First Thing: Second batch of Jeffrey Epstein court documents unsealed

More than 300 additional pages deepen the picture of Epstein’s elite orbit while resurfacing old claims. Plus, tips to cut down plastic use in your kitchen

Good morning.

A new batch of documents related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse were released today.

The additional 19 documents, totaling about 300 pages, add to the more than 900 pages of documents already unsealed on Wednesday evening, the release of which prompted an online frenzy that crashed awebsite hosting the documents.

The unsealed papers do not appear to contain extensive additional information about Epstein’s trafficking of teenage girls and women. They include some discussion of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s medical records and a portion of a deposition provided by a medical provider.

The documents so far – with more to come – were sprinkled with names of celebrities and politicians who socialized or worked with Epstein in the years before he was publicly accused of targeting underage girls for sex. Some of the high-profile names that have appeared in the court documents so far include Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson, though many men named are not accused of any sexual misconduct.

Where are the documents from? They stem from Giuffre’s lawsuit against the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, and include excerpts of depositions and motions in that case. Maxwell was convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and similar charges for procuring teenage girls for Epstein.

Oscar Pistorius released on parole after serving nine years for murder of Reeva Steenkamp

Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole after serving nine years for murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a crime that shocked the world.

Pistorius, a former Paralympic and Olympic athlete, shot the 29-year-old model dead through a locked bathroom door on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

He will be subject to correctional supervision until his sentence ends in 2029. Pistorius is expected to live at his uncle’s home in Waterkloof, an upmarket suburb of South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, and to attend programs on gender-based violence and anger management.

He will not be allowed to drink alcohol and will have to get permission to travel or take up employment, which makes it unlikely he will return to the running track soon. The exact terms of his parole have not been made public.

What has Steenkamp’s family said? In a statement shared by the Steenkamp family lawyer on Friday, her mother, June Steenkamp, said: “There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence,” adding her only desire was to be allowed to live in peace.

Israel to continue war with ‘new combat approach’ until hostages returned and Hamas dismantled

The Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has outlined his plan for how Gaza would be run once Hamas has been defeated, before a visit by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to the region.

Gallant on Thursday presented the plan to the press before submitting it to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, which has been divided in recent weeks over the future of Gaza after the ousting of Hamas, rulers there since 2007.

Under the plan, Israel’s war in the territory would continue until it had secured the return of the hostages taken on 7 October, dismantled Hamas’s “military and governing capabilities” and removed any remaining military threats.

The document issued by Gallant was titled a “vision for phase 3” of the war. It also said the ideas were Gallant’s and not official policy, which would have to be set by Israel’s war and security cabinets.

What else is happening? Blinken is set to arrive in the Middle East, a day after a US airstrike in Baghdad on Thursday killed the commander of an Iranian-backed Shia militia that Washington blames for attacks on American forces in the region.

Sign Up to Reclaim Your Brain: our free newsletter to help you waste less time on your phone

A few months ago, we asked our readers a simple question: are you happy with how much time you’re spending on your phone? We received hundreds of responses, and they made one thing clear: many of us are deeply unhappy with our phone usage, but find it hard to pull away.

If you can relate, and want to waste less time on your phone in 2024, then the Guardian’s Reclaim Your Brain team is here to help you. We’ve carefully created a newsletter coaching plan to help you reset your relationship with your phone and waste less time on it. You can sign up for it here.

In other news …

Voters in Illinois have filed a petition to remove Donald Trump from the state’s Republican primary ballot, echoing efforts in other states to bar the former president from returning to the White House over his role in the 6 January Capitol attack.

Police said a 17-year-old suspect killed a sixth grader and wounded five others in a shooting yesterday at a high school in Perry, Iowa. The suspect was identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at Perry high school, officials said. He is believed to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The young daughter of Kim Jong-un is seen as her father’s heir apparent, South Korea’s spy agency has said for the first time, after speculation that the North Korean ruler is grooming her to become the fourth member of the dynasty to lead the country since its foundation more than seven decades ago.

Stat of the day: New York mayor sues bus operators that brought migrants from Texas for $708m

New York City has sued 17 charter bus companies that transported migrants from Texas, the mayor, Eric Adams, announced yesterday. The lawsuit, filed in New York state court in Manhattan, says the city is seeking $708m from the firms because that was the cost it incurred to house the people and provide services to them over the past two years. In that time, more than 33,000 people were bussed to the city as part of Operation Lone Star, which was born from what the Texas Republican governor, Greg Abbott, called “Biden’s reckless open-border policies”.

Don’t miss this: reduce, reuse, refuse – tips to cut down plastic use in your kitchen

Cutting boards, non-stick pans, mixing bowls, even teabags: in the kitchen, plastics can be hidden in plain sight. It’s something that Jessica Brinkworth, an anthropology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, realized once she began looking for ways to cut down on plastic use in her own kitchen after her workplace started doing the same. Although much of her lab’s waste was unavoidable – plastics are key for the sterile medical research they conduct – it still made her uncomfortable. That discomfort was only magnified in her own home, where she knew plastics were “largely a matter of convenience”.

Every year, we dump 10m tons of plastic into the ocean, and solving the problem will require regulatory action. But there are ways consumers can help.

Climate check: Germany’s emissions hit 70-year low as it reduces reliance on coal

Germany’s emissions hit a 70-year low last year as Europe’s largest economy reduced its reliance on coal. A study by the thinktank Agora Energiewende found that Germany emitted 673m tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, 73m tons fewer than in 2022. The drop was “largely attributable to a strong decrease in coal power generation”, Agora said, accounting for a reduction of 46m tons in CO2 emissions. Emissions from industry fell significantly, largely due to a decline in production by energy-intensive companies. Electricity generation from renewable sources was more than 50% of the total in 2023 for the first time, while coal’s share dropped to 26% from 34%, according to the federal network agency.

Last Thing: biggest male funnel-web spider labelled ‘Hercules’ found north of Sydney

With fangs that could pierce a human fingernail, the largest male specimen of the world’s most venomous arachnid has found a new home at the Australian Reptile Park where it will help save lives after a member of the public discovered it by chance. The potentially deadly Sydney funnel-web spider named “Hercules” was found on the Central Coast, about 5o miles north of Sydney. Spider experts from the nearby park retrieved it and soon realised it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia. Hercules will contribute to the reptile park’s antivenom program. Safely captured spiders handed in by the public undergo “milking” to extract venom, essential for producing life-saving antivenom.

Sign up

First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.

Get in touch

If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com