Congress votes to release Epstein files

The US Senate has followed an overwhelming vote in the lower house to unanimously pass a bill to bring about the long-awaited release of the Justice Department’s files on the late billionaire sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. This means it only remains for President Trump to sign off in order for the documents to be made public. Victims of Jeffrey Epstein have welcomed the news.

The head of Estonia's navy has told the BBC that there's been what he called an alarming rise in sanctioned ships bound for Russia that are sailing without a valid flag. Such 'stateless' vessels are heightening fears about ageing oil tankers sailing through Europe’s waters without proper insurance. Russia uses what's known as a 'shadow fleet' to bypass Western sanctions on fuel exports, imposed after its full- scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The US President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. It's his first visit to the US since the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, seven years ago. The Washington Post columnist, and critic of the Saudi regime, was killed in Turkey by Saudi agents. President Trump said the Saudi leader knew nothing about it, contradicting US intelligence.

Presenters: James Copnall and Catherine Byaruhanga

(Photo: Lauren Hersh, National Director of World Without Exploitation, comforts Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivor Danielle Bensky at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC. Credit: Luke Johnson/EPA).