“Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna claimed on Monday that the Department of Justice improperly redacted the names and faces of six potential co-conspirators of the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The two lawmakers, who led the congressional charge to compel the DOJ to release every government file related to Epstein, arrived at Two Constitution Square to review less-redacted versions of the files than have been released to the public so far. After their in-person review on Monday, they again accused the DOJ of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act. … Massie claimed the men were ‘likely incriminated’ based on the document’s context, but declined for now to share their names. He said he first wanted to give the DOJ a chance to explain why those names weren’t made public.” (02/09/26)
“Israel’s government has taken unilateral steps to give itself greater control over the occupied West Bank, challenging President Trump’s opposition to Israeli annexation of the territory and possibly violating international law. The measures, which make it easier for [squatters to steal] land and undercut the Palestinian Authority in parts of the West Bank that it administers, appear to flout important agreements that Israel signed under the Oslo peace process decades ago. The changes were made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet at a closed-door meeting on Sunday. By enhancing Israel’s control over West Bank territory [within the borders of the State of Palestine], they effectively advance the cause of annexation by degrees — continuing a strategy that the government has been pursuing for years.” (02/09/26)
“U.S. military [pirates] boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea, the Pentagon said Monday. The Pentagon’s statement on social media did not say whether the ship was connected to Venezuela, which faces U.S. sanctions on its oil and relies on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. However, the Aquila II was one of at least 16 tankers that departed the Venezuelan coast last month after U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro, said Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship’s movements.” (02/09/26)
“Russian forces are trying to press forward around the city of Pokrovsk in [Donetsk], Kyiv’s military said on Monday, hoping to conclude a months-long campaign to seize the strategic hub as Moscow seeks to capture the whole of the Donetsk [republic]. Ukraine has struggled to halt slow Russian advances around Pokrovsk and elsewhere along the 1,200-km (746-mile) front line while it comes under U.S. pressure to reach a peace deal to end the four-year war in ongoing talks. Kyiv’s General Staff said on Monday its forces still held the northern part of Pokrovsk, a city with a pre-war population of 60,000, and were also defending the smaller city of Myrnohrad nearby.” (02/09/26)
“Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, refused to answer questions during a deposition with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Monday, asserting her Fifth Amendment right. Maxwell previously indicated her plans to do so, saying she would testify under oath only if she was given criminal immunity. Lawmakers exiting the deposition were incensed she asserted her Fifth Amendment right on every question posed to her, arguing the blanket response was inappropriate given that they had many questions that did not concern her conduct.” (02/09/26)
“The company that runs Eddie Bauer stores in the U.S. and Canada filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and began liquidation sales. Mall retailers have been challenged for years amid waning foot traffic and digital competition. Eddie Bauer LLC said early Monday in a court filing that it had already begun going-out-of-business sales at its approximately 175 remaining stores. The company said it had lined up a restructuring agreement with secured lenders in conjunction with its bankruptcy filing. It will pursue a sale that could result in halting the liquidation sales and keeping stores open.” (02/09/26)
“Tanzania’s opposition leader charged with treason appeared in court for the first time in months on Monday, but the hearing was adjourned yet again after he opposed the prosecution’s plan to have secret witnesses appear in a special enclosed cell. Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has been in prison for 10 months after he was arrested following an opposition rally in which he called for constitutional and electoral law reforms before last year’s disputed election. Lissu, who is representing himself in the case, said the punishment for treason is death and that secret witnesses in enclosed cells pose a huge risk and are likely to result in an unjust outcome for the case.” (02/09/26)
“The Trump administration is seeking to overturn former Trump aide Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction. In filings to the district court and Supreme Court, the Justice Department said the government has determined ‘that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice.’ The filings did not elaborate further. Bannon defied a congressional subpoena demanding he testify about the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021. President Donald Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bannon and others as political, including the approximately 1,600 people he pardoned for charges related to the attack. A dismissal of Bannon’s case would avoid the need for Trump to pardon him, too. At the end of his first term as president, Trump pardoned Bannon as he was awaiting trial in Manhattan for a different case: fraud charges tied to a border wall fundraising effort.” (02/09/26)
“An anarchist group claimed responsibility on Monday for sabotaging rail infrastructure in northern Italy on Saturday and disrupting train traffic on the first full day of the Winter Olympic Games. Police reported three separate episodes at different locations early on Saturday which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed and regional services, particularly around the city of Bologna. No one was injured and no trains were damaged. In a statement circulated online, an anarchist group said a progressive crackdown on demonstrations by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had made confrontation on the streets ‘ineffective’ and meant they had to find other forms of protest.” (02/09/26)
“Air Canada says it is suspending service to Cuba effective Monday as the Caribbean island’s major airport warns it will run out of jet fuel. Over the following days, the airline will fly empty planes to pick up approximately 3,000 customers already in Cuba and return them home, Air Canada said Monday in a statement. … In an official notice called a NOTAM posted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website Sunday, Havana’s José Martí International Airport warns ‘Jet A1 fuel not available’ as of Tuesday, with the warning running until March 11.” (02/09/26)
