NEW: A Guardian review of thousands of DOJ-released Epstein records found that Ben Black— now the Senate-confirmed head of the $205bn DFC — once invested in the same company as Epstein and maintained social ties with him for years afterward. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

NEWS from @catebrown.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Board of Peace’ officials deny being short on funds, but the group has only received $123mil dollars of the $7bn promised to Trump in Feb. That’s $1.75 for every $100 pledged. Diplomats and others say countries are hesitant to pay, esp after war in Iran. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

The top Gaza envoy for Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ is slated to earn $400k for his work leading Washington’s vision there. Asked about the figure, a BoP official said, “I’m not the CFO … but those were eye-popping.” More on 💸 + stalled BoP efforts —> www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

The Pentagon has quietly dismantled a program it is legally required to operate to prevent and respond to civilian deaths in US military operations, according to its internal watchdog. Read more ⬇️ w/ @catebrown.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump may drop his lawsuit against the IRS in exchange for the launch of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate people wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration, including Jan 6 rioters. Quick take following NYT +ABC www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Former US special ops @wesjbryant.bsky.social says the US strike on an Iranian warship is illegal. The boat was hit while returning from a training in India. “By targeting it, is Trump saying that all of Iran’s government and military poses an imminent threat?” www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

The US war against #Iran is illegal, experts say, and they've challenged the Trump administration's rationale for waging it. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Stories about the illegality of the Iran War under both international law and the US Constitution and War Powers Act have featured on the front pages of Süddeutsche Zeitung, El País, Le Monde and papers all around the world. Not, however, in major US papers. Something is seriously wrong.

The UK-based Guardian with the article that should be on Page 1 of every U.S. newspaper www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Pleased to speak with @catebrown.bsky.social of the @theguardian.com about Trump’s illegal war. “For something to be lawful self defense, it has to be necessary – in the sense that there’s no alternative. That’s not the situation here.” www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

‘An extension of his administration’: how Trump’s resorts became a proxy for access and power

Trump has called Mar-a-Lago, “as close to paradise as I’m going to get”. And by some measures, it’s lovely he wants to share it. A new @citizensforethics.org report shows how Trump resorts have become luxury destinations to raise money and curry favor. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

DHS stated that federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have not yet obtained a green card and detain them indefinitely for rescreening — a shift that upends decades of protections and puts tens of thousands of people at risk.

The Trump administration is planning to build a 5,000-person military base in south Gaza, contracting records show. The site is envisioned as an operating base for a future multinational force. Indonesia has already pledged troops. w/ @aramroston.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Whistleblower attorney @AndrewBakaj revised his previous statement to the Guardian, saying that "The NSA picked up a phone call between two members of foreign intelligence involving someone close to the Trump White House." Updated with his new statement --> www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

SCOOP: The NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump last spring. Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

SCOOP: A US disaster response firm submitted a plan to White House officials that would guarantee 300% profits and a seven-year monopoly over a new trucking and logistics plan for #Gaza @AramRoston and I report on the draft and its cash potential --> www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

As this story notes, three executives charged by CEO Will Lewis with leading the Washpost's most-publicized revenue efforts have left the company in the past year.

From @benjysarlin.bsky.social:

Family members have been scrambling to learn the whereabouts of more than 200 people arrested during an immigration crackdown that's swept across Maine. “#ICE came with the machinery in place to get people out of here as soon as possible." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

SCOOP: UAE plans to bankroll the first “planned community” in Gaza. Blueprints describe a ‘case study’ community where Palestinians submit biometric data to gain entry. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Pleased to speak with @johnphudson.bsky.social about the OLC opinion blessing the invasion of Venezuela. “This view that international law and the U.N. Charter doesn’t bind the U.S. president is very significant and very dangerous.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Exclusive: Dozens of artists, including @markruffalo.bsky.social @ilanaglazer.com have joined doctors and rights orgs to call for the restoration of medical care in #Gaza in a letter addressed to Israel and world leaders. It goes to UK, EU parliament this week. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Israel's war on Hamas has expanded to the Gulf. Here's a breakdown of their strikes across the region since Oct. 7, w/ @nihamasih.bsky.social --> wapo.st/4m9I4Ac

Months ago, I saw a slide deck that promised to "fundamentally transform" #Gaza into a manufacturing and tourism hub "at the crossroads" of a new trade corridor linking #Israel to the Gulf. It showed AI-powered cities and electric vehicles, if someone cleared the debris.

McNally Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, as well as its subsidiaries, positioned themselves to profit off contracts with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, now the main source of food in #Gaza. A look at the shadowy network behind the GHF: wapo.st/410qmqP

Marah Maher lost both her legs when an Israeli airstrike hit her home in Zeitoun, Gaza. Months later, she’s living in Long Island learning to walk. A gorgeous profile of one woman, and the resilience of Gaza’s pediatric amputees / www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...

