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Tag: World News

  • US Olympians speaking up about politics at home face online backlash — including from Trump

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    MILAN — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said that it is hard to cheer for American Olympians who are speaking out against administration policies, calling one such critic “a real Loser” who perhaps should have stayed home.

    It was the latest and most prominent example of U.S. Olympians at the Milan Cortina Games inviting online backlash with their words.

    Reporters on Friday asked U.S. athletes at a news conference how they feel representing the country during the Trump administration’s heighted immigration enforcement actions. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess replied that he had mixed emotions since he doesn’t agree with the situation, and that he is in Milan competing on behalf of everyone who helped get him to The Games.

    “If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it,” Hess said. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

    Among those who piled on Hess were YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

    “From all true Americans If you don’t want to represent this country go live somewhere else,” he wrote on X, where he has 4.4 million followers. Minutes later, he was photographed sitting beside U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the U.S women’s hockey game in Olympic host city Milan.

    Trump said the next day that Hess’ comments make it hard to root for him.

    “Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it,” he wrote on his Truth Social account.

    At Friday’s news conference with the athletes, freestyle skier Chris Lillis referenced Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he’s “heartbroken” about what is happening in the U.S.

    “I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”

    And U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn said the LGBTQ+ community has had a hard time during the Trump administration.

    In addition to Paul, conservative figures criticizing the athletes on social media include former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, actor Rob Schneider and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds — who Trump has endorsed for the Florida gubernatorial race in November. And there was a flood of vitriol directed at them from ordinary Americans.

    Glenn posted on Instagram that she had received “a scary amount of hate / threats for simply using my voice WHEN ASKED about how I feel.” She added that she will start limiting her social media use for her well-being.

    In response to questions from The Associated Press, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday that it is aware of an increasing amount of abusive and harmful messages directed toward the athletes and was doing its best to remove content and report credible threats to law enforcement.

    “The USOPC stands firmly behind Team USA athletes and remains committed to their well-being and safety, both on and off the field of play,” it said.

    Support for the U.S. abroad has eroded as the Trump administration has pursued an aggressive posture on foreign policy, including punishing tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.

    During the opening ceremony, Team USA athletes were cheered on, but jeers and whistles could be heard as Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, were shown on the stadium screens, waving American flags from the tribune.

    In Milan, several demonstrations have broken out against the against the local deployment of ICE agents — even after clarification that they are from an investigations unit that is completely separate from the enforcement unit at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S.

    Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm seen in the streets of the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers were sent to Italy. – I think this graf can be deleted, too in the weeds

    A demonstration on Saturday featured thousands of protesters. Toward its end, a small number of them clashed with police, who fired tear gas and a water cannon. That followed another one last week, when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.

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    Associated Press writer Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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  • Lindsey Vonn crashes early in Olympic downhill, taken off mountain in helicopter

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    CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn, racing on a badly injured left knee, crashed early in the Olympic downhill on Sunday and was taken off the course by a helicopter after the 41-year-old American received medical attention on the snow.

    Vonn lost control over the opening traverse after cutting the line too tight and was spun around in the air. She was heard screaming out after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel before she was strapped to a gurney and flown away by a helicopter, possibly ending the skier’s storied career.

    The race was put on hold as she received treatment. Vonn’s teammate, Breezy Johnson, held the early lead.

    Vonn had family in the stands, including her father, Alan Kildow, who stared down at the ground while his daughter was being treated. Others in the crowd, including Snoop Dogg, watched quietly as the star skier was finally taken off the course where she had so many fond memories.

    All eyes were on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years, a remarkable decision at any time given her age but she also had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee, too. Many wondered how she would fare.

    She stunned everyone by being a contender almost immediately. She came to the Olympics as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings and was a gold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland nine days ago, when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to a ruptured ACL, she also had a bone bruise and meniscus damage.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

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  • Traders protest new customs tariffs as Iraq wrestles with shrinking oil revenues

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    BAGHDAD — Hundreds of traders and customs clearance company owners protested in central Baghdad on Sunday, demanding that Iraq’s government reverse recently imposed customs tariffs that they say have sharply increased their costs and disrupted trade.

    The new tariffs that came into effect on Jan. 1 were imposed as part of an attempt to decrease the country’s debt and its reliance on oil revenues as oil prices have dropped.

    Iraq faces debt of more than 90 trillion Iraqi dinars ($69 billion) — and a state budget that remains reliant on oil for about 90% of revenues, despite attempts to diversify.

    But traders say the new tariffs — in some cases as high as 30% — have placed an unfair burden on them. Opponents have filed a lawsuit aiming to reduce the decision, which Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court is set to rule on Wednesday.

    The demonstrators gathered outside the General Customs Directorate Sunday, chanting slogans against corruption and rejecting the new fees.

    “We used to pay about 3 million dinars per container, but now in some cases they ask for up to 14 million,” said Haider al-Safi, a transport and customs clearance company owner. “Even infant milk fees rose from about 495,000 dinars to nearly 3 million.”

    He said that the new tariffs have caused a backlog of goods at the Umm Qasr port in southern Iraq and added that electric vehicles, previously exempt from customs duties, are now subject to a 15% fee.

    “The main victim is the citizen with limited income, and government employee whose salary barely covers his daily living, those who have to pay rent, and have children with school expenses — they all will be affected by the market,” said Mohammed Samir, a wholesale trader from Baghdad.

    Protesters also accused influential groups of facilitating the release of goods in exchange for lower unofficial payments, calling it widespread corruption. Many traders, they said, are now considering routing their imports through the Kurdistan region, where fees are lower.

    The protests coincided with a nationwide strike by shop owners, who closed markets and stores in several parts of Baghdad to oppose the tariff increase. In major commercial districts, shops remained shut and hung up banners reading “Customs fees are killing citizens.”

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  • Iran Insists on Right to Enrichment, Ready for Confidence-Building

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    DUBAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Recognition of Iran’s right to ‌enrich ​uranium is key for ‌nuclear talks with the U.S. to succeed, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi ​said on Sunday.

    American and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks in Oman on Friday, aimed at ‍reviving diplomacy amid a U.S. ​naval buildup near Iran and Tehran’s vows of a harsh response if attacked.

