All passengers rescued from icebound Antarctic ship

January 2, 2014

Sydney, Jan 2: All 52 passengers were airlifted on Thursday from a Russian research vessel icebound in Antarctica and are safe on board an Australian supply ship, rescuers said.

"Aurora Australis has advised AMSA that the 52 passengers from the Akademik Shokalskiy are now on board," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

Passengers were flown to the Australian ship in groups of 12 by a helicopter from a Chinese icebreaker.

The Akademik Shokalsky has been stuck in ice since December 24 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont d'Urville, with several icebreaking attempts failing to reach it.

After a number of false starts a helicopter evacuation of the research vessel's passengers began on Thursday evening, with official confirmation that it was underway reaching AMSA at 6.15pm Australian time (0715 GMT).

The Australian agency, which is coordinating the rescue mission, reported all passengers were safey on board the Aurora Australis - an Australian government supply ship - at 10.15pm, some four hours later.

Passengers were airlifted from a makeshift landing pad on the ice beside the Russian ship to an ice floe near the Australis.

Expedition leader Chris Turney expressed relief that the wait was finally over.

"We've made it to the Aurora Australis safe and sound. A huge thanks to the Chinese and the (government's) Australian Antarctic Division for all their hard work," Turney tweeted.

Earlier:

Antarctic helicopter rescue of trapped ship passengers delayed due to sea ice

Moscow, Jan 2: A planned helicopter rescue of 52 passengers on a Russian ship stranded in Antarctic ice since Christmas Eve was delayed on Thursday due to unfavourable sea ice conditions in the area.

The helicopter on the Chinese icebreaker Snow Dragon had planned to lift passengers from the trapped Akademik Shokalskiy on Thursday and then use a barge to transport them to the nearby Aurora Australis, Australia's Antarctic supply ship. "Current sea ice conditions prevent the barge from Aurora Australis from reaching the Chinese vessel Xue Long (Snow Dragon) and a rescue may not be possible today," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue, said in a statement. It was not safe for the helicopter to land either on the Aurora Australis or next to the vessel, the agency added. "It is now likely the rescue will not go ahead today. The preferred option is to wait for conditions that will allow the rescue to be completed in a single operation to reduce unnecessary risk," AMSA said.

The Russian ship left New Zealand on November 28 on a private expedition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by famed Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. It became trapped on December 24, 100 nautical miles east of French Antarctic station Dumont D'Urville and about 1,500 nautical miles south of Australia's southern island state of Tasmania. The Chinese ship got within sight of the Akademik Shokalskiy on Saturday, but turned back after failing to break the ice, which was more than 3 metres (10 feet) deep in places. Two other vessels, Australia's Aurora Australis and a French flagged ship, also tried to help but failed to reach the ship due to high wind and heavy snow.

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Explosive new Epstein files reveal Donald Trump raped 13-year-old girl, murdered newborn

News Network

January 31,2026

The US Department of Justice has released millions of new documents linked to the case of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, before removing some pages that contained complaints mentioning President Donald Trump.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Friday that approximately 3.5 million files were published to comply with the Epstein Transparency Act, following criticism that the administration had missed a December 19 deadline set by Congress.

The documents include FBI communications and complaints submitted as tips, some of which list comments mentioning Trump and others who had social or professional ties to Epstein.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his past association with Epstein.

Pages removed from DOJ website

After their publication, pages containing complaints that mentioned Trump were removed from the DOJ website and now return a “page not found” message. Copies of the documents, however, have circulated widely on social media. CNN anchor Jake Tapper was among those who publicly noted that the pages had been taken down.

One complaint, filed by a friend of a victim, says Trump forced a girl aged 13–14 to perform “oral sex” approximately 35 years ago in New Jersey. The document states that an investigator was sent to Washington to conduct an interview.

Another complaint says Trump regularly paid an individual to perform sexual acts and adds that he was present when her newborn child was murdered by a relative. The paperwork notes that there was “no contact made” with the complainant.

A separate complaint, which provided no contact information, said “calendar girls” parties at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago involved children and sexual abuse. The document also names several public figures as present at such events.

In another account, a complainant said they witnessed a “sex trafficking ring” at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the mid-1990s. The person noted “threats” from Trump’s head of security if she spoke publicly about what she had seen.

Other figures mentioned in the files

The latest release also includes a draft email Epstein wrote to himself in 2013, referring to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In the message, Epstein said Gates asked him to delete emails and referenced “personal matters.”

The DOJ has not provided a detailed explanation for why certain pages were removed after publication. The department said the document release was ongoing.

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