Jacob Goldberg

The Jeffrey Epstein files have shattered Norway’s illusions about itself | Sindre Bangstad Norway built its global brand on diplomacy and egalitarianism. The cosying up of its elite to the sex offender can only boost the far right, says the academic Sindre Bangstad

"The Epstein files will serve to reinforce the suspicions of those who claim that a highly networked Norwegian cosmopolitan elite, living in luxury and harbouring deep contempt for ordinary people’s lives, regard themselves as masters and architects of the world by right."

Remember: even if @unocha.org & others CAN 'ringfence' US funding, ALL recipients of the funds, and UN implementing partners, are still 100% subject to the rule - so this is just offloading the problem to NGOs and CSOs

Arrests and red tape: How Burkina Faso’s junta is throttling humanitarian aid Military rulers are tightening control through access bans, legal threats, and control of data.

"Rather than pushing back [against aid worker arrests], several aid workers complained that senior humanitarian leadership — particularly within the UN — has opted to fall in line with the authorities, even helping them reinforce official narratives that the conflict is getting better."

Inklings | Humanitarians’ global gag dilemma More ethical dilemmas for US funding, why some are urging donors to stop giving money to UN pooled funds, and what’s a “tiger team”?

The @intl-pride-centre.bsky.social is urging donors to stop giving money to the @unocha.org pooled funds “until the funds’ independence is guaranteed”.

ICU nurse fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis cared for veterans Alex Pretti, 37, identified by Minnesota’s attorney general as the man killed Saturday, was dedicated to caring for veterans, friends and colleagues said.

“It’s just impossible to imagine a negative interaction with him. And the fact that he was killed on city streets — as an employee of the U.S. government, by the U.S. government — it’s blowing my mind.”

Reporters’ diary: IOM uses UN immunity to avoid scrutiny of Greek returns IOM’s disregard for accountability will continue to hamper its ability to comply with its own principles of transparency and migrant protection.

New reporting shows @iom.int is invoking UN “privileges and immunities” to refuse disclosure of documents about its EU-funded Assisted Voluntary Returns and Reintegration (AVRR) programme in Greece – even though it’s paid with public funds.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Big Breakup The congresswoman split with the President over the Epstein files, then she quit. Where will she go from here?

McCarthy came to consider Greene a good-faith actor who sometimes lacks good information... “So she assumes certain things,” McCarthy said. “But you can break through that.”

“We’re Too Close to the Debris”: How SpaceX Rockets Put Passenger Planes at Risk The FAA predicted Elon Musk’s Starship would cause “minor or minimal” disruption. Then the rockets exploded twice in three months over busy airspace. Flight data reveals how many planes scrambled to p...

During the breakup of Flight 7, the FAA kept airspace closed for roughly 86 minutes. However, Diez, the SpaceX executive, told attendees at the industry conference that, in fact, it had taken “hours” for all the debris to reach the ground.

Thailand bombs Cambodian casinos and scam centres An expert says the Thai military's strikes on Cambodian casinos and suspected scam centres could be putting the lives of civilians and human trafficking victims at risk and may be considered war crime...

He said there was now an established pattern of Thailand taking action against Cambodia's "scam-invested oligarchs" followed by Cambodia escalating tensions with Thailand then issuing "a punishing, over the top military response".

Yes, Lakanwal was radicalized, but it was the CIA, not the Taliban, who accustomed him and thousands of other Afghan men to wanton violence. – @alibomaye.bsky.social

WHO disavows Israel representative’s Gaza comments Michel Thieren said UN discussions on Palestinian statehood were like making a deal with a “Nazi devil”.

Thieren accused the UN of enabling antisemitism and compared world leaders’ discussions on Palestinian statehood to making a deal with a “Nazi devil”.

The Charlie Kirk purge: How 600 Americans were punished in a pro-Trump crackdown Two months after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a government-backed campaign has led to firings, suspensions, investigations and other action against more than 600 people. Republican officials have end...

This account is the most comprehensive to date of the backlash against Kirk’s critics, tracing how senior officials in President Donald Trump’s administration, local Republican lawmakers and allied influencers mobilized to enforce the Trump movement’s views.

Exclusive: US defense firm Anduril faces setbacks from drone crashes A U.S. military plane soared over Florida's Eglin Air Force Base earlier this month and released a drone made by the defense tech giant Anduril Industries to test whether it could take flight and cond...

Anduril’s setbacks underscore a broader challenge: America’s defense industry, long defined by costly world-class systems such as jets, missiles and aircraft carriers, must adapt to a battlefield where cheap, mass-produced drones have become central to modern warfare.

Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.

Victoria was quiet on the other end of the line. I actually emailed the professor, I explained. “And she said she never spoke with you.”

In the silence that followed I realized Victoria had hung up. She has not responded to my emails since.

