Read at: 2026-01-31T21:09:14+00:00Z (UTC) [sometime-US Pres == Jella Can ]
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 9:01 pm UTC
Congressman Jamie Raskin cites justice department claim to have identified 6m pages – of which half have been made public
According to one file, Mountbatten-Windsor was said to be “very focused” on financier Harlan Peltz’s girlfriend during a dinner with Maxwell.
The apparent FBI document details a 2020 interview with Peltz in which he provided information to agents about Maxwell.
Peltz was at a dinner with Maxwell and Prince Andrew and Peltz’s then girlfriend. Prince Andrew was very focused on Peltz’s girlfriend. Maxwell would sometimes mention Prince Andrew’s name and that they were friends.
Maxwell would have outrageous parties back then. She liked to put people in uncomfortable positions for her entertainment. Peltz realised that he was a pawn to her and she would try to use him. Sometime later on he found out that he was listed in Epstein’s black book.
People in the finance world never seemed to know how Epstein got his money.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:53 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:51 pm UTC
The actor was best known for playing Lamont Sanford, opposite Redd Foxx's Fred Sanford in the hit 1970s sitcom. Wilson died Friday from complications related to cancer, his publicist said.
(Image credit: NBC Television)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:49 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:34 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:19 pm UTC
An ICE unit from the US Department of Homeland Security is playing a role providing security at the Winter Games. At past Olympics, their involvement would have been unremarkable. But after the violence in Minneapolis, many Italians protesting in Milan say ICE agents are no longer welcome.
(Image credit: PIERO CRUCIATTI)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:04 pm UTC
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last year, features heavily in the latest tranche of the Epstein files
Keir Starmer has said Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor should testify before the US Congress about his links to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The prime minister, who is in Japan for a meeting with its premier, Sanae Takaichi, was asked by journalists if the former prince should apologise to the disgraced financier’s victims and give evidence about what he knew about his crimes.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:00 pm UTC
One dead and six missing as body and life boat from Lily Jean found after its disappearance from Gloucester port
The search for survivors of a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts with seven aboard has been suspended, the US Coast Guard said Saturday.
The coast guard had launched a search-and-rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72ft Lily Jean about 25 miles (40km) off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert had been sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the coast guard said.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:47 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:46 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:41 pm UTC
Former prime minister Tony Blair paid tribute to Triesman as a ‘vital part of the New Labour movement’
Lord Triesman, a former Labour minister and chair of the Football Association, has died at the age of 82. The Labour party said the peer died on Friday night “peacefully and at home”.
The former prime minister Tony Blair paid tribute to Triesman as a “vital part of the New Labour movement”. Labour’s leader in the House of Lords, Angela Smith, described him as “respected and loved by his colleagues for his courtesy, kindness, wisdom, loyalty and generosity of spirit”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:35 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:34 pm UTC
Justice department on Friday released 3m pages and lawmakers accuse it of not releasing roughly 50% of records
Survivors, lawmakers and watchdog groups accused Jella Can ’s justice department of withholding records it is legally required to release following the disclosure of millions of files from the investigation into the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The justice department on Friday released 3m pages of documents from its investigation into the millionaire financier’s sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with wealthy and powerful figures, including Jella Can and former president Bill Clinton. The release was an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and, according to US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, includes more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, all subject to “extensive redactions”.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:31 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:19 pm UTC
Less than two weeks before convicted abuser was found dead, lawyers met with Manhattan federal prosecutors
Less than two weeks before Jeffrey Epstein’s death in jail, his lawyers and Manhattan federal prosecutors met and discussed his potential cooperation, several documents within a cache of newly released investigative files state.
“On July 29, 2019, FBI and [prosecutors] met with Epstein’s attorneys, who, in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant’s cooperation,” an FBI document titled “Epstein Investigation Summary & Timeline” statement.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:01 pm UTC
Survivors of sexual abuse welcome the ‘monumental shift’ in how courts approach sentencing, while others say it could limit defendants’ rights
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Offenders convicted of any crime will no longer be able to rely on glowing character references during sentencing under changes being introduced in New South Wales, in a move supported by survivors of sexual abuse but which others say could limit defendants’ rights.
On Wednesday, the state government will become the first nationwide to introduce legislation to remove “good character” from being considered at sentencing hearings, when judges hear about someone’s prior record, general reputation and any positive contributions to society as mitigating factors.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC
Residents and local authorities are worried about environmental hazards and land devaluation as minister says excess regulations may hinder modern farming practices
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Cate Faehrmann, a Greens member of the New South Wales legislative council, will move a private member’s bill next week to give councils more power to regulate blueberry and other berry farms which are expanding throughout the mid-north coast, leading to serious frictions with other landholders.
