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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has shared joyful personal news with the public via an Instagram post: she welcomed her second child, a daughter named Viviana, into her family on May 1. Leavitt, who has served in her top communication role for the Trump administration since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, opened up about the new addition in her social media announcement.

“On May 1st, Viviana aka ‘Vivi’ joined our family, and our hearts instantly exploded with love,” Leavitt wrote in the post. She added that the newborn is perfectly healthy, and that her 2-year-old older brother Nicholas, nicknamed Niko, has been adjusting happily to life with his new baby sister. “We are enjoying every moment in our blissful newborn bubble,” she said.

This is Leavitt’s second child with her husband Nicholas Riccio; Niko will turn two in July. Leavitt first stepped away from her White House duties in April to begin maternity leave, but made an exception to briefly return to the press room after a shooting took place at the April 24 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, to update reporters on the developing situation. Since Leavitt started her leave, senior Trump administration officials have been filling in to lead the regular press briefings.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped into the briefing room to lead the daily press session. Rubio lightheartedly described the session as chaotic at points, and joked that he did not know most reporters by name, a stark contrast to Leavitt’s regular role. As of now, the White House has not confirmed how long Leavitt’s maternity leave will last, leaving uncertainty around when she will return to lead regular briefings full-time.

Nearly seven years after disgraced convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in federal custody ahead of his pending sex trafficking trial, a federal judge has ordered the public release of a short, handwritten document long claimed to be an unsigned suicide note left by Epstein.

The document, which was unsealed Wednesday following a legal push from media organizations and federal prosecutors, runs just seven lines. It claims that a months-long investigation into Epstein’s activities uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing, with the writer stating: “They investigated me for month – FOUND NOTHING!!!” The note also reflects a fatalistic acceptance of impending death, writing that “it is a treat to be able to choose one’s time to say goodbye,” and concludes with “NO FUN – NOT WORTH IT.”

The origin of the document traces back to an alleged 2019 suicide attempt by Epstein, one month before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell. Nicholas Tartaglione, a former New York police officer who was Epstein’s cellmate at the time and is currently convicted of four counts of murder, has claimed he found the note tucked into a book in the shared cell after the attempt. Tartaglione first publicly revealed the note’s existence during a podcast appearance in 2023, and the document had been placed under seal as part of Tartaglione’s ongoing criminal proceedings.

Multiple independent outlets including the BBC have not been able to independently verify that Epstein actually wrote the note, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not issued any official confirmation of its authenticity. When contacted by the BBC for comment on the unsealing, the DOJ did not immediately issue a response. A DOJ spokesperson previously told NBC News that department officials had not examined the note, noting that the agency has already undertaken “exhaustive effort” to declassify and release millions of pages of other court records tied to the Epstein case in recent months.

The push to unseal the document was led by The New York Times, which filed a formal petition to Judge Kenneth M. Karas, the federal judge overseeing the case in White Plains, New York, arguing that there was no legitimate legal justification to keep the note hidden from public view. Federal prosecutors also backed the release, arguing that Tartaglione’s repeated public comments about the note eliminated any need to maintain its sealed status, and that these disclosures constituted a formal waiver of any privilege that would justify continued sealing.

In his written order approving the unsealing, Judge Karas ruled that the document is subject to the longstanding legal presumption of public access to court records. “The Court comfortably concludes that public access to the Note promotes ‘a measure of accountability’ as well as ensures that the public will ‘have confidence in the administration of justice,’” Karas wrote. He also agreed that Tartaglione’s ongoing public discussion of the note waived any attorney-client privilege that could have protected the document from release, leaving no legal basis to keep it sealed.

Epstein’s 2019 death, which official investigations ruled a suicide, has been the source of widespread public speculation and conspiracy theories ever since it occurred. A federal investigation after his death confirmed multiple serious security failures at the federal correctional facility where he was being held on the night of his death, and lingering questions about the circumstances of his death have kept public interest in the case alive for years. The release of this note is unlikely to resolve those open questions, as its brevity and unconfirmed origin leave its meaning and authenticity open to interpretation.

Diplomatic efforts to end ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran have entered a new phase this week, with Tehran confirming it will deliver its formal feedback on a US peace framework to Pakistani mediators once internal review is complete. The development follows widespread reports that the two longstanding adversaries may be moving closer to a preliminary agreement, even as hardline rhetoric from both sides and continued regional clashes cast uncertainty over the outcome.

Earlier this week, US-based news outlet Axios broke the story that the White House is closing in on a 14-point draft memorandum of understanding with Iran, a document that would lay the foundation for future, more in-depth negotiations over Iran’s contested nuclear program. Citing four unnamed sources briefed on the closed-door talks, Axios reported the one-page draft includes three core preliminary provisions: a temporary pause on Iranian uranium enrichment, the rolling back of crippling US economic sanctions on Tehran, and the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to global commercial shipping. All draft terms are conditional on a final binding agreement being reached, the sources added.

