The ghost of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has struck again. This time, even though he died in 2019, his is still adding to the stress and criticism of the World Economic Forum.

On Feb. 26, WEF president and CEO Børge Brende resigned after revelations that he had three dinners, and some emails and SMS communications with Epstein. His ouster followed an independent investigation earlier in February. 

Brende said he wasn’t aware of Epstein’s sex crimes. 

«Had I known about his background, I would have declined the initial invitation to join Rod-Larsen and any subsequent dinner invitations or other communications,» he said.

That response hasn’t been well received by observers, given that Epstein’s conviction occurred in 2008 and would have been easy to uncover. As Norway’s foreign minister from 2013 to 2017, perhaps he should have been more cautious, some observers say.

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«If you are standing on a public stage, you have to know who you are standing with,» said Ben Habib, right-leaning leader of the British political party Advance UK, and an entrepreneur.

Founder of the U.K.-based Henry Jackson Society, Alan Mendoza, added, «The moral is that people in positions of authority should be very careful with whom they have dinner. Mendoza also wonders how many people with a criminal record have attended the WEF.

The news of Brende’s resignation comes hot on the heels of other scandals and bad publicity for the WEF, commonly known as Davos, after the Swiss village in the Alps where the annual meeting takes place. Last year, Klaus Schwab, the founder of the WEF, stepped down in July after accusations that he had misused WEF funds and treated employees inappropriately. 

Jeffrey Epstein is seen in Cambridge, Mass., on Sept. 8, 2004. The financier had ties to several prominent figures, including politicians, actors and academics, and was later convicted of soliciting sex from a minor. (Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)

Both Schwab and his wife were both ultimately cleared by the WEF board for any material wrongdoing, though a board of trustees statement noted in part that, «Minor irregularities, stemming from blurred lines between personal contributions and Forum operations, reflect deep commitment rather than intent of misconduct.»

Others have a beef with the WEF. Two years ago, Argentina’s President Javier Milei spoke at Davos.

«The Western world is in danger,» Millei said. «It is in danger because those who are supposed to have to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and thereby to poverty.»

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File photograph of WEF Executive Chairman and founder Klaus Schwab addressing attendees during the official opening session of the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich (Ruben Sprich/ Reuters)

Milei also noted that many countries have ditched freedom for collectivism, a.k.a., socialism.

«We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world; rather, they are the root cause,» he said at Davos in 2024.

Since 2023, when Milei took office as Argentina’s president, inflation has dropped from more than 200% to 32%, according to data from Trading Economics.

Likewise, others have a lot to tell the WEF, most of it not positive.

«Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America,» said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at this year’s Davos meeting. «It’s a failed policy. It is what the WEF has stood for.»

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The fact is, America has been left behind in the global economy as the WEF has encouraged offshoring manufacturing to places with cheap labor, Lutnick said. He also encouraged other countries to follow the «America First» model, which is that the workers come first.

Lutnick also attacked Europe’s alternative energy push, which includes solar and wind energy. «Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don’t make a battery? he said at Davos. Achieving net zero means countries aim to have no increase in overall carbon emissions by 2050.

Pedestrians walk past the USA House during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Alpine resort of Davos on January 19, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)

But if Europe does pursue Net zero, then the EU will be subservient to communist China, Lutnick says. China is by far the dominant producer, accounting for approximately one-third of global renewable energy, compared with 11% in the U.S.

«The WEF is the embodiment of power and wealth,» Habib said. «Big money is diverting policy. It’s fascism.» He says the world may have been tricked into believing the economic promises made by globalist organizations. «The shine is now off. It is failing and not gaining traction.»

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The WEF isn’t the only organization that is running roughshod over multiple countries. The European Union is also doing similar work with the countries in its bloc through a multitude of regulations, Habib said.

THE Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Obama Foundation is looking for 100 unpaid volunteers to work alongside the former president’s highly paid cronies at the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens in June.

Officials are pitching the no-paycheck gigs as rooted in former President Barack Obama’s legacy of civic engagement. The recruitment campaign comes after Fox News Digital reported that the organization’s CEO, former top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, earned $740,000 in 2024.

Foundation officials told Fox News Digital the volunteers will complement about 300 full- and part-time employees at the long-delayed center, which the organization is promoting as a $3.1 billion economic catalyst for the Windy City’s South Side.

The new program will see 75 to 100 volunteers, known as «ambassadors,» greet and direct visitors around the campus and share information about exhibits at the 22-story museum tower, athletic center and Chicago Public Library branch, among other amenities. It is expected to expand in the future. 

The foundation describes the volunteer program as a key component of its mission, saying volunteers represent its values both onsite and in the community.

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It is unclear what the salary range for those paid workers will be. However, the foundation’s most recent tax filings provide insight into compensation at the organization’s senior levels.

Federal filings viewed by Fox News Digital show Jarrett earned $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.

Total salaries and benefits at the foundation climbed from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024 as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million, according to the filings. The foundation’s main office is located in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where it runs leadership and community programs in the U.S. and abroad.

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Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, left, and the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago’s Jackson Park, right. The Foundation reported nearly $210 million in total revenue in 2024, according to federal filings. (Fox 32; Steven Ferdman/Getty)

Still, the foundation is looking to have a cohort of unpaid volunteers help out at the new presidential center. It’s common for presidential libraries, museums and nonprofit cultural institutions to employ unpaid volunteers.

