Category: News
World Economic Forum Boss Borge Brende Quits As Epstein Fallout Deepens
World Economic Forum Boss Borge Brende Quits As Epstein Fallout Deepens
The Jeffrey Epstein fallout continues to spread across the corporate and political worlds, with new headlines daily. Bill Gates told foundation staff earlier this week, “I did nothing illicit.” Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer, Kathy Ruemmler, stepped down last week over her ties, and former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct related to sending Epstein trade documents.
Now, the World Economic Forum chief executive, Børge Brende, is stepping down following an investigation by the organization into his connections with the convicted sex offender.
WEF released a statement on its website announcing that Brende has decided to step down, and that Alois Zwinggi will serve as Interim President and CEO.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to step down as President and CEO of the World Economic Forum,” Brende wrote in a statement.
He said, “I am grateful for the incredible collaboration with my colleagues, partners, and constituents, and I believe now is the right moment for the Forum to continue its important work without distractions.”
The WEF launched a probe into Brende earlier this month, or at least publicly announced one, over his connections to Epstein, including attending at least three “business dinners” and exchanging emails and text messages with the sex offender.
Brende and Epstein communicated over email between 2018 and 2019 about meeting at the sex offender’s New York mansion for dinner.
And this.
WEF CEO Borge Brende plotting with Jeffrey Epstein to position WEF as the global governance structure
It should be called “Epstein’s Great Reset” henceforth pic.twitter.com/kDwjuRhgU0
— Jesse Matchey (@JesseMatchey) February 5, 2026
In April 2018, Brende wrote, “Missing you, Sir. Borge.”
In a previous statement, Brende said he was “completely unaware of Epstein’s past and criminal activities.”
Perhaps Brende’s assistant should have run a background check on Epstein, or at the very least, a very simple Google search. Epstein was first arrested by Palm Beach, Florida, authorities in 2006. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to two prostitution-related charges, one involving a victim under 18. He was arrested again in 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges.
This is yet more negative press for the WEF cult, which has a unified vision in which people own nothing, eat bugs, and are told to be happy about it. That left-wing globalist agenda is fundamentally at odds with an America First worldview. Perhaps the Trump administration should host its own rival gathering next year – an “American Economic Forum.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 10:00
Instagram avisará a padres si adolescentes buscan ‘repetidamente’ sobre suicidio
Por BARBARA ORTUTAY
Instagram comenzará a alertar a los padres si sus hijos buscan repetidamente términos claramente asociados con el suicidio o las autolesiones. Las alertas solo se enviarán a los padres que estén inscritos en el programa de supervisión parental de Instagram.
Instagram afirma que ya bloquea ese tipo de contenido para que no aparezca en los resultados de búsqueda de las cuentas de adolescentes y, en su lugar, dirige a las personas a líneas de ayuda.
El anuncio se produce mientras Meta está en medio de dos juicios por daños a menores. Un juicio en curso en Los Ángeles cuestiona si las plataformas de Meta deliberadamente generan adicción y perjudican a los menores. Otro, en Nuevo México, busca determinar si Meta no protegió a los niños de la explotación sexual en sus plataformas. Miles de familias —junto con distritos escolares y entidades gubernamentales— han demandado a Meta y a otras empresas de redes sociales, al afirmar que diseñan deliberadamente sus plataformas para que sean adictivas y que no protegen a los menores de contenido que puede conducir a la depresión, los trastornos alimentarios y el suicidio.
Ejecutivos de Meta, incluido el director ejecutivo Mark Zuckerberg, han negado que las plataformas causen adicción. Durante el interrogatorio del abogado de los demandantes en Los Ángeles, Zuckerberg señaló que aún está de acuerdo con una declaración previa suya de que el conjunto existente de trabajos científicos no ha demostrado que las redes sociales causen daños a la salud mental.
Las alertas se enviarán por correo electrónico, mensaje de texto o WhatsApp, según la información de contacto del padre o la madre que esté disponible, además de una notificación a través de la cuenta de Instagram del padre o la madre.
“Nuestro objetivo es darles a los padres herramientas para intervenir si las búsquedas de su adolescente sugieren que podría necesitar apoyo. También queremos evitar enviar estas notificaciones innecesariamente, lo cual, si se hace con demasiada frecuencia, podría hacer que las notificaciones sean menos útiles en general”, indicó Meta en un blog.
