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Fresh snow warning issued for parts of England as flooding expected in more than 70 areas
A brief show of sunshine over the weekend has given way to further rain, with flooding expected in more than 70 areas.

Rain is likely to turn to snow and sleet across parts of eastern England, where a yellow snow warning is in place on Sunday between 10am and 4pm.

There were 74 flood warnings and 162 flood alerts in place across England on Sunday morning, with the Environment Agency urging the public to remain vigilant amid the ongoing flood risk.

Jonathan Day, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said about 330 homes and businesses have been flooded, while 24,000 have been protected by flood defences.

The snow warning for eastern England said "a spell of snow may lead to some disruption to travel".

It added: "Rain moving eastwards through Sunday morning is likely to turn increasingly to sleet and snow.

"Slushy accumulations of 1cm or so are likely, with a chance of 2-4cm should snow turn briefly heavier, this more likely for the Lincolnshire Wolds and parts of Norfolk and Suffolk."

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Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst said Sunday will have a blustery start for many and outbreaks of showery rain, with some hill snow.

Milder air will move into the South West and parts of Cornwall and Devon could reach 12C, while it will be about 4C or 5C in the east, he said.


Obama responds to racist video shared by Trump depicting him and his wife as apes
Barack Obama has responded to a racist video shared by Donald Trump on social media that depicted him and his wife, Michelle Obama, as apes.

The ex-president did not mention Mr Trump by name, but said the "decorum" and "respect for... office" that used to guide US officials had been lost.

After the video showing the Obamas as apes was shared on President Trump's Truth Social account, the leader refused to apologise and said he "didn't make a mistake".

The depiction appeared towards the end of the footage, asserting debunked claims that the 2020 election - which he lost to Joe Biden - was stolen from him.

When asked about the post by Brian Tyler Cohen on his podcast, Mr Obama said that while controversial language "gets attention", it was also a "distraction" and the majority of "people find this behaviour deeply troubling".

The former president said that although most "still believe in decency, courtesy and kindness, there's this sort of clown show" on social media and television.

Instead, he believed the answer to controversy was "going to come from the American people".

ICE in Minnesota

In the same interview, Mr Obama cited the "heroic" and "sustained behaviour" of people in Minneapolis in response to the deployment of 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as an example of this.

He branded "rogue" activity by agents as "deeply concerning" and "dangerous".

"The way that federal agents, ICE agents, were being deployed without any clear guidelines, training, pulling people out of their homes, using five-year-olds to try and bait their parents, all the stuff we saw… the rogue behaviour of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning," he said.

The former president claimed that this type of behaviour has previously been "seen in dictatorships, but not… in America".

However, he urged people to "take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary outpouring of organising, community building, [and] decency" in Minnesota, including Minneapolis.

Tom Homan, who's leading the White House's anti-immigration campaign, said on Thursday that the Trump administration had agreed to end the ICE operation in the state.

Launched on 1 December to crack down on illegal immigration, the operation led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people, federal authorities said.

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But the action has proved controversial. ICE agents, usually dressed in face masks and military-style camouflage gear, have repeatedly drawn angry demonstrations from residents.

Some protests have turned violent, with two protesters killed during confrontations.

Renee Nicole Good, 37, a mother-of-three, was shot dead in her car by an ICE agent early in January, purportedly in self-defence.

Also last month, Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was wrestled to the floor by federal agents and shot multiple times in Minneapolis.


Man charged after 'priceless' Egyptian artefacts stolen from Australian museum, police say
A man has been charged after "priceless" Egyptian artefacts were stolen from a museum, Australian police have said.

The 52-year-old suspect is accused of smashing a window at the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology and then taking the items before fleeing the scene in Caboolture, Queensland.

The artefacts included a wooden cat sculpture, believed to be around 2,600 years old and from the 26th dynasty of ancient Egypt, a necklace reportedly 3,300 years old, a mummy mask, and a collar from a mummy.

All of the stolen items have now been recovered following the break-in which happened at about 3am local time on Friday (5pm on Thursday UK time).

