Showing posts with label Liar liar pants on fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liar liar pants on fire. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2026

‘Americans are suffering’: Trump’s disapproval climbs to HIGHEST level of 2nd term

‘Americans are suffering’: Trump’s disapproval climbs to HIGHEST level of 2nd term


Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Epstein survivor says it's not too late to expose what happened at his New Mexico ranch

Epstein survivor says it's not too late to expose what happened at his New Mexico ranch

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epstein-files-zorro-ranch-new-mexico-survivor-alleged-sexual-abuse-rcna266917 

 

Epstein survivor says it's not too late to expose what happened at his New Mexico ranch

Rachel Benavidez, who accused Jeffrey Epstein of assaulting her at his isolated Zorro Ranch, wants his enablers to be held accountable.
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STANLEY, N.M. — More than two decades after she was sexually abused at Jeffrey Epstein’s New Mexico ranch, Rachel Benavidez is still waiting for someone to be held responsible for crimes there.

She is among at least 10 girls and young women who have alleged they were groomed or assaulted at Zorro Ranch, Epstein’s gated compound, beginning in the late 1990s. Benavidez and others said they were lured by promises of money or career help, then found themselves trapped, surrounded by miles of dry grassland with no neighbors in sight. They said they were groped, forced into nude massages, assaulted with sex toys, raped. They overcame paralyzing fear to share their ordeals again and again. And yet authorities have never fully investigated what happened at the ranch.

Jeffrey Epstein bought Zorro Ranch in the early 1990s and built a mansion that was miles from its nearest neighbor.
Jeffrey Epstein bought Zorro Ranch in the early 1990s and built a mansion that was miles from its nearest neighbor.Adria Malcolm for NBC News

“Until we are heard, until survivors are heard and believed, then I don’t think there’s ever going to be any justice,” Benavidez, 52, said in a recent interview, her first since the Justice Department in January released millions of documents that brought renewed attention to Epstein’s activities at the ranch, and missed opportunities to investigate them.

For more on this story, watch “Hallie Jackson NOW” on NBC News NOW today at 5 p.m. ET.

The disclosures, including an unsubstantiated anonymous claim that two “foreign girls” died during sex and were secretly buried on the property, prompted state authorities to launch new investigations this year — a criminal case led by the New Mexico Department of Justice and a “truth commission” led by the state Legislature.

Benavidez says she would willingly tell investigators what she endured. Even though Epstein is long dead and his chief accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is in prison, Benavidez says more people need to be held accountable.

“I don’t think it’s too late for the truth to come out about people that were involved and helped him and turned a blind eye to his crimes,” Benavidez said. She has not publicly shared names.

Benavidez says she will tell her story to New Mexico authorities.
Benavidez says she will tell her story to New Mexico authorities. Krysta Jabczenski for NBC News

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said he is committed to finishing an investigation that should have been done years ago. His office searched the ranch in March, the first time law enforcement had done so. And he promised to give survivors a safe place to share their experiences.

“We are going to do everything we can to get to the bottom of what happened there, follow every lead, no matter how uncomfortable it is or how long it takes, and most importantly, we need to center the voices of victims in this process,” Torrez told NBC News.

New Mexico has long been treated as an undercard in the Epstein saga, although allegations of abuse there date nearly as far back as allegations in Florida and New York.

He bought the ranch in 1993 and visited several times a year, often with girls or young women. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in Florida to paying underage girls for sex and cut a deal with prosecutors that spared him serious jail time and ended a more expansive federal investigation that included New Mexico. In 2019, federal authorities in New York arrested him on a new set of charges that did not mention New Mexico. The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office opened its own investigation of Epstein that year, but stopped at the request of the prosecutors in New York, ultimately sending them the case file.

Epstein returned to New Mexico after his jail sentence but was not required to register as a sex offender.
Epstein returned to New Mexico after his jail sentence but was not required to register as a sex offender.Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office

Former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, who led the 2019 investigation, said he expected the prosecutors in New York to share evidence that could be used to charge Epstein with state crimes, but he heard nothing from them — not after Epstein was found dead in a jail cell in August 2019, nor after they secured a conviction of Maxwell in December 2021.