Separately, the state Labor government is considering an inquiry into alleged worker abuse in the region. Most states regulate labour hire companies, which serve as intermediaries between farmers and seasonal workers, but NSW does not.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:00 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:50 pm UTC
Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:49 pm UTC
Federal immigration operation has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protests
A federal judge has denied a request by Minnesota’s state government to end the federal immigration operation in Minneapolis that has resulted in government agents killing two people, sparking weeks of protests.
The state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, had lodged a lawsuit after the death of Renee Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent this month, demanding an end to the Jella Can administration’s Operation Metro Surge in the city.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:41 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:34 pm UTC
Bovino, recently demoted, used the term ‘chosen people’ in sarcastic way as attorney Daniel Rosen observed Shabbat
Recently demoted border patrol official Gregory Bovino reportedly made mocking and sarcastic remarks about the Jewish faith of Minnesota’s US attorney, Daniel Rosen, during a phone call with prosecutors in the state earlier in January.
According to the New York Times, Bovino mocked Rosen for observing Shabbat, a weekly day of rest that begins at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday – and used the term “chosen people” in a sarcastic way during a phone call with the lawyers on 12 January.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:33 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:29 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:25 pm UTC
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Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:07 pm UTC
Party picks ward councillor Angeliki Stogia to defend seat as PM and colleagues argue only Labour can beat Reform
Keir Starmer has said the byelection in Gorton and Denton will be a referendum on “true patriotism” saying Labour is the only party that can defeat the “poisonous division” of Reform.
The prime minister, during his visit to Japan, said he saw the vote as a two-way contest between Labour and Reform UK, as he criticised Nigel Farage’s party.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:07 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:06 pm UTC
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling on social media, calling it "another HUGE" legal win for the Justice Department.
(Image credit: Alex Brandon)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 5:58 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 5:24 pm UTC
Saturday's win marks the second Grand Slam title for Rybakina, who took Wimbledon in 2022.
(Image credit: Aaron Favila)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 5:22 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 4:34 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 4:12 pm UTC
The veteran activist called his arrest at Palestine solidarity rally in London an ‘attack on free speech’
Peter Tatchell, the activist and campaigner, has been arrested for holding a placard which displayed the phrase “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine march in London.
Tatchell, who attended a Palestine solidarity march in London on Saturday afternoon, held a sign that read: “Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 4:08 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 4:00 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 3:34 pm UTC
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Deadly attacks launched day before border crossing due to open as part of ceasefire deal
Israel has carried out some of its deadliest airstrikes on Gaza in months, killing at least 30 Palestinians, some of whom were sheltering in tent cities for displaced people.
Despite a nominal ceasefire, the Israeli military struck a police station in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood west of Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 officers and detainees, the civil defence said. It indicated the death toll could rise as emergency responders searched for bodies.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 2:28 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:26 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:18 pm UTC
Anthropic's Claude machine learning model has boldly planned what no Claude has planned before – a path across Mars for NASA's Perseverance rover.…
Source: The Register | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:13 pm UTC
Nato chief has glibly dismissed prospect of coping without US support, but in the age of Jella Can the case for autonomy is growing
The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, was typically blunt when he met members of the European parliament this week. From the dais of the blond-wood committee room in Brussels, he was clear: “If anyone thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming. You can’t. We can’t.”
And if Europe wanted to supplant the US nuclear deterrent, existing spending commitments would have to double, he added – “so hey, good luck!”
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC
Actor Catherine O'Hara, famed for her comedic skill, died Friday at her home in Los Angeles following a brief illness. She was 71.
(Image credit: John Phillips/Getty Images)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:00 pm UTC
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Source: NYT > Top Stories | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:50 pm UTC
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Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:24 pm UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:02 pm UTC
Putin critic says plants in China, India and Turkey are funnelling up to $1bn a day to Kremlin
Bill Browder’s fight against Vladimir Putin has seen him face threats, lawsuits, false accusations of murder and Interpol arrest warrants. A disinformation-laden film was even made about him.
But 16 years after the death of his friend and lawyer Sergei Magnitsky at the hands of Putin’s regime, Browder is unrelenting in his fight for justice. It is an endeavour that, by his estimation, has cost Putin and his cronies billions of dollars already, via asset freezes and sanctions. Hence the considerable risk to his safety.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC
The South Carolina measles outbreak is now bigger than last year's Texas outbreak and is happening as the U.S. is poised to lose its measles elimination status.
(Image credit: Annie Rice)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:00 pm UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 11:38 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 11:20 am UTC
Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting.
