are just one window into the carnage in Gaza,” said Gerry Simpson, associate director at HRW. “Other governments should not tolerate this horrendous slaughter of Palestinian civilians merely seeking safety.”
It also urged states to uphold their obligations under international law, including the Genocide Convention.
“Governments supporting Israel militarily can’t say they didn’t know what their weapons are being used for,” said Simpson.
According to the United Nations, nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in Gaza’s schools since October 2023.
HRW said the repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure, including shelters, hospitals and schools, showed a pattern of attacks that may amount to war crimes.
HRW noted that nearly all of Gaza’s 564 schools have sustained damage, with 92 percent requiring full reconstruction or major repairs.
The UN has reported that at least 836 people sheltering in schools have been killed.
Strictly Come Dancing has reportedly launched an investigation into claims that two of its stars took cocaine. The BBC has hired law firm Pinsent Masons to probe the allegations
BBC Strictly Come Dancing rocked by cocaine scandal: Investigation reportedly launched into star drug use claims
The BBC has reportedly enlisted the services of a top legal firm to investigate accusations of cocaine use by two Strictly Come Dancing stars, with reports suggesting their substance abuse was an open secret on the show.
Former participants, professional dancers, and crew members are being invited to speak with the solicitors at Pinsent Masons to voice any issues they might have, it’s been reported this evening.
The long-running BBC series, which has been plagued with multiple scandals over recent years, is now embroiled in controversy following drug use claims submitted to the BBC in March by Russells Solicitors on behalf of a celebrity contestant.
BBC director-general Tim Davie vowed to put an end to Strictly scandals last year(Image: PA)
It’s believed that additional individuals have also brought forward allegations of drug consumption on Strictly Come Dancing to the BBC.
In a statement shared with the Mirror this evening, a representative for the BBC said: “We have clear protocols and policies in place for dealing with any serious complaint raised with us. We would always encourage people to speak to us if they have concerns. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further.”
The Sun reports that one of allegations involves a Strictly star who allegedly commented on another individual’s dilated pupils, hinting at drug intoxication, by saying: “Have you seen their pupils . . . they’re off their face”.
Furthermore, The Sun reports that a celebrity claimed it is common knowledge within the show’s circle that two stars were using cocaine, a topic that was reportedly rife among the cast.
A source stated: “These claims are extremely serious and should be taken as such. Given only last year that the BBC’s Director-General promised to clean up Strictly, it seems particularly shocking. The idea of the show’s stars discussing drug-taking is deeply disturbing. The BBC have known about these allegations for some time, and acknowledged receiving them.”
It’s reported that the state-funded broadcaster is “taking firm action”.
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — Federal officials have opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who indicted then-candidate Donald Trump on felony charges before his election to a second term.
The current Office of Special Counsel, traditionally an independent federal agency, on Saturday confirmed the investigation after reporting by other news organizations. Smith was named special counsel by then-Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland to investigate Trump in November 2022 for his actions related to trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden and his hoarding of classified documents at his home in Florida.
Trump and his Republican allies, including Sen. Tom Cotton, have — without offering evidence of wrongdoing — accused Smith of violating the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity.
Smith prosecuted two federal cases against Trump and indicted him on multiple felony charges in both. He dropped both cases after Trump won the election in November, as a sitting president is shielded from prosecution according to long-standing Justice Department practice. Smith then subsequently resigned as special counsel.
Cotton (R-Ark.) on Wednesday asked the Office of Special Counsel to investigate Smith, alleging that his conduct was designed to help then-President Biden and then-Vice Presiedent Kamala Harris, who became the Democratic nominee in last year’s race against Trump.
Trump is the only felon to ever occupy the White House, having been convicted in May 2024 on 34 criminal counts for fraud related to a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election, which he also won.
The White House had no immediate comment on the investigation.
The New York Post was first to report on the investigation into Smith.
Sandinista commander Bayardo Arce arrested amid corruption probe and political shake-up in Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan authorities have arrested Bayardo Arce, a senior Sandinista figure and longtime economic adviser to President Daniel Ortega, amid an escalating internal purge within the country’s ruling elite.
According to Nicaraguan media, Arce, 76, was detained early Thursday morning following a raid by dozens of police officers on his home in Managua. He had been under house arrest since Sunday, reports said.
The Attorney General’s Office, controlled by the Ortega government, announced Wednesday it had launched a corruption probe against Arce, accusing him of “illegal transactions and negotiations” related to properties and businesses allegedly tied to state interests. Prosecutors claim Arce refused to cooperate or present documentation when questioned.
