I've seen Putin's tactics up close. Epstein is helping Russia from beyond the grave
In March 2000, the week Vladimir Putin was first elected president of Russia, I was on a tour of the Chechen war zone overseen by the Russian army. The Kremlin was furious and frustrated at the negative news coverage that had followed thousands of civilian deaths. The restrictions on reporters in that phase of the conflict, which had started in the autumn of 1999, had been tightened.
A correspondent’s courage was no longer the only limit on where they travelled. Now you had to have special permission and work under the suspicious, unforgiving glare of the military and accompanying officials.
One stop was a winery, ostensibly chosen to show how the industry was reviving in areas no longer under rebel control. They offered us, foreign reporters, a glass as a Russian photographer raised his camera. I refused the wine. The camera was lowered. The photographer’s face fell.
EasyJet flight diverts to Rome due to power bank in luggage
Ebola cases in DR Congo jump – how worried should you be?
China mine disaster kills 82 – what we know so far
What a UK social media ban for children could look like
What we know as boys spared jail after raping teenage girls
EasyJet flight diverts to Rome due to power bank in luggage
The London-bound flight made an emergency landing after a passenger alerted crew of the charger’s presence.
Passengers forced to stay in Rome overnight
Last Tuesday, a flight full of tourists returning from popular Egyptian holiday resort Hurghada was grounded in Italy when one of them told the plane staff they had left a portable charger in their hold bag. The passengers were put up in hotels and in the airport and returned to London the following day.
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EasyJet said the captain decided to divert “in line with safety regulations”, as portable chargers are liable to catch fire.In November 2025 a man was left with burns to his legs after his charger ignited at Melbourne airport.
The four ways summer holidays to Spain, Greece and Italy are at risk
A closer look at the detail
Most airlines don’t allow power banks in checked baggage and say they cannot go in overhead compartments or be used to charge in flight.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation introduced new restrictions for power banks in March, limiting the size of the chargers.
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@theipaper Airlines have been warned not to book holidaymakers on flights that may be cancelled after a slew of offers for cheap deals to Spain, Greece and Portugal were released in a bid to boost bookings. Airlines are increasingly warning of looming flight cancellations over the peak summer holiday months due to rocketing jet fuel costs caused by conflict in the Middle East, the Civil Aviation Authority has said. You can read more of this article on The i Paper’s website. #holidays #vacation #iran ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
Airlines have been warned not to book holidaymakers on flights that may be cancelled after a slew of offers for cheap deals to Spain, Greece and Portugal were released in a bid to boost bookings. Airlines are increasingly warning of looming flight cancellations over the peak summer holiday months due to rocketing jet fuel costs caused by conflict in the Middle East, the Civil Aviation Authority has said. You can read more of this article on The i Paper’s website. #holidays #vacation #iran
Ebola cases in DR Congo jump – how worried should you be?
As the number of suspected cases of Ebola climbs over 900, the country is reportedly struggling to contain the outbreak, leading to fears that the disease could spread.
Cases continue to grow as death toll rises
The official death toll in the DRC has risen to 119, though regional totals add up to 220. The cases are mainly concentrated mainly in the eastern Ituri province.The WHO has declared “very high” international concern.
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How serious is the new strain?
The Bundibugyo strain, which is circulating in this outbreak, has no approved vaccine or treatment, meaning the mortality rate for those who catch it is high.
Fighting between militant groups with links to Isis and regional countries have displaced a million people in the region, meaning the virus is hard to control.
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@theipaper ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
Everything we know as China mine disaster kills 82
Dozens of workers are still missing after a gas explosion at Liushenyu Coal Mine in Shanxi province. Rescue efforts to find survivors are ongoing.
Relatives wait for news as death toll lowered
Authorities initially said 90 people had died, before adjusting the figure and blaming the chaotic situation. Of the 247 workers on duty at the time, many have been rescued so far with 128 being treated in hospital. State media reports a poisonous gas was released at the site, causing the deaths.
Immediate safety inspections orderd on all mines in the area.
Mine detection robots deployed to find survivors.