Agregó que también está trabajando en notificaciones similares para los padres sobre las interacciones de sus hijos con la inteligencia artificial.
“Estas notificarán a los padres si un adolescente intenta entablar ciertos tipos de conversaciones relacionadas con el suicidio o las autolesiones con nuestra IA”, explicó Meta. “Este es un trabajo importante y tendremos más que compartir en los próximos meses”.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Chicago credit downgraded, which will mean higher borrowing costs
Two ratings agencies have downgraded the city of Chicago and kept their negative outlooks intact, citing the city’s back-to-back budget shortfalls since 2023, reliance on “non-structural solutions” to patch up holes, stubborn gaps in future years, and the ongoing fight between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council stymieing a long term solution.
The downgrades from Fitch and Kroll are a fate both Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen said repeatedly they were working to avoid during last year’s budget debate, each saying the other’s proposals would trigger one.
Fitch and Kroll are two of a small group of influential agencies that rate the city’s debt and creditworthiness. Wednesday’s downgrades, in conjunction with one last year from S&P and trade activity already pushing up the city’s interest rates, is the latest signal that taxpayers will likely have to foot a larger bill to pay back the city’s debt. Those ratings take a range of factors into account, including how much power the city has to raise and spend money on its own, how much is saved in reserves, how various taxes are performing, and the strength of the local economy.
“The City remains investment grade with all four major credit rating agencies,” the Johnson administration said in a release, and “has continued to achieve strong investor participation in its bond financings.”
The statement went on to include a “told-you-so,” pinning part of the fault on opponents who passed budget tweaks against Johnson’s wishes. Those include “the continued lack of structural revenue sources as well as risks” from several revenue sources the council coalition backed, according to Johnson.
“The City, nonetheless, remains financially stable with adequate near-term liquidity and fully capable of meeting all debt service obligations,” and the rating doesn’t change day-to-day operations, the statement said.
In their own statement sent late Wednesday, the “budget accountability coalition” on the council that opposed Johnson on the 2026 spending plan pointed the finger back.
“If the Johnson administration spent as much time focused on addressing concerns raised by credit rating agencies as it has tried to deflect the blame it owns for this downgrade, we may have avoided this unfortunate day altogether,” their statement said. “Chicago’s credit challenges are the result of ongoing budget mismanagement, not the City Council’s amendment to 1.6% of the Mayor’s proposed FY26 budget that ultimately made it more financially responsible.”
Sparring between Johnson’s administration and council members resulted in a mixed bag of budget fixes — some from Johnson, some from aldermen — that were “less prudent or fiscally reliable,” Fitch said.
Among Johnson’s proposals, Fitch pointed to borrowing for retroactive pay for firefighters and a reliance on new tax revenues that might end up in court, an allusion to the mayor’s social media tax. Among the council’s proposals the rating agency cited were plans to package and sell city-owned debt and counting on sunnier revenue projections that may not materialize.
Mayor Brandon Johnson answers questions during a news conference on the fifth floor of Chicago City Hall on Dec. 15, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
In all, the city’s budget decisions boost the risk leaders will further tap reserves that are meant for emergencies, according to Kroll. If the city does raid those funds, which include leftover money from the sale of the Skyway and parking meters, that could trigger a further downgrade, Kroll said.
Both agencies credited the city for sticking to its supplemental pension payment, which Johnson had initially reduced and the council coalition worked to fully restore. Neither agency found fault with Johnson’s plan to break the payment up. While a positive for city finances in the long run, continuing to make those payments puts extra strain on the rest of the budget, their ratings noted.
Neither agency seemed confident the city would make major cuts, nor were there any clear upcoming sources of revenue, they said. Fresh money from the state or taxes approved by voters do “not appear likely in the near term,” Fitch wrote, and it was also clear a property tax increase does not have political support.
The downgrades moved the city’s overall — or issuer default — rating to BBB+ from A-.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/chicago-credit-downgraded-higher-borrowing-costs/
La nueva era de la F1 exige otro estilo de manejo. Los ‘4 Grandes’ buscan ganar en Australia
Por JAMES ELLINGWORTH
Salidas caóticas, adelantamientos complicados, levantar el pie del acelerador en las rectas. La nueva era de reglamentos de la Fórmula 1 podría sacudir la serie de maneras inesperadas cuando la temporada comience con el Gran Premio de Australia la próxima semana.