The Axios report was later corroborated by two separate sources familiar with the Pakistan-mediated talks who spoke to Reuters, though the full text of the proposal has not been released to the public. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei confirmed the status of Tehran’s review in a statement to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA), noting: “The American proposal is still being reviewed by Iran and after concluding, it will inform the Pakistani side of its opinion.” Pakistan, which has stepped in as the neutral mediator for the talks, has already signaled its commitment to locking in a durable peace. Pakistani Foreign Minister stated his nation is working to turn the existing ceasefire into a permanent end to hostilities.

Not all figures within Iran’s government have signaled openness to the US proposal, however. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, dismissed the draft as nothing more than a US “wish list” in a post on X. He doubled down on Iran’s hardline stance, warning that “The Americans will not gain anything in a war they are losing that they have not gained in face-to-face negotiations.” Rezaei added that Iran “has its finger on the trigger and is ready,” threatening a “harsh and regret-inducing response” if Washington refuses to surrender and make the required concessions.

US President Donald Trump has echoed the bellicose rhetoric while also expressing cautious optimism about a deal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that if Iran rejects the agreement, “the bombing starts, and it will be, sadly, at a much higher level and intensity than it was before.” At the same time, he claimed the US had held “very good talks with Iran in the last 24 hours” and said a final agreement is well within reach. “They [Iran] want to make a deal. We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal up there,” Trump said, adding “I think we won.” He also repeated an unconfirmed claim that Iran has already agreed to abandon any pursuit of a nuclear weapon, a core sticking point in decades of tensions between the two nations.

Trump recently announced a pause to Operation Project Freedom, a US mission launched days earlier to escort stranded commercial vessels out of the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, designed to restore global oil flows and stabilize the global economy. The announcement came after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that the earlier US-Israeli offensive Operation Epic Fury against Iranian targets had concluded after achieving its core objectives. Trump added that Operation Epic Fury would remain over “assuming Iran agrees to give what has been agreed to.”

Iran has not yet officially responded to Trump’s pause of the escort mission, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has previously hinted the strait would reopen if all aggressive threats from the US and its allies are withdrawn. The strategic waterway, which carries roughly 20% of the world’s global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has been effectively closed to most commercial traffic since the US and Israel launched their offensive against Iran in late February. A ceasefire agreed between Washington and Tehran in early Africa paused Iranian drone and missile strikes on Gulf nations including the United Arab Emirates, but very few commercial vessels have been able to safely transit the strait in the months since. The US has also imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports, and US Central Command confirmed Wednesday it had fired on and disabled an Iranian-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman that attempted to break the blockade.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Wednesday that there is full strategic coordination between his government and the Trump administration on Iran policy. “There are no surprises. We share common goals, and the most important objective is the removal of all enriched material from Iran and the dismantling of Iran’s enrichment capabilities,” he said. Netanyahu’s comments came shortly after Israeli forces carried out their first strike on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, since the April ceasefire between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. Netanyahu wrote on social media that the strike targeted a senior Hezbollah commander responsible for rocket attacks on Israeli civilian settlements and the deaths of IDF soldiers.

Hezbollah opened its campaign against Israel in early March, launching strikes to retaliate for Israel’s attacks on Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Despite the ceasefire agreement reached in April, both sides have repeatedly accused one another of violating the terms and continued low-intensity clashes. Most Israeli airstrikes have targeted southern Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah has regularly launched rocket and drone attacks on Israeli troops along the border and northern Israeli civilian areas.

A new joint investigation by three leading democratic security organizations has uncovered coordinated efforts by foreign actors from Russia and the United States to inflame separatist sentiment in Canada’s western province of Alberta, posing a direct threat to the country’s democratic stability and national sovereignty. The findings come at a critical moment, as a grassroots separatist movement has confirmed it has collected enough signatures via a citizen petition to trigger a possible independence referendum as early as October 19 this year.

The Alberta separatist movement grew out of long-standing frustrations labeled “western alienation,” a sentiment held by many local residents who argue their province’s priorities, particularly around its abundant natural resource reserves, are consistently sidelined by federal policymakers based in Ottawa. While support for full independence remains a minority position, recent polling puts backing for separation at roughly 25% of the province’s population, and the grassroots push for a public vote has gained measurable traction in recent months.

Released Wednesday by the Global Centre for Democratic Resilience, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data and Conflict, and DisinfoWatch, the report details how foreign actors are leveraging existing genuine regional grievances — including widespread beliefs that Alberta’s resource wealth is unfairly exploited by the federal government — to push division across Canada. Disinformation operations are being carried out through social media platforms, Russian-aligned information networks, and covert online accounts, the investigation found.