Like the sweetheart deal two decades ago in Florida, the missed opportunities in New Mexico represent “a black eye in the justice system,” Balderas said. “Not everybody’s case gets reviewed the same, and sometimes law enforcement and prosecutors don’t do a good job at sharing information and working together to get the conviction.”

Torrez said he has asked the Justice Department for unredacted copies of documents in the Epstein files that mention Zorro Ranch. The Justice Department said it welcomed the new investigation and was ready to provide help.

Benavidez, a New Mexico native, first came to the ranch in late 1999 when she was a 22-year-old newly licensed massage therapist. She said she was hired first to massage Maxwell, and later Epstein. She recalled the beauty of the landscape as she drove to the ranch, which felt intimidating and isolating. In an FBI interview, she described passing through security and driving a winding dirt road to a mansion where she descended into a basement-level massage room, passing pictures of topless women.

Zorro Ranch was one of Benavidez's first paying jobs after she graduated from massage school.
Zorro Ranch was one of Benavidez's first paying jobs after she graduated from massage school.Courtesy Rachel Benavidez

At first, Benavidez said, Epstein and Maxwell seemed like eccentric rich people with powerful connections who paid good money and could help her find more opportunities. Her impression darkened as Epstein’s massages turned aggressively sexual; Benavidez said he raped her. Ashamed and scared, she said nothing. When she tried to turn down requests to return, Epstein’s staff pushed her until she relented.

Benavidez says Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her for Epstein's abuse.
Benavidez says Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her for Epstein's abuse.Department of Justice

Benavidez said that for a while she thought she was the only one being abused at the ranch. “When I would go out there and I would see all these girls who I thought were Victoria’s Secret models, there was no way he was doing that to them,” she said.

This went on for two years. She stopped going to the ranch when Epstein asked her to sign a nondisclosure agreement, but the abuse haunted her, sending her adrift. For a long time, she blamed herself.

She kept the assaults a secret until Epstein’s 2019 arrest, when more victims began speaking publicly. When she came forward, she met many of the others, including five “survivor sisters” whom she leans on for support. “They helped me to carry the weight of this very heavy issue. Without them, I couldn’t do this,” Benavidez said.

Zorro Ranch has become a rallying point for victims, families and New Mexicans demanding answers.
Zorro Ranch has become a rallying point for victims, families and New Mexicans demanding answers. Adria Malcolm for NBC News

She has given interviews and talked to the FBI. The trauma, however, never goes away.

Benavidez now works as a hospice nurse, a job she loves, and she does not want to let Epstein take her attention away from her patients.

She still speaks because she wants to be part of an effort to expose Epstein’s enablers.

Seeing Epstein in the news triggers traumatic memories for Benavidez.
Seeing Epstein in the news triggers traumatic memories for Benavidez.Krysta Jabczenski for NBC News

“I know that there’s co-conspirators, and there’s people even that I have not named, that I believe were involved and knew what was going on,” Benavidez said. “So I hope that they find the truth so those people can be brought to justice and prosecuted.”

Hallie Jackson reported from Stanley and Jon Schuppe from New York.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at https://www.rainn.org/get-help.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Middle East crisis live: US officials to travel to Pakistan for talks as Trump warns US will ‘knock out’ every power plant if Iran doesn’t accept deal

Middle East crisis live: US officials to travel to Pakistan for talks as Trump warns US will ‘knock out’ every power plant if Iran doesn’t accept deal

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/19/middle-east-crisis-live-iran-us-strait-of-hormuz-trump-lebanon-israel 

 

Middle East crisis live: US officials to travel to Pakistan for talks as Trump warns US will ‘knock out’ every power plant if Iran doesn’t accept deal

The US president said negotiators would head to Pakistan as Iran pledged to keep the strait of Hormuz closed until the US naval blockade is lifted

Sun 19 Apr 2026 13.27 EDT
A tanker anchored in the strait of Hormuz off the coast of Qeshm Island, Iran
The strait of Hormuz effectively remains shut. Photograph: Asghar Besharati/AP
 
From

US going to Islamabad on Monday for Iran negotiations, Trump says

Donald Trump said on Truth Social that his representatives were going to be in Islamabad on Monday night for more negotiations.