    “Zero enrichment ​can never ⁠be accepted by us. Hence, we need to focus on discussions that accept enrichment inside Iran while building trust that enrichment is and will stay for peaceful purposes,” Araqchi said.

    Iran and the U.S. held five rounds of nuclear talks last year, which ‌stalled mainly due to disagreements over uranium enrichment inside Iran. In June, the ​U.S. attacked ‌Iranian nuclear facilities at ‍the end ⁠of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.

    Tehran has since said it has halted enrichment activity, which the U.S. views as a possible pathway to nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.

    A diplomat in the region briefed by Iran told Reuters on Friday that Tehran was open to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment as well as other ​arrangements, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its soil and would be granted sanctions relief in addition to military de-escalation.

    “Iran’s insistence on enrichment is not merely technical or economic (…) it is rooted in a desire for independence and dignity,” Araqchi said. “No one has the right to tell the Iranian nation what it should or should not have.”

    The minister also said that Iran’s missile programme, which the U.S. would like to include in negotiations, had never been part of the agenda.

    President Masoud Pezeshkian said in ​a post on Sunday that talks with the U.S. were a “step forward” and that Tehran wanted its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to be respected.

    The date and venue of the next round of talks will be determined ​in consultation with Oman and might not be Muscat, Araqchi said.

    (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Greenland Crisis Boosted Danish Apps Designed to Identify and Help Boycott US Goods

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    COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The makers of mobile apps designed to help shoppers identify and boycott American goods say they saw a surge of interest in Denmark and beyond after the recent flare-up in tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland.

    The creator of the “Made O’Meter” app, Ian Rosenfeldt, said he saw around 30,000 downloads of the free app in just three days at the height of the trans-Atlantic diplomatic crisis in late January out of more than 100,000 since it was launched in March.


    Apps offer practical help

    Rosenfeldt, who lives in Copenhagen and works in digital marketing, decided to create the app a year ago after joining a Facebook group of like-minded Danes hoping to boycott U.S. goods.

    “Many people were frustrated and thinking, ‘How do we actually do this in practical terms,’” the 53-year-old recalled. “If you use a bar code scanner, it’s difficult to see if a product is actually American or not, if it’s Danish or not. And if you don’t know that, you can’t really make a conscious choice.”

    The latest version of “Made O’Meter” uses artificial intelligence to identify and analyze several products at a time, then recommend similar European-made alternatives. Users can set preferences, like “No USA-owned brands” or “Only EU-based brands.” The app claims over 95% accuracy.

    “By using artificial intelligence, you can take an image of a product … and it can make a deep dive to go out and find the correct information about the product in many levels,” Rosenfeldt told The Associated Press during a demonstration at a Copenhagen grocery store. “This way, you have information that you can use to take decisions on what you think is right.”

    After an initial surge of downloads when the app was launched, usage tailed off. Until last month, when Trump stepped up his rhetoric about the need for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, a strategically important and mineral-rich Arctic island that is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark.

    Usage peaked Jan. 23, when there were almost 40,000 scans in one day, compared with 500 or so daily last summer. It has dropped back since but there were still around 5,000 a day this week, said Rosenfeldt, who noted “Made O’Meter” is used by over 20,000 people in Denmark but also by people in Germany, Spain, Italy, even Venezuela.

    “It’s become much more personal,” said Rosenfeldt, who spoke of “losing an ally and a friend.”

    Trump announced in January he would slap new tariffs on Denmark and seven other European countries that opposed his takeover calls, only to abruptly drop his threats after he said a “framework” for a deal over access to mineral-rich Greenland was reached with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s help. Few details of that agreement have emerged.

    The U.S. began technical talks in late January to put together an Arctic security deal with Denmark and Greenland, which say sovereignty is not negotiable.

    Rosenfeldt knows such boycotts won’t damage the U.S. economy, but hopes to send a message to supermarkets and encourage greater reliance on European producers.

    “Maybe we can send a signal and people will listen and we can make a change,” he added.


    The protest may be largely symbolic

    Another Danish app, “NonUSA,” topped 100,000 downloads at the beginning of February. One of its creators, 21-year-old Jonas Pipper, said there were over 25,000 downloads Jan. 21, when 526 product scans were performed in a minute at one point. Of the users, some 46,000 are in Denmark and around 10,000 in Germany.

    “We noticed some users saying they felt like a little bit of the pressure was lifted off them,” Pipper said. “They feel like they kind of gained the power back in this situation.”

    It’s questionable whether such apps will have much practical effect.

    Christina Gravert, an associate professor of economics at the University of Copenhagen, said there are actually few U.S. products on Danish grocery store shelves, “around 1 to 3%”. Nuts, wines and candy, for example. But there is widespread use of American technology in Denmark, from Apple iPhones to Microsoft Office tools.

    “If you really want to have an impact, that’s where you should start,” she said.

    Even “Made O’Meter” and “NonUSA” are downloaded from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store.

    Gravert, who specializes in behavioral economics, said such boycott campaigns are usually short-lived and real change often requires an organized effort rather than individual consumers.

    “It can be interesting for big supermarket brands to say, OK, we’re not going to carry these products anymore because consumers don’t want to buy them,” she said. “If you think about large companies, this might have some type of impact on the import (they) do.”

    On a recent morning, shoppers leaving one Copenhagen grocery store were divided.

    “We do boycott, but we don’t know all the American goods. So, it’s mostly the well-known trademarks,” said Morten Nielsen, 68, a retired navy officer. “It’s a personal feeling … we feel we do something, I know we are not doing very much.”

    “I love America, I love traveling in America,” said 63-year-old retiree Charlotte Fuglsang. “I don’t think we should protest that way.”

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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  • North Korea to Convene 9th Congress in Late February, KCNA Reports

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    SEOUL, Feb 8 (Reuters) – ‌North ​Korea will convene ‌the 9th Congress in ​late February in Pyongyang, state media ‍KCNA reported on ​Sunday, without elaborating ​on ⁠the date.

    The ruling Workers’ Party’s political bureau held a meeting on Saturday to prepare for the Congress, including ‌the agenda and the timing, KCNA ​said.