Those responsible will be “severely punished” after an investigation.
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@theipaper What’s the real story behind Birmingham’s youth unemployment rate? Across the UK, the national average unemployment rate is 4.9%, but in Birmingham this number rises to 13.6%, which is nearly triple and equivalent to 77,000 people, with many of them being young adults.
We visited Birmingham Central Job Centre to speak to job seekers and experts to find out what is really going on. #UK #news #unemployed ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
What’s the real story behind Birmingham’s youth unemployment rate? Across the UK, the national average unemployment rate is 4.9%, but in Birmingham this number rises to 13.6%, which is nearly triple and equivalent to 77,000 people, with many of them being young adults.
We visited Birmingham Central Job Centre to speak to job seekers and experts to find out what is really going on. #UK #news #unemployed
What a UK social media ban for children could look like
As the public consultation over a possible ban draws to a close, the Government will have to decide what measures to introduce to curb social media use for under-16s. Here is a look at what it might do.
Restrictions from next year
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act which will come into force on 1 September, 2027 requires some form of restriction on children’s social media use. An outright ban has been repeatedly rejected in Parliament.The Government invited the public to give their views on what this should look like.
MPs reject a proposed ban on social media for under-16s
Our children don't need a social media ban – they need parents who can say 'no'
What were parents and children asked about?
A blanket ban or overnight curfews, and how these should be enforced.
Tech companies could be forced to get rid of autoplay and infinite scrolling.
Restrictions or a ban on children using them could be suggested.
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What do other countries do?
In Australia, the first country to bring in an all-out ban last year, children can’t use Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok. YouTube Kids and WhatsApp were not covered.
France, Denmark Norway and Sweden are considering similar bans. But many Australian teenagers have evaded the rules by fooling age-verification software using AI or fake IDs.
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@theipaper Pep Guardiola has confirmed he will leave Manchester City after 10 years in charge, bringing an end to one of the most successful eras in Premier League history. Guardiola won multiple league titles, a historic Treble and the club’s first Champions League trophy during his time at City, with former assistant Enzo Maresca now heavily linked as his replacement. #PepGuardiola #ManCity #PremierLeague ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
Pep Guardiola has confirmed he will leave Manchester City after 10 years in charge, bringing an end to one of the most successful eras in Premier League history. Guardiola won multiple league titles, a historic Treble and the club’s first Champions League trophy during his time at City, with former assistant Enzo Maresca now heavily linked as his replacement. #PepGuardiola #ManCity #PremierLeague
What we know as boys spared jail after raping teenage girls
The Prime Minister has called the case “appalling” and praised a review into the sentences, after one of the victims gave an anonymous interview to the BBC.
Judge spares rapists jail to avoid ‘criminalising unneccessarily’
Two girls, then aged 15 and 14, were raped in separate attacks in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, in November 2024 and January 2025, by two 14-year-old boys. Another boy, then 13, was also convicted for his involvement in the second attack.They pled not guilty but were convicted in a trial, and the judge gave them Youth Rehabilitation Orders instead of prison time.
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He almost made it seem as if what the boys did was ok in the eyes of the law because they were children.
He almost made it seem as if what the boys did was ok in the eyes of the law because they were children.
Speaking anonymously, one of the victims questioned why she had gone through the “pain” of “reliving everything” in the trial for the boys not to be properly punished.
The girls at the heart of this case have shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances. This is an appalling case and it is right that law officers are urgently reviewing their sentences Prime minister sir keir starmer
The girls at the heart of this case have shown extraordinary bravery and strength in heinous circumstances. This is an appalling case and it is right that law officers are urgently reviewing their sentences
Unduly Lenient Scheme review
Attorney general received ‘multiple requests’
The government’s process for checking judgments has been triggered.
Court of Appeal referral
They have 28 days to decide if the case should be reviewed in the higher court.
Any new information as well as the trial evidemce is presented to a new judge.
