A Florida woman who was paid $750,000 by a fund for people sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein has pleaded guilty to falsifying records she used in her application for the money.

Jennifer Percival, a scholar who has written books on autism, entered the plea in federal court in New York on Monday, the same day that she was charged in the case. A transcript of the proceeding was entered in the court record Wednesday.

During her brief court appearance, Percival didn’t speak about Epstein and prosecutors didn’t say whether they had reached a conclusion about whether she was, or wasn’t, one of his victims.

Percival, 46, said she applied in late 2020 to a fund set up by Epstein’s estate to compensate his victims after he killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. That fund, however, decided she was ineligible for a payment. Court records didn’t say why she was turned down.

Then, in 2024, she applied for a share of a new fund created by JPMorgan Chase, which had agreed to pay $290 million to Epstein victims to settle legal claims that the bank should have cut him off as a customer after he was publicly accused of being a serial sexual abuser of underage girls.

In support of that application, she falsely claimed the Epstein estate fund had found her eligible for compensation and paid her $500,000. She provided a copy of her rejection letter, but altered it to make it look like she had been approved.

“The purpose of these actions was to obtain money, which gave me a sense of validation,” she told a magistrate judge, according to the transcript of Monday’s court hearing.

Alex Ovechkin says he’s “for peace and love” after the Russian hockey star appeared in an ad for a party aligned with Vladimir Putin during the offseason.

The video for the United Russia party came to light this week, days before Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals held their annual media day Thursday. The NHL’s career goal-scoring leader is back with the Capitals for a 22nd season.

Ovechkin is seen in the commercial standing behind Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Longtime Soviet hockey star Viacheslav Fetisov also participated.

“I’m Russian, and I support my country,” Ovechkin said Thursday. “I’m for peace and love, and I hope in the world it doesn’t matter who you are, I hope everybody understands everybody wants peace, and everybody hope everything’s going to be OK in the world.”

Ovechkin said he did not hesitate to participate in the ad.

“They asked me to do that. I say yes,” he said. “So it’s as simple as that.”

Ovechkin previously voiced support for the Russian president in 2017 when he started a social movement called the “Putin Team.” At the time, he told reporters from the AP and The Washington Post, “I just support my country.”

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ovechkin said, “Please, no more war,” when asked about the situation. Asked then about his relationship with Putin, Ovechkin said: “He’s my president, but I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete.”

Russia’s parliamentary election this week features United Russia, plus nine others that all support Putin’s policies. The only party that opposed the war in Ukraine has been barred from the ballot.

Charlie Kirk’s family blamed Utah officials for failing to prevent the conservative activist’s assassination at a state university, in a wrongful death notice announced Wednesday that presages a possible lawsuit.

Attorneys for the family said Kirk’s death resulted from a string of “reckless decisions” by officials at Utah Valley University that left him exposed to a rooftop sniper, who fired a fatal shot from more than 400 feet (122 meters) away on Sept. 10, 2025. The university has faced harsh criticism for a lack of key safety measures on the day of the shooting.

Kirk, 31, had been debating students in an outdoor courtyard surrounded by tall buildings and with several thousand people in attendance. An Associated Press review following the shooting showed the campus in Orem did not use several public safety practices that have become standard safeguards at events around the country.

Campus police staffing was far below recommended levels for a school of that size. They also did not fly a drone to monitor rooftops or coordinate with local law enforcement to secure the event attended by about 3,000 people. There were no bag checks or metal detectors.

“The risk of a rooftop shooter should have been especially top-of-mind given the attempted assassination of President Trump, Charlie Kirk’s close friend and political ally, by a rooftop shooter the previous year,” Kirk family attorney D. Loren Washburn wrote in the notice to state and university officials.

The document, dated Sept. 9, a day before the one-year anniversary of Kirk’s death, is a required step under state law before his family can file a formal claim or lawsuit. It names the university and its then-president, Astrid Tuminez; the campus police department and its chief, Jeffrey Long; and the state of Utah.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday embraced the prospect of his country becoming the European Union’s first associate member, saying closer ties with the continent would ensure no country could control Canada’s markets or undermine its sovereignty.

Carney’s speech to the European Parliament repeatedly extolled cooperation between Europe and Canada — but the relationship with the U.S., which has defined Canada’s economy for decades and has increasingly soured, hung over the address.

Trump’s tariffs, demands for economic concessions, and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Ottawa to reduce its dependence on its neighbor and seek a far deeper economic, security and political relationship with Europe.

Carney told the parliament that he welcomed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal, unveiled Wednesday, though he acknowledged that “associate membership” remains to be defined.

He outlined what he was proposing: deeper integration across trade, defense, critical minerals, artificial intelligence, energy, space, research and financial services to make both sides less vulnerable to economic and geopolitical pressure. He later told reporters he was not pursuing full membership of the EU.

“We do not seek power to dominate others,” he said. “On the contrary, we are pursuing resilience so that no one can control our open markets, impair our sovereignty, threaten our territorial integrity, or undermine our freedoms, our democracies, our rule of law.”

The prime minister received an ebullient welcome when he walked into the chamber in Strasbourg, France — with many lawmakers approaching him to shake his hand and ask for selfies — and a standing ovation after he spoke. One parliamentarian had donned a Canadian hockey jersey.

Ed Sheeran’s tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos Tuesday when four of his supporting acts — including his touring band — abruptly quit in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.

Hours after Sheeran posted on social media about Macklemore’s ouster and attributed the decision to the tour’s promoters, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, the Danish band Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted on Instagram that they were leaving the tour.

Rowe and Lukas Graham would have been replacements for Macklemore on Sheeran’s remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga was serving as Sheeran’s touring band. Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year.

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas said on Instagram. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

The moves by his fellow artists put enormous pressure on Sheeran, who has tried to avoid politics and taking a side in the Gaza conflict, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear politics.

Rowe and Beoga each cited their country’s history in their statements explaining their decision. “We are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be,” Beoga said.

Rowe called Sheeran a friend and said the British singer-songwriter changed his life. “But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation,” he said, adding that he couldn’t “stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up.”