Files

• Reliance Industries is holding its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM), with a primary focus on the much-anticipated IPO filing for Jio with SEBI. • The company aims to disrupt AI economics through "Reliance Intelligence," while also providing updates on its new energy projects and future strategic roadmap. • Key leadership roles will be highlighted, with Akash Ambani discussing Jio, Isha Ambani covering Reliance Retail Ventures, and Anant Ambani detailing the energy business.

New batch of government documents takes no position on origin of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs)A possible UFO sighting over a busy southern African airport, and yet more mysterious glowing orbs in the sky above the US feature in the latest batch of previously classified documents released by the Pentagon on Friday in its stated quest for “transparency” amid the irrepressible debate about the chances of extraterrestrial life.In keeping with the first two document drops of government papers last month, Friday’s tranche of more than 50 files contains no proof that the tantalizing videos and written accounts of possible alien encounters are anything other than perception, vivid imagination or conspiracy theories. Continue reading...

Plan comes after major New York Times report alleges files became source of crisis within Trump administrationDemocrats on the House oversight committee, led by Representative Robert Garcia, plan to call on JD Vance to testify on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files following a major report Wednesday from the New York Times, which described how the Epstein files became the source of an internal crisis within Trump’s administration.Garcia will call on the committee chair, James Comer, to summon the vice-president to speak, according to a post from Max Cohen, a reporter with Punchbowl News. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Vance would agree to appear. Continue reading...

ChatGPT maker expected to be valued at more than $850bn, one of most highly valued listings in market historyOpenAI has filed confidentially to go public on the US stock market, according to a company blogpost published on Monday. The artificial intelligence giant’s debut on Wall Street is expected to be one of the most highly valued listings in market history with a valuation at more than $850bn.“We recently submitted a confidential S-1. We expect it to leak so we’re just announcing it,” the company’s post reads. “We have not decided on timing yet; it may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company. But it’s a complicated set of tradeoffs and this gives us the option to go public sooner if that ends up being best.” Continue reading...

Former attorney general said expected replacement, Todd Blanche, had been in charge of controversial process. Plus: why are 80% of US consumers angry?Good morning. Appearing before the House oversight and reform committee, the former attorney general Pam Bondi told lawmakers that Todd Blanche, the man Donald Trump has lined up to replace her, was “in charge” of the US Department of Justice’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. She also said she was “not certain of the extent” that Trump knew about the crimes of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell before they became public.In her opening statement, Bondi defended the justice department’s handling of the records under her leadership and tried to distance herself from the release and review of the files, saying she did not “lead every aspect” of the DoJ’s effort, but that it was Blanche who oversaw it. If formally nominated by Trump to be attorney general on a permanent basis, Blanche would require confirmation from the US Senate.Why is the release of the files under scrutiny? Several lawmakers as well as survivors of Epstein’s abuse, have criticized some of the department’s actions and raised concerns over certain redactions and the disclosure of sensitive personal information in the files. Bondi acknowledged “there were redaction errors” in the release, but added: “Since day one of this process, this department has been committed to accountability and transparency.”What are the latest developments in Ukraine? In his first public letter to Vladimir Putin since the 2022 invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called for face-to-face negotiations. Acknowledging shifting US priorities while Washington remained focused on the Iran war, the Ukrainian president noted it would be wrong to simply wait for the Trump administration to step in. The proposal comes as Ukraine regains some battlefield leverage through improved long-range strike capabilities, even as Moscow intensifies its deadly aerial campaign across the country. Continue reading...

Blanche, whom Trump plans to nominate to replace ex-attorney general, served as Bondi’s deputy at DoJFormer attorney general Pam Bondi told lawmakers that Todd Blanche, the man Donald Trump has lined up to replace her, was “in charge” of the US Department of Justice’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.Appearing before the House oversight and reform committee, which is investigating the late financier and convicted sex offender, Bondi also said she was “not certain of the extent” Trump knew about the crimes of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Epstein who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking crimes, before they became public. Continue reading...

• The People Power Party has filed an election law complaint against President Lee Jae-myung following a dispute over marked ballots. • The Democratic Party has dismissed the legal action, characterizing the complaint as "political theater" intended to disrupt the political landscape. • This legal clash intensifies tensions ahead of South Korea's local elections, which serve as a critical early measure of public support for Lee's administration.

Documents were published to reveal what ministers knew about his links to Epstein, but instead exposed government riftsPeter Mandelson wrote to David Lammy on 18 November 2024, making a simple promise to the foreign secretary.“If you were minded to appoint me [as ambassador to Washington],” he said, “I would make sure you never regret it.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: Papers to be published on Monday cast doubt on assurances provided by senior Whitehall officialsA trove of government documents about Peter Mandelson contains no record of any measures taken to mitigate serious security concerns over his appointment as Washington ambassador, the Guardian has learned.Multiple sources who have seen or been briefed on the files, which will be published on Monday, say there is no detail about any steps put in place to deal with flags raised about his associations with senior figures in foreign states. Continue reading...