Police said they discovered most of the artefacts intact, with only minor damage, after searching a camper van.

They located the vehicle in a car park at Redland Bay ferry terminal around 1.30pm on Saturday (3.30am UK time), around 50 miles from the museum.

The suspect, of no fixed address, was allegedly found in possession of the last missing item - the wooden cat sculpture.

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He was arrested on Russell Island around 7pm on Saturday (10am UK time) and has been charged with breaking and entering, and three counts of wilful damage.

He is due to appear in Cleveland Magistrates Court on Monday.


Epstein survivor says women who recruited her 'laughed' as she was sexually assaulted on jet
Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking ring extended all the way to Africa's southern coast - held together by the invisible chains of psychological bondage that kept his victims ensnared for years at a time. 

"Invisible chains is a good way to put it, it was like I was handcuffed invisibly," says 43-year-old Juliette Bryant.

"I'd never even told my family, I never told anyone about what happened with him until he died."

Juliette was recruited from Cape Town by Epstein in 2002, as a first-year university student and aspiring model. At only 20 years old, she thought her life was about to change for good.

"It just seemed like my dreams were all coming true because our family was struggling financially and I just really wanted to try and make a difference for my family."

Juliette was on a flight to New York on her first overseas trip outside of South Africa, three weeks after meeting Epstein for the first time at a Cape Town restaurant with Bill Clinton, who was there on an official AIDS awareness trip accompanied by actors Kevin Spacey and Chris Tucker.

Hours barely passed after arriving in New York City when she was told she would be travelling on to the Caribbean. A driver dropped her off at a runway at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and she boarded a private jet where Epstein and the women she says initially recruited her in Cape Town were waiting to fly to his private island.

"He patted the chair next to him... and then I went and sat there. It was such a confusing situation for a young person to be in.

"As the plane took off, he started forcibly touching me in between my legs, and I just freaked out and I suddenly realised - oh my God, my family aren't going to see me again, these people might kill me, you know?

"They [the women] were laughing. I was really petrified."

It is unlikely she was the only young woman trafficked by Epstein from Cape Town. Emails from the Epstein files show flight details for unnamed female travellers being shuttled from Cape Town to London, Atlanta and New York up until late 2018.

Juliette says she was not trafficked to other men but raped by Epstein repeatedly.

"I would see him at lunch, breakfast and dinner, and then I would be called to his room. Otherwise, I didn't see a lot of him, he was always off working.

"I spent a lot of time there on my own. I'd sit by the pool or read books, and I also found disposable cameras in the kitchen which I took to, so I took photos while I was there."

Juliette's photos flit between beaming smiles in the embrace of other young women and haunting portraits of desolation and loneliness.

"There was no way of getting away, you know. They had my passport and by then we had landed on one of the Caribbean islands and then were taken on a helicopter to his island. There was just no way of getting away. I'm not strong enough to swim away. I wouldn't be able to swim off there."

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How Epstein made his money

Her entrapment was more than physical. Even after she was sent back to Cape Town, she boarded more flights to Epstein's properties in New York, Palm Beach, Paris and New Mexico where she says she met women and underage girls from Brazil, Romania, France and Spain.

Juliette tells us she is still piecing together the depth of Epstein's dark machinery while contending with her psychological recovery and constant exposure to news about her abuser.

"I look on Facebook, I see Epstein's face. I look on X, I see Epstein's face. I look at the news, there it is again. You know, there are times when it's made me feel physically ill, to be honest, it is just constantly there and there is no way of escaping it."

The controversial US Department of Justice release of the latest Epstein files saw dozens of vulnerable victims exposed by insufficient redactions. Juliette's emails to Epstein were published unredacted and show her expressing support for him ahead of his trial in 2008 and continuing to contact him until 2017.

"Whenever I sent emails, it was always when I had been drinking or when I was having a bit of a breakdown... I always felt like he was watching me, and that was also why I emailed.

"I have nothing to hide. It has obviously been upsetting because it confuses people because obviously the man had a terrible grip on my mind."


Hidden codes in supermarkets that could save you money | Money newsletter
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