Good morning.
The Democratic congressman Ro Khanna said on Tuesday that he and his Republican colleague Thomas Massie had forced the justice department to disclose the “hidden” names of six wealthy men they say are “likely incriminated” by their inclusion in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Khanna read the names in the House of Representatives, protecting him from defamation lawsuits by the speech and debate clause of the US constitution.
In other news, Epstein, the convicted sex offender, appeared to engineer an intimate relationship between a woman in his orbit and Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon and a Tesla board of directors member, according to emails released by the DOJ.
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Who are the six? Congressman Ro Khanna named: Leslie Wexner, the Victoria’s Secret founder; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World and an Emirati billionaire businessman; and four others identified as Nicola Caputo, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze and Leonic Leonov.
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What did Khanna say? “Why did it take Thomas Massie and me going to the justice department to get these six men’s identities to become public? If we found six men they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3m files,” he said.
At least 10 dead, including suspect, in shooting at Canadian high school, police say
At least nine people have been killed and dozens injured after an assailant opened fire at a school in western Canada, in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the country’s history. The suspect was later found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted injury.
The suspected shooter was found dead at the school, police said, adding they did not believe there were any more suspects or ongoing threat to the public.
Because of Canada’s strict gun laws, which make it difficult to own handguns or assault-style weapons, the country has experienced far fewer instances of mass violence compared with the US. This is the second-deadliest school shooting in Canadian history, the first being a 1989 incident that killed 14 students.
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What has the prime minister, Mark Carney, said? Carney said he was “devastated” by the shootings. “I join Canadians in grieving with those whose lives have been changed irreversibly today, and in gratitude for the courage and selflessness of the first responders who risked their lives to protect their fellow citizens,” he said.
Grand jury declines to indict Democrats asking troops to refuse illegal orders
A Washington DC grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers who were denounced by Donald Trump after they made a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders.
Federal prosecutors had sought an indictment against the Democrats who participated in the video, including Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan, who all have military and intelligence backgrounds.
Trump was outraged by the clip, and described it “seditious behavior by traitors” that was “punishable by death”. Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, formally censured Kelly, a retired Nasa astronaut and decorated navy captain, over the incident and attempted to reduce his rank and pension. Kelly filed a lawsuit against Hegseth last month arguing the video he and other Democrats made was protected free speech, and that the secretary had undertaken an “unconstitutional crusade” against him.
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How did Kelly react to the administration’s failed indictment against him? He described it as an “outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackies”. “It wasn’t enough for Pete Hegseth to censure me and threaten to demote me, now it appears they tried to have me charged with a crime – all because of something I said that they didn’t like,” Kelly said. “That’s not the way things work in America.
In other news …
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The FBI released footage of an “armed individual” at the home of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old who has been missing since 1 February.
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Fifty-three people are reported dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the UN migration agency said on Monday, with only two survivors being rescued.
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An Israeli court rejected an appeal to allow a five-year-old Palestinian boy with an aggressive form of cancer to enter Israel for life-saving treatment, citing a government policy that bars residents registered in Gaza from crossing the border.
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Meanwhile, the White House reiterated Donald Trump’s opposition towards Israel annexing the West Bank, amid Israeli maneuvers for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Stat of the day: Prediction market Kalshi reached $1bn in trading volume during Super Bowl
Online prediction market Kalshi hit a daily record on Super Bowl Sunday, surpassing $1bn in trading volume, the company announced. Prediction markets such as Kalshi allow users to trade on the outcomes of virtually anything. In recent months, critics have raised concerns about potential market manipulation and insider trading on prediction market sites like Polymarket and Kalshi.
Wellness Wednesday: ‘Turning themselves into lab rats’ – the US injectable peptides craze
In the US, gray-market injectable peptides – a category of substances with obscure, alphanumeric names like BPC-157, GHK-Cu, or TB-500 – have developed a devoted following among biohackers and health optimizers. Adrienne Matei speaks to experts on what it’s all about.
Don’t miss this: How gentrification is pricing artists out of New York City, threatening its cultural edge
Amid gentrification and a lack of affordable housing, creatives are increasingly leaving New York City, a report from the Center for an Urban Future finds. Since 2019, the city’s artist population has decreased by more than 4%, “the first sustained decline in decades,” it said.
Climate check: Trump to repeal key ruling allowing regulation of planet-heating gases
The Trump administration on Thursday will roll back the mechanism allowing the government to regulate planet-heating pollution, the White House has said. “This will be the largest deregulatory action in American history,” Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday.
Last Thing: Details emerge on couple who wed at Bad Bunny Super Bowl half-time show
During Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show, a wedding officiant declared Tommy Wolter and Elli Aparicio married. A representative of Bad Bunny confirmed later that the wedding was authentic. Now more details are emerging about the couple. “My heart is so full,” Aparicio said.
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