His aide, Ricardo Bonilla, was arrested a day earlier for allegedly refusing to “render accounts”, officials added.
The Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial reported that Arce’s detention is part of a broader purge being directed by Vice President Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s wife and co-ruler, with the president’s full support. Sources close to the exiled opposition believe Murillo is consolidating power in preparation for succession, as Ortega’s health visibly deteriorates.
In recent public appearances, Ortega, now 79, has appeared frail and unsteady. He is reported to suffer from lupus and kidney failure, raising speculation about who may eventually replace him.
Arce is the third prominent Sandinista veteran to be placed under house arrest this year. Henry Ruiz, another historic commander, was confined in March. Humberto Ortega, the president’s brother and a former army chief, was under similar restrictions before his death in September 2024.
Arce and Daniel Ortega were close comrades during the 1979 Sandinista revolution that toppled United States-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza. After decades in and out of power, Ortega returned to the presidency in 2007 and has remained in office through successive elections that many have criticised as undemocratic.
The arrests have sent a chilling message across Nicaragua’s political landscape, particularly among veteran revolutionaries who once stood alongside Ortega and are now facing marginalisation or detention.
Investigators are looking into whether a Las Vegas man who went on a deadly shooting spree in Manhattan Monday was targeting the National Football League after it emerged that the gunman was a former Los Angeles high school football player with a documented mental health history.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the shooter, identified by law enforcement officials as 27-year-old Shane Tamura, appeared to have a grievance with the N.F.L but ended up on the wrong floor.
“He seemed to have blamed the N.F.L.,” the mayor told the WPIX-TV news station. “The N.F.L. headquarters was located in the building, and he mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank.”
Law enforcement officials have said that Tamura marched into a 44-story office tower on Park Avenue that is the headquarters of the N.F.L and investment firm Blackstone, at around 6:25 pm Monday carrying an M4 assault rifle in his right hand. He immediately opened fire in the lobby, shooting first an NYPD officer, then a woman who took cover behind a pillar and a security guard behind the security desk.
After spraying more gunfire across the lobby, the gunman got into an elevator and went to the 33rd floor, which houses the Rudin Management real estate firm. He then walked around the floor, firing more rounds and shooting and killing another person, before walking down a hallway and fatally shooting himself in the chest. Four people died in the attack along with Tamura.
“Mr. Tamura has a documented mental health history,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday night at a news conference, citing Las Vegas law enforcement. “His motives are still under investigation, and we are working to understand why he targeted this particular location.”
Tamura, who was a celebrated varsity high school player at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita and Granada Hills Charter School in the San Fernando Valley, had a suicide note in his back pocket alleging that he suffered from CTE, a brain disease linked to head trauma, CNN reported, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.
In the short three-page note, he appeared to blame football for his problems, referencing former Pittsburgh Steelers player Terry Long, who died by suicide after drinking antifreeze in 2005, and expressing grievances with the N.F.L.
“Terry Long football gave me CTE and it caused me to drink a gallon of antifreeze,” the gunman allegedly wrote. “You can’t go against the NFL, they’ll squash you,” the note said, according to the source.
“Study my brain please,” the note added. “Tell Rick I’m sorry for everything,”
N.F.L. commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly said an NFL employee was seriously injured in the attack. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Times that most of the NFL employees had left by the time the shooter entered the building and that the building was cleared by police from the top down, floor by floor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Tuesday called the shooting a “horrific act of violence,” noting that one of the victims was NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who had been in the force for three and a half years and left behind a wife who was eight months pregnant and two young sons. A Bangladeshi immigrant, Islam was off duty at the time of the shooting, working as a security officer in the skyscraper.
“My heart is with his loved ones, his NYPD family and every victim of this tragedy,” Hochul said in a statement.
Hochul also called on Congress to limit the sale of military-grade rifles. The state of New York passed some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, she noted, “but our laws only go so far when an AR-15 can be obtained in a state with weak gun laws and brought into New York to commit mass murder.”
“The time to act is now,” Hochul said. “Congress must summon the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and finally pass a national assault weapons ban before more innocent lives are stolen.”
Tamura played football at Golden Valley High School in the Canyon Country neighborhood of Santa Clarita for three years before transferring to Granada Hills Charter School for his senior year in 2015.
Dan Kelley, Golden Valley coach, said only that he remembered Tamura as “a good athlete.”
In his senior year at Granada Hills, the 5-foot-7, 140-pound player had 126 carries, 600 rushing yards and five touchdowns, according to MaxPreps. He also won several “player of the game” awards.