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

Iran rejects US peace talks, Iranian media reports

Iran has reportedly rejected participation in a second round of peace talks with the US in Pakistan, citing “Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire”, according to the official IRNA news agency.

This follows reports that the White House planned to send a delegation, led by vice-president JD Vance, to renew negotiations in Islamabad on Monday.

Israeli fire on Sunday has killed one Palestinian and wounded three others in central Gaza, health officials told the Associated Press.

Palestinians in Gaza have reported that Israeli strikes have intensified over the past few days across the enclave. Since a fragile ceasefire deal was reached in October, deadly Israeli strikes have continued to be a constant threat in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that more than 775 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began.

The Israeli military published for the first time a map of its new deployment line inside Lebanon on Sunday, bringing dozens of mostly abandoned Lebanese villages under its control, days after a ceasefire with Hezbollah took effect.

Stretching east to west, the deployment line on the map runs 5-10 km (about 3-6 miles) deep from the border into Lebanese territory, where Israel has said that it plans to create a so-called buffer zone. Israeli forces have destroyed Lebanese villages in the area, saying their aim is to protect northern Israeli towns from Hezbollah attacks. It has created buffer zones in Syria and in Gaza, where it controls more than half the enclave.

A handout graphic of a map, according to the Israeli military, shows the Forward Defense Line and the area in which they are operating in southern Lebanon, published on April 19, 2026.
A handout graphic of a map, according to the Israeli military, shows the Forward Defense Line and the area in which they are operating in southern Lebanon, published on April 19, 2026. Photograph: Israel Defense Forces/Reuters

“Five divisions, alongside Israeli Navy forces, are operating simultaneously south of the forward defense line in southern Lebanon in order to dismantle Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites and to prevent direct threats to communities in northern Israel,” the military said in a statement accompanying the map.

Israel and Lebanon agreed on Thursday to the US-backed ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The deal, which followed the first direct talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon on 14 April, is meant to enable broader US-Iran negotiations but with Israeli forces maintaining positions deep inside southern Lebanon.

Iran currently has not made a decision on whether to send a negotiating delegation to Pakistan “as long as there is a naval blockade,” Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

Yesterday, Iranian officials reversed the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and reimposed restrictions on the vital shipping lane after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports. Iranian officials have maintained that the US blockade of Iran’s ports is a violation of the ceasefire agreement.

The US energy secretary has said that petrol prices are expected to remain high due to the fallout from the war on Iran, CNN reports.

Chris Wright spoke to the network and said he believes that gas prices have “likely peaked” but may not reach below $3 gallon “until next year.”

“Gas below $3 a gallon could happen later this year, that might not happen until next year. But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” he said.

The national average currently stands at $4.05 per gallon, which is significantly higher than a year ago.

White House says Vance actually is going to Islamabad

Within the course of an hour, the Trump administration has reversed course three times on whether JD Vance would be heading to Islamabad for the next round of Iran peace talks.

Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, told ABC News that the vice president would be leading the American delegation set to arrive in Islamabad on Monday.

Donald Trump then came back to ABC News to say that Vance would not be going to Islamabad because of security issues – it was too short of a notice for Secret Service.

The White House then told CNN that Vance will be going – “Things changed,” an official said – and in fact, Vance will be leading the delegation that includes special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

London police investigating possibile Iranian proxy involvement in attacks against Jewish sites

Metropolitan police in London are investigating whether a series of arson attacks against Jewish sites were carried out by Iranian proxies.

