“‘Manosphere’ influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested by U.S. Marshals in Florida Saturday in connection to rape and sex trafficking charges in the UK. … The Tates, who have both British and American citizenship, have faced legal troubles for years, and were nabbed because of a host of new sex crime charges handed down overseas. … The Tates’ attorney, Joe McBryde, disputed the charges and told The Post the arrest should not have occurred until their trials in Romania and a defamation case in Florida concluded. ‘This is like Keir Starmer’s last day in office; it’s obvious that this little petty bastard has nothing better to do than persecute these two guys he wishes he could act like, walk like and talk like,’ he said.” (07/19/26)
“Brazil’s top court on Saturday denied a request from former President Jair Bolsonaro to be visited by Argentinian President Javier Milei while under house arrest. The attempted visit by Milei, a political ally of the far-right Bolsonaro, was part of a campaign to drum up political support for the son of the former president, who is running against leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for a coup attempt but has been in his home in Brasilia since March due to his health condition. He was already barred from participating in national politics as part of his sentence. But Bolsonaro was placed under further restrictions on Friday for breaching conditions of his house arrest, after he wrote a political letter supporting his son’s candidature for president.” (07/18/26)
“One of Cuba’s most prominent dissidents has gone into exile in the US, after leaving Cuba where he had served a five-year prison sentence. Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, 38, is the leader of the San Isidro Movement (SIM), a group of artists, journalists and intellectuals who have campaigned for freedom of speech and democracy in the communist country. He was arrested in 2021 during Cuba’s largest anti-government protests in decades and spent five years in the maximum-security Guanajay prison near Havana. His whereabouts have been unclear in recent days as Cuban authorities held him in an unknown location while the US approved a parole request. Emerging from the airport in Miami, the 38-year-old was greeted by supporters who sang the Cuban national anthem as he held up his forefinger and thumb in the shape of the letter L to represent ‘Libertad – meaning freedom, a recognised anti-government symbol.” (07/19/26)
“France said Friday it was blocking access to the online prediction market Polymarket, as punters continued to make bets despite a ban already in place. The national gaming authority ANJ said Friday that Polymarket’s webpage would be blocked on French territory, which adds to a November 2024 ban on financial transactions to the site. Polymarket is one of a number of online prediction markets which allow people to bet on the outcome of future events.” (07/17/26)
“China pushed back Friday after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of ‘working to influence the results’ of the 2020 presidential election, describing his accusation as ‘entirely fabricated.’ Trump said in a primetime speech Thursday night that ‘in mid 2018, China was working to influence the results of the U.S. midterm elections and later the results of the 2020 presidential election itself.’ … China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday said ‘the relevant allegations by the U.S. are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying China.’ ‘We have no interest in interfering in US elections and have never done so,’ Jian said. … He added that ‘China reserves the right to take reciprocal countermeasures.'” (07/17/26)
“A former loyalist blogger turned fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been detained and accused of spreading false information about the armed forces, state media reported Friday. The news came just as a court hearing was being held for another Kremlin critic and opposition politician, Boris Nadezhdin, in a sign of an intensified response to mounting internal dissent over the war in Ukraine and its impact on Russian life. The blogger, Ilya Remeslo, stunned many in Russia when he published a scathing manifesto against the Russian leader that went viral in March. He was detained in St. Petersburg early Friday and could face up to 10 years in prison, state news agency Tass reported, citing law enforcement sources. The charge he faces is a common one for opponents of the war in Ukraine and has been used to jail numerous dissidents since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.” (07/17/26)
“Employees from three major Bay Area artificial intelligence companies donated more than $3 million to a political action committee supporting AI regulation, according to new campaign finance records. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei was the top donor to Public First in the last quarter, giving the pro-AI safety [sic] super PAC a $1 million donation to fund candidates who share his company’s vision for safe [sic] AI development. Amodei was joined by five other Anthropic employees, who donated more than $2 million combined, plus a Google DeepMind engineer and a member of OpenAI’s technical staff, who donated $250,000 and $5,000, respectively.” (07/17/26)
“The United States is seeking the extradition of James ‘Fergie’ Chambers from Spain, having accused the wealthy donor to Palestinian and other causes of financing ‘terrorism’. Authorities in Ibiza detained Chambers last Friday on an international arrest warrant, after the US alleged he has provided material support to Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza but is designated a ‘terror organisation’ by Washington. … Heir to the family that owns telecom giant Cox Communications, Chambers has donated more than $1m to pro-Palestine causes and humanitarian projects in Gaza.” (07/17/26)
It’s a web-only “FIREHOSE FRIDAY” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper. We’ve got at least 108 (maybe more by the time you read this) news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links awaiting your perusal here at the web edition.
We’ve been moving away from “web-only” editions the last few months, instead publishing a regular 60-item email/social media edition and posting EXTRA material to the web edition. We’ve usually got at least another 20 or so posts for you on the web.
What’s different this week (and probably next week)? Steve Trinward is traveling, and I’m covering for him, so I’ve got more work to do than usual. Don’t break out the world’s smallest violin or anything. I’m not complaining (Steve covers for me when I’m traveling, too). Going “web-only” takes just a little bit of the extra work off my plate and lets me focus on the content instead of the formatting and such.
We’re a reader-supported publication. You’re a reader. I’d like nothing better than for Steve to return from his travels (he just had a birthday, too!) with a little more money waiting for him than usual (I won’t turn down my share, either). If you find our work valuable, you can show your love for us at:
“The US launched a wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth night in a row, its military said, as the two sides battled over control of the Strait of Hormuz. US Central Command (Centcom) said the attacks were intended to ‘further degrade Iranian military capabilities’, before saying it had boarded a vessel as part of its blockade of Iranian ports. State media reported that the US had hit civilian infrastructure, including bridges, a train station and an airport. The BBC has verified an attack on one bridge to the west of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) say they have retaliated by striking US maritime surveillance radar sites in Oman as well as targets in Kuwait and Bahrain. They also claim to have attacked a US special operations command centre in Syria.” (07/17/26)