A 2015 video that circulated on social media Monday night showed Tamura as a high school football player celebrating a win for the Granada Hills Highlanders.
In a post-game interview after a 35-31 win over Kennedy High, Tamura was hailed as a “stand-out running back” by a reporter from the Los Angeles Daily News and asked how the team came through.
“We definitely had to stay disciplined,” Tamura said, noting the team was down 10-0 in the first quarter. “Our coach kept saying, ‘Don’t hold your heads down. Don’t hold your heads down.’ … We just had to stay disciplined and come together as a team.”
Tamura scored several touchdowns, the reporter noted, including a pivotal one in the fourth quarter with under four minutes to go.
Tamura graduated in 2016, MaxPreps said.
The initial investigation indicates that Tamura had traveled from Las Vegas to New York, driving a black BMW cross country through Colorado, Nebraska and New Jersey over the weekend.
Law enforcement said that officers searched the vehicle the gunman double parked on Park Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets and found a rifle case with rounds, a loaded revolver ammunition and magazines, a backpack and medication prescribed to Tamura. No explosives were inside.
Times staff writers Eric Sondheimer and Sam Farmer contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON — A key House committee is looking into the investigation of the late Jeffrey Epstein for sex trafficking crimes, working to subpoena President Trump’s Department of Justice for files in the case and hold a deposition of Epstein’s jailed accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
The Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee acted just before House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent lawmakers home early for a monthlong break from Washington, a move widely seen as attempt to avoid politically difficult votes for his GOP caucus on the Epstein matter.
The committee’s moves are evidence of the mounting pressure for disclosure in a case that Trump has unsuccessfully urged his supporters to move past. But they were also just the start of what can be a drawn-out process.
Here’s what could happen next in the House inquiry as lawmakers seek answers in a case that has sparked rampant speculation since Epstein’s death in 2019 and more recently caused many in the Trump administration to renege on promises for a complete accounting.
Subpoena for the files
Democrats, joined by three Republicans, were able to successfully initiate the subpoena from a subcommittee just as the House was leaving Washington for its early recess. But it was just the start of negotiations over the subpoena.
The subcommittee agreed to redact the names and personal information of any victims, but besides that, their demand for information is quite broad, encompassing “un-redacted Epstein files.”
As the parameters of the subpoena are drafted, Democrats are demanding that it be fulfilled within 30 days from when it is served to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi. They have also proposed a list of document demands, including the prosecutorial decisions surrounding Epstein, documents related to his death, and communication from any president or executive official regarding the matter.
Ultimately, Republicans who control the committee will have more power over the scope of the subpoena, but the fact that it was approved with a strong bipartisan vote gives it some heft.
The committee chairman, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), said he told the speaker that “Republicans on the Oversight Committee were going to move to be more aggressive in trying to get transparency with the Epstein files. So, we did that, and I think that’s what the American people want.”
Depose Maxwell?
Comer has said he is hoping that staff from the committee can interview Maxwell under oath on Aug. 11 at or near the federal prison in Florida where she is serving a lengthy sentence for child sex trafficking.
In a congressional deposition, the subject typically has an attorney present to help them answer — or not answer — questions while maintaining their civil rights. Subjects also have the ability to decline to answer questions if they could be used against them in a criminal case, though in this instance that might not matter because Maxwell has already been convicted of many of the things she is likely to be asked about.
Maxwell has the ability to negotiate some of the terms of the deposition, and she already conducted two days of interviews with Justice Department officials this past week.
Democrats warn that Maxwell is not to be trusted.
“We should understand that this is a very complex witness and someone that has caused great harm and not a good person to a lot of people,” Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told reporters this week.
Other subpoenas
Committee Republicans also initiated a motion to subpoena a host of other people, including former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as former U.S. attorneys general dating back to Alberto Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush.
It’s not clear how this sweeping list of proposed subpoenas will play out, but Comer has said, “We’re going to move quickly on that.”
How will Bondi comply?
Trump has often fought congressional investigations and subpoenas. As with most subpoenas, the Justice Department can negotiate the terms of how it fulfills the subpoena. It can also make legal arguments against handing over certain information.
Joshua A. Levy, who teaches on congressional investigations at Georgetown Law School and is a partner at Levy Firestone Muse, said that the results of the subpoena “depend on whether the administration wants to work through the traditional accommodation process with the House and reach a resolution or if one or both sides becomes entrenched in its position.”
If Congress is not satisfied with Bondi’s response — or if she were to refuse to hand over any information — there are several ways lawmakers can try to enforce the subpoena. However, that would require a vote to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress.
