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Journalist Katie Phang sues acting attorney general Todd Blanche over Epstein files

Lawsuit alleges DoJ breached transparency law by withholding records on Jeffrey Epstein and over-redacting disclosures

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, engaged in a “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of a law requiring the justice department (DoJ) to release the entirety of the so-called Epstein files, a lawsuit filed in Washington DC alleges.

The action on Monday by Katie Phang, an investigative journalist and legal analyst, seeks to hold Blanche personally responsible for the DoJ’s alleged failure to publish all the documents the government holds about Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. A full release was mandated by a landmark transparency act passed by Congress in November, with a deadline of 19 December.

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© Composite: Getty Images

© Composite: Getty Images

© Composite: Getty Images

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Cool as a cucumber: man calmly ate salad as press dinner shooting unfolded

Michael Glantz, a senior talent agent, says he ‘wasn’t scared’ and ‘wanted to watch’ as chaos unfolded at the event

A guest at the White House correspondents’ dinner retained his table manners and was spotted calmly tucking into his salad course on Saturday, soon after gunfire rang out and heavily armed Secret Service agents swarmed into the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel.

A video clip captured Michael Glantz, a senior talent agent with the Creative Artists Agency, leisurely forking leaves from his burrata salad into his mouth against a backdrop of a stage just yards away, by then empty of everyone save a rifle-wielding officer in tactical combat gear.

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© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

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Florida officials investigate planned ‘Sloth World’ attraction after 31 sloths die in warehouse

Languorous tree dwellers from Guyana and Peru died from ‘cold stun’ in warehouse with no power or running water

Wildlife officials in Florida said in a newly released report that dozens of sloths taken from South American rainforests for display at a controversial new tourist attraction in Orlando died in the care of their new owners.

An incident report from the Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC) said that 31 of the mammals procured from Peru and Guyana by the owners of a forthcoming attraction called Sloth World perished in a storage warehouse more than a year ago, between December 2024 and February 2025.

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© Photograph: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

© Photograph: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

© Photograph: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission

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Earth gets brighter every year but progression is volatile, study finds

Covid, light pollution regulations and faltering global economy affect location and intensity of brightness

Earth continues to get brighter every year, researchers have found, but the location and intensity of the progression has become increasingly volatile because of Covid-19, regulations on light pollution, and a faltering global economy.

Nasa-funded researchers at the University of Connecticut (UConn) studied more than 1.1m satellite images taken over a nine-year period to establish that the planet’s artificial light increased by a net 16% between 2014 and 2022.

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© Photograph: Michala Garrison/NASA Earth Observatory/Reuters

© Photograph: Michala Garrison/NASA Earth Observatory/Reuters

© Photograph: Michala Garrison/NASA Earth Observatory/Reuters

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Hegseth channels his inner Tarantino with fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction

The defense secretary said his prayer drew on Ezekiel, but wording closely matches Quentin Tarantino dialogue

It was perhaps inevitable that a braggadocious Christian nationalist defense secretary elevated from his role as a weekend Fox News television host would pluck a fake Bible verse from a violent Hollywood blockbuster and present it at a Pentagon prayer session to rally the troops for the “holy war” in Iran.

Certainly among a glut of stories swirling around Pete Hegseth this week, including articles of impeachment brought against him by a group of ambitious Democratic lawmakers, the bizarre allegation that the Bible-thumping Hegseth was passing off a fire-and-brimstone script by Quentin Tarantino, an Oscar-winning director, as the word of the Lord was far too compelling to ignore.

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© Composite: Miramax/Allstar, AP

© Composite: Miramax/Allstar, AP

© Composite: Miramax/Allstar, AP

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