Researchers emphasized that when outside powers amplify separatist rhetoric, normalize territorial break-up, erode public trust in Canadian democratic institutions, and encourage national division, the debate is no longer a purely domestic provincial political issue. “It becomes a direct threat to Canada’s democratic integrity, national security, and cognitive sovereignty,” the report’s authors wrote.

Marcus Kolga, director of DisinfoWatch, told the BBC that protecting unmanipulated domestic debate is a core priority for Canadian security. The social media accounts analyzed in the investigation all had documented histories of spreading disinformation in previous conflicts and political campaigns. Their content, researchers confirmed, is deliberately crafted to stoke tension around the separatist debate and is targeted to reach like-minded Albertans already sympathetic to separatist ideas.

The report characterizes Russia’s involvement in the movement as covert, doctrinally aligned, operationally active, and sustained over time. The end goal of these operations is to push foreign-backed narratives into local public discourse, creating what researchers call a “laundering effect” that blends local grievances with foreign strategic goals to amplify division. The investigation also uncovered the use of modern digital tools to spread disinformation: economic opportunists are leveraging generative artificial intelligence, paid voice actors, and professional video production to create content that mimics authentic Canadian political commentary, flooding public debate with false and misleading claims.

Beyond Russian covert activity, the report notes that American influencers have also joined the campaign, pouring external fuel on the separatist fire to provoke political unrest. Kolga added that senior officials from former U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration held direct meetings with Alberta separatist leaders and made public statements endorsing their separatist cause. The revelation of these contacts earlier this year prompted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta’s Premier to issue a joint statement calling on the United States to respect Canadian sovereignty.

Even if the referendum moves forward in October, and even if a majority votes in favor of separation, the path to full independence would be long and fraught with uncertainty. Canadian federal law sets clear binding conditions for any provincial independence referendum, including requiring a clearly worded ballot question, independent oversight from the House of Commons, and a “clear majority” of voter support. If all legal conditions are met, Alberta would still need to enter into complex, potentially years-long negotiation with the federal government to finalize the terms of separation.

In a sudden shift that sent ripples through global energy markets, former president Donald Trump announced a last-minute pause to his newly launched “Project Freedom” – an initiative designed to escort commercial vessels through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz – citing tentative progress toward a historic “Complete and Final Agreement” with Iran. The initial announcement eased fears of prolonged disruption to global oil supplies, which rely heavily on the strategic waterway for 20% of the world’s daily crude trade, and sparked fleeting hopes of a breakthrough ending months of open conflict in the Gulf.

Yet that optimism was rapidly dampened by Trump himself just 24 hours later, in a series of contradictory statements that have left policymakers, markets, and regional observers scrambling to parse the state of negotiations. After his Tuesday evening Truth Social post announcing the suspension to test whether a deal could be finalized, Trump struck a far more combative tone Wednesday morning, warning that a final agreement was still a “big assumption” and threatening to resume bombing campaigns against Iran at “a much higher level and intensity than it was before” if no deal materialized.

This backtracking came only hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had publicly announced that Operation Epic Fury, the American-led military campaign against Iran, had concluded. By Wednesday afternoon, Trump again shifted, telling PBS in a brief phone interview that he remained optimistic about the prospects of a deal while acknowledging past breakthrough attempts with Iran had failed repeatedly. “I felt that way before with them,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens.” He also added that it was “unlikely” he would deploy US negotiators for a second round of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, which has served as a key mediating power for the discussions.

Multiple US outlets including Axios and Reuters have reported that negotiators from Washington and Tehran are edging closer to a short, 14-point one-page memorandum of understanding that would formally end Gulf hostilities. The broad framework, according to sources familiar with the draft, would first end active military clashes, then open the way for subsequent negotiations on unblocking the Strait of Hormuz, lifting crippling US sanctions on Iran, and implementing curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. A source close to Pakistani mediators even told Reuters Wednesday: “We will close this very soon. We are getting close.” But Tehran’s response has been far from supportive, with senior Iranian officials dismissing the reported draft as nothing more than an American wish list.

Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, wrote on X that the 14-point plan leaked to Axios amounted to nothing more than Washington’s “wish list”, adding that Iran “has its finger on the trigger and is ready” if the US fails to make “the necessary concessions”. Iran’s government already rejected an earlier, similar claim from Trump in April, when he told CBS that Tehran had “agreed to everything” including allowing US officials to remove Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium – a statement officials in Tehran denied outright.