    North ‌Korean leader Kim ‍Jong ⁠Un had visited various military and economic facilities ahead of the Congress, such as a cruise missile launch site and a large-scale ​greenhouse farm, to promote his accomplishments in national policy.

    The congress is one of North Korea’s largest political events, taking place every five years to set out major policy goals.

    Analysts are watching for a military parade ​where the country is expected to unveil various weapons and high-profile guests may make appearances.

    (Reporting ​by Heejin Kim; editing by Diane Craft)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Families of Venezuelans Detained for Political Activism Demand Their Release Outside Infamous Prison

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    CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Dozens of relatives and friends of Venezuelan opposition leaders, human rights defenders and others detained for their political activities protested Saturday outside a notorious prison in the capital to demand the immediate release of their loved ones.

    The demonstration outside Helicoide prison in Caracas comes during mounting pressure on the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez to release all people whose detentions months or years ago have been linked by their families and nongovernmental organizations to their political beliefs. Her government last month announced it would free a significant number of prisoners, but families and human rights watchdogs have criticized authorities for the slow pace of the releases.

    Rodríguez last month also promised to close Helicoide, where torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse of prisoners have been extensively documented. She said the facility, which was initially built to be a mall, would be turned into a cultural, social and sports center for police forces and adjacent neighborhoods.

    Those gathered Saturday outside the facility included political activists released from prison over the past month. They joined families and friends in prayer before marching about two blocks to reach the doors of Helicoide, where they sang Venezuela’s national anthem and chanted “Freedom! Freedom!”

    “We, as family members, and I personally on behalf of my husband, Freddy Superlano, feel this is a mockery, a lack of respect,” Aurora Silva, whose husband is a former lawmaker for the opposition, said. She was referring to the pace of releases since they were announced on Jan. 8 by Rodríguez’s brother and National Assembly leader, Jorge Rodríguez. “Releases have been carried out piecemeal, and I believe that’s only prolonging the suffering of all the families outside the detention centers.”

    Silva’s husband is being held at a facility outside Caracas.

    The ruling party-controlled National Assembly this week began debating an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners. Such an amnesty is a central demand of the country’s opposition and human rights activists, who have so far reacted only with cautious optimism and with demands for more information on the contents of the proposal.

    Jorge Rodríguez on Friday posted a video on Instagram showing him outside a detention center in Caracas and saying that “everyone” would be released no later than next week, once the amnesty bill is approved.

    “Between next Tuesday and Friday at the latest, they’ll all be free,” he said from the location where the loved ones of detainees have spent weeks waiting for their release.

    Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as acting president after the capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military, has expressed hope that the law will help “heal the wounds left by the political confrontation” since the rise to power of the late Hugo Chávez, the self-proclaimed socialist leader who governed Venezuela from 1999 to 2013.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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  • Italian police fire tear gas as protesters clash near Winter Olympics hockey venue

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    MILAN — Italian police fired tear gas and a water cannon at dozens of protesters who threw firecrackers and tried to access a highway near a Winter Olympics venue on Saturday.

    The brief confrontation came at the end of a peaceful march by thousands against the environmental impact of the Games and the presence of U.S. agents in Italy.

    Police held off the violent demonstrators, who appeared to be trying to reach the Santagiulia Olympic ice hockey rink, after the skirmish. By then, the larger peaceful protest, including families with small children and students, had dispersed.

    Earlier, a group of masked protesters had set off smoke bombs and firecrackers on a bridge overlooking a construction site about 800 meters (a half-mile) from the Olympic Village that’s housing around 1,500 athletes.

    Police vans behind a temporary metal fence secured the road to the athletes’ village, but the protest veered away, continuing on a trajectory toward the Santagiulia venue. A heavy police presence guarded the entire route.

    There was no indication that the protest and resulting road closure interfered with athletes’ transfers to their events, all on the outskirts of Milan.

    The demonstration coincided with U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Milan as head of the American delegation that attended the opening ceremony on Friday.

    He and his family visited Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” closer to the city center, far from the protest, which also was against the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to provide security to the U.S. delegation.

    U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers are being sent to Italy.

    At the larger, peaceful demonstration, which police said numbered 10,000, people carried cardboard cutouts to represent trees felled to build the new bobsled run in Cortina. A group of dancers performed to beating drums. Music blasted from a truck leading the march, one a profanity-laced anti-ICE anthem.

    “Let’s take back the cities and free the mountains,” read a banner by a group calling itself the Unsustainable Olympic Committee. Another group called the Association of Proletariat Excursionists organized the cutout trees.

    “They bypassed the laws that usually are needed for major infrastructure project, citing urgency for the Games,” said protester Guido Maffioli, who expressed concern that the private entity organizing the Games would eventually pass on debt to Italian taxpayers.

    Homemade signs read “Get out of the Games: Genocide States, Fascist Police and Polluting Sponsors,” the final one a reference to fossil fuel companies that are sponsors of the Games. One woman carried an artificial tree on her back decorated with the sign: “Infernal Olympics.”

    The demonstration followed another last week when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.

    Like last week, demonstrators Saturday said they were opposed to ICE agents’ presence, despite official statements that a small number of agents from an investigative arm would be present in U.S. diplomatic territory, and not operational on the streets.

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  • From Trump to Epstein, How Brad Karp Lost His Grip on Law Firm Paul Weiss

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    By Mike Spector and David Thomas

    Feb 7 (Reuters) – Brad Karp, the chairman of high-powered U.S. law firm Paul Weiss, joined other prominent Democratic fundraisers at election night gatherings in Washington in ‌November ​2024 hoping for a Kamala Harris victory over Republican rival Donald Trump.

    Karp had reached out to hundreds ‌of corporate lawyers in a fundraising push for Harris soon after she replaced incumbent Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate in July 2024, and one of his Paul Weiss partners helped prepare the former U.S. vice president for ​her debate with Trump.

    But Trump won the election. And his return to the presidency last year set in motion a series of events that first shook Paul Weiss and later, with the U.S. Justice Department’s release of records involving the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, led Karp to resign this week as its chairman.

