A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to appoint an independent monitor to oversee the Justice Department’s disclosure of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, while conceding the lawmakers have raised “legitimate concerns” about the department’s compliance with the law. In a 7-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Paul Englemayer wrote that his supervision of the criminal case against Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell doesn’t grant him “any charter to supervise” whether the Justice Department meets its legal obligation to disclose the files. But he noted that his order didn’t foreclose the lawmakers’ right to sue over the matter. And Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, added that both the lawmakers and victims “raise legitimate concerns about whether DOJ is faithfully complying with federal law.” Massie and Khanna authored the law Congress passed late last year mandating the department to make millions of pages of materials related to the late convicted sex offender public by Dec. 19. Instead, the department released a few tranches of material in late December, but has disclosed in court filings that millions of additional pages remain unreleased. In addition to the disclosure delays, the lawmakers have complained that the Justice Department has improperly redacted certain information from the files.

A federal judge said he did not have the authority to supervise the Justice Department’s release of the documents.

This winter is miserable for millions of Ukrainians suffering at the hands of unprecedented energy blackouts caused by relentless, targeted Russian drone and missile strikes that have severely damaged heat and electricity supplies.

Even low levels of widely used agricultural chemicals were linked to accelerated ageing, research suggests The lifespan of fish appears to be drastically reduced by pesticides, a study has found. Even low levels of common agricultural pesticides can stunt the long-term lifespan of fish, according to research led by Jason Rohr, a biologist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Continue reading...

The US senator and former Navy captain is contesting a move to review his retirement grade after he criticised the Trump administration.

Acht junge Männer werden unter Terrorverdacht festgenommen, darunter drei AfD-Funktionäre aus Sachsen. Hat niemand etwas mitbekommen? Eine Spurensuche in Grimma.

Out with the old, in with the Times New Roman (again.)

The ICE operation in the Twin Cities is increasingly moving into the suburbs.

Damage to the Russian-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome rocket launchpad in Kazakhstan has taken the site out of commission, raising concerns over how the International Space Station could be affected. The Baikonur complex is Earth's main blastoff site for crew and cargo flights bound for the ISS.

The physical and mental health of the president is a state secret

Earlier this year, displaced people from eastern Ukraine arrived in Mezhova, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, to take refuge from the fighting. Now Russian air strikes are battering the town as a few holdouts remain without electricity and a stalwart journalist keeps publishing the local newspaper.

The war against Ukraine has hit ordinary Russians hard, and the deteriorating situation is likely to inflame tensions, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

Wir werden angegriffen: Putins Krieg gegen Staaten, die die Ukraine unterstützen, hat uns längst erreicht – mit Hilfe direkt aus dem Bundestag.

YouTube video by The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway

What happened when a Republican supermajority gained control—and wasn’t satisfied

As Russia’s invasion rages on, Ukrainian medical personnel are becoming increasingly vulnerable, from medevac vehicles near the fighting to hospitals in the rear. Experts warn that as frontline areas expand and Russia deploys more advanced weapons, it is becoming harder to keep medical workers safe.

Russian forces are pushing closer to Pokrovske, a strategic village between Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya. With the front line approaching, Ukrainian police are carrying out mandatory evacuations, warning residents of constant shelling and growing danger.