First Thing: Jeffrey Epstein advised Steve Bannon during 2018 pro-Trump media campaign

Text messages released by US House show convicted sex offender coaching Maga influencer on political messaging. Plus, readers’ favourite photo booth moments 100 years after its invention Good morning. The convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein apparently served as a behind-the-scenes adviser to the former Trump official and Maga influencer Steve Bannon during an August 2018 media campaign to defend Trump and his agenda, and to promote Bannon’s media ventures. What else has been released in the flood of recent Epstein emails? Among many, many other things, one email shows an…

Chinese Worker in Pakistan Is Arrested on Blasphemy Charges

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Chinese worker on a dam project in northern Pakistan has been arrested and imprisoned on accusations of blasphemy, in a rare case of a foreigner being swept up in Pakistan’s harsh and controversial blasphemy laws. The Chinese man was identified in a Pakistani police report as “Mr. Tian” and described as a transportation supervisor at the Dasu hydropower project, led by China’s Gezhouba Group construction and engineering company. The police report, which was obtained by The New York Times, said the man was on a field…