Even among US foreign policy circles, there is widespread skepticism that a final, binding deal is imminent. Speaking to the BBC, Grant Rumley, a former Middle East policy advisor for both the Biden and second Trump administrations and current fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, noted that the Trump administration’s sudden rollout and equally sudden pause of Project Freedom signals they believe a deal is within reach, but past experience shows negotiations are far from guaranteed. “Clearly, the administration thinks a deal is possible, given the way they publicly rolled out Project Freedom only to suddenly pause it hours later,” Rumley said. “But we have been here before, and we’ve seen negotiations collapse at the last minute for a variety of reasons.”

Rumley added that even if the broadly worded one-page memorandum is agreed, it is highly unlikely to resolve the full scope of longstanding disputes between the two nations, particularly the technically complex details of any agreement governing Iran’s nuclear program. During the Obama administration, negotiating the full terms of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal took more than 20 months of intensive technical and diplomatic talks, a timeline that underscores how difficult it will be to finalize a comprehensive deal in the current climate.

Shipping analysts have also noted that Project Freedom, which launched just on Sunday, achieved minimal results in its short operational window, with only a small handful of commercial vessels daring to transit the strait while the operation was active. Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group think tank, told the BBC that Iran’s aggressive response to the operation – including shooting at commercial vessels and launching retaliatory strikes on targets in the United Arab Emirates – likely convinced Trump that the military initiative would not resolve the blockade. “There is no real policy process in this administration,” Vaez noted. “The president makes decisions based on impulse more than process, therefore there are inconsistencies that happen all the time.”

Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon assistant undersecretary for Middle East policy, added that the motivation behind Trump’s sudden pause of Project Freedom remains far from clear. “It’s unclear if the pause in Project Freedom was because of this one-page memorandum or because the 1,500 ships currently stuck behind the Strait of Hormuz wouldn’t transit even with the US security umbrella,” Mulroy said. “Iran is likely trying to determine that as well.” That uncertainty has left global oil markets on edge, as traders wait for clearer signals on whether the 4-week old ceasefire in the Gulf will hold or escalate into open conflict once again.

A high-profile public feud has broken out between New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and billionaire hedge fund titan Ken Griffin over Mamdani’s signature policy initiative: a sweeping plan to raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents and ultra-luxury properties.

Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, who holds the deed to the most expensive residential property ever purchased in the United States, slammed Mamdani’s proposal and the mayor’s public campaign for it during an appearance at Tuesday’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California. The billionaire called a video Mamdani filmed outside his $238 million Manhattan penthouse earlier this year “creepy and weird,” arguing that the stunt stokes dangerous political polarization that could lead to violence. He pointed to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson near the property as evidence that public targeting of high-profile individuals creates unacceptable security risks.

“Anything that creates, like an agitation, in the extremist on either side of the aisle is a frightening dynamic,” Griffin told attendees. In response to his criticism, Griffin confirmed he would accelerate his existing shift of business operations from Manhattan to Miami, saying Mamdani’s agenda sends a clear message that achievement is not welcome in New York City. “Mamdani was making it really clear: New York doesn’t welcome success,” Griffin said. “I will double down focusing on Miami to grow my business interests rather than Manhattan.”

The contentious video in question was filmed in April to align with the U.S. annual tax filing deadline, as part of Mamdani’s push to introduce a new annual pied-à-terre tax. This levy would apply to non-resident-owned properties valued above $5 million, a policy explicitly designed to target wealthy individuals who park large sums of wealth in New York City real estate without maintaining primary residency or paying full local taxes. Standing directly outside the building that houses Griffin’s penthouse, Mamdani used the 2019 purchase of that unit – which still holds the record for the most expensive home ever bought in the U.S. – as a prominent example of the gap the new tax would close. Mamdani projects the pied-à-terre tax alone will generate at least $500 million in new annual revenue for the city, while broader tax increases on corporations and the wealthy could raise up to $9 billion to fund the mayor’s policy agenda. That broader package includes lifting the city’s corporate tax rate from 7.25% to 11.5%.

In an official statement provided to the Wall Street Journal following Griffin’s comments, Mamdani’s press secretary Joe Calvello pushed back against the billionaire’s criticism while acknowledging his economic impact on New York. Calvello clarified that the mayor supports all successful New York-based entrepreneurs and business leaders, noting that Griffin himself is a major employer within city limits who contributes meaningfully to the local economy. However, Calvello reaffirmed the administration’s core position that the city’s current tax structure is fundamentally unfair and broken, requiring targeted reform to ask higher contributions from the wealthiest property owners.

Mamdani’s push for progressive wealth taxation has deeply divided public and political opinion in New York, with critics echoing Griffin’s warning that steep tax hikes will push wealthy individuals and major employers to relocate to lower-tax jurisdictions like Florida, ultimately reducing the city’s total tax revenue and harming local economic growth. Requests for additional comment from the mayor’s office were not immediately answered.