U.S. Justice Department to review 5.2 million Epstein case documents

Justice Department marshals 400 lawyers as 5.2 million Epstein pages remain, pushing release past congressional deadline The Justice Department said it still must review 5.2 million pages tied to Jeffrey Epstein and is mobilizing 400 lawyers to help, signaling the final release of files will slip well past a Dec. 19 deadline mandated by Congress, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters. The sweep of the task underscores the scale of the Epstein records and the political pressure surrounding them. The document…

Mali and Burkina Faso impose mutual travel bans against the United States

Mali and Burkina Faso said they will bar entry to U.S. citizens in direct response to a new Trump administration travel ban, invoking reciprocity after Washington expanded its list of restricted countries earlier this month. In separate statements from their foreign ministries, the two West African governments said the U.S. decision had left them no choice but to mirror the measure. The White House announced on Dec. 16 that President Donald Trump was adding Mali, Burkina Faso and five other countries to a list subject to a…

Mamdani poised to become New York mayor as Trump looms large

Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as New York City’s first Muslim mayor at midnight local time, taking his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop in a gesture he says underscores his commitment to working people and the city’s soaring cost-of-living crisis. Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democrat who was virtually unknown a year ago, campaigned on an ambitious agenda that includes a rent freeze, universal childcare and free public buses. His office said the understated venue reflects his governing priorities. New York Attorney…

Israel threatens ban on 37 aid groups operating in Gaza

Israel threatens to bar 37 aid groups from Gaza and West Bank over staff data dispute Israel has threatened to bar 37 international aid organizations from operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank as early as tomorrow, saying they failed to submit personal details of staff under new registration rules. The move could force medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières to halt operations in Gaza, where it says deregistration would sever life-saving care for hundreds of thousands of people amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.…

Tatiana Schlossberg, JFK’s granddaughter and journalist, dies at 35

Tatiana Schlossberg, 35, an American environmental journalist and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy, died of acute myeloid leukemia, her family said. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the family wrote in a statement posted on the JFK Library Foundation’s Instagram account. Schlossberg, a former science and climate reporter for The New York Times, wrote about her diagnosis in a November essay for The New Yorker. Doctors first flagged her illness after detecting an…

Trump claims U.S. struck Venezuelan dock linked to suspected drug-smuggling boats

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States hit and destroyed a docking area used by alleged Venezuelan drug boats, President Donald Trump said, in what could amount to the first land strike of his administration’s anti-trafficking campaign in Latin America. “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “So, we hit all the boats and now we hit the area, it’s the implementation…

Ocean’s Eleven-style thieves loot €30m in cash and gold from German bank

Thieves drilled through a parking garage wall into a bank vault in western Germany over the Christmas holiday, smashing open more than 3,000 safe-deposit boxes and fleeing with an estimated 30 million euros in cash, gold and jewelry, authorities and the bank said. The heist at a Sparkasse branch in Gelsenkirchen, in North Rhine-Westphalia state, unfolded while most businesses were shut for the Christmas break. Investigators suspect the burglars may have used the extended closure to spend days inside the underground vault…

Police: Bondi Beach mass shooting suspects acted alone without accomplices

Bondi Beach mass shooting suspects acted alone, Australian police say; nationwide gun crackdown announced SYDNEY — A father and son accused of killing 15 people in an Islamic State-inspired attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach acted alone and were not part of a broader terrorist cell, Australian police said, as the federal government moved to tighten gun laws and curb hate speech. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said investigators have found no evidence the pair — identified as Sajid Akram, 50, and his…

Eurostar suspends all Channel Tunnel services all day after power failure

Eurostar cancels all London–Europe trains as Channel Tunnel closes over power failure Eurostar has suspended all services between London and mainland Europe after a power failure and a failed LeShuttle train forced the closure of the Channel Tunnel on Saturday, the high-speed operator said, urging passengers not to travel to stations. “Due to a problem with the overhead power supply and a subsequent failed LeShuttle train the Channel tunnel is currently closed,” Eurostar said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this means we…

Ukraine denies credible evidence of attack on Putin’s residence

Ukraine denies involvement in alleged drone attack on Putin residence as Kremlin lashes out, says incident will harden stance in peace talks Ukraine said there is no plausible evidence it launched a drone attack on one of Vladimir Putin’s residences, accusing Moscow of fabricating the claim to manipulate an emerging peace process, as the Kremlin warned the alleged incident would toughen Russia’s position in negotiations. “Almost a day passed and Russia still hasn’t provided any plausible evidence to its accusations of…