Max Verstappen y Lewis Hamilton, los dos pilotos más exitosos de la parrilla, fueron críticos durante las pruebas de los monoplazas cuyos sistemas híbridos eléctricos fomentan estilos de conducción inusuales y hacen que las carreras sean más estratégicas.
El tetracampeón Verstappen calificó los autos de “nada divertidos” y sugirió que podrían ser un factor al considerar el retiro, mientras que el siete veces campeón Hamilton planteó que las reglas son demasiado complejas para que los aficionados las entiendan.
Es una temporada crucial para la F1, que se expandió rápidamente durante la última década al poner en primer plano las personalidades de los pilotos y no centrarse en el detalle tecnológico.
Stefano Domenicali, el director ejecutivo de la F1, defendió los cambios.
“Necesitamos mantener la calma. Como siempre, cuando sucede algo con nuevas regulaciones, siempre existe la duda de que todo esté mal”, dijo durante las pruebas en Bahréin.
A pesar de los grandes cambios, los cuatro mejores equipos siguen siendo los mismos después de que Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren y Red Bull mostraran potencial en las pruebas.
Los ‘cuatro grandes’ en 2026
Los “cuatro grandes”, como los llama el jefe de McLaren, Zak Brown, parecen en términos generales similares en ritmo. Mercedes y Ferrari quizás mostraron una ligera ventaja en las simulaciones de carrera durante las pruebas.
En la prueba final, Ferrari presentó un alerón trasero que se voltea hacia abajo para ganar velocidad en recta y un innovador mini alerón detrás del escape. También destacó como el más rápido en las prácticas de salida, después de que otros equipos, especialmente Mercedes, fueran lentos al arrancar.
Los rivales han elogiado a Red Bull por dominar la tecnología de potencia eléctrica, mientras que el campeón Lando Norris y Oscar Piastri parecen de nuevo consistentemente fuertes para McLaren, que utiliza un motor Mercedes.
La combinación de potencia y fiabilidad de Mercedes podría convertir a George Russell en un verdadero aspirante al campeonato. Hay atención adicional sobre el motor de Mercedes, que fue rápido en las pruebas tras semanas de especulaciones de rivales sobre su legalidad. Mercedes afirma que el diseño es perfectamente legal.
Algunos equipos sacrificaron la temporada 2025 para buscar grandes ganancias en 2026. No ha funcionado.
Incluso con el diseñador estrella Adrian Newey al mando, Aston Martin llegó tarde a las pruebas, fue poco fiable y a menudo más lento que el nuevo equipo Cadillac. Williams y Alpine también han tenido dificultades, pero Haas podría estar en condiciones de desafiar a los equipos punteros.
Compromiso para optimizar
El impulso de la FIA para un reparto 50-50 entre la potencia del motor y la de la tecnología híbrida eléctrica significa que conducir en 2026 se trata de compromiso.
Los pilotos, en las pruebas de pretemporada, estaban revolucionando el motor con fuerza en la parrilla para una salida rápida, levantando el pie del acelerador en las rectas para cargar la batería a bordo y reduciendo de manera agresiva hasta primera marcha en las curvas. La FIA podría intervenir para ajustar el reglamento si las primeras carreras plantean escenarios extraños.
Las salidas detenidas desde la parrilla requirieron un procedimiento complicado en las pruebas porque el sistema híbrido no entra en acción hasta los 50 km/h (31 mph). Tras algunas prácticas de salida lentas, se hicieron ajustes al procedimiento, pero eso quizá no detenga a Ferrari, que identificó el problema temprano y diseñó su motor para ser rápido al arrancar. Hamilton ofreció uno de los momentos más llamativos de la pretemporada al pasar como un misil a cuatro autos en una práctica de salida en Bahréin la semana pasada.
Las salidas rápidas podrían ser aún más importantes si adelantar es tan difícil como sospechan algunos pilotos. Prepárese para oír que los autos de 2026 están “faltos de energía” en ciertos circuitos, incluido Australia, que no tiene tantas zonas de frenada fuerte donde la batería pueda cargarse.
Si los autos no pueden aprovechar plenamente el sistema híbrido, el nuevo “modo de adelantamiento” con potencia extra podría ser un desperdicio de energía limitada si necesita varias vueltas para alcanzar la carga completa y aun así deja al auto que adelanta como un blanco fácil después.