Autistic people are enduring state-sanctioned torture in the UK. Yet we do nothing
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@theipaper French activists detained after attempting to bring aid to Gaza Strip have accused Israeli authorities of abuse, torture and sexual violence after returning to Paris. Activists from the flotilla said detainees were beaten and humiliated while in custody, while Israel has strongly denied the allegations. #globalsumudflottilla #Gaza #Palestine #Israel ♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
French activists detained after attempting to bring aid to Gaza Strip have accused Israeli authorities of abuse, torture and sexual violence after returning to Paris. Activists from the flotilla said detainees were beaten and humiliated while in custody, while Israel has strongly denied the allegations. #globalsumudflottilla #Gaza #Palestine #Israel
I suspected then, as now, that the goal was to say we were drinking on the job – and that’s why our critical coverage couldn’t be trusted.
Later, we stopped at a village park that had become a cemetery. The graves seemed real; I had seen similar elsewhere. But it was striking that a woman, apparently a villager, just happened to pass by and say in near-flawless English: “That’s what your beloved Chechens do.”
The last day of our trip was polling day. We were taken into Grozny, Chechnya’s regional capital, which was largely in ruins, to witness voting before Putin’s first election victory. More than a quarter of a century later, he’s still at the summit of Russian power.
I have often remembered that assignment when seeing the photos emerging from the Epstein files. How could prominent, media-savvy people not have been aware of being photographed? Perhaps they had been put at ease by their companions and were no longer mindful of the pictures being taken.
It’s a classic KGB tactic. Techniques may have evolved along with Russian political changes – and more sophisticated technology – but the purpose remains the same: to gather compromising material (kompromat in Russian) that can come in handy later when you need to get a favour from someone, or end their career.
As the Putin era went on, it was a tactic regularly used against liberal journalists. Some ended up unwitting stars of a secretly shot video. They were shown in varying states of undress, and, in some cases, apparently taking drugs, in the company of sex workers.
It was embarrassing, but it served the purpose of suggesting to a Russian audience that coverage critical of Kremlin policy was the work of degenerates, so not to be taken seriously. It was also a warning to troublesome reporters that they were being watched.
Do the Epstein files represent something similar? The Polish government – wary now more than ever of its Russian neighbour’s belligerent leadership – is convinced there is a case to answer. Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has spoken of “the suspicion that this unprecedented paedophilia scandal was co-organised by Russian intelligence services”. Poland is now investigating.
The Kremlin has dismissed the idea, with Putin’s spokesman dismissively saying, “I would like to joke about such versions, but let’s not waste our time.“
Was Jeffrey Epstein a Russian agent? No conclusive evidence has yet emerged. Certainly, there are similarities in the collection of kompromat he amassed – tactics akin to those Russian spies and secret policemen have used all the way back to the early Soviet era.
Whether or not Epstein was working for Russian intelligence, the files are a win for the Kremlin.
Russia’s biggest opposition figure of the Putin era, the late Alexei Navalny, launched his campaign with the slogan that the pro-Kremlin United Russia party was “swindlers and thieves”. The Epstein files can be used to show a cynical Russian population, weary of corruption at the highest level, that Western elites are no better.
My research on Russia’s post-Soviet history shows a pattern of anger at the West, especially over military interventions, such as the Iraq war. These are seen as hypocritical: regime change to suit Western interests dressed up as humanitarian intervention.
Among those keen to make that point is Putin’s long-serving foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
“This topic has exposed the real face of what is called the collective West and the deep state, or rather, an alliance that controls the entire West and is seeking to rule the whole world,” Lavrov said, borrowing terms from conspiracy theorists while reflecting the Kremlin’s glee at the scandal’s fallout.
In the case of Lavrov, there may also be some relief that others are in the spotlight. In 2022, it was revealed that the daughter of his alleged mistress owned a £4.4m flat in Kensington, west London, reportedly bought without a mortgage when she was just 21.
Russia’s political elite will continue to enjoy the scandal – and to benefit. Some of the world’s wealthy and powerful might do well to enquire more closely into who their hosts are, who’s taking the pictures at parties, and whose files they will end up in.
James Rodgers is a journalist and author. His most recent book is The Return of Russia (2026)