Wives go to jail after murdering their husbands! Sajan Ki Dulhan decorated with bars, showed moves in white saree
The dance video of three women is going viral on social media for a special reason. It has been claimed in the video that they had murdered their husbands, due to which they are in jail. But now he has shared the reel of dancing on the trending song Saajan Teri Dulhan Sajaungi from jail itself. However, this is just a stunt to make the video viral. All three women were wearing white colored sarees. The dance of all three won the hearts of people.
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White House border czar Tom Homan announced a drawdown of federal agents deployed to Minnesota on Wednesday, a change he said is made possible thanks to “unprecedented cooperation” from local law enforcement.
Homan made the announcement during a Wednesday morning press conference in Minneapolis, saying 700 federal agents would be departing the Twin Cities. He added that the ultimate goal is a “complete drawdown” of federal presence.
Homan highlighted meetings he had with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, urging them all to allow local jails to communicate with federal law enforcement about when they planned to release illegal immigrants being detained there.
“We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets. Unprecedented cooperation,” Homan said Wednesday. “I’ll say it again: This is efficient and it requires only one or two officers to assume custody of a criminal alien target, rather than eight or 10 officers going into the community and arresting that public safety threat.”
White House ‘border czar’ Tom Homan speaks during a press conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 4, 2026.(CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
Homan said the practice was safer for officers, the community and the migrants themselves.
“Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of less need for law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced immediately we will draw down 700 people effective today,” he said.
Homan went on to note that federal authorities are not requiring jails to hold illegal migrants beyond their normal release time.
“We’re not asking anyone to be an immigration officer,” he said.
This is a developing story. Check back soon for updates.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
Hackers are abusing a legitimate but long-revoked EnCase kernel driver in an EDR killer that can detect 59 security tools in attempts to deactivate them.
An EDR killer is a malicious tool created specifically to bypass or disable endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, along with other security solutions. They typically use vulnerable drivers to unhook the protections on the system.
Usually, attackers rely on the ‘Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver’ (BYOVD) technique, where they introduce a legitimate but vulnerable driver and use it to gain kernel-level access and terminate security software processes.
The technique is well-documented and very popular, but despite Microsoft introducing various defenses over the years, Windows systems are still vulnerable to effective bypasses.
Encase is a digital investigation tool used in law enforcement forensic operations that enables extracting and analyzing data from computers, mobile devices, or cloud storage.
Huntress researchers responding to a cybersecurity incident earlier this month noticed the deployment of a custom EDR killer that was disguised as a legitimate firmware update utility and used an old kernel driver.
The attackers breached the network using compromised SonicWall SSL VPN credentials and exploiting the lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA) for the VPN account.
After logging in, the attackers performed aggressive internal reconnaissance, including ICMP ping sweeps, NetBIOS name probes, and SMB-related activity, SYN flooding exceeding 370 SYNs/sec.
The EDR killer used in this case is a 64-bit executable that abuses ‘EnPortv.sys,’ an old EnCase kernel driver, to disable security tools running on the host system.
The driver’s certificate was issued in 2006, expired in 2010, and was subsequently revoked; however, because the Driver Signature Enforcement system on Windows works by validating cryptographic verification results and timestamps, rather than checking Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs), the operating system still accepts the old certificate.
Although Microsoft added a requirement in Windows 10 version 1607 that kernel drivers must be signed via the Hardware Dev Center, an exception was made for certificates issued before July 29, 2015, which applies in this case.
The kernel driver is installed and registered as a fake OEM hardware service, establishing reboot-resistant persistence.
Establishing persistence on the host Source: Huntress
The malware uses the driver’s kernel-mode IOCTL interface to terminate service processes, bypassing existing Windows protections such as Protected Process Light (PPL).
There are 59 targeted processes related to various EDR and antivirus tools. The kill loop executes every second, immediately terminating any processes that are restarted.
KillProc implementation Source: Huntress
Huntress believes that the intrusion was related to ransomware activity, although the attack was stopped before the final payload was deployed.