Debut de Cadillac
Hay un equipo nuevo, un equipo con nuevo nombre, una pista nueva y un nuevo difusor en Estados Unidos.
Cadillac se suma como el undécimo equipo con los veteranos pilotos Sergio Pérez y Valtteri Bottas, pero enfrenta un año de aprendizaje después de ser consistentemente lento en la pretemporada. Incluso el anuncio del Super Bowl que reveló su llamativa decoración asimétrica en blanco y negro se topó con problemas en forma de una demanda del director de Hollywood Michael Bay.
Sauber ahora es Audi tras una adquisición por parte del fabricante alemán, que está produciendo sus propios motores.
El Gran Premio de España deja Barcelona después de 35 años para mudarse a un nuevo circuito urbano en Madrid. La segunda carrera de Italia en Imola deja su lugar y Barcelona se mantiene como el Gran Premio de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Apple, cuyo estudio ayudó a realizar la película “F1” del año pasado, asume los derechos de transmisión en Estados Unidos tras el fin del contrato de ESPN.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Biden’s FBI Secretly Obtained Kash Patel And Susie Wiles’ Phone Records, But NYT Says It’s Cool
Biden’s FBI Secretly Obtained Kash Patel And Susie Wiles’ Phone Records, But NYT Says It’s Cool
When Special Counsel Jack Smith was investigating Donald Trump and people in his orbit, he ended up surveilling then-private-citizen Kash Patel, and Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during 2022 and 2003.
Patel, now head of the FBI, told Reuters on Wednesday that he found out about this, and the FBI buried the files in a “Prohibited” category deep within the bureau’s computer system so they would be extremely difficult to find.
Getting down to it – the subpoenas targeted metadata showing who called whom and when – called ‘toll records,’ as well as a recorded a call between Susie Wiles and her lawyer – which her lawyer knew about and didn’t tell her, according to Fox News. Technically, under federal law, the government can obtain toll records with just a subpoena and no warrant. Investigators insist they routinely pull toll records from prominent figures to establish timelines and verify involvement. Smith himself testified to Congress that records seized from Republican senators during the January 6 probe helped confirm the timeline of events, that no content was captured, and that his office followed all legal requirements.
Hours after Kash told Reuters his side of the story, insiders on team blue ran to the NY Times to let them know that Patel has sacked ‘about 10 FBI employees, some veteran agents’ as part of a “rolling revenge” tour on members of Smith’s team.
The boys jumped into action:
The firings are part of a rolling barrage of retribution aimed at those who worked on the two federal prosecutions of Mr. Trump after his first term in office. They came hours after Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, told Reuters that as part of the documents inquiry, the bureau had subpoenaed phone metadata for himself and Susie Wiles, currently the White House chief of staff. -NYT
To summarize:
Team Trump: The Biden FBI surveilled Kash and Susie, then tried to hide it.
Team NYT leakers: That was perfectly normal, Kash is drunk on power and getting revenge.
And of course, the NYT assures us:
Requests for phone records are common in complex criminal investigations to establish timelines and provide proof of communication. It remains unclear if the F.B.I.’s Trump-appointed leaders have accused employees of wrongdoing. In the past, they have not. In some cases, firings have violated procedural safeguards created to protect agents from politically motivated dismissal, according to agents and their lawyers.
But, wait a sec – the Reuters story had the ‘prohibited’ category aspect front and center…
And yet, NYT:
Which is odd, because the ‘prohibited’ designation made them deliberately difficult to locate and effectively shielded them from oversight. He says he discovered the records only after taking over as FBI director and has since eliminated the bureau’s ability to classify files that way.
The seizure of the phone records was essentially covered up, which is not something you tend to do if it was all above board.
“It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records – along with those of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” Patel said.
Smith’s spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday about Patel’s specific allegations. Neither Joe Biden, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, nor former FBI Director Christopher Wray offered any comment for the story.
Nevertheless, the timeline raises its own questions.
Patel was called before a grand jury in 2022 after receiving limited immunity, during which he told prosecutors that Trump had declassified the documents taken to Mar-a-Lago. Wiles, for her part, became a close Trump adviser after his 2021 departure from office and eventually co-managed his 2024 presidential campaign. The record collection stretched into that campaign period.