Speaking outside Kenton united synagogue in north-west London, the site of the latest arson attack, deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans, the senior national co-ordinator for counter terrorism, said: “The nature of the incidents has been similar – arson attacks targeting Israeli- and Jewish-linked premises in London.

London’s Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Matt Jukes (C), deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans (L) and Mathew Walker (R) make a statement to the media by an area cordoned off by police, near the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, north-west London on April 19, 2026
London’s Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Matt Jukes (C), deputy assistant commissioner Vicki Evans (L) and Mathew Walker (R) make a statement to the media by an area cordoned off by police, near the Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, north-west London on April 19, 2026 Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

“Most have been claimed online by the group Ashab al-Yamin (Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right).

“This same group has claimed several incidents over recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe. These locations all appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests.”

The Guardian’s Jamie Grierson has more.

Updated at 

Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the deputy prime minister of Pakistan, spoke on Sunday with Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran.

The phone call included discussion on “the need for continued dialogue and engagement as essential to resolving the current issues as soon as possible for promoting the peace and stability in the region and beyond”, according to Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, is slated to have a phone call with Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s prime minister, later today as well.

These phone conversations took place as Donald Trump confirmed that a US delegation would be in Islamabad on Monday for another round of peace talks regarding the conflict in Iran.

Iran foreign ministry: US blockade violates ceasefire and 'amounts to war crime'

The US blockade of Iran’s ports is a violation of the ceasefire agreement and is “both unlawful and criminal”, Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said Sunday.

“The United States’ so-called ‘blockade’ of Iran’s ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal,” Baqaei posted on X.

Baqaei also said the blockade was in violation of the UN Charter and constitutes an act of aggression.

“Moreover, by deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crime against humanity,” Baqaei said.

JD Vance is not going to Islamabad, Trump says

ABC News had previously reported that Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, had said that JD Vance was going to lead the American delegation in Islamabad this week.

Donald Trump has since corrected that statement to say that the vice president would not be going to Pakistan. Trump said his representatives would be in Islamabad for peace talks on Monday night, but that Secret Service couldn’t arrange to accompany Vance there on such short notice.

“It’s only because of security,” Trump said. “JD’s great.”

Trump had earlier confirmed to Fox News and The New York Post that special enoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kusher, Trump’s son-in-law, would be going to Islamabad.

Updated at 

Trump says 'whole country is getting blown up' if Iran does not accept deal

Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday that this was Iran’s “last chance” to agree to a peace deal.

“If Iran does not sign this deal, the whole country is getting blown up,” Trump said. The US president then reiterated his earlier point on Truth Social that the US would target bridges and power plants specifically if Iran does not sign this agreement.

The deal entails reopening the strait of Hormuz and making sure Iranians do not have enriched uranium.

Trump also made clear that he would not be “making the same mistake” that Barack Obama did with the 2015 agreement his administration made to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In exchange for the lifting of some sanctions, Obama had conceded that Iran could contiune enriching its uranium for 15 years, but only at the level of purity required for a civilian nuclear programme. The agreement also included limiting Iran’s stockpile of uranium to 300kg.

Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, calling the deal “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions” the US had ever entered into”.

Since then, Iran has grown its stockpile to 400.9kg of uranium enriched to 60% uranium-235 – a level that can be quickly enriched to weapons-grade – 90%.

Updated at 

Report: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to join American delegation in Islamabad

Donald Trump told The New York Post that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, will also be in Islamabad for the next round of peace talks with Iran.

JD Vance will be leading the delegation, Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, told ABC News.

Middle East crisis live

  • More than 3,400 Iranians killed in war - as it happened

  • US extends waiver allowing countries to buy Russian oil – as it happened

  • Gunfire reported in Beirut as truce comes into effect – as it happened

  • US Senate fails to pass war powers resolution for fourth time – as it happened

  • US talks between Lebanon and Israel end – as it happened

  • Top US Senate Democrats again try for war powers resolution – as it happened

  • Israeli strike kills paramedic, says Lebanese Red Cross – as it happened

  • Islamabad negotiations end without a deal – as it happened

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