Key defense recommendations include enabling MFA on all remote access services, monitoring VPN logs for suspicious activity, and enabling HVCI/Memory Integrity to enforce Microsoft’s vulnerable driver blocklist.
Additionally, Huntress recommends monitoring for kernel services masquerading as OEM or hardware components and deploying WDAC and ASR rules to block vulnerable signed drivers.
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Washington Post editor in chief Matt Murray on Wednesday morning announced internally a “broad strategic reset” that will result in “significant” layoffs across the company.
Staffers at the Post have been on edge for weeks about the rumored cuts, which the publication would not confirm or deny. Leading up to Wednesday’s cuts, the atmosphere in the newspaper was “funereal”, one employee, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said.
Employees received an email on Wednesday morning asking them to attend a Zoom meeting at 8.30am after which they will learn their fate via email.
It’s not yet known how many staffers will be laid off. “It’s an absolute bloodbath,” the employee said.
During the meeting, Murray told employees that the Post was undergoing a “strategic reset” to better position the publication for the future, according to several employees who were on the call.
Murray acknowledged that the Post has struggled to reach “customers” and talked about the competitive media marketplace. “Today, the Washington Post is taking a number of actions across the company to secure our future,” he said, according to an audio recording of the meeting.
Murray told employees that the Post was ending the current iteration of its popular sports desk, though some employees will remain on a new team. The Post is also restructuring its local coverage, reducing its international reporting operation, and suspending its flagship daily news podcast Post Reports.
“We all recognize the actions we are taking today will be painful – most of all, of course, for those of you who are directly affected, but for everybody,” Murray told staffers on the call. “I want to say we deeply appreciate your many talents and contributions, over many years.”
He added: “I know that the reset is going to feel like a shock to the system and raise some questions for everybody.”
Seeking to lay out the business case of the layoffs, however, Murray said the move was “about positioning ourselves to become more essential to people’s lives in what is becoming a more crowded and competitive and complicated media landscape”.
After years of growth under owner Jeff Bezos, the tech billionaire behind Amazon, the Post has been shedding staff over the last few years. About 240 staffers left via buyouts offered at the end of 2023, and another chunk of staffers took buyouts last year, which were offered to any employee with more than 10 years of experience.
Layoffs, particularly of journalists in the newsroom, have been less common. In fall 2024, the Post laid off 54 employees from the division responsible for its proprietary publishing software, and in January 2025, the Post laid off about 4% of staffers who worked in advertising, marketing and print operations.
Over the past week, Post employees had been urging Bezos to stop – or at least soften – the planned cuts, signing letters and sending personalized messages on social media that conveyed the importance of the journalism the Post produces.
But Bezos has remained silent, and did not respond to a series of letters sent by staffers representing the newspaper’s foreign, local and White House reporting teams.
On Monday, though, he was there in person to warmly greet Pete Hegseth, the US defense secretary, on a tour of another one of the companies he owns, his Blue Origin spaceflight startup in Florida.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a university student was stabbed in Leicester city centre.
Police were called just after 5pm on Tuesday following a report a man had collapsed in Oxford Street, close to the junction with Bonners Lane, near De Montfort University.
Image:The attack happened in Leicester city centre. Pic: PA
While officers were on their way to the scene, it was reported the victim – aged in his 20s – had been stabbed, Leicestershire Police said.
He was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where he died a short time later, the force added.
De Montfort University said the victim was one of its students.
Image:Pic: PA
Image:Pic: PA
The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Katie Normington, said: “We are devastated to confirm the tragic death of one of our students.
“Our thoughts are with everyone who is affected by what has happened.
“We are offering direct support to students, staff and the family of the victim.”
Police said it is believed the victim was involved in an altercation with another man in the street, who left the scene before officers arrived.
Detective Inspector Lorna Granville said: “CCTV in the area is currently being reviewed and officers are speaking to potential witnesses to assist with our investigation.
“We know a lot of people came to the aid of the victim before emergency services arrived and we want to thank them for their help.
“If you were one of these people and you haven’t yet spoken to police, please make contact with us.
