
A fragile status quo on prayer rights at Jerusalem holy site comes under fresh strain
CNN
The scenes of Israeli forces firing stun grenades and tear gas inside Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque earlier this year had a galvanizing effect on Palestinian public opinion.
It also gave the militant group Hamas what it saw as a convincing pretext for launching rockets against Israel, leading to a bloody 11-day conflict and a reminder of the powerful interplay between religious and nationalist dynamics at one of the world's most contentious holy sites. This week things threatened to escalate there again, this time over the issue of Jewish prayer.
One year ago this week, Joe Biden was president. I was in Doha, Qatar, negotiating with Israel and Hamas to finalize a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The incoming Trump team worked closely with us, a rare display of nonpartisanship to free hostages and end a war. It feels like a decade ago. A lot can happen in a year, as 2025 has shown.

Botched Epstein redactions trace back to Virgin Islands’ 2020 civil racketeering case against estate
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities

The Justice Department’s leadership asked career prosecutors in Florida Tuesday to volunteer over the “next several days” to help to redact the Epstein files, in the latest internal Trump administrationpush toward releasing the hundreds of thousands of photos, internal memos and other evidence around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.