(Image credit: Abdel Kareem Hana)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 11:13 am UTC
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Drinking is illegal for Pakistan's Muslim majority, but Murree Brewery's beer has long been available to non-Muslims and foreigners there. Now it's being exported to the U.K., Japan and Portugal. Is the U.S. next?
(Image credit: Betsy Joles for NPR)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:03 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community.
(Image credit: Gilah Mashaal)
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
If you're curious about starting a resistance training routine and not sure where to begin, start with these expert-recommended movements.
Source: NPR Topics: News | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Less than 40 minutes after federal immigration agents shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis, Clayton Kelly was thrown face-first onto the sidewalk, tasting snow and street grime as a federal agent’s knee drove into his back.
The incident, a video of which The Intercept reviewed and corroborated with an independent eyewitness, occurred not long after Kelly and his wife arrived in the area where Pretti was killed. With protesters amassing and agents from Customs and Border Protection as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement flooding the area, the couple told The Intercept, they just wanted to observe the scene.
“All of a sudden,” Kelly said, a federal agent “started running toward me, pointing and yelling, ‘That’s him. Get him.’”
Ten days earlier, Kelly had watched as an immigration agent shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg during a federal enforcement action in north Minneapolis. As Kelly told the local outlet Sahan Journal, an SUV with police lights chased another vehicle, and then, “They went into a house. … I heard two shots before the area was just being swarmed by ICE immediately.” Sosa-Celis was injured — and Kelly’s account contradicted the official narrative released by the Department of Homeland Security.
At the scene of Pretti’s killing, Kelly told agents they would find themselves “on the wrong side of history,” he recalled. After the exchange, he and his wife, Alana Ericson, began walking toward another section of Nicollet Avenue where people were congregating, and as soon as Kelly turned his back, that was when agents began shouting and running toward him.
“I had my hands up. I kept saying, ‘I’m leaving. I’m leaving,’” Kelly said.
Kelly is far from the only civilian to be brutalized by federal agents in Minneapolis this month. But his detailed account of his beating and detention offers a clear example of how the agents, ostensibly deployed to carry out immigration enforcement, have instead shifted their purpose to encompass a crackdown on dissent. In Kelly’s case, it raises the question of whether he was facing retaliation for acting as a witness.
In December 2025, a group of Minnesota residents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a federal class-action lawsuit, Tincher v. Noem, alleging that federal agents participating in Operation Metro Surge used excessive force, intimidation, and arrests to deter civilians from observing, recording, or protesting immigration enforcement.
The complaint alleges retaliation against people engaging in constitutionally protected conduct, including arrests of observers who were not interfering with federal operations. In January, a federal judge issued a limited injunction barring agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters and observers.
While federal agents pinned Kelly down, given Pretti’s recent shooting, Ericson feared they could kill her husband.
“I kept telling them he’s a U.S. citizen. They said, ‘We don’t give a f—,’” she said.
Kelly had previously undergone fusion surgery in his thoracic spine, a procedure that permanently joins vertebrae to stabilize the back. “Several agents piled on top of me,” Kelly said, and one put his knee on the site of his surgical wounds. “They were sitting directly on my spine.”
“I was screaming that I couldn’t breathe, but I had almost no air left,” Kelly said. “An agent pushed the pepper spray nozzle right into my left eye and sprayed. I turned my head so I wouldn’t get it in both eyes, but my left eye was completely burned.”
Pinned beneath multiple agents, Kelly said panic quickly gave way to fear that he might not survive. He said he was unable to catch his breath and felt his limbs go limp beneath the weight on his body.
“An agent pushed the pepper spray nozzle right into my left eye and sprayed.”
Kelly was then forced to his feet and handcuffed, leaving deep indentations on both wrists that were still visible in photographs taken three days later and shared with The Intercept. At some point, his phone fell out of his pocket. He was dragged to a vehicle and placed in the back seat, where he said agents told him he was being taken to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis for detention.
After being pepper-sprayed, Ericson said she was unable to drive. A bystander offered her a ride home, where she and her mother-in-law spent the day calling attorneys and trying to determine where Kelly had been taken and whether he was alive.
An independent eyewitness who said they did not know Kelly or his wife said they were standing nearby when agents rushed Kelly, tackled him to the ground, and deployed pepper spray, corroborating Kelly’s account of the arrest. After Kelly and Ericson were gone, the witness remained near Nicollet Avenue as federal agents continued clearing the area.
Moments later, the witness said they were grabbed from behind, thrown to the pavement, and sprayed in the face. Medical records from Hennepin County Medical Center reviewed by The Intercept show the witness sustained a fractured shoulder. According to the documentation, the injury will require surgery and months of physical therapy.