“We know the area was also busy with motorists driving along Oxford Street.
“If you saw anything or captured footage on dash cam as you drove past the area we would also like to hear from you.”
The Iranian drone shot down by the U.S. military over the Arabian Sea was conducting surveillance as part of a “routine and lawful mission over international waters,” Iranian media is claiming.
The Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cited a source Wednesday as saying that the drone operated by the IRGC successfully transmitted reconnaissance photos to its command center before suffering a loss of communication.
The source added that the drone was carrying out a “routine and lawful mission over international waters,” engaging in surveillance and imaging duties.
The U.S. military had shot down the unmanned Iranian drone Tuesday after it “aggressively approached a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with unclear intent,” a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman previously told Fox News.
The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is shown at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, Calif., on Aug. 11, 2025. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was transiting the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,” Capt. Tim Hawkins added.
“The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” CENTCOM also said. “An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln sails in the Pacific Ocean in this photo released in August 2024.(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman)
Hawkins said no U.S. service members were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged during the incident.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the Middle East after President Donald Trump said last week that, “A massive Armada is heading to Iran.”
An F/A-18F Super Hornet, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, prepares to make an arrested landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 10, 2024. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman/Reuters)
Hawkins also told Fox News on Tuesday that, “During a separate incident hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, IRGC forces harassed a U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed merchant vessel lawfully transiting the international sea passage.”
The update infrastructure for eScan antivirus, a security solution developed by Indian cybersecurity company MicroWorld Technologies, has been compromised by unknown attackers to deliver a persistent downloader to enterprise and consumer systems.
“Malicious updates were distributed through eScan’s legitimate update infrastructure, resulting in the deployment of multi-stage malware to enterprise and consumer endpoints globally,” Morphisec researcher Michael Gorelik said.
MicroWorld Technologies has revealed that it detected unauthorized access to its infrastructure and immediately isolated the impacted update servers, which remained offline for over eight hours. It has also released a patch that reverts the changes introduced as part of the malicious update. Impacted organizations are recommended to contact MicroWorld Technologies to obtain the fix.
It also pinned the attack as resulting from unauthorized access to one of its regional update server configurations, which enabled the threat actors to distribute a “corrupt” update to customers during a “limited timeframe” of about two hours on January 20, 2026.
“eScan experienced a temporary update service disruption starting January 20, 2026, affecting a subset of customers whose systems automatically download updates during a specific timeframe, from a specific update cluster,” the company said in an advisory issued on January 22, 2026.
“The issue resulted from unauthorized access to the regional update server infrastructure. The incident has been identified and resolved. Comprehensive remediation is available that addresses all observed scenarios.”
Morphisec, which identified the incident on January 20, 2026, said the malicious payload interferes with the regular functionality of the product, effectively preventing automatic remediation. This specifically involves delivering a malicious “Reload.exe” file that’s designed to drop a downloader, which contains functionality to establish persistence, block remote updates, and contact an external server to fetch additional payloads, including “CONSCTLX.exe.”
According to details shared by Kaspersky, “Reload.exe” – a legitimate file located in “C:\Program Files (x86)\escan\reload.exe” – is replaced with a rogue counterpart that can prevent further antivirus product updates by modifying the HOSTS file. It’s signed with a fake, invalid digital signature.
“When started, this reload.exe file checks whether it is launched from the Program Files folder, and exits if not,” the Russian cybersecurity company said. “This executable is based on the UnmanagedPowerShell tool, which allows executing PowerShell code in any process. Attackers have modified the source code of this project by adding an AMSI bypass capability to it, and used it to execute a malicious PowerShell script inside the reload.exe process.”
The primary responsibility of the binary is to launch three Base64-encoded PowerShell payloads, which are designed to –
Tamper with the installed eScan solution to prevent it from receiving updates and detecting the installed malicious components
Bypass Windows Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI)
Check whether the victim machine should be further infected, and if yes, deliver a PowerShell-based payload to it
The victim validation step examines the list of installed software, running processes, and services against a hard-coded blocklist that includes analysis tools and security solutions, including those from Kaspersky. If they are detected, no further payloads are delivered.
