28/12/2025

theSun on Sunday DEC 28, 2025

WORLD 8

‘Release files linking Epstein and Democrats’

France probes UK site over ‘childlike’ sex dolls PARIS: France has opened an investigation into a British e-commerce site suspected of selling sex dolls with childlike features. The investigation into the “Little Sex Dolls” site is the fifth French investigation into online sellers of products with alleged links to pornography. Sarah El Hairy, France’s high commissioner for children, announced earlier this week that she had filed a legal complaint against the British site which delivers its products to France. The prosecutors’ office said it had asked the national office for the protection of minors and the cyber criminality office to take part in the police investigation. “These products are dangerous,” El Hairy said. “They feed criminal behaviour and endanger the safety of our children.” She said the identity of buyers of the sex dolls should be made available to the authorities. Last month, the discovery of childlike sex dolls on the Shein platform caused outrage in France and prompted an investigation. The platforms Ali Express, Temu and Wish were also being investigated for alleged violations of laws against publishing messages of a violent or pornographic nature able to be accessed by minors. Around 20 people suspected of buying childlike sex dolls online were arrested during a major French police operation this month. Shein, founded in China in 2012 but now based in Singapore, has vowed to cooperate with French authorities and said it is banning all sex dolls. – AFP €1,000 reward to shield rare monk seal ROME: A rare Mediterranean monk seal is causing a stir in Italy’s Adriatic town of Numana, sleeping on the beach and drawing onlookers. There is now a call on social media not to disturb the seal, possibly with a reward of €1,000 (RM4,765) if a citizens’ committee can monitor its resting area and ensure that it is left in peace. “Unfortunately, we still don’t manage to behave as we should,” monk seal expert and conservationist Emanuele Coppola said on Facebook. The seal had been sleeping near a hotel when someone approached it with a mobile phone to take a photo, said Coppola. The seal woke up and retreated into the sea off the province of Ancona. The conservationist now hopes another Facebook user’s offer to pay €1,000 for 24 hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet will allow the seal’s appearances to be documented for scientific purposes. Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) can occasionally be seen on Italian beaches. According to the World Wildlife Fund, the species, the only one found in the Mediterranean, is threatened with extinction. – Bernama

Justice Department defends president

Trump did not say which Democrats may be named in the files. The DOJ missed a Dec 19 deadline to release the files in full despite a law compelling it to do so. Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche previously blamed the delayed release on a need to redact the identities of Epstein’s victims. The DOJ has defended Trump, saying the files contain “untrue and sensationalist claims” against him that were submitted to the FBI before the 2020 election which landed him a second term in office. The department has not specified which allegations are false. “If they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponised against President Trump already,” the department said at the time. – AFP

but distanced himself after his crimes came to light and has appeared reluctant to discuss the case despite strong support in the Republican party for fuller transparency about the deceased man’s associates. “Now 1,000,000 more pages on Epstein are found. “DOJ is being forced to spend all of its time on this Democrat inspired hoax,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Friday. “The Dems are the ones who worked with Epstein, not the Republicans. Release all of their names, embarrass them, and get back to helping our country! “The radical Left doesn’t want people talking about Trump and Republican success, only a long ago dead Jeffrey Epstein – just another witch hunt!!!”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump urged the Justice Department (DOJ) on Friday to “embarrass” any Democrats who worked with Jeffrey Epstein after it began poring over millions of documents linked to the late sex offender. The DOJ began releasing records last week from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy financier who died in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking underage girls for sex. The latest disclosures on Tuesday contain numerous references to Trump including documents detailing flights he took on Epstein’s private jet. Trump was once a friend of Epstein

Russian barrage on Kyiv kills one, cuts power KYIV: A Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv and its suburbs yesterday killed one person, wounded two dozen and cut off heating and electricity for hundreds of thousands of people left in freezing temperatures. flashes that turned the sky orange, according to AFP reporters in Kyiv. The attack killed a 47-year-old woman, Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said. buildings and hundreds of kindergartens, schools and social buildings had lost heat. “As of this morning, part of the left bank of the region remains without electricity. More than 320,000 consumers are without power,” Kalashnyk said. WHITE CHRISTMAS ... Pedicab tour guides, dressed in Santa Claus costumes, ride during a snowfall in Times Square on Friday in New York City, which was bracing for up to 25cm of snow at night, the most in four years. – AFPPIC

seeking to “torpedo” the US brokered plan. The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its front line but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarised buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by Zelensky. – AFP

yesterday and said that drones and missiles were moving over several regions. The attack came ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Florida to discuss a proposed plan to end the fighting. Russia accused Zelensky and his EU backers on Friday of

“There are already 19 persons affected in the capital. Eleven persons have been hospitalised,” said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko. He said 2,600 residential

An air alert lasted several hours after loud explosions at night, some accompanied by bright

Ukraine’s air force announced a countrywide air alert early