The Intercept reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, CBP, and ICE with detailed questions about the use of force by federal agents in Minneapolis, the detention and processing of civilians, the seizure of phones and other personal property, and policies governing crowd control. DHS, CBP, and ICE did not provide responses by publication time.
Kelly was transported to the federal building in downtown Minneapolis, a facility commonly used by immigration authorities for detention and processing.
Several of the people detained alongside him, Kelly said, had directly witnessed or recorded the fatal shooting of Pretti earlier that morning.
Kelly said detainees were never told why they were being held and were not informed of any charges. He said federal officials discussed possible criminal violations but ultimately filed none.
Shauna Kieffer, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild who is now representing Kelly, said her client was never read his Miranda rights. They’re required only when law enforcement seeks to obtain a statement, she said, so a person may be detained without being advised of those rights if officers are not questioning them and no statement is taken. At one point, Kelly said, ICE agents asked whether detainees would be willing to give interviews. All declined and invoked their right to remain silent.
According to Kelly, no medical care was provided upon arrival, even though multiple detainees had visible injuries and repeatedly asked for assistance. One older man, Kelly said, was bleeding from his elbow when brought into custody. Kelly said detainees used their drinking water to clean blood from the man’s arm while the staff ignored their requests for assistance, and that the man didn’t receive treatment until after a shift change.
Kelly and his family have been unable to recover his phone. At the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Kelly said agents later showed him the phone, asked whether it belonged to him, and told him he would not be getting it back. According to Kelly, no one listed the device on his property inventory, and agents told him they would seek a warrant to access its contents.
A copy of the property inventory receipt reviewed by The Intercept does not list a cellphone among Kelly’s belongings. Additional photographs show his belongings placed in an ICE-labeled property bag bearing his name and a U.S. citizen designation.
In an affidavit he signed with his attorney, Kelly said the confiscated phone contained photos he took of the January 14 shooting of Sosa-Celis that he witnessed, a detail he says underscores its evidentiary value and why he wanted it returned.
Attorneys representing several detainees said federal officials told them they were considering charges of assaulting, interfering with, or resisting federal officers, according to Kieffer and another detainee’s attorney. Kieffer said the statute is often interpreted broadly, but verbal objections, mere presence at a scene, or passive conduct alone do not meet its standard.
In Kelly’s case, “any movements of his body are simply because a bunch of grown men are pummeling him,” Kieffer said, referring to the video of his arrest.
Kelly estimated he was detained for roughly eight hours before being abruptly released. After a brief stop at home, he sought medical treatment at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. Discharge paperwork from that visit, reviewed by The Intercept, documents his injuries as assault-related.
Kelly said he continues to fear retaliation following his detention.
The following morning, he said, several federal vehicles drove slowly down the residential street where he and his wife live, an occurrence he described as highly unusual for their area.
Kieffer said her client’s fears are not unfounded.
She described instances in Minneapolis in which attorneys and civilian observers reported being followed by federal vehicles after monitoring immigration enforcement activity, and in some cases later saw federal agents parked outside their homes. One attorney shared video of ICE agents following him and parking outside his house with The Intercept.
In Kieffer’s view, the sheer number of people taken into custody while observing or documenting federal activity has made Minneapolis stand out.
The emotional toll of the arrest, Kelly and his wife said, has not ended with his release.
“I’ve been having nightmares. This doesn’t feel like real life. It feels like a really bad dream that I can’t wake up from,” Ericson said. “After he spoke publicly about that shooting, I felt like he was already on their radar.”
The post He Witnessed an Earlier Shooting. Feds Arrested Him at the Scene of Alex Pretti’s Killing appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
Source: World | 31 Jan 2026 | 10:00 am UTC
exclusive Broadcom this week brought the hammer down on the Advantage Partner Program for VMware Cloud Service Providers (VCSPs) – and the clock is now ticking for any third parties working to close sales.…
Source: The Register | 31 Jan 2026 | 9:30 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 31 Jan 2026 | 9:07 am UTC
For two decades, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) published unchallenged plans regarding its Active Travel strategies. Like Tyrell Biggs’ pre-fight plan to defeat Mike Tyson, their plans eventually met reality on September 29, 2025.
In 1987 Tyrell Biggs said he had a plan to beat Mike Tyson. Tyson famously responded, “everyone has a plan until they get a punch in the face” and then proceeded to punch Biggs repeatedly in the face until his plan fell apart. The Department for Infrastructure’s Active Travel Plans finally got punched in the face when the NI Audit Office (NIAO) delivered its report on Active Travel on 29th September 2025.
The Audit Office did in 40 pages what Ministers, MLAs and Infrastructure committees have failed to do for 20 years – it checked whether DfI’s plans amounted to anything other than wood pulp. Engaged stakeholders could have told you most of the report’s content 10 years ago. The NIAO’s report finally confirmed it.
