Deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein allegedly played a key role in one of the largest known sexual blackmail operations connected to Russian intelligence, according to Daily Mail.

Journalists calculated that newly released documents in the Epstein case contain 1,056 references to Russia and Vladimir Putin, and 9,629 references to Moscow.

Citing intelligence sources, the British outlet reported on February 1 that Epstein’s private social network and parties were instrumental in collecting compromising material on high-profile Western political and business figures.

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The materials obtained were allegedly funneled to Russian intelligence agencies. The report asserts that the operation involved Ghislaine Maxwell—currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking—who had ties to her father, Robert Maxwell, a businessman long suspected of cooperating with the KGB and Mossad in the 1970s.

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The report references declassified US Department of Justice files and emails from Epstein’s archive. One email, dated September 11, 2011, mentions coordination for a possible meeting between Epstein and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. A person identified only as “Igor” was reportedly helping schedule a trip to Russia in mid-September.

Another email, sent in 2014 by Japanese entrepreneur Joi Ito, discusses a potential joint meeting involving Epstein, Putin, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. However, according to a follow-up email, the plan was canceled after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 by Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. Ito wrote: “Now, after the plane crash, it seems like a bad idea.”

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Messages from Epstein’s files suggest that he claimed he could provide valuable intelligence on then-President Donald Trump ahead of Trump’s 2018 summit with Putin in Helsinki. Daily Mail does not confirm whether such materials were ever delivered or used.

The investigation also highlights Epstein’s apparent long-standing ties to Russian organized crime, which may have facilitated his ability to transport large numbers of women from Russia. Intelligence officials interviewed by Daily Mail believe these relationships were central to his operational capabilities and possibly served as leverage over him.

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Italy’s culture minister and the diocese of Rome have launched investigations after claims were made that an angel in a landmark church in Rome was restored in the likeness of the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.

The resemblance was first flagged by the newspaper La Repubblica, which noted that one of the two angels flanking a marble bust of Italy’s last king in the Basilica of St Lawrence in Lucina now had “a familiar, astonishingly contemporary face”.

It added: “Before the restoration, there was a generic cherub. Today, it is the face of the most powerful woman in the country.”

The front-page story set off a flurry of reactions. The culture ministry said technicians had been dispatched to carry out an inspection of the winged figure. They had been told to “establish the nature of the work carried out”, it said in a statement, and would “decide what action to take”.

Norway’s crown princess has become embroiled in another scandal after newly unsealed files appeared to show her years of extensive contact with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The latest tranche of Epstein files, released on Friday by the US justice department, appear to include nearly 1,000 mentions of the crown princess, Mette-Marit.

The files include scores of emails traded between the two, suggesting they were in contact from 2011 to 2014, the Norwegian daily VG reported. Mette-Marit married the future king of Norway in 2001.

The revelations come at a sensitive time for the royal family. The trial of Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby for rape is due to begin on Tuesday. He was born from a relationship before she married Crown Prince Haakon

Høiby is facing 38 charges, including the alleged rape of four women as well as alleged assault and drug offences. If convicted he could face up to 16 years in prison. Høiby has denied the most serious charges, including those of sexual abuse.

Fifteen people were killed and seven wounded after a Russian drone struck a bus carrying miners in Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, energy firm DTEK ​and government officials said on Sunday.

The attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a ⁠second round of U.S.-brokered trilateral talks between Ukraine and ‍Russia would ⁠take place next week.

DTEK ​said in a statement that Russian forces had carried out a "massive terrorist attack" on a company mine in the region and that all of the dead and wounded ⁠were its employees returning from a shift.

"Today, the enemy carried out a cynical and targeted attack on energy sector workers in ‍the Dnipropetrovsk region," Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

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Israel said on Sunday, February 1, that it was terminating the humanitarian operations of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza after the international medical charity failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the UN.

"The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism is moving to terminate the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Gaza Strip," the ministry said on Sunday. The decision follows "MSF's failure to submit lists of local employees, a requirement applicable to all humanitarian organizations operating in the region," it added.

In a statement on Friday, MSF acknowledged that it had, as an "exceptional measure," agreed to share a list of names of its Palestinian and international staff with the Israeli authorities. "However, despite repeated efforts, it became evident that we were unable to build engagement with Israeli authorities on the concrete assurances required," it said. "These included that any staff information would be used only for its stated administrative purpose and would not put colleagues at risk."

Since February 2022, Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties in the war in Ukraine, more losses than any major power in any war since World War II.

Ukraine Battlefield Map, January 2026

Archived

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A man and a woman were killed in Dnipro after a Russian drone targeted houses in the city, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported.

In Sumy Oblast, a drone attack near the village of Velyka Pysarivka injured two elderly men, according to the region's military administration.

Russian troops attacked Zaporizhzhia Oblast, injuring a woman and a man, aged 57 and 54, Governor Ivan Fedorov said.

Two people were killed and five more injured in Donetsk Oblast over the past day, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Two 60-year-old women were injured in Russian attacks on the villages of Kivsharivka and Synykha in Kharkiv Oblast, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.

In Kherson Oblast, Russian forces targeted 15 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson. Ten people, including three children, were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

• Two-week blackout tests system where web access becomes a vetted privilege.
• Regime insiders use “white SIM cards” for unrestricted access, while 85 million citizens remain cut off.
• Irancell’s CEO was fired for delaying the shutdown.

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Following a repressive crackdown on protests, the government is now building a system that grants web access only to security-vetted elites, while locking 90 million citizens inside an intranet.

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This is what makes Iran’s attempt unique: Other authoritarian states built walls before their populations went online. Iran is trying to seal off a connected economy already in freefall.

The system is called Barracks Internet, according to confidential planning documents obtained by Filterwatch. Under this architecture, access to the global web will be granted only through a strict security whitelist.

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The idea of tiered internet access is not new in Iran. Since at least 2013, the regime has quietly issued “white SIM cards,” giving unrestricted global internet access to approximately 16,000 people. The system gained public attention in November 2025 when X’s location feature revealed that certain accounts, including the communications minister, were connecting directly from inside Iran, despite X being blocked since 2009.

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The economic costs of the blackout are staggering. Iran’s deputy communications minister pegged the daily losses at as much as $4.3 million. NetBlocks estimates the true cost exceeds $37 million daily. More than 10 million Iranians depend directly on digital platforms for their livelihoods.

Tipax, one of Iran’s largest private delivery companies handling about 320,000 daily shipments before the protests, now processes fewer than a few hundred, according to Filterwatch. The company operates a nationwide logistics network comparable to FedEx in the U.S. market.

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Technical experts doubt the regime can sustain Barracks Internet without crippling the economy.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50083788

Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday.

Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said.

Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said.

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Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Beijing’s Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Strait were established to facilitate tourism coordination.

Previously, Taiwanese in China who encountered travel contingencies could contact the two associations for assistance, the MAC said.

However, with communications suspended between the two associations, Taiwanese in China no longer have the same safety protections and face heightened risk, it said.

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The government has been consistent in its goodwill toward China, but it would not compromise the rights and safety of Taiwanese, the MAC said, adding that the travel industry and the public should support efforts to build an improved framework for “cross-strait tourism 2.0.”

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https://archive.is/Lf5vf

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