The PowerShell payload, once executed, contacts an external server to receive two payloads in return: “CONSCTLX.exe” and a second PowerShell-based malware that’s launched by means of a scheduled task. It’s worth noting that the first of the three aforementioned PowerShell scripts also replaces the “C:\Program Files (x86)\eScan\CONSCTLX.exe” component with the malicious file.
“CONSCTLX.exe” works by launching the PowerShell-based malware, alongside changing the last update time of the eScan product to the current time by writing the current date to the “C:\Program Files (x86)\eScan\Eupdate.ini” file so as to give the impression that the tool is working as expected.
The PowerShell malware, for its part, performs the same validation procedures as before and sends an HTTP request to the attacker-controlled infrastructure to receive more PowerShell payloads from the server for subsequent execution.
The eScan bulletin does not say which regional update server was affected, but Kaspersky’s analysis of telemetry data has revealed “hundreds of machines belonging to both individuals and organizations” that encountered infection attempts with payloads related to the supply chain attack. These machines are mainly located in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.
The security outfit also noted that the attackers had to have studied the internals of eScan in detail to understand how its update mechanism worked and how it could be tampered with to distribute malicious updates. It’s currently not known how the threat actors managed to secure access to the update server.
“Notably, it is quite unique to see malware being deployed through a security solution update,” it said. “Supply chain attacks are a rare occurrence in general, let alone the ones orchestrated through antivirus products.”
Homan says administration is drawing down 700 immigration enforcement officers
Speaking to reporters today, Tom Homan said that the Trump administration will draw down 700 immigration enforcement officers. He said this was as a result of increased coordination between county jails and federal officials.
“This frees up more officers to arrest or remove criminal aliens, more officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails, means less officers on the street doing criminal operations,” Homan said.
Notably, Homan has not confirmed which sheriffs have agreed to this increased coordination with federal immigration enforcement.
A reminder, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) already facilitate transfers of people who have completed felony sentences in state prisons, when federal agents are present to take custody. But DOC does not operate county jails – where most immigration encounters occur – and many sheriffs across the state choose not to work with ICE.
In Minneapolis, for example, Hennepin County does not notify federal immigration authorities when undocumented immigrants are booked or arrested, and is barred under state law from honoring requests to hold someone past their release time so immigration officers can take custody – known as ICE detainers.
Homan, however, said that he was “not requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time for immigration purposes” while addressing reporters today.
Key events
Trump’s ‘border czar’ to address reporters in Minneapolis
Tom Homan, the president’s so-called “border czar” is set to speak to reporters in Minneapolis shortly.
A reminder that Homan took over the immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota from senior border official Gregory Bovino, just days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and the mounting backlash in the Twin Cities.
Last week, at his first press conference in Minneapolis, Homan appeared conciliatory when addressing the unspecified “improvements” he would be making to the crackdown in Minnesota.
He also acknowledged the operation had not been “perfect”, but didn’t actually mention Pretti or Renee Good – the 37-year-old mother also killed in Minneapolis by a federal immigration officer two weeks prior.
Homan also said that if local officials allowed federal officers into jails (to take custody of undocumented detainees) this could lead to a drawdown of immigration enforcement in Minnesota. On Tuesday, governor Tim Walz said that he remained firm with the “border czar” in their recent conversations.
“It’s my expectation that we will see a dramatic shift in where this is at, for the better,” Walz told reporters.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. Per his official schedule, he has no events that are currently open to the press.
He’ll film an interview with NBC News at 11am ET, and have a policy meeting later. First lady Melania Trump will meet with freed American-Israeli hostage Keith Siegel at the White House this afternoon.
We’ll bring you the latest lines as they happen.
Dharna Noor
Donald Trump’s aggressive rollback of environmental protections directly contradicts the promises of his “make America healthy again” campaign, according to new research.