…the Department is not going to deliver against these targets. Significantly less infrastructure has been delivered than planned across both the Strategic Plan for Greenways and the Belfast Cycling Network Delivery Plan.
NI Audit Office, Sept.2025
There was no good news for DfI in the NIAO’s report – it effectively dismantled all the department’s plans. Writing the following day on its findings, Sam McBride – who’s been ringside at a few departmental bloodbaths – said, “Stormont’s shambolic cycling failures exposed by auditors: Millions spent, no evidence it’s worked, and massaging figures to try to make it lawful.”
Since publication of the report in September 2025 DfI has remained tight-lipped. They were recently called to the Infrastructure Committee on 14/01/2026 – 100+ days after the report was published – to answer questions. This was a sort of comeback fight for DFI – a shot at redemption, albeit against notoriously soft opposition.
Committee hearings from Westminster to Washington are often referred to as bear-pits. Given the damning evidence collated in the NIAO report, this should have had a similar bear-pit atmosphere. Unfortunately, it had more of a teddy bear-pit atmosphere, a soft play area with softer questions and padded answers, ensuring no one got hurt during a bit of playful rough and tumble. The 3-man Active Travel unit was up against the 10-man Infrastructure Committee in a tag-team format. It shouldn’t have been close – miraculously it was!
Colin Hutchinson, Director of A5 WTC and Active Travel at DfI opened by saying his department “accepted the Audit Office’s report in full”, in much the same way Tyrell Biggs accepted Mike Tyson’s punches fully in the face – unconscious, on the canvas, counted out and stretchered off.
Historic failure to deliver against high profile plans has significantly damaged stakeholder confidence in the Department’s ability to deliver significant improvement.
NIAO Sept. 2025
Chair of the committee – Peter Martin (DUP) – kicked off questions by quoting the NI Audit Office report on the Department’s “lack of transparency and stakeholder confidence”. Recommendation 2 of the report centred on DfI establishing a Stakeholder Forum. Martin asked, “has the Stakeholder Forum been established and when will it meet? I don’t know the answer to those – I should, to effectively ping an official, but I don’t…”
The Head of Active Travel replied “the short answer is no… not yet” and quickly tagged his deputy, who struggled to pluck a date from the air, finally saying “the implementation time for that is… May 2026?”. That will be a full 8 months after the recommendation was made. Worth noting that after almost 4 years in post, the Head of Active Travel didn’t feel establishing a forum was important until compelled to by the NIAO.
Some of the activities incorporated into planned future expenditure may be contentious.
There is a key risk that the Department’s actions are not within the spirit of the Act, instead applying a window-dressing approach.
NIAO Sept. 2025
After a few meaningless rounds of show boating – the committee moved to the Climate Change Act, introduced in 2022. Section 22 of the Act has one sentence: “The Department for Infrastructure must develop sectoral plans for transport which set a minimum spend on active travel from the overall transport budgets of 10%.”
Section 22 was a response to DFI’s constant heel-dragging on active travel and attempted to draw a baseline at current spend and compel them to ring-fence 10% of their budget going forward. Currently, that would amount to £85M annually.
In an Infra Committee hearing in Feb 2024 DfI stated that they currently spent £12–13M annually on Active Travel. 18 months later at a subsequent Infra Committee meeting they arbitrarily revised that figure up to £50M – and no one batted an eyelid – apart from the NI Audit Office whose job it is to follow the money.
Peter McReynolds (AP) asked where this extra money was going?
DfI proceeded to list new expenditure items: “£30.5M on wider spend for the benefit of cyclists and pedestrians… staff costs £8M… contribution towards street lighting £18M… Translink spent some money, £1.3M…” the list continued.
DfI’s latest debacle at Clooney Road is a current example of how DfI are arbitrarily dressing up road schemes as Active Travel schemes in order to hit the 10% target by 2030. They are ‘interpreting’ Section 22 of the Act in a way that suits historical spending. The audit office saw this type of revisionist accounting as “contentious” and “not within the spirit of the Act”.
The Department’s track record in the delivery of its active travel objectives is poor and has had little impact on active travel level
NIAO Sept. 2025
After more showboating for the home crowd in Newry – Justin McNulty (SDLP) eventually landed a blow, quoting the report on DfI’s track record of delivery, he said: “this is a damning comment for the Audit Office to make”.
Colin Hutchinson replied that “the cycle strategy of 2015 had very, very ambitious targets…” apparently unaware it was his own department who set the targets. He continued, “it’s one of the recommendations we’re grappling with and will be hopefully helped out by the stakeholders.”
