It was great to work with Michela and the brilliant Behind the Money team this week to share our reporting on ICE.

Find it in your podcast app below:

This post is the single best advert for the fact that proper local journalism matters.
If Jim’s team hadn’t put the pieces together quickly, this wouldn’t have been stopped.

Woken up to lots of unhappy messages about us keeping on this story

Sorry but if a political org - run by a now Minister - hires private intel to smear journalists then takes these baseless smears to security services, I will investigate it.

And keep investigating until accountability happens

Bank probe reveals Adani associates’ secret investments [FREE TO READ] People close to Indian conglomerate accused of market manipulation held billions of dollars’ worth of shares

Internal bank documents show the scale of secret shareholdings in India’s Adani, at the very moment Hindenburg accused it of “brazen market manipulation”

An FT and OCCRP collab.

as.ft.com/r/eb906e00-d...

Revealed: Government accused of ‘conflict of interest’ over journalist smear inquiry Starmer said Cabinet Office will investigate Josh Simons and Labour Together - but its ministers have received more than £150,000 from the think tank and its directors

🚨 Cabinet Office investigating Labour Together and Josh Simons over campaign to smear journalists

But...ministers overseeing inquiry have received £150,000+ from Labour think tank

Experts and MPs demand 'full independent investigation'

New on D4S: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g... 🧵

The man who saw too much After decades chasing stars and scrambling for financing, Philippe Martinez became an unlikely crusader

Tens of thousands of "golden passports", a movie producer turned sleuth, and the Chinese-owned company building a jail in the Caribbean www.ft.com/content/7767... "The total number of citizenship by investment citizens likely surpasses the native population of St Kitts and Nevis".

UK to ban political party donations from foreign-owned companies Government says new legislation will curb overseas interference in elections

UK to ban political party donations from foreign-owned companies ft.trib.al/9IPn1l3

So the Epstein scandal is about politics? Silly me for thinking it’s about the mass abuse of women and girls | Marina Hyde Obsessing over individual players and political chaos leaves less time to focus on the misogyny. And that’s for the best, isn’t it guys, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... “Epstein got away with his crimes because nearly every element of society allowed him to get away with them.”

‘Labour Together broke the law’ The think tank that propelled Starmer to power hired private investigators to shut down scrutiny of its dark money - I speak to one of its targets, journalist Paul Holden

Cabinet Office minister Josh Simons commissioned PR firm to investigate journalists and their sources

Why? Because they were digging into the dark money behind Labour Together, and Keir Starmer's rise

Me on D4S, on why our revelations matter so much: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/labour-tog...

‘Labour Together broke the law’ The think tank that propelled Starmer to power hired private investigators to shut down scrutiny of its dark money - I speak to one of its targets, journalist Paul Holden

That @petergeoghegan.bsky.social is onto something here and he's not letting go of it open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

How the house of Rothschild became entangled with Epstein Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild was in trouble. Ariane de Rothschild turned to Jeffrey Epstein

Ariane de Rothschild ousted her husband as CEO of his family’s storied bank, negotiated a big DOJ settlement and examined several mergers

Behind every move was none other than Jeffrey Epstein, who had found his backdoor into one of Europe’s most powerful banking dynasties
www.ft.com/content/0d70...

Epstein propelled investment career of UK power broker Ian Osborne Convicted sex offender helped establish tech fund Hedosophia after Osborne offered to help clean up Epstein’s image

www.ft.com/content/8b04... Epstein helped Ian Osborne establish Hedosophia, one of London’s most secretive technology funds

“In the past two years, Florida has passed AI laws that outlaw artificially-generated sexual images and require disclaimers on political advertisements that use AI.”

Yes, please, for the sake our our children.

“DeSantis is pushing for a sweeping “AI Bill of Rights” that would force AI companies to implement parental controls, restrict the use of personal data by chatbots and give residents more power to block the construction of data centres.”

Ron DeSantis lashes out at ‘harmful’ AI in break with Trump’s White House [FREE TO READ] Florida’s Republican governor criticises attempts by administration to ‘kneecap states and let Big Tech write the rules’

as.ft.com/r/3152dedf-7... Ron DeSantis lashes out at ‘harmful’ AI in break with Trump’s White House

The Epstein rot goes deep [FREE TO READ] America must now ask itself if it can restore a culture of shame

The Epstein rot goes deep “Having been invited in 2010 to an Epstein dinner with Woody Allen and then Prince Andrew in New York, the magazine editor, Tina Brown, replied: “What the fuck is this . . .? The paedophile’s ball?” as.ft.com/r/9fb21859-9...

Let’s try this one in foreign correspondent voice:

State Security Forces Arrest Journalist Who Covered Protests Against Regime Official

Worth noting that the fee for accessing information on the Cayman Islands beneficial ownership search platform by a licensed financial institution or a designated non-financial business or profession is set at $1500 USD per user per year

Jeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds to Peter Mandelson’s husband, emails show [FREE TO READ] Epstein sent Reinaldo Avila da Silva payments starting in 2009

as.ft.com/r/67e1bbe6-8... Jeffrey Epstein sent thousands of pounds to Peter Mandelson’s husband, emails show

A Shocked Nation Watches Minneapolis Killings: ‘Something Needs to Change’

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...

"They are going to carry guns and use cars as weapons, then they run the risk of getting killed", Mrs Lipinski,62, said."

1. Read the first amendment of the US Constitution
2. Read the second amendment
3. Read the 10 commandments (from murder to lying)

Then ponder.

Trump’s ‘New Gaza’ vision collides with devastation on the ground [FREE TO READ] Progress on US-backed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas faces enormous obstacles as conditions remain dire

as.ft.com/r/1e92e5b2-a... Trump’s ‘New Gaza’ vision contrasts with the devastation on the ground

“…a bombed-out wasteland where Israel continues to restrict essential goods, babies die of hypothermia and Israeli troops open fire on Gazans almost every day”

Anthropic doubles VC fundraising to $20bn on surging investor demand [FREE TO READ] AI start-up in talks to raise new funds from Coatue, GIC, Iconiq and Sequoia at $350bn valuation

as.ft.com/r/1e542082-6... Anthropic doubles VC fundraising to $20bn on surging investor demand

‘Humanity needs to wake up’ to dangers of AI, says Anthropic chief Dario Amodei posts 20,000-word essay detailing potentially catastrophic risks from powerful technology in years to come

www.ft.com/content/c309...

"Humanity is about to be handed almost unimaginable power and it is deeply unclear whether our social, political and technological systems possess the maturity to wield it."

Uhm, it is very clear that they do not possess the maturity. Just look at social media.

Nigel Farage attended Davos on a pass sponsored by the family office of Iranian billionaire Sasan Ghandehari, which told the World Economic Forum that the Reform UK leader had advised the company since 2018. ft.trib.al/V138xDu

Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes? We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.

This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...

So with all these Tories defecting to Reform, those voting for Reform because they’re disillusioned with the Tories will still end up voting for Tories (newly relabelled as Reform politicians) after all. 🤭

Actually…

I know. I was joking. ;)

Reform message? Stand with penguins as they march towards extinction … www.birdlife.org/birds/pengui....

First Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”