    Though he has not been accused of wrongdoing, the ‍disclosures of his contacts with Epstein undid in a matter of days Karp’s longstanding ​grip over the firm that had cemented him as a Wall Street and Washington power broker.

    “If you were going to write a Greek tragedy about a law firm leader, this is it,” a former senior Paul Weiss attorney told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    After becoming chairman of Paul Weiss in 2008, Karp transformed it from a respected New York litigation firm ​to a big-money global powerhouse. And Paul ⁠Weiss lawyers and staff outpaced other major law firms in donations to Democrats during the 2024 election cycle.

    Paul Weiss devoted pro bono work to progressive causes and recruited star Wall Street dealmakers alongside litigators who had served in Democratic former President Barack Obama’s administration. 

    Trump’s return to the White House quickly created tumult for Karp and his firm. Karp’s subsequent decision to cut a deal with Trump to rescind an executive order the president had issued punishing the firm made him the face of capitulation for some lawyers aligned with the Democratic Party. 

    At least a dozen partners, including the one who had advised Harris for her presidential debate, departed the firm afterward.

    A bipartisan push in Congress last year, despite Trump’s objections, required the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein. A trove of emails made public at the end of January revealed extensive communications between Karp and Epstein, prompting him to resign as chairman.

    Karp did not respond to requests for comment. The firm did not ‌respond to a request for comment beyond the statement it released on Wednesday announcing his resignation.

    In that statement, Karp said that “recent reporting has created a distraction and has placed a focus on me that is not in the best interests of the firm.” The firm previously had said he regretted his ​Epstein ‌interactions and “never witnessed or participated in misconduct.” 

    Karp, whose rolodex of representations ‍has included large Wall Street banks and the National Football League, remains at Paul Weiss ⁠serving clients, the firm said in its statement. Karp was replaced as chairman by Scott Barshay, who he had recruited in 2016 to turbocharge the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice and other corporate work.

    FROM LITIGATION TO DEALMAKING

    Founded in 1875 by Samuel William Weiss and Julius Frank, the firm built a reputation as a defender of civil liberties. In the 1940s, it became the first major New York firm to name a female partner. It assisted civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

    Karp joined Paul Weiss as a summer associate in 1983 and spent his entire career at the firm, rising to lead the litigation department before being elected chairman. Under his leadership, Paul Weiss became a primary defender of the financial industry, representing clients such as Citigroup and JPMorgan while maintaining deep ties to the Democratic establishment.

    Over time, Karp showed an ability to develop close relationships and build consensus that allowed him to attract star rainmakers, propelling Paul Weiss to a top-tier firm with loyal institutional clients and leading litigation and transactional practices, according to Kent Zimmermann, an adviser to law firms who interviewed Karp for an upcoming book.

    In recruiting Barshay, Karp increased the firm’s dealmaking firepower.

    Karp frequently used Paul Weiss resources to challenge the first Trump administration and partner with civil rights and advocacy groups. The firm helped lead litigation following the 2017 white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, and participated in ​lawsuits against the firearms industry. 

    In 2018, Karp mobilized lawyers to combat Trump’s family separation policy at the U.S. border.

    Karp also represented Leon Black, the co-founder of Apollo Global Management, a large Wall Street investment firm. Epstein became involved in fee disputes with Black. Karp’s communications with Epstein concerning Black and other matters would ultimately contribute to the law firm leader’s resignation.

    Paul Weiss employed lawyers who investigated Trump and sued participants in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by the president’s supporters in their failed effort to prevent congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. On the day of the riot, Karp said he watched in horror “as the disgraceful results of this attempted coup spilled into the hallowed halls of Congress.”

    That made the firm a target when Trump returned to the presidency in January 2025. In March, Trump signed an executive order blacklisting Paul Weiss from federal buildings and government contracts, part of a series of such directives aimed at various law firms that the president viewed as adversaries.

    “The shifts he was able to achieve in the firm were the precise things that created the vulnerabilities Trump was able to exploit,” said Scott Cummings, a legal ethics professor at UCLA School of Law.

    Fearing the order would prompt a client exodus and destroy the 150-year-old firm, Karp sought a settlement with Trump. 

    He arrived at a White House meeting in the Oval Office that began with a prolonged discussion of golf. Sullivan & Cromwell co-chair Robert Giuffra, a Republican and Trump lawyer, was patched into the meeting by phone and later helped Karp negotiate a deal to rescind the executive order in exchange for $40 million of free legal work for causes the president supported.

    Eight other firms subsequently reached similar deals with the administration to avoid Trump executive orders, pledging work worth nearly $1 billion combined. Four other law firms that Trump targeted with executive orders sued and won court rulings striking down the directives as unconstitutional.

    Karp was a generational leader who molded Paul Weiss into a highly profitable and elite competitor in the private equity legal market, according to Kevin Burke, a professor ​at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law who himself once led a law firm.

    “What ultimately makes this episode a cautionary tale is how even highly successful leadership can falter when institutional independence is compromised by proximity to executive power,” Burke said. “In a period marked by aggressive executive action and regulatory leverage, Paul Weiss’ decision to settle early and visibly engage with the administration created a perception of accommodation rather than resistance – one that stood in tension with the firm’s historic identity.”

    Karp met Epstein through his representation of Black, the firm said. Records released by the Justice Department documented Karp thanking Epstein for a “once in a lifetime” dinner in 2015 with Woody Allen and later seeking Epstein’s assistance in securing a role for his son working on one of the director’s film productions.

    Other emails showed Karp and Epstein discussing a woman demanding money from Black. Emails also showed them discussing Epstein’s non-prosecution ​agreement reached in 2008, when the financier pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in Florida, including soliciting an underage girl.

    The emails indicated the two remained in contact as recently as early 2019, months before Epstein’s arrest on sex trafficking charges and subsequent suicide in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial.

    (Reporting by Mike Spector in New York and David Thomas in Chicago; Additional reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Will Dunham)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • India and US release framework for an interim trade agreement

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    NEW DELHI — India and the United States released a framework for an interim trade agreement to lower tariffs on Indian goods, which Indian opposition accused of favoring Washington.

    The joint statement, released Friday, came after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his plan last week to reduce import tariffs on the South Asian country, six months after imposing steep taxes to press New Delhi to cut its reliance on cheap Russian crude.