Helmed by Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump’s health and human services department has touted pledges to “transform our nation’s food, fitness, air, water, soil and medicine” and “reverse the childhood chronic disease crisis”. But the president’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pushing the country in the opposite direction, says the new report from the liberal research and advocacy non-profit Center for American Progress (CAP).
An EPA spokesperson called the CAP report “fake news”, saying that EPA is in “lock-step” with Maha and the entire Trump administration.
Under administrator Lee Zeldin, EPA is dismantling dozens of environmental regulations, weakening efforts to limit pollution and has exempted facilities from clean air regulations. These actions will make children more vulnerable to many of the same chronic diseases the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) agenda says it wants to eradicate, including cancers, heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, autism and attention deficit disorder, according to the new report.
“The administration is trying to pull the wool over Americans’ eyes, claiming that they care about our health, that they care about kids’ health, when in reality, they are moving so aggressively to eliminate dozens of safeguards,” said Cathleen Kelly, a senior fellow at CAP and report co-author. “It’s really been heartbreaking to watch.”
The EPA spokesperson said the agency is delivering on its mandate to overturn “wasteful” policies “while also protecting the environment and public health”.
“We have banked environmental win after environmental win, and under president Trump and administrator Zeldin, children and families are safer and healthier than ever,” the person said.
Lauren Almeida
The billionaire investor Ken Griffin has accused Donald Trump’s administration of “enriching” its families, and criticised its interference in American businesses as “distasteful”.
Griffin, who is the chief executive of the hedge fund Citadel and a large Republican donor, rebuked the Trump administration, saying it “has definitely made missteps in choosing decisions or courses that have been very, very enriching to the families of those in the administration”.
“That calls into question, is the public interest being served?” he said at a conference on Tuesday in Florida hosted by the Wall Street Journal.
Griffin is one of the most vocal critics of Trump on Wall Street, although it is the first time he has commented on how the president’s family appear to have made financial gain from their proximity to the White House.
Trump’s eldest sons, Don Jr and Eric, have benefited from the White House’s crypto-friendly policies, and have secured a series of big business deals since their father’s re-election. They have previously insisted there was a “huge wall” between their moneymaking and their father’s position.
Griffin added that most chief executives he was friends with “find it incredibly distasteful” when the “US government starts to engage in corporate America in a way that tastes of favouritism”.
“Most CEOs just don’t want to find themselves in the business of having to, in some sense, suck up to one administration after another to succeed in running their business,” he said.
Griffin is a longtime Republican donor, giving millions of dollars to conservative groups during the 2024 election cycle. He did not fund Trump’s re-election campaign, but after Trump won, he gave $1m to the president’s inaugural committee.
George Chidi
The power to enforce immigration law rests with the federal government. But Trump adviser, Stephen Miller, has a vision for states working in coordination with federal immigration officials, and he’s attempting to test it out in Tennessee.
Earlier this month, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Miller had been meeting in Washington DC with Tennessee speaker of the house, Cameron Sexton, to craft model legislation for states around the country.
A few weeks later, the speaker announced a suite of eight bills that would turn state and local police officers, judges, teachers, social workers and others into an auxiliary extension of the federal immigration system. It makes the presence of an undocumented person with a final deportation order a state crime in Tennessee. And it mandates that officials report the presence of undocumented persons to ICE, while criminalizing disclosure of information about immigration enforcement activities to the public.
“The president’s behind us,” said Knoxville-area representative and deputy speaker, Jason Zachary, on a video taken from a talk with a conservative group, describing Sexton’s contact with Miller. “The president has promised his support on social media for us, and we are being told Tennessee will go first.”
Epstein messaged with former CIA director Bill Burns, files show
Aram Roston
A new tranche of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed several communications with William J Burns, a career diplomat who would go on to become the central intelligence director under Joe Biden.
The documents describe the planning for meetings between Burns and Epstein, two of which occurred, and show Epstein texting with Burns and recommending that other people in his orbit meet with him. The meetings and correspondence occurred after Epstein had pleaded guilty to prostitution-related charges in Florida in 2008, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.