«Volunteerism has been central to President Obama’s vision of civic life since his earliest days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side,» the foundation said in a press release.

Jarrett, one of the Obamas’ closest advisors, said in a statement that the center will be «a place where the world meets the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help bring that vision to life every day.»

She became CEO in 2021 and is overseeing development of the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park.

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The foundation has promoted the center as a catalyst for economic revitalization on Chicago’s South Side, citing $3.1 billion in projected economic activity over 10 years and 5,000 construction jobs tied to the $850 million campus. Those figures come from an economic assessment conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

According to the foundation, more than 50% of construction contracts have been awarded to diverse firms, 33% of the construction workforce has come from South and West Side communities, and 798 residents have enrolled in construction pre-apprenticeship programs.

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The main tower of the Obama Presidential Center rises above Jackson Park in Chicago as construction continues on the privately run campus. (Fox 32 Chicago)

The center is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Other former Obama administration officials have also earned substantial compensation at the foundation in past years, including former White House political director David Simas, who earned more than $600,000 annually while leading the organization from 2017 to 2020, and Adewale Adeyemo, who later became Biden’s deputy Treasury secretary and earned roughly $540,000 during his tenure. 

Several other senior leaders with Obama administration ties have earned between roughly $300,000 and $400,000 annually, according to tax filings.

Valor sentimental de Joachim Trier (Noruega) y El agente secreto de Kleber Mendonça Filho (Brasil) son las grandes favoritas para llevarse el Oscar a “mejor película extranjera”, por encima de Sirat, de Oliver Laxe (España), Fue solo un accidente, de Jafar Panahi (Irán, aunque representa a Francia) y La voz de Hind Rajab (Túnez). Subyacente a los pronósticos y antecedentes de cada una de estas notables películas (todas lo son, en su estilo y formas), subyace un cambio de paradigma en la elección de la Academia de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas de Hollywood: el cine del mundo se impone por peso propio.

La edición 98 de los premios de cine más famosos del mundo, con 23 producciones internacionales entre los 50 títulos nominados —de los cuales solo 17 calificaron como completamente extranjeras—, sostiene la tendencia marcada desde la deconstrucción de la anterior categoría de “película en lengua extranjera”. En los últimos seis años, el dato histórico indica que cinco de los seis ganadores del premio británico BAFTA a mejor película internacional repitieron triunfo en los Oscar, una correlación que aumentó la presión sobre los productores y distribuidoras involucrados en la carrera.

A nivel de industria, lo singular de 2026 consistió en la inédita distribución de nominaciones: Valor sentimental tiene nueve candidaturas, incluidas mención para Trier como director, nominaciones individuales de actuación para Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning e Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas. Ningún otro largometraje no angloparlante alcanzó tal apoyo, un indicador clave del grado de penetración de los títulos internacionales fuera de su categoría asignada. También, el thriller político brasileño de Mendonça Filho acumula cuatro nominaciones, incluida una histórica candidatura para Wagner Moura como mejor actor.

La obtención del BAFTA a mejor película internacional por parte de Valor sentimental resulta determinante para los pronósticos de industria: el premio británico, cada vez más alineado con los Oscar desde la apertura del voto a todos los miembros, otorgó al drama familiar de Joachim Trier una proyección estadística superior a la de cualquier otro contendiente. La notable presencia de películas co-producidas entre Estados Unidos y mercados extranjeros, como Bugonia y Hamnet además, instaura una división en la contabilidad de lo internacional: el conteo estricto arroja dos títulos plenamente foráneos entre los diez aspirantes principales, mismo saldo que en el ciclo anterior.

La Academia, tras la ola crítica precipitada en 2015 por la campaña #Oscarssowhite y la publicación de la composición demográfica de su membresía por el diario Los Angeles Times, implementó desde 2020 criterios explícitos de diversidad que comenzaron a impactar la construcción de las nominaciones a partir de 2024. La propia institución pasó de un 94% de miembros blancos en 2012 a un 35% de mujeres y un 20% perteneciente a minorías raciales o étnicas, configuración que, según analistas de la publicación online Vulture, favoreció un panel de candidaturas más abierto a cinematografías extranjeras.

El debate sobre el carácter “local” o global de los Oscar ha redefinido sus estándares en los últimos cinco años. En la edición 2026, el número total de filmes internacionales —23 sobre 50 nominados— marca el salto respecto a ciclos anteriores dominados por producciones netamente estadounidenses y de habla inglesa. Esta transición cristaliza el nuevo equilibrio entre el peso de la industria hollywoodense y la cada vez mayor visibilidad de propuestas no angloparlantes.

La participación consecutiva de títulos extranjeros en la terna a mejor película principal, sumada a los precedentes de 2024 —cuando Anatomía de una caída (Francia) y La Zona de Interés (Reino Unido) lograron nominación en esa rama— y al hito de Parasitos en 2020, expuso la aceleración de un proceso que la propia Academia promovió mediante modificaciones reglamentarias e impulso al voto corporativo sobre el sectorial.

En ese contexto, la cita del director coreano Bong Joon Ho a Vulture en 2019 —“Los Oscar no son un festival internacional de cine. Son muy locales”— iluminó la distancia recorrida: desde 2020, ningún año ha estado exento de presencia internacional en la máxima categoría. El modelo “más internacional” planteado por la Academia en 2026 parece consolidarse como la nueva norma estadística del premio.