The Regulator Who Won't Regulate Professor Wisit Wisitsora-at promised to speed up fraud investigations when he became SEC Chairman. 16 months later, he's done nothing on Finansia X. Documents reveal why: he is compromised.

Professor Wisit Wisitsora-at promised to speed up fraud investigations when he became SEC Chairman. 16 months later, he's done nothing on Finansia X. Documents reveal why: he is compromised.

Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.

Meta internally projected late last year that it would earn about 10% of its overall annual revenue – or $16 billion – from running advertising for scams and banned goods, internal company documents show.

Trump Said to Authorize C.I.A. Plans for Covert Action in Venezuela

The next phase of the administration’s escalating pressure campaign on the Maduro government could be sabotage or some sort of cyber, psychological or information operations.

Eric Adams, Still the Mayor, Is Increasingly Out of Office

That means that in the 48 days between Oct. 6, when he landed in Albania, and Sunday, when he is scheduled to return to New York, Mr. Adams will have spent roughly 27 percent of his time thousands of miles away from the city he governs.

One man’s obsessive quest to uncover Brazil’s buried Nazi past The story of Brazil’s fugitive Nazis is clouded by uncertainty and conspiracy theories. But one local journalist is convinced he is closing in on the truth.

He has dedicated years to research and has interviewed more than 100 people who say they either know of or have entered the supposed tunnels. But the owners of the historic homes that allegedly lead to them have uniformly declined to participate in his inquiry.

How the left’s dark money behemoth spent its millions The Sixteen Thirty Fund dropped more than $300 million on a range of liberal causes in 2024.

More than 60 percent of Sixteen Thirty Fund’s revenues in 2024 came from just five benefactors who cut eight-figure checks to the group, including one who gave $58.9 million and another who gave $51.4 million, according to the filings.

Judge Says Justice Dept. May Have Committed Misconduct in Comey Case

It is extremely unusual for judges to examine how prosecutors act in front of grand juries, let alone to openly criticize their conduct. But that is exactly what Judge Fitzpatrick did to Ms. Halligan.

War Crimes Indictment Reveals a Hard Road to Justice for Syria

“The Austrian government and intelligence service helped Mossad and helped their war criminals,” Mr. Almousa said. “This is the worst level of criminality.”

The Nanny Who Moved in and Wouldn’t Move Out A couple thought they’d found Mary Poppins. Until she refused to leave.

After everything the Nordenströms had told me about her, she assumed I might take their side: “The babysitter always goes down, right?” But after months reviewing court documents, family photos, and copies of several forged checks, I found that the contours of her story turned out to be true.

Sources: Feds eye MLBPA venture over spending Players Way was cited in an anonymous whistleblower complaint last November that triggered an ongoing criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.

Former union officials interviewed by ESPN said that Players Way appeared to be a landing spot for Clark's loyalists -- and, said one, "Few players knew anything about it."

She Ran Waco’s Most Sought-After Daycare. Until an Infant’s Death Turned the Community Against Her. The evidence against Marian Fraser was circumstantial, and her prosecution was riddled with irregularities. Yet many came to believe she had long harbored a secret that explained her preternatural gif...

Nearly every judge who reviewed Fraser’s trial found something wrong with it—even if they didn’t agree on what that was.

'Washington Post' editorials omit a key disclosure: Bezos' financial ties Three times in the past two weeks, editorials at the 'Washington Post' failed to disclose that they focused on matters in which owner Jeff Bezos had a material interest.

On at least three occasions in the past two weeks, an official Post editorial has taken on matters in which Bezos has a financial or corporate interest without noting his stake. In each case, the Post's official editorial line landed in sync with its owner's financial interests.

Jeffrey Epstein and the Mossad: How The Sex-Trafficker Helped Israel Build a Backchannel to Russia Amid Syrian Civil War Hacked emails show how Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak tried to engineer a Russian-led solution to remove Bashar al-Assad.

Epstein was an invaluable resource for Israel’s former prime minister... sharing whispers from within Russian elite circles and intel on Putin’s interlocutors in Europe and the U.S—and even advising him on how to engage with the Mossad.

JPMorgan Alerted U.S. to Epstein Transfers Involving Wall St. Figures

The so-called suspicious activity report that JPMorgan filed identified transactions with Leon Black, the co-founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management; Glenn Dubin, a well-known hedge fund manager; the lawyer Alan Dershowitz; and trusts controlled by Leslie Wexner, the retail tycoon.

The Candy Cane Park Murder Was Almost Solved. But Then …

The Union County district attorney’s office, about 2,500 miles away from Washington, D.C., had become perhaps the most unlikely casualty of the Trump administration’s sweeping budget cuts last spring.

What If You Spent Every Waking Moment Taking On Elon Musk?

“A very good analogy for Aaron is Fox Mulder. Everyone sees him as this guy shouting at the heavens about aliens. But at the end of the day, the aliens exist.”