It’s practically unheard of for a political party to vote to hold a member of its party’s White House administration in contempt of Congress, but the Epstein saga has cut across political lines and driven a wedge in the GOP.
Calls for disclosure
Ultimately, the bipartisan vote to subpoena the files showed how political pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to disclose the files. Politics, policy and the law are all bound up together in this case, and many in Congress want to see a full accounting of the sex trafficking investigation.
“We can’t allow individuals, especially those at the highest level of our government, to protect child sex traffickers,” said Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), a committee member.
The Trump administration is already facing the potential for even more political tension. When Congress comes back to Washington in September, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to advance to a full House vote a bill that aims to force the public release of the Epstein files.
British actor Micheal Ward, known for the Netflix series “Top Boy” and and most recently Ari Aster’s movie “Eddington,” is facing charges of allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a woman in the United Kingdom in 2023.
London’s Metropolitan Police announced in a Friday statement that prosecutors had charged BAFTA winner Ward, 28, with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault following an investigation into an alleged January 2023 incident. The statement did not provide details about the incident, including the location and the identity of Ward’s accuser.
“Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward — we know investigations of this nature can have significant impact on those who make reports,” Det. Supt. Scott Ware said in the statement.
Representatives for Ward did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Friday. The actor is due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court in London on Aug. 28.
Ward, who was born in Jamaica, broke into acting less than a decade ago, appearing in the British drama series “Top Boy” and rapper Rapman’s 2019 film “Blue Story.” He won BAFTA’s rising star award in 2020. That same year he appeared in “The Old Guard” opposite Charlize Theron and in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” miniseries.
His movie credits also include Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” “The Book of Clarence,” “Bob Marley: One Love” and “The Beautiful Game.” He currently stars as a young police officer in “Eddington,” the latest film from “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” filmmaker Aster.
Resources for survivors of sexual assault
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual violence, you can find support using RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call (800) 656-HOPE or visit online.rainn.org to speak with a trained support specialist.
WASHINGTON — Despite the sun bearing down on him and the sweat beading across his face, President Trump still lingered with reporters lined up outside the White House on Friday. He was leaving on a trip to Scotland, where he would visit his golf courses, and he wanted to talk about how his administration just finished “the best six months ever.”
But over and over, the journalists kept asking Trump about the Jeffrey Epstein case and whether he would pardon the disgraced financier’s imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“People should really focus on how well the country is doing,” Trump insisted. He shut down another question by saying, “I don’t want to talk about that.”
It was another example of how the Epstein saga — and his administration’s disjointed approach to it — has shadowed Trump when he’s otherwise at the height of his influence. He’s enacted a vast legislative agenda, reached trade deals with key countries and tightened his grip across the federal government. Yet he’s struggled to stamp out the embers of a political crisis that could become a full-on conflagration.
Trump faces pressure from his own supporters
The Republican president’s supporters want the government to release secret files about Epstein, who authorities say killed himself in his New York jail cell six years ago while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. They believe him to be the nexus of a dark web of powerful people who abused underage girls. Administration officials who once stoked conspiracy theories now insist there’s nothing more to disclose, a stance that has stirred skepticism because of Trump’s former friendship with Epstein.
Trump has repeatedly denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. For a president skilled at manipulating the media and controlling the Republican Party, it has been the most challenging test of his ability to shift the conversation in his second term.
“This is a treadmill to nowhere. How do you get off of it?” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. “I genuinely don’t know the answer to that.”
Trump has demanded his supporters drop the matter and urged Republicans to block Democratic requests for documents on Capitol Hill. But he has also directed the Justice Department to divulge some additional information in hopes of satisfying his supporters.
A White House official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal strategy, said Trump is trying to stay focused on his agenda while also demonstrating some transparency. After facing countless scandals and investigations, the official said, Trump is on guard against the typical playbook of drip-drip disclosures that have plagued him in the past.
It’s clear Trump sees the Epstein case as a continuation of the “witch hunts” he’s faced over the years, starting with the investigation into Russian interference during his election victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton nearly a decade ago. The sprawling inquiry led to convictions against some top advisors but did not substantiate allegations Trump conspired with Moscow.
Trump’s opponents, he wrote on social media on Thursday, “have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM.”
During the Russia investigation, special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors were a straightforward foil for Trump to rail against. Ty Cobb, the lawyer who served as the White House’s point person, said the president “never felt exposed” because “he thought he had a legitimate gripe.”