Reuters could not independently establish what records the FBI obtained or who approved the subpoenas. The news agency also couldn’t ascertain if Patel or Wiles themselves were under investigation and, if so, why. Both were close to Trump during this period, as he built toward and ultimately launched his campaign to reclaim the presidency in 2024.
Both Patel and Wiles were known to have been interviewed by investigators as part of Smith’s investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents following his first term.
In 2023, the FBI recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney, according to two FBI officials. Wiles’ attorney was aware that the call was being recorded, and consented to it, but Susie Wiles was not.
Smith was appointed special counsel in November 2022 to lead two federal probes: one into Trump’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and another into alleged efforts to “overturn” the 2020 election. He charged Trump with felonies in 2023 on both fronts. A federal judge dismissed the case involving the documents. Smith dropped the election interference appeal after Trump won the November 2024 election.
This latest bombshell comes in the wake of another stunning disclosure: internal FBI emails from around the time of the August 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago, which appear to directly contradict the Biden administration’s insistence that then-President Joe Biden had no prior knowledge of the search of President Donald Trump’s home. The records also revealed just how hard the Justice Department leaned into the push for a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate—despite concerns within the FBI about whether the evidence actually justified such an aggressive move.
Patel says he doesn’t know why investigators wanted his and Wiles’ records. That’s notable for someone who now sits atop the FBI. The bureau collected phone metadata on two of Trump’s closest allies — one of whom would go on to run his presidential campaign — and filed it away where it couldn’t easily be found.
Fox News reports that at least 10 FBI employees were fired on Wednesday in connection with this latest disclosure.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 09:25
FIFA’s Infantino has ‘complete confidence’ in Mexico to host World Cup games despite cartel violence
MEXICO CITY — The violence that erupted in Mexico after the death of a powerful drug lord has left many questioning whether the country will be able to co-host the World Cup in just over three months.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino thinks it can.
“Of course, we are monitoring the situation in Mexico these days, but I want to say from the outset that we have complete confidence in Mexico, in its president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and in the authorities, and we are convinced that everything will go as smoothly as possible,” Infantino said late Tuesday in a press conference in Colombia.
“Mexico is a great country, like in every country in the world, things happen; we don’t live on the moon or another planet,” Infantino added. “That’s why we have governments, police, and authorities who will ensure order and security.”
The Mexican army killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” who led the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, on Sunday, sparking several days of violence. Cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states and authorities report that at least 70 people have died.
Four high-level soccer matches from the local leagues were postponed last Sunday, including one in the central city of Queretaro, where Mexico defeated Iceland 4-0 late Wednesday in a friendly match.
Before the match, a minute of silence was held in the Corregidora stadium in honor of the soldiers who died during the operation to capture Oseguera.
Thirteen World Cup matches are scheduled to be held in Mexico, including the opening game in Mexico City on June 11 between the co-host and South Africa. Guadalajara, the central hub for the Jalisco cartel, is scheduled to host four.
Colombia is set to play one game in Mexico City and one in Guadalajara.
“Our first two matches are in Mexico, but we know they will overcome this and move forward,” said Ramón Jesurún, the president of the Colombian Soccer Federation. “I have absolute and total confidence in my geopolitical thinking that this is an issue Mexico will overcome, and overcome very quickly.”
Other nations have expressed more concern. The Portuguese soccer federation said Tuesday that it was closely monitoring developments ahead of a planned friendly against Mexico in March. Jamaica is set to play New Caledonia in Guadalajara on March 26 in an intercontinental playoff semifinal, with the winner advancing to face Congo for a World Cup spot.
“The games are at the end of March, so we still have another month to see what happens; but it is making me very nervous, to be honest,” said Michael Ricketts, the president of the Jamaican Soccer Federation. “We will be listening out for CONCACAF and FIFA to give us instructions (on) whether they are playing the games or whether they are immediately looking for other options.”
Another Mexican city, Monterrey, will host a playoff where Bolivia plays Suriname and the winner faces Iraq for a spot in the tournament.
On Monday, Sheinbaum said there is “every guarantee” that the World Cup matches in Guadalajara will be played as planned and added that there was “no risk.”
