Witkoff Set To Meet Iran Envoy In Istanbul For Rare Direct Nuclear Talks

 At this point it it seems clear that President Trump is not quite ready to order a major attack on Iran, after last week threatening to do so, and weighing military options. Instead, Washington and Tehran could be inching back toward direct contact.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to meet on Friday in Istanbul to discuss a possible nuclear deal, Axios reports.

If it actually happens (and the two sides don't escalate the rhetoric before then), it would mark the first face-to-face engagement between American and Iranian officials since talks collapsed amid the 12-day June war.

Still a lot could happen between now and the end of the week, as Axios also concedes:

A fourth source familiar with the planning said a meeting on Friday was "the best case scenario" but cautioned that nothing is final until it happens.

Iranian foreign Miniser Araghchi has stressed that "Iran is ready for diplomacy" but has also spelled out that "diplomacy is incompatible with pressure, intimidation, and force." The Iranians are hopeful about potential renewed direct contacts with Washington, however.

There's been reports of a lot of behind the scenes diplomatic scrambling in order to head off war, especially by Egypt, and Qatar.

But Washington's demands have remain unchanged. This reportedly includes Trump insisting on zero uranium enrichment, and restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Tehran has expressed that it is willing to dialogue on the nuclear issue, but that it will not limit or reduce its ballistic missile capabilities, given especially that Israel is not willing to do the same, and the Islamic Republic has already come under unprovoked Israeli attack. Such would be tantamount to national self-destruction and handing Israel an easy, cost-free victory.

Trump:

Qasem Soleimani was the military leader of Iran.

If he lived, that attack we made on Iran would not have been the same thing. He was a great general.

They don't have that now.

Source: The Dan Bongino Show pic.twitter.com/xxL4u6fAsk

— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 2, 2026

In a recent interview with CNN, Araghchi said indirect contacts with Washington via regional intermediaries had been "fruitful" while at the same time warning that a wider war would be "a disaster for everybody."

"Trump has yet to say whether and how he might use force," the WSJ wrote over the weekend. "But American airstrikes on Iran aren’t imminent, U.S. officials say, because the Pentagon is moving in additional air defenses to better protect Israel, Arab allies and American forces in the event of a retaliation by Iran and a potential prolonged conflict."

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/witkoff-set-meet-iran-envoy-istanbul-rare-direct-nuclear-talks

Clintons Bend The Knee To Comer, Agree To Testify In House Epstein Inquiry

 Just hours after Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) rebuffed Bill and Hillary Clinton's attorney's last-ditch conditional offer, the former president and former secretary of state appear to have acquiesced and agreed to key demands from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to testify about Jeffrey Epstein in a closed-door deposition.

The initial correspondence, obtained by CNN, revealed that the Clintons’ team has been in search of an off-ramp for days.

Attorneys for Bill and Hillary have been in discussion with the Republican-led committee multiple times since lawmakers from both parties voted in January to hold the Clintons in contempt for refusing to appear for in-person depositions as part of the panel’s investigation into Epstein.

“It has been nearly six months since your clients first received the Committee’s subpoena, more than three months since the original date of their depositions, and nearly three weeks since they failed to appear for their depositions commensurate with the Committee’s lawful subpoenas,” Comer wrote.

“Your clients’ desire for special treatment is both frustrating and an affront to the American people’s desire for transparency.”

As CNN reports, according to the letter dated January 31, the Clintons’ lawyers laid out the terms under which the former president would sit for a voluntary, transcribed interview.

He would sit for four hours in New York City for an interview limited to the scope of the Epstein probe, they said.

Lawmakers from both parties and their staff could ask questions, and the lawyers said both the Clintons and the committee could have their own transcriber present, according to the letter.

Comer rejected the offer from the Clintons’ attorneys as “unreasonable” and said he could not accept such terms.

He could not agree, he said, to changing the interview from a sworn deposition to a voluntary interview, and rejected the way in which the attorneys sought to limit the interview’s scope. 

“But given that he has already failed to appear for a deposition and has refused for several months to provide the Committee with in-person testimony, the Committee cannot simply have faith that President Clinton will not refuse to answer questions at a transcribed interview, resulting in the Committee being right back where it is today,” the Kentucky Republican wrote.

By rejecting the Clintons’ initial offer, Comer had all but ensured that the House would hold a final vote this week on the contempt resolutions.

“Your clients’ desire for special treatment is both frustrating and an affront to the American people’s desire for transparency,” Mr. Comer wrote in a letter to the Clintons’ lawyers on Monday that was also obtained by The New York Times.

Indeed, as The NYTimes reports, after some Democrats on the panel joined Republicans in a vote to recommend charging them with criminal contempt, an extraordinary first step in referring them to the Justice Department for prosecution, the Clintons ultimately waved the white flag and agreed to fully comply with Mr. Comer’s demands.

In an email sent to Mr. Comer on Monday evening, attorneys for the Clintons said their clients would “appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates” and asked that the House not move forward with a contempt vote, which had been slated for Wednesday.

