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Virginia Giuffre’s memoir recounts rape by former prime minister; Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton, Trump

Virginia Giuffre’s memoir recounts rape by former prime minister; Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton, Trump

In her posthumous memoir, Virginia Giuffre recounts being groomed as a teenager and sexually exploited by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — writing that the abuse included rape by an unnamed prime minister and encounters with powerful men such as former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump. The book, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” was released Tuesday and garnered global attention. While it made no explicit allegations against Clinton or Trump, Giuffre did chronicle meetings with both in contexts not related to Epstein’s alleged crimes. The story Giuffre recounts of how she was sucked into Epstein and Maxwell’s high-powered orbit begins when her father helped get her a job at Mar-a-Lago, where he worked as a maintenance worker. Giuffrie’s discussions of Trump in the book largely place him as a background figure during her early days at Mar-a-Lago, where she eventually met Maxwell in the summer of 2000. VIRGINIA GIUFFRE’S MEMOIR REVEALS HOW EPSTEIN, MAXWELL ‘BROKE DOWN’ GIRLS STEP BY STEP IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR  “It couldn’t have been more than a few days before my dad said he wanted to introduce me to Mr. Trump himself. They weren’t friends, exactly. But Dad worked hard, and Trump liked that—I’d seen photos of them posing together, shaking hands,” Giuffre writes. “Trump couldn’t have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there. ‘Do you like kids?’ he asked. ‘Do you babysit at all?’ He explained that he owned several houses next to the resort that he lent to friends, many of whom had children that needed tending.” Giuffre also recounts how Epstein and Trump’s relationship eventually broke down, an explanation for which differs from the one Trump has publicly provided. Giuffre said Trump withdrew Epstein’s membership at Mar-a-Lago after hitting the teenage daughter of another guest, but Trump has publicly said that a spat about Epstein coaxing his Mar-a-Lago spa employees was what led to the end of their relationship.  Giuffre, working an entry-level position at the resort’s spa, recounted how Maxwell sought to hire her as a masseuse despite her lack of experience. Before she knew it, Giuffre was traveling alongside Epstein and Maxwell around the world performing sexual favors. According to Giuffre, it was difficult to reconcile the fact that her abusers commanded so much respect from such powerful figures. “This was a man who displayed framed photographs of himself with the Dalai Lama, with the pope, and with members of the British royal family. A photo in his Palm Beach house showed Epstein posing behind the podium of the White House briefing room,” Giuffre writes. “This was a man who’d had former president Bill Clinton over for dinner (I was at the table that night) and who’d hosted Al and Tipper Gore as well (again, I was there).” PRINCE ANDREW VIEWED SEX WITH TEENAGE VIRGINIA GIUFFRE AS HIS ‘BIRTHRIGHT’, NEW MEMOIR CLAIMS “Maxwell was proud of her friendships with famous people, especially men,” Giuffre added in the memoir. “[Maxwell] loved to talk about how easily she could get former president Bill Clinton on the phone.” According to Giuffre, Epstein and Maxwell visited the White House together during Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office. In the book, Giuffre also recalled how Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane in 2002, but she was not present for that trip. “On September 21, Epstein and Maxwell were leaving New York on an extended trip to Africa. Marcinkova was flying with them on Epstein’s Boeing 727, as were several high-profile guests: the actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey and former president Clinton, not to mention six U.S. Secret Service agents. (Clinton has said the trip was a humanitarian mission that included stops related to the work of his foundation.)” Giuffre wrote.  However, despite naming Clinton in the book about her experience being sex trafficked by Epstein, Giuffre lamented the media’s propensity to connect the former president to Epstein’s crimes. “Right away, the article noted that I had never been ‘lent out’ to the former president. But I guess the Mail found it newsworthy simply that I’d witnessed Epstein and Clinton together,” she writes. Among the various trafficking incidents Giuffre talked about in her book, which do directly involve powerful people from Epstein and Maxwell’s orbit, was a brutal rape by an unnamed former prime minister on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2002. According to Giuffre’s account of the incident, she was ordered by Epstein to have sex with the prime minister, who choked her nearly to unconsciousness and mocked her fear of the situation. Giuffre said that upon returning to Epstein after the incident, she begged not to be sent back to the prime minister, but Epstein told her the brutality was just part of the job. According to Giuffre, this horrific incident was a turning point for her. “Before the Prime Minister’s attack, Epstein had me fooled. I thought that Epstein’s predilection for childlike girls was a sickness, but that, in his twisted way, he meant well. After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient. Epstein cared only about Epstein,” Giuffre writes in her memoir. “At that point, I hit bottom. I now knew I wouldn’t survive. I saw only two possible options: either someone Epstein trafficked me to would kill me or I would take my own life.” Giuffre would eventually die by suicide in April, roughly six months before the release of her memoir.     

