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Congress approves bill to release Epstein files

admin - Latest News - November 19, 2025
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Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation mandating the release of the Justice Department’s files on Jeffrey Epstein. The White House said President Trump will sign the bill into law. NBC News’ Hallie Jackson reports.  



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October 20, 2025
Oct. 20, 2025, 5:13 AM EDTBy Saba HamedyIranian director Jafar Panahi puts a lot on the line for his work.Authorities could again arrest him for speaking out against the country’s hard-line regime. They could send him back to the notoriously cruel Evin Prison in Tehran, which houses many of Iran’s political dissidents. He could again be placed on house arrest and barred from making films.But Panahi, now 65, has largely ignored these attempts at silencing him over the years, instead focusing on doing what he loves most: making films about his homeland.When he was imprisoned and charged with “propagandizing against the government,” he went on a hunger strike until authorities released him on bail. His filmmaking ban — which was supposed to last for 20 years — ended up serving as creative inspiration, fueling critically acclaimed films such as “This Is Not a Film” and “Taxi.”With his latest movie, “It Was Just an Accident,” which was released in limited North American theaters over the weekend, Panahi once again defied the government’s attempts to censor his art, though it has meant putting himself at risk.“You have to find a way around the system,” Panahi said in a recent interview conducted in Farsi at a hotel in Santa Monica, California, and translated into English by NBC News. Panahi, known for the signature sunglasses that he sports at every event, was sitting in the lobby next to his translator after enjoying a smoke break outside.The filmmaker has had a busy few months traveling the world to promote his film, a buzzy Oscar contender that was picked up for distribution in North America by Neon. He has also faced several hurdles coming from Iran — including missing a New York Film Festival screening after his visa process was delayed, reportedly because of the U.S. government shutdown.While on the press tour, he has continued to champion his message of the importance of freedom of expression.Jafar Panahi at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24.Rocco Spaziani / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images“It Was Just an Accident,” a revenge drama that is sprinkled with comedic moments, follows a group of Iranians who capture a man whom they suspect was their interrogator while they were in prison. They quarrel about the man they have put in the back of their van and whether he is in fact the guard, noting both have an artificial leg that makes a squeaking noise when walking. The group also grapples with the morality behind taking vengeance, and whether that makes them just as bad as those who oppressed them.Panahi reflected on how his own time in prison shaped “It Was Just an Accident,” which was the first film he directed after spending seven months in Evin from 2022 to 2023.“When you are imprisoned, it does not matter which group, which category and which party you are. We are all living with each other. And then when you go out, you can’t separate from it. These all remain in your mind,” he said. “This experience stays in your brain, and after you leave … you feel like you have to do something to express this.”The filmmaker has previously spoken about his time at the prison, recalling how he was placed in solitary confinement and blindfolded during his hourslong interrogations. He drew from his own experiences, as well as from fellow political prisoners he met there, in writing the film, making it one of his most personal endeavors to date.But authorities in Iran oversee the media, so filmmakers must get their scripts approved to get film permits. While Panahi is no longer banned from filmmaking, he chose to shoot in secret, filming in Iran over the course of several weeks without official permission from the government because of the film’s sensitive subject matter.The crew shot scenes in a remote desert location, in a van and in the streets of Tehran. Expecting trouble from authorities, the crew also took precautionary steps while moving around the city. Panahi told Vulture that in the summer of 2024, the crew was stopped by police during filming. They were asked to turn everything over but they handed over an empty memory card from a camera, rather than the actual footage of the film.They then waited a few weeks to resume the project and ended up editing part of the movie in France for safety reasons after the cast and crew had a run-in with authorities.“If you want to make a movie in Iran, you have to accept that is not possible through a regular path, you have to find an alternative path, and you either have to find it yourself or use other people’s experience in doing so,” Panahi said.Despite his years of political dissent and the personal price he has paid, Panahi is humble. He explained that it’s the people of Iran who deserve praise for continuing to stand up to the government in the aftermath of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, which triggered huge, monthslong public protests that were labeled the Women, Life, Freedom movement.