Feb 5 (Reuters) - At least 216 militants have been killed in all in Pakistan's Balochistan province and the security operation launched against them has ended, Pakistan's military said on Thursday.
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COPENHAGEN, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Danish shipping giant Maersk on Thursday reported fourth-quarter operating profit broadly in line with expectations and warned that falling freight rates, compounded by ongoing industry challenges, would weigh on earnings in 2026.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
Microsoft co-founderBill Gatesreaddressed his ties to Jeffrey Epstein after the Justice Department releasedthree million more documentsfrom the case, saying he was "foolish" to spend time with the late financier and convicted sex offender.
In an interview withNine News Australia, Gates added that he "regrets every minute" he spent with the disgraced wealth manager. He denied allegations that were mentioned in draft emails from Epstein's account, including that he used Epstein to facilitate trysts with women and that he hid a sexually transmitted disease from his then-wife,Melinda French Gates.
"Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent," Gates told the news outlet. "The email is false. So I don't know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way? It just reminds me, every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize that I did that."
Gates said he met Epstein in 2011 and had a "number of dinners with him." The focus of the relationship, according to Gates, was to discuss business opportunities.
"The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health," Gates added. "In retrospect, that was a dead end. I was foolish to spend time with him. I was one of many people who regret ever knowing him."
Gates also denied visiting Epstein's island, where Epstein was accused of trafficking and assaulting women, and having relations with other women.
"The more that comes out, the more clear it will be that, although the time was a mistake, it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior," Gates said.
The interview comes after internaldocuments related to Epsteinrevealed his connections to many prominent people in politics, finance, academia, and business. Gates, along with PresidentDonald Trumpand former PresidentBill Clinton, were named in the millions of files the Justice Department collected. All three have denied any wrongdoing.
Epsteindied in a Manhattan jail in 2019while awaiting a federal sex-trafficking trial. His death wasruled a suicide.
Conspiracy theorieshave swirled for years about whether other rich and powerful people may have participated with Epstein in sex crimes. Many alleged victimssay more people should be held accountable.
Documents reveal new names:Who is in the latest Epstein files release?
Documents released from the Epstein files indicate that Gates and Epstein met repeatedly after Epstein's prison term to discuss expanding the Microsoft founder's philanthropic efforts. They also include pictures of Gates posing with women whose faces are redacted.
Aphoto released in December 2025showed Gates alongside Epstein wearing suits, but the context of the image remains unclear. On Jan. 30, the Justice Department released three million more pages of documents from the Epstein files, which mentioned Gates, billionaire tech executiveElon Musk, andTrump.
On July 18, 2013, Epstein sent two emails to himself, including one containing unverified allegations that the former Microsoft CEO contracted a sexually transmitted infection from having extramarital "sex with Russian girls" requiring antibiotics, according to afile shared by the Justice Department.
The other email was a resignation letter, which appeared to be written from the perspective of someone named "Boris," condemning Gates for choosing to "disregard our friendship developed of over the last 6 years."
"In my role as his right hand I had been asked on mulitple occassion and in hindsight , wrongly acquiesced into participating in things that have ranged from the morally inappropriate, to the ethically unsound and had been repeatedly asked to do other things that get near and potentially over the line into the illegal," the email reads.
Gates has said the relationship was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and has said it was a mistake to meet with him.
Epstein files:Melinda French Gates says Bill Gates must 'answer to' Epstein claims
Following the latest batch of documents released from the Epstein files,French Gatessaid it is not her responsibility to answer questions about her ex-husband's ties to Epstein.
"Whatever questions remain there of what I don't — can't even begin to know all of it — those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me," she said in the upcoming Thursday, Feb. 5, episode ofNPR's "Wild Card" podcast.
In 2021, French Gates and Gatesannounced their divorceafter 27 years of marriage. French Gates later left the Gates Foundation in 2024, a decision she said she felt she had to make.
"Unbelievable sadness," she told Rachel Martin, host of NPR's "Wild Card" podcast. "I had to leave my marriage. I wanted to leave my marriage."
Contributing: Anthony Robledo, Erin Mansfield, Kathryn Palmer, and Jayme Fraser, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Bill Gates says he was 'foolish' to spend time with Jeffrey Epstein
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and had nine assists, Jaylon Tyson added 17 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Los Angeles Clippers 124-89 on Wednesday night, hours after the teams completed a trade of All-Stars.
TheCavaliers sent guard Darius Garland to the Clippersin exchange for James Harden. Neither took the court for their new teams.
Jarrett Allen scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dennis Schroder added 11 points in his Cavaliers debut and Keon Ellis had 6 points in his first game with the Cavaliers, who won for the seventh time in eight games. Schroder and Ellis were acquired from Sacramento in a three-team trade Sunday.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and John Collins added 19 for the Clippers, who lost consecutive games for the first time since a five-game losing streak in December.
Rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 10 points and had eight rebounds for Los Angeles, which is 17-5 since Dec. 20, although most of that success was with Harden. The Clippers also were without starting center Ivica Zubac, who was out for the birth of his child.
The Cavaliers shot 51.0% from the floor and went 16 of 41 (39.0%) from 3-point range. The Clippers shot 6 of 28 (21.4%) from 3-point range and had 24 turnovers that the Cavs turned into 47 points.
The Cavaliers raced out to a 20-point lead late in the first quarter, with the Clippers pulling within 46-38 just past the midway point of the second quarter. Cleveland surged to a 62-42 lead at halftime.
The Clippers never threatened from there as the Cavaliers led by at least 20 through much of the third quarter and by 35 in the fourth.
Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. had 7 points in his return after he missed a month with a knee injury.
Cavaliers: At Sacramento on Saturday.
Clippers: At Sacramento on Friday.
AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/nba
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist and the Vegas Golden Knights snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.
Ivan Barbashev scored a goal for the fourth straight game, and Cole Reinhardt, Pavel Dorofayev and Alexander Holtz also had goals for the Knights. Mark Stone had a pair of assists.
Akira Schmid made 21 saves, including aspectacular stopon Vancouver's Pierre-Olivier Joseph midway through the second period when he dove across the crease to snag the puck with his glove and preserve a 3-1 lead.
Elias N. Pettersson and Joseph had goals for the Canucks, who have now lost three in a row and six of their last seven games and remain in last place in the NHL. Teddy Blueger had a pair of assists and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.
After a scoreless first period, things heated up in the second when the teams combined to score on four straight shots, with all four goals coming in a span of 2:30 and Vegas taking a 3-1 lead.
With two third-period goals, the Golden Knights now have 75 third-period goals this season, the most in the NHL. Eichel has 21 multipoint games this season.
Canucks: At home against Winnipeg on Feb. 25.
Golden Knights: Host Los Angeles on Thursday night.
AP NHL:https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided byData Skriveand data fromSportradar.