The situation is different this time now that the Justice Department has been stocked with loyalists. “The people that he has to get mad at are basically his people as opposed to his inquisitors and adversaries,” Cobb said.
It was Trump’s allies who excavated the Epstein debacle
In fact, Trump’s own officials are the most responsible for bringing the Epstein case back to the forefront.
FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, regularly stoked conspiracy theories about Epstein before assuming their current jobs, floating the idea the government had covered up incriminating and compelling information that needed to be brought to light. “Put on your big-boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel said in a 2023 podcast.
Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi played a key role too. She intimated in a Fox News Channel interview in February that an Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk for review — she would later say she was referring to the Epstein files more generally — and greeted far-right influencers with binders of records from the case that consisted largely of information already in the public domain.
Tensions spiked earlier this month when the FBI and the Justice Department, in an unsigned two-page letter, said that no client list existed, that the evidence was clear Epstein had killed himself and that no additional records from the case would be released to the public. It was a seeming backtrack on the administration’s stated commitment to transparency. Amid a fierce backlash from Trump’s base and influential conservative personalities, Bongino and Bondi squabbled openly in a tense White House meeting.
Since then, the Trump administration has scrambled to appear transparent, including by seeking the unsealing of grand jury transcripts in the case — though it’s hardly clear that courts would grant that request or that those records include any eye-catching details anyway. Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche has taken the unusual step of interviewing the imprisoned Maxwell over the course of two days at a courthouse in Tallahassee, Fla., where her lawyer said she would “always testify truthfully.”
All the while, Trump and his allies have resurfaced the Russia investigation as a rallying cry for a political base that has otherwise been frustrated by the Epstein saga.
Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who just weeks ago appeared on the outs with Trump over comments on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, seemed to return to the president’s good graces this week following the declassification and release of years-old documents she hoped would discredit long-settled conclusions about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The developments allowed Trump to rehash long-standing grievances against President Obama and his Democratic advisors. Trump’s talk of investigations into perceived adversaries from years ago let him, in effect, go back in time to deflect attention from a very current crisis.
“Whether it’s right or wrong,” Trump said, “it’s time to go after people.”
Megerian and Tucker write for the Associated Press.
Rescue teams race to find survivors after deadly school building collapse in western India.
At least four children have been killed and 17 others injured after the roof of a school building collapsed in India’s western state of Rajasthan, according to local reports.
The tragedy took place on Friday morning shortly after daily prayers at a government-run school in Barmer district. Authorities say about 25 to 30 students were inside the classroom when the ceiling suddenly gave way.
Local police believe the building’s deteriorating structure, worsened by recent heavy rainfall, may have caused the collapse. “Some of the injured are in critical condition,” senior police officer Amit Kumar told the Press Trust of India.
Rajasthan’s education minister, Madan Dilawar, said he had instructed officials to oversee the medical treatment of the injured and ensure families receive support. “I have directed the authorities to make proper arrangements and to oversee the injured children’s treatment, and to ensure they do not face any kind of difficulties,” he told AajTak news channel.
Dilawar added that a formal investigation would be launched to determine the exact cause. “I have also spoken to the collector and directed authorities to take stock of the situation and help in whatever way possible,” he said.
Footage broadcast on Indian television showed locals and emergency workers using cranes to clear debris as anxious parents looked on. The sound of relatives wailing could be heard near the site.
Rescue efforts were ongoing late into the day. Local media said 32 students had been pulled out alive so far, though some were severely injured.
“Instructions have been given to the concerned authorities to ensure proper treatment for the injured children,” Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said in a statement on X.
Rajasthan, known for its extreme weather, has experienced intense monsoon rains in recent weeks, raising concerns over the safety of ageing infrastructure in rural schools.
An Ineos Grenadiers staff member has left the Tour de France after being asked to speak to the International Testing Agency about doping allegations relating to the 2012 season.
David Rozman is one of the team’s soigneurs, a role which involves working as an assistant to riders and providing a range of services from logistics to massages.
Ineos Grenadiers, then known as Team Sky, won the 2012 Tour de France, with Britain’s Bradley Wiggins claiming the yellow jersey, and the team went on to win six of the next seven editions of the race.
“Following recent media allegations, David [Rozman] has now received a request from the ITA to attend an interview,” Ineos Grenadiers said.
“Accordingly, he has stepped back from race duties and has left the Tour.
“Rozman was informally contacted in April 2025 by a member of ITA staff, who asked him about alleged historical communications.
“Although the ITA assured David at the time that he was not under investigation, Ineos promptly commissioned a thorough review by an external law firm.