“We are in regular contact with the presidency and the authorities in Mexico and we are monitoring the situation,” Infantino said. “The World Cup is going to be an incredible celebration”.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/fifa-mexico-world-cup-cartel/
Hillary Clinton is testifying as part of the House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein
WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is testifying before U.S. House lawmakers in New York on Thursday as part of a congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, starting off two days of depositions that will also include former President Bill Clinton.
The closed-door depositions in the Clintons’ hometown of Chappaqua, a typically quiet hamlet north of New York City, come after months of tense back-and-forth between the former high-powered Democratic couple and the Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee. It will be the first time that a former president has been forced to testify before Congress.
Yet the demand for a reckoning over Epstein’s abuse of underage girls has become a near-unstoppable force on Capitol Hill and beyond.
President Donald Trump, a Republican who has expressed regret that the Clintons are being forced to testify, bowed last year to pressure to release case files on Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. The Clintons, too, agreed to testify after their offers of sworn statements were rebuffed by the Oversight panel and its chairman, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., threatened criminal contempt of Congress charges against them.
“We have a very clear record that we’ve been willing to talk about,” Hillary Clinton said in an interview with the BBC earlier this month. She added that her husband had flown with Epstein for charitable trips and that she did not recall meeting Epstein but had interacted with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation.
“We are more than happy to say what we know, which is very limited and totally unrelated to their behavior or their crimes, and we want to do it in public,” Hillary Clinton said.
Bill Clinton, however, has emerged as a top target for Republicans amid the political struggle over who receives the most scrutiny for their ties to Epstein. Several photos of the former president were included in the first tranche of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in January, including a number of him with women whose faces were redacted. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein.
Comer has also pointed to Hillary Clinton’s work as secretary of state to address sex trafficking as another reason to insist on her deposition. The committee’s investigation has sought to understand why the Department of Justice under previous presidential administrations did not seek further charges against Epstein following a 2008 arrangement in which he pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl but avoided federal charges.
Yet conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully convicted. Republicans have long wanted to press the Clintons for answers.
“I mean if you’re the wife of Bill Clinton, aren’t you going to have some questions about your husband’s activities?” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the House Oversight Committee. “We only go where the facts take us. We didn’t put the president and the secretary in this position. They put themselves in it.”
Democrats, now being led by a new generation of politicians, have prioritized transparency around Epstein over defending the former leaders of their party. Several Democratic lawmakers joined with Republicans on the Oversight panel to advance the contempt of Congress charges against the Clintons last month. Several said they had no relationship with the Clintons and owed no loyalty to them.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight panel, said that both Republican and Democratic administrations “have failed survivors in not getting more information out to the public.” He also said he wanted to ask about Epstein’s possible ties to foreign governments.
Democrats are also coming off an effort this week to confront Trump about his administration’s handling of the Epstein files by taking women who survived Epstein’s abuse as their guests to Trump’s State of the Union address. Even senior Democrats, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, said it was appropriate for the committee to interview anyone, including the former president, who was connected to Epstein.
“We want to hear from everyone,” Pelosi said, adding that she did not see why Hillary Clinton was being interviewed and that it was important to “believe survivors.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/hillary-clinton-jeffrey-epstein/
US and Iran hold another round of indirect nuclear talks as American forces mass in Mideast
GENEVA — Iran and the United States were holding another round of indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday to try to reach a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program and potentially avert another war as the U.S. gathers a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East.
U.S. President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests. Iran also hopes to avert war, but maintains it has the right to enrich uranium and does not want to discuss other issues, like its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
If America attacks, Iran has said U.S. military bases in the region would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.
“There would be no victory for anybody — it would be a devastating war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.
“Since the Americans’ bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be involved, so it is a very terrible scenario.”
Geneva talks are the third meeting since June war
The two sides held multiple rounds of talks last year that collapsed when Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June and the U.S. carried out heavy strikes on its nuclear sites, leaving much of Iran’s nuclear program in ruins even as the full extent of the damage remains unclear.
Araghchi is representing Iran at the talks. Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy, is heading up the U.S. delegation with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The talks are again being mediated by Oman, an Arab Gulf country that’s long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.
Araghchi met Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi after arriving in Geneva on Wednesday night. The men “reviewed the views and proposals that the Iranian side will present to reach an agreement,” a report from the state-run Oman News Agency said. Al-Busaidi will pass along Iran’s offer to the U.S. on Thursday, it added.