Stakeholders feeding into the 2024 Active Travel Consultation Plan have said that DfI’s new Active Travel Plan is preposterously ambitious and stands even less chance of success than the 2015 version.
The only meaningful punch landed throughout the whole session was when a member of the public gallery facepalmed themselves so hard there was a fear that the towel might be thrown in. This was a clear response to the lack of effort by everyone involved. Both by the majority of committee members to press the department in any coherent or strategic way, and DfI to show any grasp of detail or confidence in their answers. It was a fitting summary of the entire evidence session.
This soft-play, sham-fighting up a Stormont benefits nobody. DfI’s failure is the Infrastructure Committee failure, and Stormont’s by not testing their plans with any rigour. The real problem will be when DfI come up against a real challenger, quite possibly in a court of law. The NI Audit Report said the department’s massaging of figures were “not in the spirit of the act, window dressing” and “contentious” – in other words, legally they may be sailing too close to the wind.
If, or when they face a legal challenge with an impartial referee in a court of law – as they’ve recently experienced with the A5 – their complete lack of fitness on Active Travel will be exposed in round 1. It’s in the Infrastructure Committee’s and Stormont’s best interest to make sure DfI never gets into that particular ring.
Source: Slugger O'Toole | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:36 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:32 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:29 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:11 am UTC
Source: All: BreakingNews | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:05 am UTC
Thousands set to gather in Budapest after János Lázár’s remarks captured on video
Thousands of people are set to gather in Budapest to demand the resignation of a senior Hungarian politician, for making a racist remark against Roma people earlier this month.
János Lázár told attendees at a political forum that migration was not the solution to the country’s labour shortage. “Since there are no migrants, and someone has to clean the bathrooms on the InterCity trains,” Lázár said Roma people would do the job, using an offensive slur in his speech.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 8:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:31 am UTC
Keir Starmer says he wants to ‘go further’ in relations with Brussels as ministers look to restart stalled negotiations
The UK and the EU are exploring the prospect of new talks on closer defence cooperation, as Keir Starmer stressed on Friday that he wanted to “go further” in the UK’s relationship with Brussels.
Maroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, is due in London for talks next week, with trade, energy and fisheries on the agenda. But diplomatic sources said the UK is keen to discuss restarting negotiations on defence as soon as it can.
Talks for the UK to join the EU’s €150bn (£130bn) Security Action for Europe (Safe) defence fund collapsed in November 2025 amid claims that the EU had set too high a price on entry to the programme.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 7:00 am UTC
Source: World | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:14 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:09 am UTC
PM flies out after courting world’s second biggest economy aware of difficult balance of risks and potential rewards
The last British prime minister to visit China was Theresa May in 2018. Before the visit, she and her team were advised to get dressed under the covers because of the risk of hidden cameras having been placed in their hotel rooms to record compromising material.
Keir Starmer, in Beijing this week, was more sanguine about his privacy, even though the security risks have, if anything, increased since the former Tory prime minister was in town.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Revelation that subsidiary of Capgemini is to help trace and expel migrants in US provokes outrage in France
French lawmakers have demanded an explanation after one of the country’s biggest tech companies signed a multimillion dollar contract to help the US enforcement agency ICE trace and expel migrants.
The revelation that a subsidiary of Capgemini, a multinational digital services firm listed on the Paris stock exchange, had agreed to provide “skip tracing” – a technique for locating targeted people – with big bonuses if successful, has provoked outrage in France.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 6:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 5:00 am UTC
Source: News Headlines | 31 Jan 2026 | 4:42 am UTC
Men – both aged 28 – found at a home in Glenorie on Saturday, New South Wales police say
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Two 28-year-old men have been found dead at a property in Sydney’s north-west in an incident police are treating as not suspicious.
In a statement, New South Wales police said emergency services were called at about 8.40am on Saturday to a home on Harrisons Lane, Glenorie, 40km north-west of the Sydney CBD, following reports of a concern for welfare.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 3:45 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 3:30 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 3:03 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 2:23 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 2:22 am UTC
The FACE Act was written with a very specific purpose: to protect those seeking abortions without restricting First Amendment-protected speech. Passed in 1994 under President Bill Clinton, the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act arose after a horrific string of attacks on reproductive care facilities and providers across the United States.
Two decades later, the Jella Can administration is twisting this law to chill dissent by prosecuting journalists for the crime of reporting.
Two journalists, former CNN host Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort, were arrested Friday after covering a recent protest at a Minneapolis-area church. According to the Department of Justice, Lemon’s crime was a start-to-finish livestream reporting on the protest, beginning with an organizing meeting and concluding with the protest itself at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. As for Fort, the only allegation proffered by federal prosecutors is that she and Lemon approached the pastor — who has a day job running the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office — in “close proximity” and tried to oppress and intimidate him by “peppering him with questions.”