Schumer accuses Trump of ‘skipping town’ during shutdown as president heads to Asia for trade talks

Schumer accuses Trump of ‘skipping town’ during shutdown as president heads to Asia for trade talks

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday accused President Donald Trump of “skipping town” for a trip to Asia during the ongoing government shutdown. Trump departed for Asia Friday night for a weeklong trip that will include stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Republicans and Democrats remain divided on negotiations to end the shutdown that began earlier this month, with each side blaming the other as the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress. “In the midst of the longest full government shutdown in American history — a crisis of his own making — President Trump’s priorities are severely misplaced,” Schumer said in a statement. TRUMP SAYS SCHUMER, SENATE DEMOCRATS HOLDING GOVERNMENT ‘HOSTAGE’ WITH SHUTDOWN: ‘WE WILL NOT BE EXTORTED’ “While Americans are struggling to make ends meet, federal workers are going without pay, and millions of families are bracing for soaring health care costs, the President is leaving the country,” he continued. Schumer added: “America is shut down and the President is skipping town.” The senator said Democrats have sought to meet with Trump, but that the president is “abandoning” his responsibilities. “Democrats have asked, again and again, for President Trump to meet with us to negotiate a bipartisan deal that would address the healthcare crisis, and find a path forward to reopen the government. But instead of doing his job, President Trump is abandoning it,” Schumer said. Schumer also called on GOP lawmakers in Congress to work across the aisle to reach a deal to end the shutdown. “With the President out of the country, the responsibility falls squarely on Congressional Republicans to act — to come to the table, to do their jobs, and to deliver an agreement that reopens the government and protects Americans from another health care disaster,” he said. “Americans deserve a government that works as hard as they do— not a leader that flies away from responsibility at the time they need one most,” the top Senate Democrat added. BERNIE SANDERS CLASHES WITH TOWN HALL ATTENDEE OVER SCHUMER LEADERSHIP DURING SHUTDOWN While in Asia, Trump is expected to meet with regional allies about trade, including the trade war with China, as well as Beijing’s tightening of export controls on rare-earth minerals critical for certain technologies.  The president is also expected to address security in the region and affirm America’s commitment to supporting its allies.

Russia-backed arson attack ringleaders handed hefty jail sentences in UK

Russia-backed arson attack ringleaders handed hefty jail sentences in UK

Prosecutors said the two young defendants planned a ‘sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage’ backed by Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries. A British judge has handed lengthy jail sentences to the two young ringleaders of a group who carried out arson attacks in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Russian state-funded private military firm, the Wagner Group. Prosecutors said on Friday that Dylan Earl, 21, and Jake Reeves, 24, planned “a sustained campaign of terrorism and sabotage on UK soil” with the backing of Russia’s notorious Wagner mercenary group, which has been accused of war crimes in zones of conflict around the world, including murder, torture and rape. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb handed Earl a 17-year prison sentence, with a further six years on extended licence, for his “leading role” in planning several attacks, including one in March last year in which a London warehouse storing humanitarian aid and Starlink satellite equipment destined for Ukraine was set on fire. During the trial, prosecutors said the 21-year-old had discussed with his Wagner handler plans to kidnap the cofounder of finance app Revolut and to torch a warehouse in the Czech Republic. A police search of Earl’s phone uncovered videos of the east London warehouse fire being started, while he was also found to be in contact with Wagner members on the messaging app Telegram. 17 years in prison. CCTV, phone data and forensic evidence helped convict Dylan Earl, one of five men involved in a Russian-ordered arson attack on a warehouse in Leyton. The blaze caused around £1 million of damage, including to aid bound for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/m96hNx6fO2 — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 24, 2025 Advertisement Fellow defendant Reeves, 24, was handed 12 years in prison, with an additional year on extended licence, for his role in recruiting other men to take part in the Wagner-backed attacks. The pair are the first people to be convicted under the UK’s new National Security Act, introduced in 2023 to readapt anti-espionage legislation to counter modern-day threats from foreign powers. Russian-backed ‘hostile agents’ Earl and Reeves “acted willingly as hostile agents on behalf of the Russian state”, Dominic Murphy, the head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said in a statement. “This case is a clear example of an organisation linked to the Russian state using ‘proxies’ – in this case British men – to carry out very serious criminal activity in this country on their behalf,” Murphy said. “In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of counter-state-threat investigations and the use of ‘proxies’ is a new tactic favoured by hostile states such as Russia,” he added. In July, three other British men were found guilty of aggravated arson for their role in the warehouse attack in east London, which caused one million pounds ($1.3m) in damage and put dozens of firefighters’ lives at risk. Nii Mensah, 23, was sentenced to nine years in prison; Jakeem Rose, 23, was jailed for eight years and 10 months; while Ugnius Asmena, 21, was handed seven years. Ashton Evans, 20, was also jailed for nine years for failing to disclose information about terrorist acts relating to another arson plot targeting two central London businesses owned by a Russian dissident. British authorities allege that Russia is conducting an increasingly bold espionage and sabotage campaign in the UK, with the head of the MI5 security service, Ken McCallum, saying Moscow is “committed to causing havoc and destruction”. In a separate case this week, the Metropolitan Police arrested three men from west and central London, also suspected of spying for Russia. The details of their alleged crimes have not been made public, but they have also been charged under the 2023 National Security Act “on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service”. Adblock test (Why?)

