
'I screamed so loud, I blacked out': Afghans tell of the Taliban's return to their old torture playbook
CNN
Mohammad Zafri's memory is patchy after surviving relentless beatings by the Taliban, he says. He and other Afghans say the militant group has returned to its old playbook of fear to repress dissent since seizing power in August 2021.
But one event that's hard to forget is being summoned last spring to the militant group's headquarters to collect documents he had left behind, having been an employee of the previous, internationally-backed administration. Not wanting to cause trouble, he went -- only to realize too late that it was a trap.
Zafri -- whose real name CNN is withholding for security reasons -- said he was outside the Taliban's offices when he felt a sharp punch to the back of his head. He fell to the ground and was then dragged indoors, he recalled.

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.