“The team has acted responsibly and with due process, taking the allegations seriously whilst acknowledging that David is a long-standing, dedicated member of the team.
“The team continues to assess the circumstances and any relevant developments, and has formally requested any relevant information from the ITA. To date the team has received no evidence from any relevant authority.
“Both David and the team will of course co-operate with the ITA and any other authority.”
Earlier in July, the Irish Independent reported that in 2012, Rozman had exchanged messages with convicted German doping doctor Mark Schmidt.
A documentary by German TV company ARD also linked Ineos to Schmidt but did not name the staff member involved.
In 2021, Schmidt was sentenced to four years and 10 months in jail after being convicted of administering illegal blood transfusions to athletes within cycling and a number of other sports as part of Operation Aderlass.
When contacted by BBC Sport, the ITA said its investigations are “conducted confidentially” and “outcomes may only be shared if and when it yields the pursuit of one or more anti-doping rule violations.”
BBC Sport has also contacted Ineos Grenadiers for comment.
July 21 (UPI) — X declined to hand over data in allegations made by French authorities concerning a data tampering investigation on Monday.
“French authorities have launched a politically-motivated criminal investigation into X over the alleged manipulation of its algorithm and alleged ‘fraudulent data extraction,” X posted on social media. “X categorically denies these allegations.”
Prosecutors initiated an investigation in January following allegations that X’s algorithm was being exploited for foreign interference. This month, the investigation was moved over to France’s national police.
“French authorities have requested access to X’s recommendation algorithm and real-time data about all user posts on the platform in order for several ‘experts’ to analyze the data and purportedly ‘uncover the truth’ about the operation of the X platform,” X said.
X said the investigation is meant “to serve a political agenda and, ultimately, restrict free speech.”
“X has not acceded to the French authorities’ demands, as we have a legal right to do. This is not a decision that X takes lightly. However, in this case, the facts speak for themselves,” X said.
Irish trio calls probe ‘state intimidation’ after band member taken to court over pro-Palestine message at Glastonbury.
Police in the United Kingdom have decided not to take any further action against Kneecap in a case related to the Irish hip-hop trio’s opposition to Israel.
Avon and Somerset police said in a statement on Friday that they carried out an investigation over the music group’s performance at Glastonbury Festival on June 28 and sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service.
“We have made the decision to take no further action on the grounds there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence,” it said, adding that it has informed the band about the decision.
Kneecap, which has repeatedly taken a pro-Palestine stance during their shows and online, confirmed they were informed about the decision via a representative.
“Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close,” they said in a post online, saying the investigation amounted to “state intimidation”.
One element of the political policing intimidation attempt is over.
We played a historic set at Glastonbury. Whole area closed an hour before due to crowds. A celebration of love and solidarity. A sea of good people at the world’s most famous festival.
A member of the band had been charged with a “terrorism” offence for waving a flag of the Lebanese group Hezbollah at a concert in London in November 2024.
The Belfast-based trio had also been linking the struggles of the Irish under British colonial rule to those of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and siege for decades, and has been known for its political and satirical lyrics.
Avon and Somerset police said in their statement that an investigation is ongoing in relation to separate comments made on stage by rap-punk duo Bob Vylan.
Bob Vylan has also been supporting Palestinians and used the UK’s largest summer music festival in late June to lead the crowds in chanting against the Israeli military.
The duo chanted “death” to the Israeli army and “free Palestine”, leading to a criminal investigation by British police.
After the performance, which pro-Israel voices branded as “anti-Semitic”, UK broadcaster BBC said it would no longer live-broadcast musical performances deemed “high risk”.
The British government, a staunch supporter of Israel and a major arms provider to its Israeli military, also called the chants “appalling hate speech”.
Authorities in the United States revoked the visas of the musicians, who rejected being against any religious groups and said they are in favour of “dismantling a violent military machine” that has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has killed at least 58,667 Palestinians in the besieged enclave since October 2023, and wounded nearly 140,000 others, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. About 20,000 children are among those killed.
July 18 (UPI) — The Justice Department has launched a new investigation into George Mason University, over alleged illegal hiring practices, making it the third federal probe the Trump administration has opened into the school this month.
Federal prosecutors informed George Mason of the civil rights investigation in a letter dated Thursday, stating the probe stems from diversity goal policies that make race and sex factors in faculty hiring.
The letter states the Department of Justice is in possession of emails from 2020 in which the school’s president, Gregory Washington, states he intends to develop a renewal, promotion and tenure process to benefit faculty of color and professional women.