“They are more brave than I am,” he said, noting that he’s someone who is “well known” and because of that has “some protections in place.” The activists “are not known to anyone,” he said. They took to the streets, were jailed and released, and still continue to protest in their own ways.For example, there are women in Iran who now refuse to wear the mandatory hijab, instead walking around with their hair flowing freely. It’s a subtle act of defiance that Panahi captured in his film, which shows its two female stars without headscarves in public in several scenes.It was important to Panahi to depict a “truthful picture of Iran,” he said. “We’ve reached a point in history where everything is measured by whether it happened before or after the Women, Life, Freedom movement. If it’s before, and you were showing in your film that there was a woman without the headscarf covering, it would not be believable.”Those who admire Panahi say his art serves as its own powerful form of activism, as he balances politics with a personal touch that helps breathe levity into heavier topics.At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Panahi won the prestigious Palme d’Or after the film received a nearly eight-minute standing ovation.The win marked the second time an Iranian filmmaker took home the award (Abbas Kiarostami was the first, winning in 1997 for “Taste of Cherry”). Panahi has now received the top prize at all three major European film festivals, including Berlin’s Golden Bear for “Taxi” in 2015 and the Golden Lion at Venice for “The Circle” in 2000.Oscar-winning actor Juliette Binoche, who served as the 2025 Cannes jury president, said that “It Was Just an Accident” “springs from a feeling of resistance, survival, which is absolutely necessary today.”“It’s very human and political at the same time, because he comes from a complicated country,” she said at the event, according to Deadline. “When we watched the film, it stood out.”At the New York Film Festival earlier this month, Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese also praised Panahi and called on more streaming services to champion Iranian cinema.As the film continues to rack up positive reviews and vies for Oscar nods, Panahi plans to continue to promote it at events.Other Iranian filmmakers, including Panahi’s friend and fellow director Mohammad Rasoulof, have fled Iran to avoid facing fierce punishment.But when asked whether he fears the Iranian government lashing out at him again, Panahi appeared undeterred.“What are they going to do that they haven’t done already?” he said.Saba HamedySaba Hamedy is the trends and culture editor for NBC News.
November 5, 2025
Nov. 5, 2025, 1:25 AM ESTBy Matt Dixon, Henry J. Gomez, Jonathan Allen and Garrett HaakeNo one thought Tuesday was going to be Donald Trump’s election night, but there were even fewer silver linings than many Republicans had hoped. Democrats attacked Trump’s agenda to help score victories in Virginia, where former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger quickly defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. They also prevailed in the attorney general’s race — where their candidate had been wrapped up in a texting controversy — and made double-digit gains in the state Legislature.Democrats won in New Jersey, where Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli in a race for governor considered the best Tuesday night upset opportunity for the GOP. Democrats also won redistricting efforts in California and got their preferred candidate in the New York mayor’s race. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a favorite of the left and boogeyman of the political right, beat Trump-endorsed former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.And Democrats also scored much needed victories in nearly every major state-level contest, a helpful night as they try to build on a data-based narrative that Trump and Republicans have tanked the nation’s economy and gone too far right ahead of the 2026 midterms.Off-year elections are often examined for clues about larger trends that will be at play in the midterms. And Tuesday was the beginning of the Republican Party’s future without Trump on the ballot, leaving Democrats riding high. “At long last, it’s a fantastic night to be a Democrat. The wins everywhere were big, deep, and meaningful,” said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way.’Turn the volume up’: Mamdani challenges Trump during his victory speech01:15The counterpunch for Republicans is the fact that off-year elections, those held in odd years not during traditional general elections, get less attention and are often poor measures for the overall mood of the electorate. That’s amplified by the fact that Democrat’s biggest wins, the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, were in states that generally lean Democratic and Trump lost.“Anyone who is telling you they know exactly what will happen based off tonight is lying,” veteran Republican strategist Matt Gorman said. But for both political parties, Tuesday night will remain a predictable Rorschach Test: You see what you want to see. Democrats can take away from the night results that they won. Their preferred candidates in significant races secured success. Republicans, meanwhile, can brush aside the elections as aberrations and point to the fact that even though they may have lost the short-term battle, they won the war. The win by Mamdani offers Republicans a messaging victory as they will now make Democratic candidates in key House and Senate seats nationally answer for his policy positions considered outside of the mainstream. “If I am a Republican in New York, I did not want him to win because he will be a horrific mayor,” said Jason Thielman, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “But if you’re like me and your job is to win races, it’s a no-lose scenario.”Republicans were quick to distance the president from the results. Indeed, there were indications that Trump was unhappy with the quality of some of the party’s candidates and did little to get heavily involved in the races, which were in blue-leaning states. “We did what we needed to do,” said a Trump adviser, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “We got in late, but understood the dynamics. It was a lose-lose for Republicans if he became a main driver of the election cycle.”Trump said part of the reasons Republicans lost was because he wasn’t on the ballot, and that there was a government shutdown — which, he seemed to indicate, is hurting his own party the most.“‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters,” he wrote.Some voters say Ciattarelli’s links to Trump worked against him in the race for governor02:01A plurality of voters in the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and a majority of voters in the New York mayoral contest, said Trump was not a factor in their decision, according to the NBC News Exit Poll. But among those who said their choice was motivated by the president, more cast their vote to oppose Trump rather than did to support him.Most voters in those elections, as well as in California, also are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country, and they continue to express concern about financial issues and the economy, according to the exit poll.In New Jersey, for example, Sherrill won 60% of voters who ranked the economy as one of the most important issues. And in Virginia, Spanberger won over voters who expressed concerns about their personal financial wellbeing — one of the most important issues in that race. “Hopefully some folks get the clue that we need to be talking about and doing something about the economy,” said one Republican strategist who has worked on presidential and congressional campaigns.“I’m hearing the president is getting it, the outstanding question is if his team does,” this person added. “I just know he’s asking a lot of questions, the right ones, as to why more wasn’t done and why adjustments haven’t been made.”Democrats quickly heralded the results as a harbinger for the 2026 midterms.“My fellow Virginians, tonight we sent a message, a message to every corner of the commonwealth — a message to our neighbors and our fellow Americans across the country,” Spanberger said in her victory speech. “We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos. You all chose leadership that will focus relentlessly on what matters most: lowering costs, keeping our communities safe and strengthening our economy for every Virginian.”Early in the night, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called it a “rout for Democrats across the country” that foreshadows his party’s takeover next year.“What we said from the very beginning of this year is that we need to relentlessly focus on driving down the high cost of living and fixing the broken health care system that Donald Trump and Republicans are making worse by the day,” Jeffries said in an interview with NBC News. “As long as we stay on these kitchen table pocketbook issues — while, of course, addressing the extremism that Donald Trump and Republicans continue to unleash on the American people — what we’re seeing tonight, is going to be replicated a year from now when Democrats take back control of the House of Representatives,” Jeffries added.NBC News’ Steve Kornacki breaks down Virginia election results01:36Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., told NBC News that any Republican in a district Trump won by single digits is “highly vulnerable.”“After tonight’s results any House Republican in even a somewhat competitive district should be petrified of next year’s congressional elections,” Boyle said.Others, however, were more cautious about reading into the broader implications for off-year elections.Michael Ceraso, a Democratic strategist, said the results are a small sample size and that the party shouldn’t get too comfortable.“There is no clear ideological path for this party and this is a huge challenge for us,” Ceraso said. “These elections tonight are more about who we are than about President Trump. And, Trump is like a bad relationship. When it’s all you know, you stick with it. I don’t trust voters want to break up with him yet. I trust they want to complain about him. But they may still believe he’ll come through for them.”Trump kept himself mostly scarce during campaigns. He endorsed Ciattarelli in New Jersey, but not Earle-Sears in Virginia. During a Monday night tele-rally for Virginia candidates, he never mentioned Earle-Sears. Those among Trump’s inner circle expressed no regrets Tuesday about his arm’s length — or further — approach. “The demographics on New Jersey are what they are,” said a top outside Trump adviser, who noted that the president’s political machine spent more than $1 million on Ciattarelli’s behalf. Democrats, this person added, “have a larger pool of voters to draw from.”Another person familiar with the White House’s strategy said Trump “endorsed to give [Ciattarelli] a shot, because he got close last time,” but acknowledged that Trump “did not go all-in.”“Don’t try to fix what you can’t,” this person added. “Play for the team but be realistic and ruthless when it comes to resource deployment. Just like the [2024 presidential] campaign.” As for Earle-Sears, the outside ally was more blunt, saying she was a “horrible candidate.” Trump had spent months warning about Mamdani, but he endorsed Cuomo’s independent bid only on the eve of Election Day, arguing that a vote for Republican Curtis Sliwa was a “vote for Mamdani.” A person close to the White House described Trump’s last-minute nod toward Cuomo as more of a Hail Mary pass in a game already lost.“That race was gone three weeks ago,” this person said. “He knew it.”A former Trump campaign official offered a silver lining — that Trump and the Republicans could now make Mamdani a millstone for Democrats in next year’s elections.“Too little, too late,” this person said of the Cuomo endorsement. “But I’d bet [Trump] wants his archrival lined up for the midterms.”Matt DixonMatt Dixon is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News, based in Florida.Henry J. GomezHenry J. Gomez is a senior national political reporter for NBC NewsJonathan AllenJonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News. Garrett HaakeGarrett Haake is NBC News’ senior White House correspondent.Yamiche Alcindor, Stephanie Perry and Natasha Korecki contributed.
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