Scoop: The CEO of Boston Consulting Group apologized to staff and admitted “process failures” in the company’s decision to help design and run the controversial Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that supplanted the work of the UN to deliver aid to Gaza. W/ @catebrown.bsky.social

EXCLUSIVE: 198-pg planning doc reveals that architects of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had early concerns that people would compare its planned food hubs and residential compounds with “‘concentration camps’”. Full story —> wapo.st/43p3Vfy

EXCLUSIVE Israel is planning to take control of and sharply reduce aid distribution in Gaza as a condition for lifting two-month blockade. It would use private U.S. security contractors Claire Parker Karen DeYoung Gerry Shih @catebrown.bsky.social report www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Me making the obvious law of war point. “African migrants locked up in a prison in northern Yemen are not a lawful military objective.” Pleased to speak with @catebrown.bsky.social and be quoted alongside Christopher LeMon and Trevor Ball. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Israel is planning to subcontract with two American security groups to manage a new aid distribution system in southern #Gaza. I've been told that Palestinians may have to undergo facial recognition scans in order to access life-saving aid. Our latest: wapo.st/3EN85Wk

A typical meal at Taganrog was about four and a half spoonfuls of food... New report from @manisha.bsky.social @shaunwalker7.bsky.social and team on the treatment of Ukrainian detainees at one of Russia’s most notorious prison compounds. #ViktoriiaProject www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Incredible and haunting reporting by @catebrown.bsky.social, @osviz-jarrett.bsky.social, Catherine Belton, Anastacia Galouchka & others: “She took risks not for the sake of bravery or being recognized, but because she believed it was her duty" www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna set out to report on claims that Russia was operating a network of ad hoc detention centers in occupied #Ukraine. But in Aug '23 she disappeared into one herself... Our investigation into Russia's notorious Taganrog prison #ViktoriiaProject wapo.st/3YNw5PF

Istanbul protest image destined for book covers 📸 Ümit Bektaş, @reuters.com

Cheers to @meghnadbose.bsky.social and co for this thoughtfully reported portrait of #MahmoudKhalil www.dropsitenews.com/p/mahmoud-kh...

🔍 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 (𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀): www.bellingcat.com/bellingcat-i...

“My arrest was a direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza which resumed in full force Monday night,” #MahmoudKhalil said in a statement provided to @annabetts.bsky.social. Here/ www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Mahmoud Khalil’s wife told me that the public outcry over his detention matters. “He has access to a TV at the detention center,” said Abdalla, who has received calls from her husband since his Saturday arrest. “He can see all the support.” w/ @SusanSvrluga #MahmoudKhalil wapo.st/43NPdQZ

I have suspected that this arrest was directed out of the White House rather than being pursuant to the supposed “adverse foreign policy consequences” determination by Rubio. Will be interesting to see what further information emerges on this front.

The amended petition comes after Khalil's legal team was able to speak to him for the 1st time. It tells the story of Khalil's detention and transfer. In New York, after he had his biometrics taken, Khalil heard an agent say to another “the White House is requesting an update.”

Jewish protestors gathered in the main atrium of Trump Tower Thursday, holding banners that displayed calls to “Free Mahmoud”. Others stated that “Opposing Fascism is a Jewish Tradition”. Police have arrived. Chants continue to free #MahmoudKhalil

“The Trump administration has made their intent clear—student protesters defending Palestinian human rights will be targeted, detained, and deported," said @ccrjustice.org More on the case w/ @mariasacchetti.bsky.social @johnphudson.bsky.social Gift link w/ his “Notice to Appear” wapo.st/421dDFo

A determination by Sec Rubio is the sole justification for trying to deport @columbiauniversity.bsky.social student #MahmoudKhalil, docs show. Legal experts warn that this provision could be exploited to pursue the deportation of anyone deemed a threat to Trump's foreign policy agenda.

Netanyahu again orders a complete ban on food, medicine, and other emergency humanitarian aid for people in the Gaza Strip. This is not only an openly acknowledged war crime, it is the exact same one that made the ICC issue an arrest warrant for him and Gallant last year. jpost.com/breaking-new...

The aid cut doesn’t just put millions of lives at risk, analysts say: It endangers national security, the economy and the global humanitarian system, and pushes partners toward China and Russia @catebrown.bsky.social @dtkeating.bsky.social Dylan Moriarty report www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

The Trump Administration has frozen 60 billion dollars of U.S. foreign aid, and systematically taken steps to disassemble USAID, the leading agency that overseas it. Here’s how the abrupt change to decades of U.S. policy impacts the world: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...