Ex-attorney general was subpoenaed in March but had refused to show after her removal from justice departmentThe former attorney general Pam Bondi will appear before the US House oversight and reform committee on Friday morning to answer questions about the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and its release of the Epstein files under her leadership.The committee announced in late April that Bondi would be appearing before the panel as part of its investigation into Epstein, shortly after Democrats on the committee filed a civil contempt resolution against her. Continue reading...

Lawmakers to have fresh chance to dig for information on Trump’s administration’s handling of issue by grilling former attorney-generalSign up for the Breaking News US emailHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Former attorney-general Pam Bondi is testifying before the US House oversight and reform committee, a long-awaited appearance that brings fresh scrutiny of the administration’s release of the Epstein files.A jury in Spokane, Washington found an Afghanistan War veteran and two others guilty of federal conspiracy charges on Thursday for their part in a protest last June outside the city’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.New Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, said that state health inspectors were denied full access to the privately run Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, where detainees are staging a hunger and labor strike over health and sanitary conditions, and protesters rallying outside have been tased, pepper-sprayed and detained.At least six of the nine featured musical acts recruited to play on the National Mall in Washington DC this summer, in a concert series planned by the Trump administration to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, have dropped out of the concert series, just one day after the lineup was announced.US vice-president JD Vance on Thursday told reporters that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran but he said the parties were close, adding that the US was in a position where it could substantially set back Tehran’s nuclear program. Earlier, Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, said the text of a potential memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two countries had not yet been finalised or confirmed. Continue reading...

Legal action claims newspaper tarnished reputation by describing card to Jeffrey Epstein as bearing his signatureDonald Trump has refiled a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10bn in damages against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after a judge threw out an earlier version over legal deficiencies.The lawsuit is one of several the US president has brought in his personal capacity against news organisations and is part of what critics say is a wider pressure campaign against the media. Continue reading...

The lawsuit is one of several that the president has brought in his personal capacity against news organizationsHello and welcome to the US politics live blog.Donald Trump has refiled a defamation lawsuit seeking at least $10bn in damages against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after a judge threw out an earlier version over legal deficiencies.In a new interview with CBS News, Jill Biden, the former first lady, said that she was “frightened” as she watched her husband, then-president Joe Biden, freeze up during his disastrous 2024 debate against Donald Trump. Pressed to explain what happened, Jill Biden said: “I don’t know what happened. I mean as I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke’. And it scared me to death.”Two House Democrats, Don Beyer of Virginia and Dina Titus of Nevada, announced that they plan to introduce a bill that would “explicitly prohibit construction of President Trump’s proposed ‘triumphal arch’ outside Arlington National Cemetery”.Cam Higby, a rightwing activist disguised as a pro-Palestinian activist, disrupted a news conference with the Democratic congressmen Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Continue reading...

Kentucky conservative says ‘I haven’t made a final decision about which office to seek, if I run’Thomas Massie is planning his comeback.The conservative Kentucky congressman filed to run again for the US House of Representatives in 2028, less than a week after losing to Donald Trump’s hand-picked challenger Ed Gallrein 55-45 in a bruising primary. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Cache of internal documents leaked to the Guardian and the ABC’s Four Corners show multinational has war-gamed ways to massively delay decarbonisationRevealed: the internal BHP memo that slammed the brakes on world’s biggest miner’s climate pushRead more from the BHP files investigation hereGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe world’s biggest miner has halted or delayed projects to cut vast amounts of emissions and has quietly war-gamed options to push major climate investments in its Western Australian iron ore operations into the next two decades, internal documents show.An exclusive investigation based on documents leaked to the Guardian and the ABC’s Four Corners can reveal that BHP, one of Australia’s biggest historic emitters, has dumped plans for a facility that could have significantly reduced emissions and has put on ice renewable projects designed to power its iron ore operations in the vast, resource-rich Pilbara region. Continue reading...

Darren Jones says there are good reasons not to disclose certain details and next batch will be released next monthUK politics live – latest updatesA senior minister has defended the government’s decision to withhold information relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador from a powerful parliamentary committee.Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told the Commons on Tuesday there were good reasons not to disclose certain information, adding that the next tranche of documents would not be published until next month. Continue reading...

• The Pentagon released dozens of files on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) on Friday, May 8, 2026, per President Trump's directive. • Documents detail previously classified sightings and investigations, aimed at increasing transparency on aerial threats. • This move addresses congressional demands for disclosure amid national security concerns over unexplained incursions.

Release follows Trump directive for agencies to declassify government files related to unidentified flying objectsThe Pentagon on Friday released an initial group of previously secret files documenting reports of UFOs – a move sought for decades by some.“These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation – and it’s time the American people see it for themselves,” Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, said in a statement posted on X. Continue reading...