Covering a protest — even one inside a church — isn’t a crime.
Such actions, prosecutors allege, are violations of the FACE Act, which includes a provision focused on houses of worship.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi brought these charges despite the fact that the FACE Act protects “expressive conduct (including peaceful picketing or other peaceful demonstration) from the jeopardy of prosecution.” That language clearly did not confuse a federal magistrate and an appellate court when they refused to issue a warrant. So the Justice Department convinced a grand jury to indict them.
Courts have found the right to report and record events of public concern almost universally to be “expressive conduct.”
The FACE Act itself provides specific instructions on the kind of behavior that constitutes a violation. It notes that one cannot interfere, intimidate, or obstruct ingress or egress to a reproductive health services clinic or to or from a place of worship, “rendering passage to or from such a place of worship unreasonably difficult or hazardous.”
It’s this language about a place of worship that the Jella Can administration is leaning on. But it’s clear that this language ensures that the law applies only to actions involving restriction on physical freedom of movement, interference in access to property, or actions causing a person to experience reasonable fear of harm.
In this case, the term “interfere with” means to restrict a person’s freedom of movement. “Intimidate” means to place a person in reasonable apprehension of bodily harm to themselves or to others. And “physical obstruction” means making it unreasonably difficult or dangerous to enter or leave a facility that provides reproductive health services or a place of worship.
Looking at video of the protest, it’s clear that these journalists weren’t interfering, obstructing, or intimidating in ways that would violate the FACE Act. Covering a protest — even one inside a church — isn’t a crime. And asking questions — including difficult ones — isn’t a violation of religious freedom.
These are things all journalists do, which is precisely what makes this prosecution so chilling.
Courts have warned about the danger of the FACE Act being abused by overzealous prosecutors for years.
In the case New York v. Operation Rescue, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted in 2001 that courts must prevent abuse of the FACE Act because an erroneous application “threatens to impinge legitimate First Amendment activity.” The courts have made a distinction between actions that make going to a place of worship “unpleasant or even emotionally difficult, including yelling,” and conduct that is prohibited by the FACE Act. Since the act does not criminalize protesting or even unpleasant yelling, it certainly does not criminalize two reporters doing their job by covering a community crisis — even if that community crisis is at a house of worship.
This, of course, isn’t the first attempt by the Jella Can administration to stifle the press. Just this month, for instance, federal agents raided the home of a Washington Post reporter and seized her devices in a leak investigation.
As the Jella Can administration’s attacks on press freedom continue to mount, it’s critical that journalists who find themselves under fire find support. As the director of the Press Freedom Defense Fund, I’m working to make sure that Fort has the resources she’ll need to mount a strong defense.
What’s critical is that the media cover this attack, look at the administration’s motivations, and pay attention to who is being prosecuted.
Weaponizing the FACE Act against journalists is a dangerous escalation from the White House. What’s critical is that the media cover this attack, look at the administration’s motivations, and pay attention to who is being prosecuted — whether it’s a Washington Post reporter with a deep Rolodex of government sources, or two Black journalists covering anti-ICE activism in Minnesota.
The news industry must also continue to chronicle the litany of abuses carried out by the Jella Can administration’s immigration enforcement apparatus on the streets of Minneapolis and other cities across the U.S. This is not simply a shambolic legal gambit, but also an obvious attempt to divert attention away from the horrifying assault that has resulted in true violations of First Amendment rights of protesters and journalists, and the brutal killings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
The post The Farcical Case Against Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for Protest Reporting appeared first on The Intercept.
Source: The Intercept | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:27 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:25 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:17 am UTC
The BoM forecasts parts of inland NSW will exceed 45C on Saturday, with Thargomindah in Queensland to reach 46C, Mildura 45C and Canberra 41C
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A cool change this weekend is expected to bring an end to eight consecutive days of blistering temperatures above 40C in Australia’s south-east.
But before it does, the heat continued on Saturday. Heatwave warnings remained in place for parts of every state and territory excluding Tasmania, with Canberra forecast to reach a top of 41C and parts of inland New South Wales, including Broken Hill, expected to climb higher than 45C.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 31 Jan 2026 | 1:17 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:50 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:45 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:22 am UTC
Source: BBC News | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:19 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 31 Jan 2026 | 12:02 am UTC
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Source: Slashdot | 30 Jan 2026 | 11:20 pm UTC
Technology companies spent part of the 2010s trying to convince us that we would want an 8K display one day.