    Under the deal, tariffs on goods from India would be lowered to 18%, from 25%, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Trump had said.

    The two countries called the agreement “reciprocal and mutually beneficial” and expressed commitment to work toward a broader trade deal that “will include additional market access commitments and support more resilient supply chains.” The framework said that more negotiations will be needed to formalize the agreement.

    India would also “eliminate or reduce tariffs” on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of food and agricultural products, Friday’s statement said.

    The U.S. president had said that India would start to reduce its import taxes on U.S. goods to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products over five years, part of the Trump administration’s bid to seek greater market access and zero tariffs on almost all American exports.

    Trump also signed an executive order on Friday to revoke a separate 25% tariff on Indian goods he imposed last year.

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Trump “for his personal commitment to robust ties.”

    “This framework reflects the growing depth, trust and dynamism of our partnership,” Modi said on social media, adding it will “further deepen investment and technology partnerships between us.”

    India’s opposition political parties have largely criticized the deal, saying it heavily favors the U.S. and negatively impacts sensitive sectors such as agriculture. In the past, New Delhi had opposed tariffs on sectors such as agriculture and dairy, which employ the bulk of the country’s population.

    Meanwhile, Piyush Goyal, Indian Trade Minister, said the deal protects “sensitive agricultural and dairy products” including maize, wheat, rice, ethanol, tobacco, and some vegetables.

    “This (agreement) will open a $30 trillion market for Indian exporters,” Goyal said in a social media post, referring to the U.S. annual GDP. He said the increase in exports was likely to create hundreds of thousands of new job opportunities.

    Goyal also said tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of Indian goods exported to the U.S., including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts, further enhancing the country’s export competitiveness.

    India and the European Union recently reached a free trade agreement that could affect as many as 2 billion people after nearly two decades of negotiations. That deal would enable free trade on almost all goods between the EU’s 27 members and India, covering everything from textiles to medicines, and bringing down high import taxes for European wine and cars.

    India also signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Oman in December and concluded talks for a free trade deal with New Zealand.

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  • Thousands in Islamabad Mourn 31 Killed in Suicide Bombing of Shi’ite Mosque

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    ISLAMABAD, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Thousands of mourners ‌gathered ​in Islamabad on Saturday to ‌start burying the 31 killed in a suicide bombing at ​a Shi’ite Muslim mosque, as residents expressed concern that there could be further attacks.

    A man opened ‍fire at the Khadija Tul Kubra ​Imambargah compound on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, then detonated a bomb that ​killed 31, ⁠as well as himself, and injured more than 170 people. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

    Funeral prayers for some of the victims were held in an open area near the mosque on Saturday ‌morning under tight security, with police and a unit of elite commandos standing guard. ​Mourners ‌beat their chests before ‍stooping to lift ⁠the coffins and carry them toward the burial grounds.

    “Whoever did this terrorism, may God burn them in hell and turn them to ash,” the prayer leader told mourners.

    While bombings are rare in heavily guarded Islamabad, this is the second such attack in three months and, given the rise in militancy, there are fears of a return to violence in Pakistan’s major urban centres.

    The ​government is “tracing the facilitators and handlers” behind the attack, said Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, adding that some victims remain critically injured in hospital and are “being provided the best healthcare possible.”

    The bomber had a history of travelling to Afghanistan, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif posted on Friday on X, blaming neighbouring India for sponsoring the assault, without providing evidence.

    India’s foreign office condemned the mosque attack and rejected the assertion that it had any involvement.

    “It is unfortunate that, instead of seriously addressing the problems plaguing its social fabric, Pakistan should choose to delude itself ​by blaming others for its home-grown ills,” New Delhi said in a statement.

    Shi’ites, who are a minority in the predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 241 million, have been targeted in sectarian violence in the past, including by Islamic State ​and the Sunni Islamist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

    (Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Writing by Lucy Craymer; Editing by William Mallard)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Cuba to Protect Essential Services as US Moves to Cut off Oil Supply

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    HAVANA, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Cuba detailed a ‌wide-ranging ​plan on Friday to protect essential ‌services and ration fuel as the communist-run government dug in its ​heels in defiance of a U.S. effort to cut off oil supply to the Caribbean island.

    The rationing ‍measures are the first to be ​announced since President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on the U.S.-bound products of ​any country exporting ⁠fuel to Cuba and suggested hard times ahead for Cubans already suffering severe shortages of food, fuel and medicine.

    Government ministers said the measures would guarantee fuel supply for key sectors, including agricultural production, education, water supply, healthcare and defense.

    Commerce Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva struck a defiant tone ‌as he laid out details of the government plan.

    “This is an opportunity and a challenge ​that ‌we have no doubt we ‍will overcome,” ⁠Perez-Oliva told a television news program. “We are not going to collapse.”

    The government will supply fuel to the tourism and export sectors, including for the production of Cuba’s world-famous cigars, to ensure the foreign exchange necessary to fund other basic programs, Perez-Oliva said, adding, “If we don’t have income, then we will not overcome this situation.”

    Domestic and international air travel will not be immediately affected by the fuel rationing, ​although drivers will see cutbacks at the pump until supply normalizes, he said.

    The government said it would protect ports and ensure fuel for domestic transportation in a bid to protect the island nation’s import and export sectors.

    Perez-Oliva also announced an ambitious plan to plant 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) of rice to guarantee “an important part of our demand,” but acknowledged fuel shortfalls would push the country to depend more on renewable energy for irrigation needs and animal-power for tilling fields.

    Education Minister Naima Ariatne, appearing on the same program, said infant-care centers and primary schools would remain open and in person, ​but secondary schools and higher education would implement a hybrid system that would require more “flexibility” and vary by institution and region.

    “As a priority, we want to leave (open) our primary schools,” Ariatne said.

    Top officials said health care would also be prioritized, with ​special emphasis on emergency services, maternity wards and cancer programs.

    (Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and William Mallard)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • France to Rally Aid for Lebanon as It Warns Truce Gains Remain Fragile

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    Feb 6 (Reuters) – France said on ‌Friday ​that Lebanon’s recovery remains precarious ‌despite positive signs following a ceasefire and government transition, and ​it stood ready to support the country’s reconstruction if it continues with reforms.