• The Pentagon disclosed a large collection of UFO-related documents on May 8, 2026, at 10:04 AM EDT, as reported by Politico. • The release includes previously classified files but provides no new explanations for unidentified aerial phenomena, according to government statements. • This action fulfills long-standing demands for transparency on UAP sightings, potentially influencing public discourse and future congressional inquiries.

• Maurice 'Mopreme' Shakur, Tupac's stepbrother, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Duane 'Keffe D' Davis and unnamed defendants involved in the 1996 murder. • The suit claims 'for the first time in nearly 30 years, threads are starting to come together' amid new developments as Davis's first-degree murder trial approaches. • Tupac was fatally shot four times on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas when a white Cadillac pulled alongside his BMW near MGM Grand and Caesars Palace.

Democrats had filed civil contempt resolution against former attorney general for not appearing for depositionUS politics live – latest updatesThe House oversight and government reform committee has said that former attorney general Pam Bondi will now appear before the panel on 29 May to answer questions about the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and its release of the Epstein files.The announcement of the date came shortly after the Democrats on the committee announced that they had filed a civil contempt resolution against Bondi after she did not appear for her deposition earlier this month. Continue reading...

Subject of charges remains unclear, after earlier case over congressional testimony was dismissedUS politics live – latest updatesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailThe justice department filed new criminal charges against James Comey, the former FBI director, on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter.The subject of the charges was not immediately clear and the justice department did not immediately return a request for comment. CNN first reported a new indictment had been filed. Continue reading...

• Taylor Swift submitted new trademark filings on April 28 to safeguard her voice and image amid rising AI-generated content. • The move positions Swift as the latest celebrity addressing AI deepfake risks in entertainment. • Trademarks target protections for her personal brand in a proliferating digital threat landscape.

Lawsuit alleges DoJ breached transparency law by withholding records on Jeffrey Epstein and over-redacting disclosuresTodd Blanche, the acting attorney general, engaged in a “brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation” of a law requiring the justice department (DoJ) to release the entirety of the so-called Epstein files, a lawsuit filed in Washington DC alleges.The action on Monday by Katie Phang, an investigative journalist and legal analyst, seeks to hold Blanche personally responsible for the DoJ’s alleged failure to publish all the documents the government holds about Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender. A full release was mandated by a landmark transparency act passed by Congress in November, with a deadline of 19 December. Continue reading...

The singer’s company filed three applications on Friday after Matthew McConaughey launched similar strategyTaylor Swift has filed applications to trademark her voice and image in a move seemingly designed to protect against AI misuse.On 24 April, Swift’s company TAS Rights Management filed three trademark applications, Variety reports. Two of these are sound trademarks which cover Swift saying the phrases “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” and “Hey, it’s Taylor.” Continue reading...

An internal watchdog will review the agency’s handling of records related to Jeffrey Epstein, including whether relevant documents were properly redactedSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxA majority of Americans blame Donald Trump for surging gasoline prices, which is weighing on his Republican party ahead of November’s congressional midterm elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.Some 77% of registered voters in the poll, which concluded early this week, said Trump bears at least a fair amount of responsibility for the recent rise in gas prices, which was sparked by his decision to launch a war on Iran along with US ally Israel.Our preliminary objective is to evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act.Alleged victims of sexual abuse by Epstein have complained that DOJ repeatedly failed to redact photos and other details that could reveal their identities and did not make public all the information prosecutors have about Epstein associates who were allegedly aware of his crimes or conspired with him but were never charged.Lawmakers have made similar complaints and have said they suspect DOJ has not released some relevant documents.The Trump administration has moved to reclassify marijuana, more than four months after Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to move it from schedule I to schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.Trump, apparently abandoning his attempt to frighten Iran’s leaders into negotiating by channeling Richard Nixon’s “madman” theory, ruled out the use of nuclear weapons in his conflict with Iran.Trump has decided to invite wanted war criminal Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in December at Trump’s Doral golf resort, the Washington Post reports.Trump confirmed that the government is considering a plan to bail out or ‘“just buy” Spirit Airlines, but confused Barack Obama with Joe Biden, and Jet Blue with People Express, which has been defunct since 1987.India’s foreign ministry denounced comments from the rightwing US commentator Michael Savage, posted on social media by Trump, which argued against awarding birthright citizenship to the US-born children of immigrants “from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet”. Continue reading...

Mandated release of files was marred by missed deadlines, leaked victims’ information and excessive redactionsUS politics live – latest updatesThe US Department of Justice’s office of the inspector general (OIG) announced on Thursday that it is launching an audit of the justice department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.In a news release, the deputy inspector general William M Blier, who the statement said is performing the duties of the inspector general, said that the “preliminary objective” of the internal probe “is to evaluate the [justice department’s] processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act”. Continue reading...

Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament.Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant last week, appeared to confirm a report in the Guardian that senior officials were debating whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that revealed the vetting agency did not believe Mandelson should get clearance. Continue reading...