Epstein Files Trigger Resignation, U.S. Intervention in Venezuela Divides Houston
Newly disclosed U.S. government files related to Jeffrey Epstein prompted the resignation of a top Slovakian official, while U.S. intervention in Venezuela divided opinions in Houston. The fallout from the Epstein files came just a day after the Justice Department began releasing a large trove of documents detailing Epstein's interactions with prominent figures after his conviction for sex crimes in Florida, according to Fortune.
Miroslav Lajcak, who previously served as president of the U.N. General Assembly for a year, resigned from his position in Slovakia after photos and emails revealed meetings with Epstein, Fortune reported. Lajcak was not accused of any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, in Britain, calls were renewed for a former prince to cooperate with U.S. authorities and share information about Epstein's connections to influential individuals around the world, according to Fortune.
In a separate development, U.S. intervention in Venezuela sparked mixed reactions in Houston, home to major petroleum companies and a large Venezuelan community, NPR Politics reported. U.S. forces had recently apprehended Nicolás Maduro, causing upheaval in Venezuela. Lupita Gutierrez, a fruit and vegetable vendor at the Houston Farmer's Market, told NPR Politics that she believed Trump ordered the intervention in Venezuela to distract Americans from his failure to reduce inflation at home. Some residents feared the consequences of U.S. intervention, while others saw it as a potential solution to the country's problems, according to NPR Politics.
In other news, Frank Bisignano was appointed as the first CEO of the IRS, according to Fortune. Bisignano, a Jamie Dimon protege, was serving as Social Security commissioner when the president asked him to take on the additional role. "The president and my boss, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were together in the Oval Office, and the president told me it was Scotts recommendation that I also run the IRS as its first CEO," Bisignano recalled, according to Fortune. "I said, Yes, Ill do whatever you want, and the president said that hes counting on me to make the IRS great again, just as hed charged me to do with Social Security."
Meanwhile, a federal judge ordered the release of a 5-year-old boy and his father from an ICE detention center in Texas, Fortune reported. The judge criticized the Trump administration's approach to enforcement, citing "incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas." Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, on January 20 and subsequently transferred to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, according to Fortune. Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack, surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers sparked even more outcry about the administrations immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
The BRICS economic alliance, which now includes ten countries, could potentially become a new pillar of global governance, according to Fortune. The group comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. BRICS holds almost half of the world's population, almost three-quarters of its rare earth minerals, and over a third of its crude oil, according to Fortune. Advocates see BRICS as the core of a new world order, where Western voices can no longer dictate the global agenda or serve as the only source of finance, technology, or expertise.
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