    French Minister ‍for Europe and Foreign Affairs ​Jean-Noel Barrot, addressing reporters after meetings in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ​and other ⁠top officials, said France was prepared to host a dedicated conference in Paris on reconstruction, but only if reforms continue, legislation is passed and decisions are implemented.

    While Lebanon has adopted banking secrecy and bank resolution laws, it must still complete ‌restructuring, reach an IMF agreement and pass a loss-sharing law, Barrot said. ​He also ‌urged swift action on ‍Hezbollah disarmament ⁠and national reconciliation.

    Barrot said Lebanon had reached a crucial juncture in implementing the November 2024 truce with Israel, as well as restoring state authority over weapons and stabilising a shattered financial system.

    France, the country’s former colonial power, plans to mobilise international backing for the Lebanese armed forces and internal security forces at a separate conference scheduled for ​March 5 in Paris.

    “Lebanon must work to restore confidence – that of its citizens, businesses, depositors, and the diaspora,” Barrot said.

    France’s immediate focus was ensuring respect for the ceasefire, which he emphasised “implies that Israel withdraws from Lebanese territory, in accordance with its commitments, and that civilians are protected from strikes,” alongside implementation by Lebanese authorities of an agreed-upon arms monopoly plan.

    Lebanon has pledged to bring all arms in the country under state control, in line with the 2024 agreement that ended a devastating war between ​Hezbollah and Israel, and has asserted control over areas of the country closest to the border with Israel. But Hezbollah has warned the government that pressing on with efforts to disarm the group throughout the country ​would trigger chaos and possibly civil war.

    (Writing by Feras Dalatey and Tom Perry; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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  • Norwegian crown princess issues apology amid scrutiny of Epstein links

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    Norwegian crown princess issues apology to those she has ‘disappointed’ amid scrutiny of Epstein links

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  • Pakistan’s cultural capital erupts in color as Basant festival ends 20-year hiatus

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    LAHORE, Pakistan — A burst of color lit up Lahore’s night sky overnight as Pakistan’s cultural capital relaunched the Basant kite-flying festival after nearly two decades.

    Authorities said Friday that the celebration has been allowed only under strict safety regulations, warning that the use of hazardous kite strings that endanger lives could lead to arrests.

    Kite-flying had been banned in the province since 2005 following a series of fatal accidents. Razor-sharp metal- or glass-coated strings used in competitive kite fighting killed about a dozen people, mostly motorcyclists and bystanders two decades ago, prompting the government to impose broad restrictions across Punjab and effectively halt Basant.

    This year, officials say strict safety measures are in place.

    Motorcyclists are required to install tall, antenna-like metal rods on their bikes to prevent airborne strings from causing injury. The provincial government also declared a two-day public holiday to reduce traffic and lower accident risks.

    The government of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif recently lifted the ban, emphasizing that the festival’s revival would be strictly regulated and violators could face fines or imprisonment.

    As midnight marked the start of the two-day celebration, rooftops across the city came alive with families and friends launching vibrant kites into the cool night air.

    “We’re finally seeing it again after so many years,” said Ashfaq Ahmed, 23, flying a kite from his rooftop in Lahore’s old city. “If people avoid dangerous strings, hopefully this joyful festival can continue safely in the future.”

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  • ‘I can’t afford cooking gas,’ shutdown of Kenya’s Koko biofuel firm wipes out clean cooking options

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    NAIROBI, Kenya — It was designed to be as simple as buying airtime: a quick tap on the dispenser, a few shillings and a cooking canister refilled. Now, more than 3,000 Koko fuel supply points across Kenya sit idle, with no fuel and no clear answers for the households that relied on them.

    For more than a decade, Koko Networks helped shift over 1.5 million Kenyan homes without access to public gas systems away from smoky charcoal stoves to bioethanol, marketed as a cleaner, modern way to cook. The steady blue flame became a symbol of Kenya’s push toward cleaner household energy.

    That promise has dimmed.

    After failing to win government letter of authorization that would allow them to sell carbon credits — permits that allow holders to emit certain amount of greenhouse gases — Koko abruptly shut down its fuel distribution network, bringing to a halt a model once hailed as a poster child of Africa’s green transition.

    In Kibera, Nairobi’s largest informal settlement, most Koko Networks outlets have closed, and some have removed the bioethanol dispensers altogether. Since 2014, Koko had imported bioethanol products. That ended abruptly in 2023 when the government withheld its import permit, forcing Koko to use local sources that were erratic and more expensive.

    That reality is setting in for Fredrick Onchenge. He used to serve up to 50 Koko customers a day. Now his machines are silent.

    “Initially, I was confused,” Onchenge said. “Then it dawned on me what had just happened. My livelihood was gone. I tried calling the salesperson, but their phone was switched off.”

    For many customers, their access ended with a text message announcing the shutdown. Kitchens that once cooked meals without smoke now have idle double-burner stoves — reminders of a system that stopped overnight.

    Grace Kathambi is weighing her options.

    “This was a life changer for me,” Kathambi said. “I could not afford the $8 needed to refill a gas cylinder, and Koko was my best alternative. With about 30 U.S. cents, I could buy enough Koko fuel to cook.”

    With the bioethanol supply cut off, households like hers must now choose between returning to charcoal or finding money for more expensive liquefied petroleum gas.

    “I cannot afford to use gas,” said Margaret Auma. “Koko made life very easy for those of us who earn little from casual jobs. We feel abandoned, yet it’s not our fault.”

    For weeks, Koko and the Kenyan government haggled over a crucial letter authorizing carbon credits and import permits for bioethanol made from molasses, a sugarcane by-product. The company needed those approvals to unlock millions of dollars in international financing that helped keep fuel prices low. Kenyan authorities held back, citing broader concerns about the credibility of carbon credits.

    Koko — which counted the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, and South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank as its investors, announced on Jan. 30 that without the approvals its business model was financially unsustainable and it was shutting down.

    “Koko’s case is uniquely multidimensional,” said David Ndii, Kenya’s presidential advisor on economic affairs. Ndii cited issues including the Paris Agreement framework, questions around the credibility of cookstove carbon credits, Kenya’s climate policies, carbon market regulations, the transparency of Koko’s business model and diplomatic considerations.