It also mentions a November 2020 recorded discussion in which Washington states he will advance an anti-racism agenda while perceiving anti-racism as a verb, meaning “conscious efforts and actions to provide equitable opportunities.”
It also points to a June 2022 post on Twitter, now called X, in which Washington celebrated a university employee who “helped incorporate” diversity, equity, and inclusion in their curriculum and hiring process.
“It is unlawful and un-American to deny equal access to employment opportunities on the basis of race and sex,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
“When employers screen out qualified candidates from the hiring process, they not only erode trust in our public institutions — they violate the law, and the Justice Department will investigate accordingly.”
Diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI, is a conceptual framework that promotes fair treatment and full participation of all people, and it has been a target of conservatives over the last few years who claim it is racist against White individuals.
The Trump administration has sought to remove DEI from the federal government through executive orders and has threatened to revoke federal funding from several universities, including Harvard, over their alleged DEI programs.
The investigation announced Thursday is the third launched this month into George Mason University.
On July 10, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the school for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs and activities that receive federal funding.
It said the investigation stems from a complaint filed with the civil rights office of the Justice Department by “multiple professors” at the school who allege it uses race and other characteristics in policies, including hiring and promotion.
It similarly pointed to the same examples cited by the Justice Department.
“This kind of pernicious and widespread discrimination — packaged as ‘anti-racism’ — was allowed to flourish under the Biden administration, but it will not be tolerated by this one,” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in a statement.
George Mason refutes the accusations.
“No academic units mandate outcomes based on race, color national origin, sex or any other characteristic protected by law,” Washington said in a statement.
“There are no mechanisms in Mason’s promotion and tenure policies that give preferential treatment based on race, color, national origin, sex or any other characteristic protected by law.”
He said Title VI was enacted to dismantle explicit and systemic racial discrimination that denied access to education, employment, housing and public services.
However, he said they are now seeing “a profound shift” in how it is being applied.
“Broad terms like ‘illegal DEI’ are now used without definition, allowing virtually any initiative that touches on identity or inclusion to be painted as discriminatory,” he said.
“This shift represents a stark departure from the spirit in which civil rights law was written: not to erase difference, but to protect individuals from exclusion and to enable equal opportunity for all.”
Earlier this month, the Department of Education launched an investigation into George Mason University over allegations it failed to respond effectively to a “pervasively hostile environment for Jewish students and faculty” during pro-Palestine protests that erupted in schools against Israel’s war in Gaza.
New details about last month’s Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which killed 260 people, have emerged this week, shifting focus onto the actions of the senior pilot during the last moments before the plane crashed.
According to a report published on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal quoting sources close to United States officials’ early assessment of evidence, the black box audio recording of the last conversation between the two pilots indicates that the captain might have turned off the switches controlling the flow of fuel to the plane’s engines.
Last week, a preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that both engines had shut down within the space of one second, leading to immediate loss of altitude, before the plane crashed into a densely populated suburb of Ahmedabad. However, that report, which stated the fuel-control switches had moved to the “cutoff” position, did not assign blame for the incident.
Two groups of commercial pilots have rejected suggestions that human error may have caused the disaster.
What happened to the Air India flight?
At 1:38pm (08:08 GMT) on June 12, Air India Flight 171 took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad for London Gatwick Airport, carrying 230 passengers, 10 cabin crew and two pilots.
About 40 seconds after taking off, both engines of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost power during the initial climb. The plane then crashed into the BJ Medical College Hostel in a populated suburb 1.85km (1.15 miles) from the runway.
The aircraft broke apart on impact, causing a fire that destroyed parts of five buildings. All the passengers on the plane died except one – Vishwaskumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national of Indian origin. Some 19 people on the ground were killed as well, and 67 were injured.
(Al Jazeera)
What did the AAIB report say?
The AAIB is investigating the crash, the deadliest aviation incident in a decade, along with Boeing and experts from the US and United Kingdom. A preliminary report from the investigators released on Saturday found the aircraft had been deemed airworthy, had up-to-date maintenance and carried no hazardous cargo.
But the report noted that a 2018 US Federal Aviation Administration advisory warned of a potential flaw in the fuel-control switch system of some Boeing planes, including the Dreamliner. The report said Air India did not inspect the system and it was not mandatory for it to do so. During the crash, recovery systems activated, but only partial engine relight occurred, the report stated.
Both engines shut down just after takeoff as fuel switches moved from the “run” to “cutoff” positions. The report cited a black box audio recording in which one pilot asked, “Why did you cut off?” and the other denied doing so. The speakers were not identified.
