More Epstein photos published - with long-awaited files release 'going down to the wire'

Democrats have shared more pictures from Jeffrey Epstein's estate, hours before the US Justice Department's deadline to release all the files it has on the paedophile financier.

The 68 photos published on Thursday are among more than 95,000 images that the House Oversight Committee Democrats said they were reviewing. They said the images were "selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos" and to "provide insights into Epstein's network and his extremely disturbing activities".

But the Democrats added that they are still analysing thousands more images that are "both graphic and mundane". There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of those pictured in the images - and the context surrounding the photos is not known.

Mystery text quotes price for 'girl' The latest cache includes a text message appearing to discuss the price for a girl. It isn't clear who sent the messages and to whom, but the screenshot shows some details on an unidentified girl, described as a teenager here.

"I will send u girls now," one of the texts read. Writing on body Several pictures show handwritten messages on a person's body.

One appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita - which can be seen in the background of the picture. The book was written by Vladimir Nabokov and tells the story of a girl groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.

Another shows writing on a foot, which reads: "She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock." Other messages can be seen on the neck, hip, back and chest, with the latter reading: "The tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down". In a different image, Epstein is pictured with three girls in his house in New York.

One appears to be touching Epstein's chest, one is holding her wrist up and another is looking at a laptop. The identity of the women has been hidden.

Epstein with high-profile figures Some high-profile figures also appear in the newly released images, with one showing Epstein sitting alongside Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani. He is the chairman and director of several privately established companies and is a member of the Qatari royal family.

Another image shows Epstein with the former president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, who held the role between 2017 and 2018. He is also a former Slovakian foreign affairs minister.

Last month, he told TASR news agency: "The reopening of the Epstein case occurred after I left New York, and the full extent of his inexcusable actions, which I strongly condemn, only came to light after his arrest." Shaher Abdulhak, a deceased Yemeni billionaire businessman whose son is a suspect in the murder of a Norwegian woman in Mayfair, was also pictured with Epstein. His son, Farouk Abdulhak, fled to Yemen after the rape and death of Martine Vik Magnussen in March 2008 and has been wanted for questioning ever since.

Ms Magnussen was found dead among rubble in a basement in Great Portland Street. She and her friends had been celebrating finishing their end-of-term exams at the Maddox nightclub before she vanished.

Her body was found two days later. Also featured in the newly released images were former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, magician David Blaine, businessman Tom Pritzker, billionaire Bill Gates, director Woody Allen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Trump ally Steve Bannon, and Kuwait's former information minister Anas al Rasheed.

Photos of identity documents with redacted names were also published, including one with text saying that "the bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor.