CIA ends publication of its popular World Factbook reference tool

Close the cover on the CIA World Factbook: The spy agency announced Wednesday that after more than 60 years, it is shuttering the popular reference manual.

The announcement posted to the CIA’s website offered no reason for the decision to end the Factbook, but it follows a vow from Director John Ratcliffe to end programs that don’t advance the agency’s core missions.

First launched in 1962 as a printed, classified reference manual for intelligence officers, the Factbook offered a detailed, by-the-numbers picture of foreign nations, their economies, militaries, resources and societies. The Factbook proved so useful that other federal agencies began using it, and within a decade, an unclassified version was released to the public.

After going online in 1997, the Factbook quickly became a popular reference site for journalists, trivia aficionados and the writers of college essays, racking up millions of visits per year.

The White House has moved to cut staffing at the CIA and the National Security Agency early in Trump’s second term, forcing the agency to do more with less.

The CIA did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday about the decision to cease publication of the Factbook.

DOJ Files Show Jeffrey Epstein Was Reportedly About To Cooperate With Federal Prosecutors Just Weeks Before He Was Found Dead in Jail

Epstein was going to flip?

As journalists around the world dive into the 3 million new Epstein Files documents released by the US DOJ, all sorts of stories are arising about many individuals, including the late pedophile himself.

Today we learned that Jeffrey Epstein was ‘set to potentially cooperate with the feds’ in his sex-trafficking case.

The bombshell revelation comes after it was known that his lawyers and prosecutors met just two weeks before he was found dead in jail.

The New York Post reported:

“Federal prosecutors met with lawyers for the twisted pedophile financier on July 29, 2019, when his camp, ‘in very general terms, discussed the possibility of a resolution of the case, and the possibility of the defendant’s cooperation’, according to an FBI record made public in the Epstein files last week.

The 66-year-old sex offender — whose former pals ranged from world leaders to billionaires and Hollywood powerhouses — killed himself just two weeks later, as he was locked up in a Lower Manhattan jail cell awaiting trial in the bombshell criminal case, according to authorities.”

Days before Epstein died, his lawyers quietly sat down with federal prosecutors and floated the idea of cooperation.

No specifics. Just the classic “hypothetically, if our client were to help…” kind of thing.

2 weeks later, he’s dead.

Source: The Guardian https://t.co/IvTKJZ3cJ7 pic.twitter.com/N00xTHlNq7

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 31, 2026

“Another document in the Epstein files references the same meeting with the feds but notes, ‘Defense counsel did not make a specific proposal, and they did not indicate what the nature of Epstein’s cooperation might be, if any’.

‘It was suggested that defense counsel contact SDNY if Epstein was prepared to accept responsibility for his conduct and/or they had a specific proposal for a resolution of this case’.”

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Trump backs Bill and Hillary Clinton amid Epstein probe in stunning rebuke to House Republicans

President Donald Trump said he’s ‘bothered’ by a Republican-led investigation into Ex-President Bill Clinton‘s connections to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein

The House Oversight Committee has been wrangling with Bill and Hillary Clinton for the couple to sit for a deposition in the panel’s Epstein probe. 

This week, it was announced that Bill will sit for a deposition on February 27, while Hillary will sit before the panel the day before, with the former first lady demanding the proceedings take place in public.  

‘It bothers me that somebody is going after Bill Clinton,’ Trump told NBC News on Wednesday, indicating he may be at odds with the Republican-led investigation.

‘See, I like Bill Clinton. I still like Bill Clinton,’ he added. ‘I liked his behavior toward me. I thought he got me. He understood me.’

His remarks stand in contrast to those of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, the Republican leading the probe, who has accused the Clintons of delaying their appearances and defying orders from Congress

When pressed by the Daily Mail about why the president appears to be defending Clinton, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said it’s because the two presidents share a ‘good relationship.’ 

‘The President has respect for the former president,’ Leavitt explained. ‘They shared a good relationship.’ 

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Who entered Epstein’s jail tier the night of his death? Newly released video logs appear to contradict official accounts.

Newly released Department of Justice documents show that investigators reviewing surveillance footage from the night of Jeffrey Epstein’s death observed an orange-colored shape moving up a staircase toward the isolated, locked tier where his cell was located at approximately 10:39 p.m. on Aug. 9, 2019.

That entry in an observation log of the video from the Metropolitan Correctional Center appears to suggest something previously unreported by authorities: “A flash of orange looks to be going up the L Tier stairs — could possibly be an inmate escorted up to that Tier.”

It also appears, according to an FBI memorandum, that reviews by investigators led to disparate conclusions by the FBI and those examining the same video from the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General. 

The FBI log describes the fuzzy image as “possibly an inmate.” 

The inspector general logs it as an officer carrying orange “linen or bedding,” noting it in their final report as “an unidentified [corrections officer].”

The DOJ Office of Inspector General’s analysis of video footage describes a fuzzy orange image on the stairs leading to Epstein’s cell tier as: “it is possible someone is carrying inmate linen or bedding up the stairs.”

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Looking to Blame Anyone But Israel for Youth’s Anti-Israel Turn

Younger Americans are turning against Israel. “On both the left and the right, young Americans are growing more skeptical of offering unconditional US support to Israel,” Politico (9/29/25) reported. Brookings (8/6/25) ran the headline “Support for Israel Continues to Deteriorate, Especially Among Democrats and Young People.” According to the Forward (11/21/25), “Younger Jews are more than twice as likely to identify as anti-Zionist than the overall population.”

Pro-Israel media are looking for blame. It’s often easy to paint youth opinion that is out of sync with official state policy as emotionally driven social justice warriorism, the result of hearts not yet hardened by life’s cold realities. The Zionist media narrative is looking for the culprits who have apparently miseducated our youth, turning them not just into Israel critics, but Jew haters.

At the Atlantic (12/15/25), Yair Rosenberg wrote a piece headlined “The More I’m Around Young People, the More Panicked I Am,’” with the subhead, “Anti-Jewish prejudice isn’t a partisan divide—it’s a generational one.” To his credit, Rosenberg starts off reporting on very real instances of antisemitism, but then watch carefully what he does in the middle:

Young people also tend to be more critical of Israel than their elders, leading a minority to excuse or even perpetuate anti-Jewish acts in America in the name of Palestine. These critics are likely to consume anti-Israel content on their social-media apps of choice. The platforms then funnel some of those users toward antisemitic material—a sort of algorithmic escalator that ends up radicalizing a percentage of them.

In the first sentence, the only evidence Rosenberg cites is a link to his own article (Atlantic5/22/25) about how “Elias Rodriguez allegedly shot and killed two people as they were exiting an event at the Capital Jewish Museum,” with the headline “A Dangerous Disguise for Antisemitism.” Rosenberg said the “assailant used the Palestinian struggle as a pretext to harm Jews.”

But as I have previously written (FAIR.org5/29/25), much of the media framed this attack as antisemitic without any factual basis. While there was plenty of evidence that the act was political, with Rodiguez’s manifesto denouncing Israel as a “genocidal apartheid state,” there wasn’t any evidence that the attacker held antisemitic views, or targeted the event because of the faith of the victims. If someone obsessed with Saudi Arabia’s aggression in Yemen killed two Muslim workers at the Saudi embassy, that would certainly be anti-Saudi political violence, but not necessarily anti-Muslim terror.

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Trans murderer sexually assaults a female prisoner after they were allowed to serve time in a women’s prison

Taxpayers have covered a secret compensation bill after a trans murderer sexually assaulted a female prisoner after he was allowed to serve time in a women’s prison. 

Killer Clinton Rintoull attacked the prisoner at Victoria’s HM Tarrengower Prison in 2022 after being transferred there from a men’s facility.

Rintoull had been moved to the minimum-security women’s prison while transitioning from male to female.

Last week, the Allan government approved a taxpayer-funded secret payout to the victim of the prison sex assault.

Following the attack, Rintoull was transferred back to the minimum-security Langi Kal Kal men’s prison farm near Ballarat.

Despite the assault, Rintoull was granted parole in 2024 and is now living in the community under a new and undisclosed identity.

The murderer had been serving a 20-year sentence for the savage 2007 killing of 19-year-old Sudanese refugee Liep Gony.

Rintoull and co-accused Dylan Sabatino beat Mr Gony to death, with Rintoull telling others beforehand he was ‘going to take the town back by killing blacks’.

However, the murder was found to be ‘not racially motivated’ despite Rintoull spraying racist graffiti in a flat which read ‘F*** da n***as’.

Rintoull was spotted carrying a pole and making threatening remarks which were heard by a neighbour.

‘These blacks are turning the town into the Bronx. I am looking to take my town back. I’m going to kill the blacks,’ Rintoull said.

Former Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Curtain described Mr Gony’s bashing as ‘vicious, brutal and unprovoked’.

Rintoull was handed a minimum 16-year term, which he commenced in a male prison before he was shifted to Tarrengower near Maldon in Victoria’s west.

The bombshell development came after it was reported Corrections Victoria last month updated its policies for the placement of transgender prisoners to ‘allow them less say over where they are held in custody’.

It’s understood senior Labor figures pushed for a tougher crackdown, including a blanket ban on any male-born transgender killers or sex offenders being housed in female prisons.

Senior government sources said the blanket ban plan will be reignited amid revelations of Rintoull’s offending. 

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New Analysis Suggests That The Great Pyramid Of Giza Is Potentially 20,000 Years Older Than Experts Thought

The Great Pyramid of Giza, generally believed to have been built as the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu around 2575 B.C.E., is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But what if it’s even older than that?

Alberto Donini, an engineer from the University of Bologna, recently applied a new dating system that he calls the “Relative Erosion Method” (REM) to the pyramid. Now, he’s claiming that his research suggests the famous landmark may have actually been built nearly 25,000 years ago.

When Was The Great Pyramid Of Giza Built? The Origins Of Egypt’s Ancient Wonder

Scientific studies of the pyramids at Giza have been ongoing for centuries, so the current timeline of their construction is widely accepted. As it stands, the Great Pyramid was seemingly built during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled over Egypt from roughly 2589 B.C.E. to 2566 B.C.E. The Pyramid of Khafre came shortly thereafter, followed by the Pyramid of Menkaure.

This timeline was determined using both historical records and scientific study. Ancient authors like Herodotus wrote that Khufu had the Great Pyramid constructed as his tomb, noting that he “brought the people to utter misery” by making them transport impossibly heavy limestone blocks from quarries — possibly located hundreds of miles away — in order to erect the 481-foot structure. Exactly how they managed this remains a mystery to this day, though several promising theories have been put forth, such as the use of a ramp system.

Then, in the 1800s, archaeologists discovered graffiti inside the Great Pyramid that mentioned Khufu by name. It was seemingly scrawled by the workers who built the monument, adding another layer of evidence that the structure was built during that pharaoh’s reign.

Archaeologists later used scientific methods to date the pyramid. They radiocarbon dated the mortar used to secure the stone blocks, which was made using ashes and thus contained organic matter. These results suggested that the mortar was likely mixed between 2620 and 2484 B.C.E., once again aligning with the reign of Khufu.

With so much proof pointing to a construction date of roughly 2575 B.C.E., it seems unlikely that there’s any additional information out there that could significantly change the timeline. However, Alberto Donini claims that his research could completely rewrite this story.

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New York county drops ‘sanctuary’ bill after resident pressure

Rockland County in New York is dropping its efforts to declare itself a “sanctuary” jurisdiction after facing public backlash and concerns from law enforcement. 

On Tuesday night, hundreds gathered at the Rockland County Legislature to protest the proposal, which would prevent local law enforcement from working with federal immigration agents to apprehend those who are in the US illegally. Patriot protesters filled the legislative chambers, forcing many to wait outside. Amid the pressure, legislators pulled the vote, saying they would revisit it in March and hold another public hearing.

Democratic legislators have defended the proposal, saying it is necessary to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce immigration law. In a statement regarding the bill, Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson condemned the fact that Rockland County’s “diverse communities” have been impacted by ICE.

“We’re seeing chronic absenteeism in our schools because students are afraid that they or their parents will be picked up and deported,” he claimed.

However, the legislature’s Republican minority argued that the bill would negatively impact public safety.

“This legislation prioritizes ideology over safety, weakens cooperation between levels of government, and places unnecessary financial and security burdens on our community,” GOP lawmakers said, according to a report by Center Square. “Ultimately, sanctuary counties fail the most basic responsibility of government: protecting the public. No political statement is worth compromising safety, accountability, or the rule of law.”

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Leftist Group Gets Millions of Taxpayer Dollars to Help Illegal Aliens After Trump Order Bans It

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is promoting his investigation of a leftist group that received massive amounts of taxpayer dollars from the Biden administration to help illegal immigrants while omitting that the Trump administration kept the cash flowing. In fact, a $200 million program that gives illegal alien minors free lawyers was briefly cancelled and quietly reinstated by the Trump administration within days, though there is no mention of the abrupt about face in the probe announced last week by Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, a former collegiate wrestling champion serving his tenth term in the House.

Shortly after President Trump issued an executive order, back in mid-February 2025, ensuring taxpayer resources are used to protect the interest of American citizens and not to incentivize or support illegal immigration, the $200 million allocation for migrant kids got axed. The money was going to the same leftwing nonprofit that Jordan’s committee is investigating, though the veteran lawmaker’s new audit only mentions that it is focusing on how the open borders group has spent hundreds of millions of dollars awarded under Biden-Harris. The target is the Acacia Center for Justice, a Washington D.C. nonprofit that partners with a national network of human rights defenders to provide legal defense to immigrants at risk of detention or deportation. “Acacia envisions a nation with a transformed immigration system that embodies freedom from detention, due process, and equal protection, where every person facing the prospect of exile and community separation has access to meaningful legal defense,” the group writes on its website, which assures its network of attorneys fight for all immigrants regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race or previous interaction with the criminal system.

Just a few days after suspending the $200 million annual program that funds the Acacia Center’s initiative to provide illegal alien minors with free legal assistance, the Trump administration quietly restored it with no further explanation. The center’s executive director, Shaina Aber, celebrated the speedy reinstatement of the government’s multi-million-dollar UAC defense program, saying in a press release that “it is unconscionable” that children who arrive in the U.S. unaccompanied by parents or legal guardians should be forced to represent themselves in immigration court. The hefty award is part of a billion-dollar commitment launched in 2022 by a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency known as Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to legally represent underage migrants, known as Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), who cross the border without a parent. Over 600,000 UAC have crossed illegally into the U.S. through Mexico since 2019 and Uncle Sam spends hundreds of millions of dollars to house, educate, feed, entertain and medically treat them. Under Trump’s America First policies—and his executive order banning the use of taxpayer resources to incentivize or support illegal immigration—that was supposed to change.

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Trump: The U.S. Military Used a “Secret Weapon” To Kidnap Maduro

United States President Donald Trump claimed that the American military used a new secret weapon during the abduction of Venezuelan ruler, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. The weapons supposedly used to disable Venezuela’s air defense systems during the raid on Caracas.

Back in April, Trump did say that the U.S. has several secret weapons.

Trump Says The U.S. Has Secret Weapons

In an interview with the New York Post, which was published on Saturday, Trump said the mysterious weapon, called the “discombobulator,” had “made [enemy] equipment not work.”

“The Discombobulator. I’m not allowed to talk about it,” Trump said during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office. Trump claimed he would love to talk about the weapon, but that it worked. “They never got their rockets off. They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off. We came in, they pressed buttons, and nothing worked. They were all set for us,” he said of Venezuela’s readiness leading up to the military campaign.

That revelation followed on-the-ground accounts from Venezuela describing how Maduro’s foot soldiers were brought to their knees, “bleeding through the nose” and vomiting blood. Additionally, a self-identified member of the deposed despot’s team of guards recounted afterward that “suddenly all our radar systems shut down without any explanation.”

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