PARIS (AP) — Paris prosecutors opened two new investigations Wednesday into potential sex abuse crimes and financial wrongdoing linked to Jeffrey Epstein and called on possible victims to come forward.
Paris prosecutor Laurence Beccuau said investigators will rely on files released by the U.S. administration related to the late financier and convicted sex offender, as well as media reports and new complaints that are being filed.
One investigation will focus on sex abuse crimes, the other on financial wrongdoing, each involving specialized magistrates, she said on France Info news broadcaster.
The move comes after the release by the U.S. Justice Department of more than 3 million pages of documents, as well as thousands of videos and photos related to Epstein, who died behind bars in 2019.
“These publications will inevitably reactivate the trauma of certain victims,” she said. “We are convinced that some (victims) are not necessarily known to us, and that perhaps these publications will lead them to come forward.”
She called on victims who may have never spoken up before to file formal complaints or make witness accounts to feed French and foreign investigations.
Beccuau also said some material from old investigations is to be revisited in the light of new revelations.
She was referring to the investigation into a French modeling agent, Jean-Luc Brunel, accused of rape and the sex trafficking of minors.
The probe was closed in 2022 after he was found dead in his jail cell in Paris. Brunel, a frequent companion of Epstein, was considered central to the French investigation into alleged sexual exploitation of women and girls by Epstein and his circle.
Epstein traveled often to France and had apartments in Paris.
In France, the highest-profile figure impacted by the recent release of the Epstein files in France is former Culture Minister Jack Lang, 86, who stepped down earlier this month as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris over suspicions of tax fraud.
The financial prosecutors' office opened an investigation into Lang and his daughter Caroline Lang’s alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein through an offshore company based in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea.
In a separate case, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot last week said he informed prosecutors of allegations involving a senior French diplomat, Fabrice Aidan, in relation with the Epstein files. “I am also launching an administrative investigation ... and a disciplinary procedure,” Barrot said in a post on X, without providing details on allegations.
Aidan’s name is mentioned over 200 times in the Epstein files, with exchanges dating back to 2010 when he was working at the United Nations suggesting he shared diplomatic documents with the American financier.
Emails also show Aidan's apparent close relationship with Terje Rød-Larsen, a high-profile Norwegian diplomat facing scrutiny over contacts with Epstein, along with his wife.
Aidan's lawyer Jade Dousselin said in a written statement her client denies any wrongdoing and called on respecting the principle of the presumption of innocence.
FILE - In this Aug.13, 2019 file photo, a man walks his dog next to an apartment building owned by Jeffrey Epstein in Paris. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is set to hold a high-level meeting Wednesday on the Gaza ceasefire deal and Israel's efforts to expand control in the West Bank before world leaders head to Washington to discuss the future of the Palestinian territories at the
first gathering of President Donald Trump's Board of Peace.
The U.N. session in New York was originally scheduled for Thursday but was moved up after Trump announced the board's meeting for that same date and it became clear that it would complicate travel plans for diplomats planning to attend both. It is a sign of the potential for overlapping and conflicting agendas between the United Nations’ most powerful body and Trump’s new initiative, whose broader ambitions to broker global conflicts have raised concerns in some countries that it may attempt to rival the U.N. Security Council.
Asked what he hopes to see from the back-to-back meetings this week, Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters: “We expect from the international community to stop Israel and end their illegal effort against annexation, whether in Washington or in New York.”
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, among others, are expected to attend the monthly Mideast meeting of the 15-member council after many Arab and Islamic countries requested last week that it discuss Gaza and Israel's contentious West Bank settlement project before some of them head to Washington.
The board to be chaired by Trump was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing his 20-point plan for Gaza’s future. But the Republican president's ambitious new vision for the board to be a mediator of worldwide conflicts has led to skepticism from major allies.
While more than 20 countries have so far accepted an invitation to join the board, close U.S. partners, including France, Germany and others, have opted not to join yet and renewed support for the U.N., which also is in the throes of major reforms and funding cuts.
Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., dismissed concerns about the composition of the Board of Peace, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in an interview Monday that the most relevant countries, including Qatar and Egypt, which are in touch with Hamas' leadership, have accepted the invitation.
“All of those countries are on the Board of Peace, singing the same tune as the United States,” he said.
The Security Council will be meeting a day after nearly all of its 15 members — minus the United States — and dozens of other diplomats joined Palestinian ambassador Mansour as he read a statement on behalf of 80 countries and several organizations condemning Israel's latest actions in the West Bank, demanding an immediate reversal and underlining “strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
Israel, whose U.N. mission did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday's meeting, is launching a contentious land regulation process that will deepen its control in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said it amounts to “de facto sovereignty” that will block the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Outraged Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights groups have called the moves an illegal annexation of the territory, home to roughly 3.4 million Palestinians who seek it for a future state.
The U.N. meeting also is expected to delve into the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10 after more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. The U.K., which currently holds the presidency of the council, said the meeting will include briefings by U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo and by Israeli and Palestinian civil society representatives for the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks.
Aspects of the ceasefire deal have moved forward, including Hamas releasing all the hostages it was holding and increased amounts of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, though the U.N. says the level is insufficient. A new technocratic committee has been appointed to administer Gaza’s daily affairs.
But the most challenging steps lie ahead, including the deployment of an international security force, disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza.
Trump said this week that the Board of Peace members have pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and will commit thousands of personnel to international stabilization and police forces for the territory. He didn't provide details. Indonesia’s military says up to 8,000 of its troops are expected to be ready by the end of June for a potential deployment to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn to the White House after arriving on Marine One Monday evening, Feb. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
FILE - The symbol of the United Nations is displayed outside the Secretariat Building, Feb. 28, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