A spokesperson for Burns told the Guardian that the two men had “no relationship”, and that Burns “did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector”. The spokesperson said Burns “deeply regrets ever meeting with him”. Burns has never been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s crimes.
Burns has decades of diplomatic experience under both Republican and Democratic administrations. During his confirmation hearing to become CIA director in 2021, even Trump-partisan senator Lindsey Graham called him an “outstanding choice”.
Judge to hear arguments in Trump’s bid to erase hush-money conviction
A federal judge is set to hear arguments Wednesday after an appeals court directed him to take a fresh look at president Donald Trump’s bid to erase his hush money conviction.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in November ordered US district judge Alvin K Hellerstein to reconsider his decision to keep the case in state court instead of moving it to federal court, where Trump can seek to have it thrown out on presidential immunity grounds, AP reported.
A three-judge panel ruled that Hellerstein erred by failing to consider “important issues relevant” to Trump’s request to move the New York case to federal court. They said they “express no view” on how he should rule.
Trump, a Republican, is not expected to attend Wednesday’s arguments in federal court in New York City, which were preceded by lengthy written submissions from Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case and wants it to remain in state court.
Hellerstein, who was nominated by Democratic president Bill Clinton, has twice denied Trump’s requests to move the case.
Robert Tait
Democrats on Capitol Hill offered apologies and promises of accountability on Tuesday amid often harrowing testimony from people who had experienced violent encounters with federal agents engaged in Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
With Republicans conspicuously absent, the forum of senators and representatives heard from Luke and Brent Ganger, the brothers of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was shot dead by an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officer in Minneapolis on 7 January as she tried to drive away from agents.
Luke Ganger said he and his brother were there “to ask for you help” and suggested the sense of loss his family felt had been deepened by subsequent events in Minneapolis, where a protester, Alex Pretti, also aged 37, was shot dead by two border patrol agents on 24 January.
“The deep distress our family feels at Renee’s loss in such a violent and unnecessary way is complicated by feelings of disbelief, distress and desperation,” he said.
“In the last few weeks, our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Nee’s death would bring about change in our country. It has not. The completely surreal scenes taking place are beyond explanation.
“This is not just a bad day or a rough week or isolated incidents. These encounters with federal agents are changing the community and changing many lives, including ours. I still don’t know how to explain to my four-year-old what these agents are doing when we pass by.”
His daughter, Ganger added, “knows that her aunt died and that somebody caused it to happen”.
Lauren Gambino
Democrats are launching an aggressive campaign to win back voters they lost, not to Donald Trump, but to the proverbial “couch,” as they look to regain support ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
On Wednesday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rolled out a new initiative called Local Listeners with the goal of targeting over one million “infrequent” voters in key battleground districts. Seeking to build on the party’s string of off-year election victories, which extended into 2026 with an upset in Texas last weekend, the DNC is betting that early, localized outreach will be crucial in winning back these voters’ trust – and their ballots – this time around.
“If we want to keep earning back the trust and support of voters, we have to listen to them,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement, shared in advance with the Guardian. “This program modernizes the way we are talking to and hearing from the voters that we need to win elections now and for years to come. The Democratic Party is done with waiting until the last minute to engage voters – these conversations need to happen early and often.”
The program marks the DNC’s most ambitious early voter outreach effort for a midterm cycle, according to the organization. More than 2,000 volunteers have already signed up to participate in what the groups says is a sign, of “renewed grassroots energy” for the party.
Volunteers will undergo a seven-week training program on how to better engage these voters, including sessions on “active listening” and “having difficult conversations about politics”.
The goal is to engage voters who cast ballots for Joe Biden in 2020 but sat out in 2024, with volunteers aiming to conduct at least 250,000 phone conversations and host more than 50 grassroots events in key congressional districts by the end of March.
Trump calls for Americans to ‘move on’ from Epstein files
President Donald Trump has made a fresh plea for Americans to move on from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, even as it left a prominent British politician facing a criminal probe.
Former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson has resigned from the upper house of UK parliament amid allegations he passed market sensitive information to the late sex offender Epstein while in government.
