5 Big News Stories Overnight - Sunday, February 1, 2026

U.S.: Seattle, Looks to Find Housing for Homeless Before World Cup

Politico reports:

The self-described socialist mayor of Seattle has responded to President Donald Trump’s threat to remove World Cup matches from her city with an audacious gesture of her own: a mission to find housing for her city’s homeless before the first tournament match kicks off there in June.

Mayor Katie Wilson’s goal represents the boldest commitment by an American leader to remake the local policy landscape in preparation for the summer soccer extravaganza distributed across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“The World Cup gives us a pretty aggressive timeline for trying to bring people inside with the support that they need, as opposed to sweeping people to other neighborhoods,” Wilson told POLITICO in her first interview on the topic after entering office. “Folks who are experiencing homelessness downtown often also have complex challenges related to drug use and mental illness.”

United Kingdom: Call by PM for Andrew to Testify

The Guardian reports:

Keir Starmer has said Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor should testify before the US Congress about his links to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The prime minister, who is in Japan for a meeting with its premier, Sanae Takaichi, was asked by journalists if the former prince should apologise to the disgraced financier’s victims and give evidence about what he knew about his crimes.

Mounbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his titles last year amid the fallout from his friendship with the billionaire, features heavily in the latest tranche of Epstein files, released on Friday by the US justice department.

The king’s brother appears to be pictured crouching over a woman who is lying on the floor. The cache of documents also includes emails which indicate Mountbatten-Windsor invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace in September 2010, two years after he was convicted of soliciting girls as young as 14 for sex.

PHOTO: U.S. DOJ

U.S.: President Trump Says No Response to Riots in Democratic Cities

Trump posted to social media:

I have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help. We will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists. Please be aware that I have instructed ICE and/or Border Patrol to be very forceful in this protection of Federal Government Property. There will be no spitting in the faces of our Officers, there will be no punching or kicking the headlights of our cars, and there will be no rock or brick throwing at our vehicles, or at our Patriot Warriors. If there is, those people will suffer an equal, or more, consequence. In the meantime, by copy of this Statement, I am informing Local Governments, as I did in Los Angeles when they were rioting at the end of the Biden Term, that you must protect your own State and Local Property. In addition, it is your obligation to also protect our Federal Property, Buildings, Parks, and everything else. We are there to protect Federal Property, only as a back up, in that it is Local and State Responsibility to do so. Last night in Eugene, Oregon, these criminals broke into a Federal Building, and did great damage, also scaring and harassing the hardworking employees. Local Police did nothing in order to stop it. We will not let that happen anymore! If Local Governments are unable to handle the Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Anarchists, we will immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically, just as we did the Los Angeles Riots one year ago, where the Police Chief said that, “We couldn’t have done it without the help of the Federal Government.” Therefore, to all complaining Local Governments, Governors, and Mayors, let us know when you are ready, and we will be there — But, before we do so, you must use the word, “PLEASE.” Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE — ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property. We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form. I was elected on a Policy of Border Control (which has now been perfected!), National Security, and LAW AND ORDER — That’s what America wants, and that’s what America is getting! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
 
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

U.S.: LA Olympic Boss Ties to Maxwell

LA Times reports

The latest cache of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released Friday include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner.

In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes about wanting to see Maxwell in a tight leather outfit, she offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a statement released Saturday, Wasserman said he regretted his correspondence with Maxwell, which he said occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

PHOTO: U.S. Justice Department

U.S.: Confidence in Trump Dips, and Fewer Now Say They Support His Policies and Plans

Pew Research finds:

A year into his second administration, Americans’ views of President Donald Trump – already more negative than positive – have continued to slip.

[A stacked bar chart showing that half of Americans say Trump’s actions have been worse than they expected.]

Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall.
By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%).
Only about a quarter of Americans today (27%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.

A new Pew Research Center survey of 8,512 U.S. adults, conducted Jan. 20-26, also finds that – across six key qualities and abilities needed to serve as president – more Americans express little or no confidence in Trump than say they are extremely or very confident in him.