Alex Ritson

I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Tuesday the 10th of February, these are our main stories. Members of the US Congress get to see the unredacted Epstein files held by the US Justice Department. Britain's King Charles says he's ready to support any police investigation into his brother Andrew. Keir Starmer defies some predictions and is still UK Prime Minister, despite calls to step down.

Also in this podcast. Clashes in Sydney, Australia, as demonstrators take to the streets to protest against a visit by the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.

The fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to reverberate in the United States and beyond. Members of Congress in Washington can now view the millions of documents from the investigation into the sex offender without the extensive redactions made by the Justice Department. According to a letter sent to lawmakers they're not allowed to take anyone with them.

He can take notes, but not make electronic copies. The senior Democrat congressman Jamie Raskin viewed some of the unredacted files, and after seeing them, he said that it wasn't necessary to censor so many.

As we've just heard there, some members of Congress who've seen these files claim that the Justice Department redacted or withheld names of prominent people in Epstein's circle without any clear justification, suggesting that they weren't solely protected for privacy reasons, that it could be to save them from public embarrassment or worse. The congressman Thomas Massey, who's a republican,

He said what bothered him were the names of at least six men that had been redacted that were likely incriminated, he said, by their inclusion in these files. At the same time, they say that, and we've known this for some time, that some of the victims, the survivors' identities were released in the files, which survivors' advocates have been strongly criticizing now for well over a week.

Mitä voimme toivoa seuraavassa pitkäaikaisessa tutkimuksessa Epsteinin ja hänen vaikutuksensa? Ehdottomasti on paljon asioita, jotka voivat edelleen tapahtua. Järjestäjät, kuten puheenjohtaja, joita olemme juuri kuulleet, ja muita, ovat suosittaneet, että he voivat hankkia aiemmin kirjoitettuja nimisiä, jotka ovat todennäköisesti syrjittyneitä. Se olisi melko iso asia, jos se olisi tapahtunut. Jos nimet ihmisistä olisivat osoittaneet,

There could well be formal hearings in the House Judiciary Committee and continuing in the House Oversight Committee. Lawmakers may want to publicly question whether Department of Justice officials, how they handle these files and why so many redactions remain. There are so many questions about that.

This will be a key event. Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to give depositions before the House Oversight Committee, and they have insisted themselves that this be in public, quite possibly televised live.

And Peter, there was another development today. Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell appeared before a US congressional panel. Maxwell, of course, serving a 20-year jail sentence for sex trafficking and video of her appearance from prison in Texas has been released. Miss Maxwell, did you at any time play any role in Jeffrey Epstein's activities involving the recruitment, grooming or trafficking of young women or girls?

So Peter, Ghislaine Maxwell was exercising her right to silence to avoid incriminating herself, but her lawyers did speak at the hearing. What did they say? Yes, her response was expected, but what the lawyer, David Marcus, had to say was...

Interesting. He said Maxwell would be willing to testify fully and honestly if President Trump granted her clemency, so a pardon or a commutation of her sentence. Now his argument is that it would allow her to provide a complete account of what happened without fear of self-incrimination. Now we know from past statements from the President that while he has broadly insisted that he hasn't given this much thought...

He has, at least at the last time that he was asked about this, he said that he hadn't ruled anything in or out. Peter Bowes in Los Angeles. Here in Britain, King Charles has issued a rare statement expressing concern about the continuing revelations relating to his brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsors' friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Prince and Princess of Wales also put out a statement.

There's been mounting pressure on the royal family over the scandal. Earlier police in England confirmed they were assessing a complaint from the anti-monarchy group Republic relating to the former Duke of York's work with previous British governments. Helena Wilkinson reports.

Eleanor Wilkinson. He's safe, for now. I'm talking about Keir Starmer, whose future as the British Prime Minister and leader of the governing Labour Party was in jeopardy on Monday following an explosive intervention from Anna Sarwa, the Labour leader in Scotland.

He said that the prime minister should resign after months of plummeting poll ratings, policy u-turns and his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the British ambassador to the US. But soon after, Keir Starmer's ministers fully backed him before he addressed MPs on Monday evening. One of them said he delivered an almighty performance as he pleaded for a second chance.

Labour's deputy leader Lucy Powell was asked whether she was confident that he would still be prime minister this time next year.

Olen erittäin varma, ja en usko, ettei pysty olemaan tuolla tilalla tänään, eikä tunne samaa varmaa. Keer on jo kokeillut vaikeuksia, ja hän on erittäin stoikki. Hän on erittäin vahva henkilö. Hän tuli tänään ja puhui kärsivästi, ja hän omistui sitä, hän omistui sitä, mitä tapahtui, ja hän luo, miten hän oppii siitä ja muuttaa asioita.

He asked for everyone's support in what is a real fight of our lives and the future of democracy. He got everyone's support tonight very, very resoundingly and clearly. But another Labour MP, Simon Ofer, who also heard the Prime Minister speak on Monday evening, was sceptical about his future.

He may be mortally wounded now. I think that's the feeling I get. I don't know how he'll actually get out of this. I think Keir has to clear his name. We're not sure whether he'll be able to do that. He's apologised for what he's done with Manderson. A lot of people in the party are very angry about what's happened. I think at the moment support is partial for him. Let's put it that way.