Al-Busaidi also met with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. The Omani diplomat flashed a thumbs-up to a question about whether he was hopeful for the talks. Oman later published images of Witkoff and Kushner meeting with the mediator.
The two sides adjourned after around three hours of talks and planned to resume the discussions later on Thursday. “We’ve been exchanging creative and positive ideas in Geneva today,” the Omani envoy said. “We hope to make more progress.”
Trump wants Iran to completely halt its enrichment of uranium and roll back both its long-range missile program and its support for regional armed groups. Iran says it will only discuss nuclear issues, and maintains its atomic program is for entirely peaceful purposes.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
Iran has said it hasn’t enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.
The West and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. After Trump scrapped the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” While insisting its program is peaceful, Iranian officials have threatened to pursue the bomb in recent years.
Threat of military action sparks war fears
If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible U.S. attack.
If the aim of potential military action is to pressure Iran to make concessions in nuclear negotiations, it’s not clear whether limited strikes would work. If the goal is to remove Iran’s leaders, that will likely commit the U.S. to a larger, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign of planning for what would come next, including the potential for chaos in Iran.
There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to those concerns, with benchmark Brent crude now around $70 a barrel. Iran in the last round of talks said it briefly halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.
Satellite photos shot Tuesday and Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP appeared to show that American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, were all out at sea. The 5th Fleet referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which declined to comment. Before Iran’s attack on a U.S. base in Qatar during the closing days of the war last June, the 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships at sea to protect against a potential attack.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia asks US judge in Tennessee to dismiss his criminal case, saying it’s vindictive
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia will try to persuade a federal judge in Tennessee on Thursday to throw out human smuggling charges against him.
Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has galvanized both sides of the immigration debate, claims that the criminal prosecution is vindictive, pushed by officials from President Donald Trump’s administration to punish him after they were forced to bring him back to the United States.
While Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen, a court order from 2019 prevents him from being deported to that country. That’s because an immigration judge determined he faced danger in El Salvador from a gang that had threatened his family. Abrego Garcia, 30, immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager but has an American wife and child. He has lived and worked in Maryland for years under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
After he was deported to El Salvador last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration had to work to bring him back. He was eventually returned to the U.S. only to face criminal charges of human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty.
Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia after he was pulled over for speeding. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously found some evidence that the prosecution against Abrego Garcia “may be vindictive.” The judge said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” He cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that seemed to suggest the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have been sparring with prosecutors for months over whether officials like Blanche would be required to testify at Thursday’s hearing and what emails Department of Justice officials would have to turn over to them. First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued that he alone made the decision to prosecute, so the motives of other officials were irrelevant.
Crenshaw reviewed many of the disputed documents. In an order that was unsealed in late December, he wrote, “Some of the documents suggest not only that McGuire was not a solitary decision-maker, but he in fact reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/kilmar-abrego-garcia-6/
Hindenburg Alarm: Another Rotation Or Worse?
Hindenburg Alarm: Another Rotation Or Worse?
In early November, we sounded the alarm about a recent Hindenburg Omen. Per the Commentary’s summary:
Bottom line: market breadth is horrendous and will likely lead to a rotation favoring out-of-favor sectors and stocks.
Thus, it’s not surprising that the Hindenburg Omen was triggered. If we continue to see more of these Omens, the threat of a drawdown grows.
At the time, Mega-Cap stocks were grossly outperforming the market, while many sectors lagged the market.
Since that Hindenburg Alarm, our expectations have come to fruition. We have, in fact, seen a “rotation favoring out-of-favor sectors and stocks.”
The graphic below, courtesy of SimpleVisor, shows the significant change in fortunes between sectors.
The first column shows each sector’s excess returns (vs. the S&P 500) since the Hindenburg Omen on October 29th.
The second column shows the excess returns over the 50-day period preceding the alarm.
The Hindenburg Omen has sent 6 alarms over the last month.
The last batch of Hindenburg alarms signaled drawdowns in the leaders and strong performance in the laggards.
Is this Hindenburg Alarm signaling a rotation back to large-cap growth?
Or might it be more ominous for the entire market?
The last time this technical indicator triggered six times in a month was preceding the Pandemic crash of 2020.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 09:05
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/hindenburg-alarm-another-rotation-or-worse