However, it was not immediately clear Monday evening whether Comer would accept the Clintons' terms and, subsequently, whether the contempt votes would still take place.

Comer said:

"The Clintons' counsel has said they agree to terms, but those terms lack clarity yet again and they have provided no dates for their depositions. The only reason they have said they agree to terms is because the House has moved forward with contempt."

"I will clarify the terms they are agreeing to and then discuss next steps with my committee members," Comer said in a statement.

For Mr. Clinton to testify in the Epstein investigation would be nearly unprecedented.

No former president has appeared before Congress since 1983, when President Gerald R. Ford did so to discuss the celebration of the 1987 bicentennial of the enactment of the Constitution.

When Mr. Trump was subpoenaed in 2022 by the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, after he had left office, he sued the panel to try to block it. The panel ultimately withdrew the subpoena.

It was a victory for the Republican chairman, shifting the focus of his panel’s Epstein investigation onto prominent Democrats who once associated with the disgraced financier and his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/clintons-bend-knee-comer-agree-testify-house-epstein-inquiry

Crude oil prices plunge on broad commodities selloff, reduced U.S.-Iran risks

 Oil fell sharply as geopolitical risk premiums faded after US President Donald Trump said Washington is talking with Iran, while a broader commodities selloff exacerbated the slide.

West Texas Intermediate plummeted 4.7% to settle near $62 a barrel, the biggest loss since June, while Brent futures also nosedived. Trump downplayed Iran supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s threats of a regional war over the weekend, reiterating he’s hopeful they’ll make a deal. 

The Islamic Republic’s foreign ministry said it hopes diplomatic efforts will avert a war. White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are set to meet in Istanbul on Friday, Axios reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. 

“The move lower looks more like a positioning reset than a fundamental shift,” said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Karobaar Capital LP. “With no new supply shock, oil is giving back some risk premium as the market recalibrates after pricing in near-term disruption that just didn’t materialize.”

Oil Sinks on Fading Geopolitical Risk Premium | Witkoff, Araghchi are set to hold Iran talks on Friday© NYMEX, Bloomberg

Crude was also hit as commodities — particularly metals — came under intense selling pressure. Gold fell as much as 10%, and copper at one point dropped more than 5% as they continued a retreat that started on Friday. 

The precipitous drop comes on the back of WTI’s biggest monthly increase since 2023, supported by broad-based flows into commodities during the same period. The prospect of conflict with Iran and pockets of supply disruption led to a surprisingly tight first month of the year. Still, the wider backdrop is one of elevated supplies, particularly in the first half of 2026. 

At current prices, the sharp reversal will trigger selling from trend-following commodity trading advisors, according to James Taylor, head of the quant service at consultant Energy Aspects. More selling would come if Brent falls below $65 a barrel, he added, noting that large levels of options open interest could also exacerbate price swings.

Rapid shifts in financial flows have amplified the moves in oil prices so far this year. Traders began the year with bumper short positions that have quickly reversed after weeks of geopolitical tumult.

Elsewhere, the US and India reached a trade agreement cutting tariffs on Indian goods after Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed during a phone call to stop buying Russian oil. Shipments of Moscow’s crude to Indian ports have tumbled toward the lowest in more than three years, contributing to a growing pool of unsold sanctioned barrels across the globe. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/oil-plunges-as-iran-risks-ease-and-commodities-selloff-deepens/ar-AA1Vulsu?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds

Border Czar Homan Says More Than 145,000 Illegal Immigrant Children Located

 by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

U.S. authorities have located more than 145,000 illegal immigrant children who were previously unaccounted for under the Biden administration, border czar Tom Homan said on Jan. 30.

Homan said the findings came as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the FBI, and the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement continue efforts to locate “more than 300,000 unaccompanied alien children” whom he said had been “turned over to unvetted sponsors, lost track of, and weren’t looking forward” under the Biden administration.

“Through their outstanding efforts, they have so far been able to locate more than 145,000,” the border czar said on X. Homan did not provide details on the status or condition of the children.

“President [Donald] Trump promised that we would find these children, and under his strong leadership and with his unwavering support, the patriots at these, and other partner, agencies have been—and will continue to do—just that,” he added.

The investigation followed an August 2024 report by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of Inspector General, which showed that more than 323,000 illegal immigrant children were unaccounted for in the United States.

Of those, more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children had not been served court notices by ICE as of May 2024, while another 32,000 were served notices to appear in court but failed to do so, according to the report.

The Trump administration has launched efforts to find and track these children after taking office in January last year. In December, federal agencies located more than 129,143 illegal immigrant children, according to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

“Too many of these children were exploited, trafficked, and abused. We will continue to ramp up efforts and will not stop until every last child is found,” Noem said on Dec. 19, 2025.

DHS said last November that ICE launched an initiative with state and local law enforcement to conduct welfare checks on 450,000 illegal immigrant children who were placed with unvetted sponsors under the Biden administration. The initiative aims to ensure children’s safety and protect them from exploitation, the agency said.

DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Trump administration has located more than 24,400 of those children through visits and door-to-door checks.

“Many of the children who came across the border unaccompanied were allowed to be placed with sponsors who were smugglers and sex traffickers,” McLaughlin said in a November 2025 statement.

“We’ve jump-started our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children.”

“President Trump and Secretary Noem are laser-focused on protecting children and will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” she added.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/border-czar-homan-says-more-145000-illegal-immigrant-children-located

Possible Las Vegas ‘biological lab’ may be linked to illegal medical lab in Cal.

 A possible biological laboratory found at a home in Las Vegas on Saturday may be connected to a similar incident in California, where officials found infectious agents such as HIV and malaria, the 8 News Now Investigators at Nexstar’s KLAS have learned.

Police and the FBI searched the Las Vegas home, finding a “possible biological laboratory,” including “refrigerators with vials containing unknown liquids,” police said. Shortly before 6 a.m., a Metro SWAT team served a search warrant at the home on Sugar Springs Drive to search for a possible “biological laboratory.”

A second location was also searched, but no lab was located.

An LLC tied to the Sugar Springs home’s county records matches the name of a company that is part of an ongoing federal case in California involving a biological laboratory there. In that case, a Chinese citizen faces federal charges for allegedly manufacturing and distributing misbranded medical devices, according to federal prosecutors.

Neighbors say home with alleged bio lab was under surveillance

As part of that investigation, local and federal officials raided the suspected biolab in Reedley, California, in Fresno County.

“Inside the Reedley Biolab, officials observed blood, tissue and other bodily fluid samples and serums; and thousands of vials of unlabeled fluids and suspected biological material,’ raising the concern that they contained pathogens,” according to a federal report from the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Some of these vials were labeled with the names of pathogens in English or Mandarin.”

Investigators also located “pathogen-labeled containers” with labels such as “dengue fever,” “HIV,” and “malaria,” the report said, along with 1,000 mice.

Items seized from the Reedley, California, biolab. (Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party)

The man connected to the Reedley biolab remained in federal custody ahead of a spring trial. His name is listed as the registered agent of the Las Vegas-based company that owns the Sugar Springs Drive property. The LLC purchased the home in 2022. In December of that year, the illegal operation in Reedley was discovered by local officials, Nexstar’s KSEE/KGPE reported.

Two other people connected to the LLC are tied to a Spring Valley business address. The company appears to have a warehouse location in Las Vegas as well, according to documents.

In court documents, the man previously told a judge he no longer runs the companies, though he remained listed in Nevada business records as of Sunday. There was no indication as of Sunday that he was charged with a crime connected to Saturday’s raid.

During a joint news conference with the FBI on Saturday, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill noted one person was in custody connected to the raid; however, no case appeared filed in state or federal court as of Sunday.

The EPA was called in to clean up the chemicals at the illegal Reedley lab in 2024.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill nor the FBI elaborated on what substances or other materials police seized from the Las Vegas home. The 8 News Now Investigators have learned samples from the lab will be shipped to the FBI for testing.

McMahill added that this was an isolated incident and there was no threat to the public.

Neighbors told 8 News Now that the home was under surveillance before the raid.

Last year, three California congressmen sponsored a bill in the House aimed at preventing illegal and unregulated laboratories like the one found in Reedley. It was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in October, records show.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5717786-possible-las-vegas-biological-lab-may-be-linked-to-illegal-medical-lab-in-california/

Planned Parenthood drops challenge over Trump administration Medicaid cuts

 The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) has filed to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit against the Trump administration that sought to challenge the decision to cut off Medicaid funding to abortion providers.

The PPFA on Friday filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts.

The organization filed its lawsuit in July of last year after President Trump signed the GOP’s budget reconciliation bill, which included a section that disallowed federal funding from going to abortion providers.

The PPFA sought to have this portion of the bill declared unconstitutional and sought to exclude Planned Parenthood members that do not provide abortions.

“The goal of this lawsuit has always been to help Planned Parenthood patients get the care they deserve from their trusted provider. Based on the 1st Circuit’s decision, it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to accomplish that goal,” the PPFA, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah said in a joint statement.

A network of medical clinics in Maine filed a similar lawsuit last year challenging the funding cuts. This lawsuit was filed around the same time as the PPFA’s, seeking appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.

After plaintiffs were denied their requested preliminary injunction, they moved to halt legal proceedings in October. At the time, they also cited the fact that the federal government had shut down and attorneys for the government were unable to work. Attorneys for the plaintiffs stated in court filings that they did not plan to appeal to the Supreme Court, and they ultimately filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in December.

The PPFA cited this unfavorable legal outcome in their decision to voluntarily dismiss their own lawsuit.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of the PPFA, said the latest decision did not change the organization’s mission.

“Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust. That will never change. Care continues, as does our commitment to fighting for everyone’s freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures,” she said in a statement.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5719397-planned-parenthood-lawsuit-dismissal-trump/