Ivory Coast presidential election: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?

Ivory Coast presidential election: Who’s standing and what’s at stake?

Ivorians will head to the polls on Saturday, October 25, to vote in the presidential election amid widespread anger over incumbent President Alassane Ouattara’s decision to run for a fourth consecutive term. Under the constitution, presidents may only serve a maximum of two terms; however, Ouattara argues major constitutional change which was implemented in 2016 “reset” his limit. Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa and cashew nut producer, is a regional powerhouse and West Africa’s second-largest economy. Perched along the coast of the western Atlantic, between Ghana and Liberia, it boasts vast swaths of rainforest and pristine beaches. About one-quarter of the 32 million population is concentrated in the commercial hub of Abidjan, while the government has its headquarters in the inland capital city of Yamoussoukro. French is the official language in the former colony of France, while the main indigenous languages are Bete, Baoule, Dioula and Senufo. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The nation has seen steady economic advancement under Ouattara, according to metrics from the World Bank, but citizens complain of the rising cost of living and what they say is the unequal playing field for political contenders. Ivory Coast has historically experienced deadly pre- and post-electoral violence. Election violence escalated into the second Ivorian civil war in 2011, when more than 3,000 people were killed after then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to Ouattara. This time around, sporadic protests have already erupted in the weeks leading up to the election in response to a ban on key contenders from the polls, particularly Tidjane Thiam, the popular former head of Credit Suisse bank. Advertisement The government has cracked down on these protests, issuing a ban on demonstrations and arresting at least 237 people from the Common Front political movement, which campaigns against the exclusion of political candidates. By Tuesday this week, 58 people had been sentenced to 36 months in prison for protesting. More than 44,000 police officers and military personnel have been deployed across the country to maintain calm at the polls, but analysts worry that election-day violence will be inevitable. Some 8.7 million registered citizens aged above 18 will be eligible to vote this time, but the country has a low average voter turnout. In the 2020 elections, only 53 percent turned up at the polls. The winning candidate must take an absolute majority of the votes; a second round will take place if no one clears a majority in the first. Who has been barred from running for president? Tidjane Thiam The Constitutional Council shocked Ivorians in June when it upheld a lower court ruling that Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI) and Ouattara’s biggest challenger, would be barred as a result of his erstwhile dual nationality. The 63-year-old has widespread support from young people. He formerly worked in leading financial institutions, including Credit Suisse. Thiam, a cousin of the first Ivorian president from 1960 to 1993, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, was born in the Ivory Coast but also received French nationality in 1987. Although he renounced it in March, the court ruled this was too late. Supporters of the Coalition for a Peaceful Alternation hold a political banner depicting PDCI leader Tidjane Thiam during their first meeting in Abidjan on May 31, 2025 [Sia Kambou/AFP] Laurent Gbagbo Also barred is former president and arch Ouattara rival Laurent Gbagbo of the African People’s Party of the Ivory Coast (PPA-CI), who was charged with crimes against humanity in connection with the 2011 election-related civil war, when he refused to step down for the declared winner, Ouattara. Gbagbo, 80, was indicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, but returned to the Ivory Coast in 2021 following a lengthy trial and his ultimate acquittal. He was still barred from standing as president because of a criminal conviction in an Ivorian court, also related to the war. Gbagbo’s close ally, Charles Ble Goude, who was also indicted and acquitted alongside him at the ICC, was excluded, as was Ouattara’s former prime minister, Guillaume Soro, who was convicted by an Ivorian court in 2021 on allegations of plotting a coup two years before. Advertisement Critics say the exclusion of key candidates, particularly Gbagbo and Thiam, has given Ouattara an unfair head start and essentially cleared the way for his fourth term. “The exclusion of Gbagbo and Thiam has diminished political competition and will continue to drive political grievances that underpin civil unrest and political violence, including on the election day,” Beverly Ochieng, a Senegal-based political analyst at consulting firm Control Risks, told Al Jazeera. President Alassane Ouattara waves to supporters as he arrives at a campaign rally at the Felix Houphouët-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, October 18, 2025 [Diomande Ble Blonde/AP Photo] Who is running? Alassane Dramane ‘ADO’ Ouattara The incumbent, Ouattara, 83, has been in office since December 2010. He is the leader of the ruling Rally of Houphouetistes for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), and his government has been praised by observers for its efforts to restore unity following the bitter civil war, which was fuelled by ethnic tensions or ” Ivoirite ” – claims that particular ethnic groups were more “Ivorian” than others. The controversial term pitted groups in the predominantly Muslim north against the mainly Christian south. During his presidency, Gbagbo and his supporters had aimed to discredit Ouattara by calling him “non-Ivorian” because of rumours he has roots in neighbouring Burkina Faso. Ouattara has a strong economic record, boosted by exports of cocoa and other agricultural products, as well as big infrastructure projects. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 8.2 percent on average each year in the first decade of Ouattara’s administration, according to the World Bank, and has continued to grow steadily since then, even during the COVID-19 crisis. He was voted in as president for a second term in 2015 in a landslide victory. However, support for him has slipped since he decided to run again in 2020,