    He dismissed the prospect of state intervention, saying, “Even good doctors lose patients.”

    Kenya’s energy and treasury officials have declined to comment on the closure, which energy analysts say exposes weaknesses in how clean cooking is financed across Africa.

    “The clean cooking situation in Kenya, and across Africa is a serious crisis,” said Amos Wemanya, a senior analyst on renewable energy at Power Shift Africa. “This is not just about emissions or climate targets. It is about development, health, dignity and household survival.”

    Wemanya said models heavily reliant on carbon credits risk prioritizing markets over people.

    “We are not going to solve the clean cooking challenge through carbon math or carbon credit spreadsheets,” he said. “Carbon markets allow polluters to continue emitting while households, who are supposed to be the beneficiaries, still pay for the stoves and bear the risks when projects fail.”

    When such systems collapse, he added, it is households that suffer most.

    “They are the ones forced to revert to harmful alternatives like charcoal and paraffin,” Wemanya said.

    He said the Koko episode shows the priority should shift toward affordable electricity, especially in rural areas.

    “Clean cooking will not be solved through carbon credits,” he said. “The reality is that gas-based solutions were never a long-term climate solution. They simply shift households from firewood to imported fossil fuels. So, the bigger lesson here is that we need to move toward systems that truly work, primarily electricity powered by renewable energy.”

    For now, households like Auma’s must now choose between returning to charcoal or finding money for more expensive LPG.

    “What are we supposed to do? Go back to using charcoal in our one-room houses?” Auma asked. “That is the smoke and sickness we were trying to escape.”

    ____

    The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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  • Exclusive-Scammers’ Abandoned Cambodia Compound Exposes Brutality and Banality of Fraud

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    By Poppy McPherson and Tim Kelly

    O’SMACH, Cambodia, Feb 6 (Reuters) – In a Cambodian compound with rooms designed to look like Singapore and Australia police ‌offices, ​papers were strewn across desks and floors: the detritus of a fraud factory ‌abandoned in haste.

    Among the documents were profiles of a 73-year-old Japanese retiree, complete with his phone number and bank account balance, and an American woman who disclosed that she was a ​victim of domestic abuse. Nearby were scripts to commit love scams and impersonate police, as well as a room set up to resemble a Vietnamese bank office. 

    This is what Reuters reporters found on Monday inside a bombed-out compound near the Thai-Cambodian border, which offers one of the clearest ‍windows yet into the industrial-scale fraud that has fleeced billions of dollars from ​victims globally. 

    Police raids and military air strikes have forced criminal gangs to flee scores of scam compounds in Cambodia in recent weeks. The visit to the site, known as Royal Hill, was facilitated by the Thai military, which bombed it during a brief border conflict in December and ​has since occupied the surrounding area.

    Reuters ⁠is the first news organization to authenticate some of the papers, which document the sophisticated manner in which the scams are carried out. 

    The news agency verified one of the documents by contacting the Japanese retiree, who said he had received a call late last year from someone claiming to be from an electricity company and who warned his power would be cut off if he did not provide the scammer with his bank details.

    The target did not send any money, but disclosed personal information during the call, including details found in the log seen by Reuters. “If the power was cut off, that would be a real problem as I live up in the mountains,” he said. “I let (details) slip out without thinking and later thought that was ‌a bad idea.”

    Reuters could not establish what entity had ultimate control of the Royal Hill compound in Cambodia, where land records are not readily accessible.

    Chinese-language documents found at the site outlined that the complex’s unidentified management had leased out ​space ‌to different scamming groups. A person named Zhang who ‍was identified in the documents as a tenant did not respond ⁠to calls seeking comment. 

    The Cambodian government said in a statement on Wednesday that the compound was a hotel that Thailand had occupied by force. 

    Interior Ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak separately said in response to questions about Royal Hill that the government “has the will” to crack down on scam centers and repeated a government pledge to eliminate cyber fraud by April. 

    Southeast Asia has emerged in recent years as an epicenter of the global cyberfraud industry. Compounds which are mostly run by Chinese criminal gangs and staffed partly by trafficking victims living in brutal conditions have proliferated across Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and lawless areas of the Myanmar-Thai border. 

    Many of these countries have been pressured to crack down by foreign governments like the United States, which estimates that Americans lost $10 billion to Southeast Asian scam centers in 2024.

    The December strikes by Thailand – whose military said the centers were also being used to stage drone attacks during the border conflict – and a crackdown by the Cambodian government have led to an exodus of more than 100,000 people from compounds across the country. 

    Many have lined up outside embassies in the capital, Phnom Penh, seeking help and funds ​to return home in what Amnesty International has called a “humanitarian crisis.”

    Japan’s National Police Agency and the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok did not respond to requests for comment about the documents that appeared to show their citizens being targeted. 

    The compound visited by Reuters is located in the border town of O’Smach, which the U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report highlighted in 2024 as a hub for abuses.

    Files found in a part of the compound that the Thai military said appeared to be used by the site’s managers show the extent to which criminal gangs go to protect their operations.

    One document showed how bosses demanded military-style anti-riot and emergency drills, while another included orders to security guards to stop people “loitering” nearby.

    A property management notice also barred the use of food delivery services that could bring outsiders on-site. Other documents prohibited unspecified “illegal activity,” forbade workers from walking around shirtless, and demanded “civilized” behavior. 

    Reuters also found financial statements that outlined how the unidentified managers of the scam compound charged tenants several thousands of dollars a month in rent. Some of the criminal gangs were overdue on their rent, the statements show. 

    The news agency also discovered details about a cryptocurrency wallet in one of the documents. Nick Smart of blockchain-analysis firm Crystal Intelligence, which reviewed the wallet at Reuters’ request, said it had interactions with “many known high-risk services,” including gambling sites and cash-conversion locations.

    At least some of the businesses in Royal Hill faced occasional struggles carrying out fraud, according to one of the documents, an October 2025 entry in a notebook.

    That day, workers making calls faced “only abuse and scam answers” from their targets, the ​note read.