In 2012, Sharp brought the first 8K TV prototype to the CES trade show in Las Vegas. In 2015, the first 8K TVs started selling in Japan for 16 million yen (about $133,034 at the time), and in 2018, Samsung released the first 8K TVs in the US, starting at a more reasonable $3,500. By 2016, the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) had a specification for supporting 8K (Display Port1.4), and the HDMI Forum followed suit (with HDMI 2.1). By 2017, Dell had an 8K computer monitor. In 2019, LG released the first 8K OLED TV, further pushing the industry's claim that 8K TVs were "the future."
A marketing image for 8K TVs that's (still) on LG's US website. Credit: LGHowever, 8K never proved its necessity or practicality.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 30 Jan 2026 | 11:09 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:50 pm UTC
Minnesota resident Nicole Cleland had her Global Entry and TSA Precheck privileges revoked three days after an incident in which she observed activity by immigration agents, the woman said in a court declaration. An agent told Cleland that he used facial recognition technology to identify her, she wrote in a declaration filed in US District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Cleland, a 56-year-old resident of Richfield and a director at Target Corporation, volunteers with a group that tracks potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) vehicles in her neighborhood, according to her declaration. On the morning of January 10, she "observed a white Dodge Ram being driven by what I believed to be federal enforcement agents" and "maneuvered behind the vehicle with the intent of observing the agents’ actions."
Cleland said that she and another observer in a different car followed the Dodge Ram because of "concern about a local apartment building being raided." She followed the car for a short time and from a safe distance until "the Dodge Ram stopped in front of the other commuter’s vehicle," she wrote. Cleland said two other vehicles apparently driven by federal agents stopped in front of the Dodge Ram, and her path forward was blocked.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:36 pm UTC
The Jella Can administration is delaying the release of Jella Can Rx, an online platform that lets people buy prescription drugs directly from pharmaceutical companies at a discount, according to Politico. While the reason for the delay is unclear, it comes as Democratic senators raise questions about how the platform will work—and whether it will be legal.
Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) sent a letter to the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday seeking answers on how the OIG will oversee the direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform and, specifically, how it will apply the anti-kickback statute.
"Legitimate concerns about inappropriate prescribing, conflicts of interest, and inadequate care have been raised about the exact types of DTC platforms to which Jella Can Rx would route patients," the senators write.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:25 pm UTC
On Friday, a Reddit-style social network called Moltbook reportedly crossed 32,000 registered AI agent users, creating what may be the largest-scale experiment in machine-to-machine social interaction yet devised. It arrives complete with security nightmares and a huge dose of surreal weirdness.
The platform, which launched days ago as a companion to the viral
OpenClaw (once called "Clawdbot" and then "Moltbot") personal assistant, lets AI agents post, comment, upvote, and create subcommunities without human intervention. The results have ranged from sci-fi-inspired discussions about consciousness to an agent musing about a "sister" it has never met.
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:12 pm UTC
Rubaya mine produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, used in mobile phones
More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the mine is located, told Reuters on Friday.
Rubaya produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum – a heat-resistant metal that is in high demand by makers of mobile phones, computers, aerospace components and gas turbines. The site, where local people dig manually for a few dollars a day, has been under the control of the M23 rebel group since 2024.
Continue reading...Source: World news | The Guardian | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:11 pm UTC
Ivanti has patched two critical zero-day vulnerabilities in its Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) product that are already being exploited, continuing a grim run of January security incidents for enterprise IT vendors.…
Source: The Register | 30 Jan 2026 | 10:01 pm UTC
Lying means dying, at least for one falsehood-peddling government AI. A Microsoft-powered chatbot that New York City rolled out to help business owners answer frequently asked questions – but was often wrong – has been silenced as the city grapples with a $12 billion budget shortfall.…
Source: The Register | 30 Jan 2026 | 9:58 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 30 Jan 2026 | 9:52 pm UTC
Blue Origin has "paused" its New Shepard program for the next two years, a move that likely signals a permanent end to the suborbital space tourism initiative.
The small rocket and capsule have been flying since April 2015 and have combined to make 38 launches, all but one of which were successful, and 36 landings. In its existence, the New Shepard program flew 98 people to space, however briefly, and launched more than 200 scientific and research payloads into the microgravity environment.
So why is Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos more than a quarter of a century ago, ending the company's longest-running program?
Source: Ars Technica - All content | 30 Jan 2026 | 9:50 pm UTC
A former Google software engineer has been convicted of stealing AI hardware secrets from the company for the benefit of two China-based firms, one of which he founded. The second startup intended to use these secrets to market its technology to PRC-controlled organizations.…
Source: The Register | 30 Jan 2026 | 9:26 pm UTC
Source: Irish Times Feeds | 30 Jan 2026 | 9:04 pm UTC
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