The fallout from the latest release of millions of documents linked to Epstein continued in the US too, where former president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will testify in Congress later this month.
Trump insisted once again that he had been cleared by the latest trove of files as he faced renewed questions at the White House over the disgraced financier, AFP reported.
“Nothing came out about me other than it was a conspiracy against me, literally, by Epstein and other people. But I think it’s time now for the country to maybe get on to something else like health care or something that people care about,” Trump said.
Trump added that it was “not a Republican, it’s a Democrat problem,” in a bid to turn the issue back to the Clintons, and away from the mention in the files of allies including his commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and billionaire Elon Musk.
In other developments:
Donald Trump suggested on a conservative podcast released on Monday that Republican state officials “take over” and “nationalize” elections in 15 states to protect the party from being voted out of office. Trump framed the issue as a means to prevent undocumented immigrants from voting. Claims that noncitizens are voting in numbers that can affect an election are a lie. But it raises concerns about potential efforts by the president to rig the November midterm elections.
A message from Donald Trump celebrating the 19th-century US invasion of its southern neighbour – and the subsequent loss of more than half its territory – has touched a historical nerve in Mexico, with some seeing it as a veiled threat of future incursions. Reacting to the US president’s statement, which described the invasion as “a legendary victory”, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said during her morning news conference on Tuesday: “We must always defend our sovereignty.”
Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is running her own review into the 2020 election with Donald Trump’s approval, working separately from a justice department investigation even as she joined an FBI raid of an election center in Georgia last week.
The US military says it shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” when an F-35 fighter jet shot it down, US Central Command said on Tuesday.
Donald Trump has announced that his administration is seeking $1bn in damages from Harvard University, the latest step in a long-running battle with the university over allegations of antisemitism. In a Truth Social post late on Monday, Trump accused the Ivy League school of being “strongly antisemitic”, adding that Harvard president Alan Garber “has done a terrible job of rectifying a very bad situation for his institution and, more importantly, America itself”.
Passengers travelling on several major rail lines across South East England have been told to expect cancellations and delays to services throughout Wednesday because of “multiple incidents”.
Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express – all part of the Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise – issued a “do not travel” alert this morning, which has now been lifted.
But services face continuing disruption after the incidents, which included a train derailment near a depot in Selhurst, southeast London.
A separate signal failure between London Blackfriars and Norwood Junction has compounded problems for rail operators, including causing disruption to London Overground’s Windrush Line.
The derailed Southern service had prevented other trains from leaving a nearby depot, but there had been “no confirmed injuries”.
Images from the scene showed one of the carriages skewed across the track, but the entire train had managed to remain upright. Engineers were also spotted working at the site.
Image:Engineers work on a derailed train at Selhurst train depot in southeast London. Pic: PA
Image:Pic: PA
National Rail has issued a warning to people travelling to Gatwick Airport and Luton Airport Parkway to allow at least an extra 60 minutes for their journey, because of disruption to the network.
Southern and Thameslink both advised passengers to allow at least an extra 45 minutes.
Operators confirmed that any tickets bought for services that have been disrupted are being accepted on other routes at no additional cost, and some bus services south of London.
Earlier GTR and Network Rail both apologised for the impact, which is expected to disrupt journeys for the rest of the day.
In a joint statement, they said: “A fault with the signalling system between Norwood Junction and London Bridge, along with the derailment of an empty train that wasn’t in passenger service at Selhurst depot, means our services are disrupted.
“We’re working to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”
GTR, which also includes operator Great Northern, is the UK’s largest railway franchise in terms of the number of passengers carried.
Some 18% of train journeys in the UK are made on GTR services, according to the company.
Elsewhere, a fault with the signalling system between Crewe and Sandbach means trains have to run at a reduced speed. National Rail said services may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes, revised or diverted.
Brett Ratner believes the “validation” from the box office success of his first major documentary directing role is “undeniable.”
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Ratner discussed “Melania”‘s opening weekend triumph and said he felt like he “won” long before he even began production on the documentary.