    One former worker of another scam compound next to Royal Hill told Reuters that the conditions Reuters observed were reflective of what he experienced.

    The worker, a Madagascar citizen who said he was a trafficking victim, spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution. 

    He said he was allowed by captors, who he did not identify, to leave the compound a few days after Thailand started bombing the area. The military action prompted the compound’s managers to return his passport, which they had seized, he said. 

    Scammers targeted by raids often relocate and reconstitute themselves into smaller operations, said Delphine Schantz, the regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Her agency shares expertise with ​national law enforcement agencies. 

    “We see those scam centers now kind of mushrooming all over the world in different places, along the same model as what we’ve seen in Southeast Asia,” she said. 

    (Reporting by Poppy McPherson in O’Smach, Cambodia, Thomas Suen in Bangkok, and Satoshi Sugiyama and Tim Kelly in Tokyo; Editing by Katerina Ang)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • In Hasina’s Hometown in Bangladesh, Voters Face an Unfamiliar Ballot

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    GOPALGANJ, Bangladesh, Feb 6 (Reuters) – For the first time in decades, the image ‌that ​once defined the hometown of Bangladesh’s ousted premier ‌Sheikh Hasina during elections, her Awami League party’s “boat” symbol, is absent.

    In its place, posters of rivals like the Bangladesh ​Nationalist Party (BNP), the Jamaat‑e‑Islami party and independents urge voters in Gopalganj to back them in the February 12 election.

    The Gopalganj district has long been considered the Awami League’s safest ‍ground, producing Hasina, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, ​and her father, Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

    Hasina ruled for more than 15 straight years until 2024, with the opposition either boycotting elections or marginalised through ​mass arrests of senior ⁠leaders. A youth‑driven uprising toppled Hasina in August 2024 and sent her into exile in India.

    Her party has since been barred from the February election, being held under an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

    Hasina told Reuters last October via email that the absence of the Awami League would leave millions of supporters without a candidate and push many to boycott the election.

    “They can put up as many posters as they want,” said Gopalganj rickshaw ‌puller Ershad Sheikh, standing under layers of opposition posters hanging from poles.

    “If there is no boat on the ballot paper, none of the 13 ​voters ‌in my family will go to ‍the polling station.”

    A Dhaka court ⁠late last year sentenced Hasina to death for ordering a deadly crackdown on the 2024 uprising. A United Nations report estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed and thousands wounded — most by gunfire from security forces, though Hasina denied ordering the killings.

    AWAMI LEAGUE VOTERS SHIFTING TO BNP, JAMAAT

    A survey of various voters published this month found that nearly half of former Awami League voters now prefer the BNP, the frontrunner in most opinion polls, followed by roughly 30% who favour Jamaat.

    “These patterns suggest that former Awami League voters are not dispersing evenly across the party system or withdrawing from partisan preferences, but are instead consolidating their support around specific opposition alternatives,” said the survey by ​Dhaka-based Communication & Research Foundation and Bangladesh Election and Public Opinion Studies.

    In Gopalganj, families of Awami League activists say the transition away from Hasina has come at a high personal cost.

    Shikha Khanam’s brother, Ibrahim Hossain, 30, an activist in the party’s student wing, was arrested in December under the Anti-Terrorism Act over unrest at a rally in July last year. Khanam said her brother had been falsely implicated.

    Her family has now withdrawn completely from politics.

    “We won’t vote. We are done,” she said.

    The July rally in Gopalganj, organised by the newly formed student‑led National Citizen Party to mark the 2024 uprising, left five people dead in clashes with police. Several Awami League activists and members of minority communities said they are now living in fear.

    Restaurant waiter Mohabbat Molla said the wider choice of candidates changes nothing for him.

    “Our candidate isn’t here,” he said, referring to Hasina. “The Awami League isn’t here. So this election is not for us.”

    Others see hope in the changing election bunting ​now hanging from Gopalganj’s walls.

    Businessman Sheikh Ilias Ahmed hopes the upcoming vote will finally allow people to choose freely.

    “In the past, I went to the polling station and found my vote already cast,” he said. “This time, I want to believe things will be different.”

    What Awami League voters do next may shape the outcome, said political analyst Asif Shahan, a professor at the University of Dhaka.

    “I don’t expect a nationwide boycott,” ​said Shahan.

    “The core loyalists may abstain, but undecided, locally focused voters are likely to turn out and could decide the result.”

    (Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Michael Perry)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Pardoned January 6 Rioter Pleads Guilty to Threatening US Democratic Leader Jeffries

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    WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – A January ‌6, ​2021, rioter, who was pardoned ‌by President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to a harassment charge ​after being accused of threatening to kill U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, ‍prosecutors said on Thursday.

    Christopher Moynihan, ​35, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge in a hearing in Clinton, ​New York, ⁠and will be sentenced in April. His representative could not immediately be reached.

    “Threats against elected officials are not political speech, they are criminal acts that strike at the heart of public safety and our democratic system,” Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony ‌Parisi said in a statement.

    Moynihan, 34, was charged in October after he sent ​threatening text ‌messages about an appearance ‍Jeffries was ⁠scheduled to make in New York City, according to a complaint filed in New York state court in Clinton.

    “Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in NYC I cannot allow this terrorist to live. … I will kill him for the future,” the text messages read, according to the complaint.

    “These text messages placed the recipient in reasonable fear ​of the imminent murder and assassination of Hakeem Jeffries by the defendant,” the complaint had said.

    In February 2023, Moynihan was sentenced to 21 months in prison on charges including obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony.

    He was among nearly 1,590 people charged in the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Trump on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the certification of former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump.

    On his first day back in office last year, Trump pardoned nearly ​everyone criminally charged with participating in the Capitol attack in a show of solidarity with supporters who backed his false claim of victory in the 2020 election.

    Some other January 6 rioters have also been re-arrested, charged or ​sentenced for other crimes, according to a watchdog.

    (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Vance: Olympics are ‘one of the few things’ that unite Americans

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    MILAN — U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived with his family Thursday, telling U.S. athletes competing in the Milan Cortina Winter Games that the competition “is one of the few things that unites the entire country” before taking his family to see a hockey game.

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