Despite taking emergency measures, only one engine partially restarted, and moments before impact, a “Mayday” call was issued before communications were lost.
Air traffic control received no response after the distress call but saw the aircraft crash outside the boundary of the airport. CCTV footage from the airport showed one of the flight recovery systems – known as the Ram Air Turbine (RAT) – deploying shortly after liftoff, followed by a rapid descent.
Who were the pilots?
Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, served as the pilot-in-command on the flight. A soft-spoken veteran who had logged more than 15,600 flight hours, 8,500 of them on the Boeing 787, Sabharwal was known for his reserved nature, meticulous habits and mentorship of junior pilots.
He trained at India’s premier aviation school, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi, and friends who spoke to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recalled him as deeply committed to his career as a pilot as well as caring for his ageing father, a former civil aviation official.
First Officer Clive Kunder, 32, was the pilot flying the aircraft at the time of the crash while Sabharwal was the pilot monitoring.
Kunder had accumulated more than 3,400 flying hours, including 1,128 hours on the Dreamliner. Flying was his childhood dream, inspired by his mother’s 30-year career as an Air India flight attendant.
At age 19, he trained in the US and earned a commercial pilot’s licence before returning to India to join Air India in 2017.
Described by family and friends in the WSJ as joyful, curious and tech-savvy, Kunder was said to be passionate about aviation and excited to be flying the 787.
People stand next to a condolence banner as they wait for the body of Captain Sumeet Sabharwal [File: Hemanshi Kamani/Reuters]
What has emerged this week?
According to US officials who examined evidence from the crash and were quoted by the WSJ, the cockpit voice recording suggests it was Sabharwal who may have moved the fuel control switches to “cutoff” after takeoff, an action that cut power to both engines.
The switches were turned back on within seconds, but it was too late to regain full thrust.
As the flying pilot, Kunder would have been occupied with the climb-out, making it unlikely he could have manipulated the switches, according to unnamed US pilots quoted by the WSJ. Sabharwal, as the monitoring pilot, would have had a freer hand, they said.
What are the fuel-control switches?
Located on a key cockpit panel just behind the throttle levers between the two pilot seats, these switches manage the flow of fuel to each of the aircraft’s two engines.
Pilots use these fuel cutoff switches to start or shut down the engines while on the ground. In flight, the pilots can manually shut down or restart an engine in the event of a failure.
How do fuel-control switches work?
The switches are designed for manual operation. They are spring-loaded to stay firmly in place and cannot be moved accidentally or with light pressure during flight operations.
The switches have two settings: “cutoff” and “run”. The “cutoff” mode stops fuel from reaching the engines while “run” allows normal fuel flow. To change positions, a pilot must first pull the switch upwards before shifting it between “run” and “cutoff”.
Could the crash have been caused by human error?
Experts are cautious about this. US aviation analyst Mary Schiavo told the Financial Express in India that people should not draw premature conclusions, arguing that there is as yet no definitive evidence of pilot error.
She highlighted a similar incident during which one of the engines suddenly shut down midflight on an All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 during its final approach to Osaka, Japan, in 2019.
Investigators later found that the aircraft’s software had mistakenly interpreted the plane as being on the ground, triggering the thrust control malfunction accommodation system, which automatically moved the fuel switch from “run” to “cutoff” without any action from the pilots.
Schiavo warned that a similar malfunction cannot yet be ruled out in the Air India crash and stressed the importance of releasing the full cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript to avoid misleading interpretations.
“There is nothing here to suggest pilot suicide or murder,” she said. “The voices, words and sounds on CVRs must be carefully analysed.”
India’s Federation of Indian Pilots criticised the framing of the preliminary findings in the media this week.
In a public statement, the federation noted that the report relies heavily on paraphrased CVR excerpts and lacks comprehensive data.
“Assigning blame before a transparent, data-driven investigation is both premature and irresponsible,” the statement read before adding that it undermines the professionalism of the crew and causes undue distress to their families.
Campbell Wilson, chief executive of Air India, this week urged staff not to make premature conclusions about the causes of the crash, telling them this week that the investigation was “far from over”.
101 East follows the Catholic priest taking on former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte for alleged “drug war” crimes.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” killed thousands of people.
For years, Catholic priest Flaviano Villanueva has gathered evidence of alleged extrajudicial killings.
He exhumed victims’ bodies for forensic examination and protected a key witness who claims he worked as a contract killer for Duterte.
In March 2025, the priest’s persistence paid off when Duterte was arrested and extradited to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.
101 East follows Father Villanueva’s fight for justice for the victims of Duterte’s brutal crackdown.