Zohran Mamdani defends his Muslim faith amid ‘racist, baseless attacks’

Zohran Mamdani defends his Muslim faith amid ‘racist, baseless attacks’

The emotional speech against Islamophobia from the NYC mayoral race frontrunner comes a day before early voting begins. New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave an emotional speech addressing “racist, baseless attacks” from his opponents, a day before early voting begins in the race he is projected to win. Speaking outside a mosque in the Bronx on Friday, Mamdani criticised his opponents for bringing “hatred to the forefront”, noting that their Islamophobia not only affects him as the Democratic nominee for mayor but also close to one million Muslims living in New York. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “To be Muslim in New York is to expect indignity, but indignity does not make us distinct. There are many New Yorkers who face it. It is the tolerance of that indignity that does,” Mamdani said in his speech, less than two weeks ahead of the November 4 general election. Mamdani, who is currently a member of the New York State Assembly, said that while he had tried to focus his election campaign on his core message of affordability, his opponents in recent days had shown that “Islamophobia has emerged as one of the few areas of agreement”. His speech also came a day after his top opponent, former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, laughed after radio host Sid Rosenberg said that Mamdani “would be cheering” if another September 11 attack occurred. Cuomo, who is a member of the Democratic Party but lost the Democratic primary election to Mamdani in June, responded in agreement with Rosenberg: “That’s another problem.” Basim Elkarra, the executive director of Muslim advocacy group CAIR Action, described Cuomo’s appearance on the radio programme as “despicable, dangerous, and disqualifying”. Advertisement “By agreeing with a racist radio host who suggested a Muslim elected official would ‘cheer’ another 9/11, Cuomo has crossed a moral line,” Elkarra said. “Cuomo’s willingness to engage in this kind of hate speech, on this kind of platform, shows exactly the kind of leader he is: someone who would rather stoke fear than bring people together,” he said. Speaking on Friday, Mamdani said he had also been “slandered” by Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa on the debate stage, “when he claimed that I support global jihad”, and faced advertisements from Super Political Action Committees that “imply that I am a terrorist, or mock the way I eat”. He also shared his memories of his “aunt who stopped taking the subway after September 11 because she did not feel safe in her hijab”, and a staff member who had the “word terrorist spray painted” on their garage, as well as the advice he had received that he “did not have to tell people” he was Muslim, if he wanted to win elections. Top Democrat endorses Mamdani on eve of early voting Earlier on Friday, Mamdani received a long-anticipated endorsement from Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democratic Party in the US House of Representatives and the representative of New York’s eighth congressional district, which includes the Brooklyn neighbourhoods of East Flatbush, Coney Island and Brownsville. While Mamdani has earned endorsements from top Democrats, including New York Governor Kathy Hochul, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and independent Senator Bernie Sanders, the vocally pro-Palestinian candidate has struggled to win over other top New York Democrats, such as Senator Chuck Schumer. Despite the reluctance of some establishment figures within the Democratic Party, Mamdani resoundingly won the party’s primary election to choose its candidate for the general election back in June. Current NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who did not contest the primary after facing corruption allegations, endorsed Cuomo this week after withdrawing from the race, although his name will still appear on the ballot. A recently published poll from AARP and Gotham Polling and Analytics shows Mamdani well ahead of his opponents with the support of 43.2 percent of voters. He is followed by Cuomo with 28.9 percent and Sliwa with 19.4 percent, while 8.4 percent said they were undecided or preferred another candidate. Cost of living was the main issue for nearly two-thirds of voters, with public safety and housing affordability also areas of concern, in the same poll. Adblock test (Why?)