“I mean, the validation was undeniable, but honestly, I felt like I won just when Melania called me and asked me to direct the film. When I saw the president for the first time, and after I was hired, I said to him, ‘that bullet that missed you, I think was a divine intervention,’” Ratner began. “He said, ‘Yeah, I think you’re right.’”
He went on to explain that his own divine intervention was when the first lady hired him to do the documentary. “That was my divine intervention. So, for me, I got to pinch myself. I mean, the access that they gave me, the opportunity that they gave me was just beyond my wildest imagination. So, I already felt like I won,” Ratner said.
Split of Brett Ratner and an ad for “Melania”(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images; Ming Yeung/Getty Images)
The Hollywood director shared how rare it is for documentaries to premiere in theaters around the world. “And that’s exactly why she wanted to hire me,” Ratner began. “Because I said, you know, I wasn’t trying to wiggle my way out of the job, but there were many great documentary filmmakers … And she said, ‘But I don’t want a documentary filmmaker. I want a feature filmmaker who makes movies for the big screen.’ And that’s why I was so excited about this because she was thinking big,” he continued. “She wasn’t just thinking, ‘OK, we’ll do it for streaming, we’ll do it just for the MAGA audience. We’re gonna do it for everyone.’ I was really excited that Melania had this vision for the movie that was bigger than I even imagined,” he continued.
Ratner added that the film would be a “huge case study” because it was widely panned by critics, but audiences loved it.
“What we’re experiencing is people are going and seeing this movie three and four times,” he said, adding that he just got off the phone with the president who told him, “’I have friends whose wives have seen this movie already over the weekend three and four times.’ And I was like ‘Really?’ So, I’m proud. I’m really, really proud.”
“Melania” beat expectations in its opening weekend, earning $7.1 million by galvanizing conservatives over 55, especially women. It placed third domestically, and was also the biggest opening for a documentary in more than a decade.
Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the rights to the film and an upcoming docuseries on the first lady also directed by Ratner, and spent $35 million promoting it.
Ratner explained that he was given full access to what the first lady was doing to prepare for the president’s second inauguration and felt that calling the film a documentary wasn’t quite accurate for what he made.
An ad for “Melania” in Los Angeles.(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“We’re not telling history. We’re making history,” he said, explaining no stock footage was used in the film, he stayed away from anything political and just focused on “the role of the first lady. Her idea was so brilliant because she wanted to tell a story about the role of a first lady through her eyes.”
One thing he said amazed him was that while actors go back to their trailers and relax between scenes on a movie, the first lady was “having high level meetings” between shooting.
He even thought they should get a second crew to film her busy scheduling in between filming.
“She serves the people,” he gushed. “She takes this role so seriously because there was no breaks. Because people talk about the president sleeping, you know? I don’t see her sleeping.”
While filming, including in disaster areas, Ratner said he saw incredible “compassion” and “humanity” from the first lady.
“You can always tell when someone doesn’t want to be there,” adding that he felt the first day was “so present” in those moments.
Brett Ratner at the premiere of “Melania” at the Kennedy Center on Thursday. (Taylor Hill/WireImage)
He called watching the premiere of the film last Thursday with the president and first lady at the Kennedy Center “one of the greatest experiences of” his life despite having made blockbusters like the “Rush Hour” movies. “I will never forget it.”
“I will never have a cinematic experience like that ever again,” he said of getting to see their faces as they watched the film.
The president didn’t have enough nice things to say about the movie, Ratner explained, telling Fox News Digital that Trump called it “phenomenal,” “elegant,” and “sophisticated.”
“He rolled out the compliments, and it was sincerity. He’s very proud of it,” Ratner said.
He said Trump even wants Ratner to send the film to some world leaders for them to watch.
Ratner felt “Melania” was the right film to make his comeback with because he had explored nearly every other genre in his career besides documentaries.
Still, he said it was Melania’s idea to bring him in to direct the film.
“I think she saw something that I didn’t think of myself,” he admitted. “She saw in my work and in me that I was capable of doing this. And that’s why I have to give her full credit, because she’s just — she had the vision for sure.”
