“Grindr has agreed to pay £26m to settle a lawsuit over allegations it shared users’ personal information – including their HIV status – with third parties. The world’s largest LGBTQ+ dating app was sued in the High Court in 2024 over claims it misused people’s personal information. The class action suit was later served in the US, with the law firm leading the case saying it had signed up more than 11,000 claimants. According to a US regulatory filing, Grindr will make two £13m payments to settle the claims. The firm said the settlement includes no admission of liability.” (09/07/26)
“Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway on Friday night asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay of a Missouri high court ruling that found the state cannot use new, heavily gerrymandered districts in the November election. … the Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday put the brakes on a congressional map drawn by Republicans last year with the backing of President Donald Trump and ordered a Democrat-organized referendum on the GOP’s map proposal, which would have likely given Republicans a 7-1 advantage by eliminating the Kansas City district held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), be put to a vote this fall. The court ruled that the November elections must proceed in accordance with the map Missouri used in 2022, which still saw Republicans favored in six of the state’s eight districts.” (09/05/26)
“Military prosecutors will move ahead with the trial against the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks without a key confession, a decision made to avoid further delays in the long-awaited proceedings scheduled for 2028. The federal government has decided not to appeal a recent ruling by a military judge that threw out statements made by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2007. … Appeals can take years to resolve, an outcome military prosecutors want to avoid given the series of delays that have prolonged the wait for victims’ families to receive justice. Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators — Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ammar al-Baluchi — are scheduled to go on trial in June 2028.” [editor’s note: Not a constitutional trial, a “military tribunal” – TLK] (09/07/26)
“The Alternative for Germany appealed on Monday to lawmakers from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives to support its bid to rule Saxony-Anhalt after the far-right party surged into first place in the eastern German state’s election. The anti-immigrant, pro-Russia AfD won nearly 44% of the vote, official results showed, an outcome that underlined the deep unpopularity of Merz’s ruling coalition and also triggered alarm among Germany’s neighbours, France and Poland. However, the party — which wants to deport immigrants, halt support for Ukraine and ditch the euro — has fallen short of an absolute majority in the state legislature, winning 39 of the 83 seats, and hopes to win over individual conservative lawmakers. The election result raises serious questions about the longstanding refusal of Germany’s mainstream parties, including Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU), to work with the AfD, a policy known as the ‘firewall’.” (09/07/26)
“The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to immediately allow new restrictions on mail-in balloting …. The administration says the new rules, set out by President Donald Trump in an executive order, are necessary to keep noncitizens from voting. Under the plans, states would have to get approval for the design of their ballot envelopes from the Postal Service and would have to provide the federal government with lists of voters who are eligible to receive mail ballots. … Trump’s executive order prohibits the Postal Service from delivering mail-in ballots in states that do not turn over voter data through a new online portal.” (09/03/26)
“One of Russia’s top nuclear generals is clinging to life after a suspected Ukrainian assassination attempt outside his home. Major General Nikolai Varpakhovich, 56, was being driven out of his property when a would-be assassin pulled up next to him and opened fire in Saratov, Russia. The close ally of Vladimir Putin accused of ordering a deadly missile strike on Kyiv’s children hospital, was hit in the face and chest, reported Kanal 24, a Ukrainian news outlet. His driver reportedly managed to escape, later returning to the scene and calling for an ambulance. Varpakhovich was left in critical condition and was flown to Moscow on a medical evacuation flight, the report said. The gunman has not been found.” (09/03/26)
“Wall Street billionaire Leon Black on Thursday sued a congressional committee that had ordered him to provide lawmakers with copies of non-disclosure agreements as part of a probe into the activities of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In June, Black refused to answer questions from lawmakers about victims of Epstein’s abuse and the agreements. He declined to appear at a deposition the committee had scheduled for Thursday. He accused lawmakers of exceeding their constitutional authority when they subpoenaed him to provide the agreements. … Black is one of several prominent political and business figures who have been called to testify about their ties to the late financier. Black relinquished the chief executive role at Apollo in 2021 after an external law firm found he had paid Epstein $158 million for tax and estate planning.” (09/03/26)
“Two Palestinian teenagers have been killed during a raid by [squatters] and Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank. The killings occurred during a raid in al-Mughayyir on Wednesday. The village has been the site of repeated attacks by illegal Israeli [squatters] and Israeli forces in recent months. The Palestinian Wafa news agency, citing the head of the village council, identified the victims as Mohammad Na’ssan and Khalil Abu Aliya, both 19 years old. As residents tried to confront the [squatters], Israeli soldiers opened fire on the residents, critically wounding two young men, he said. They later died from the wounds. Sources from the village told Al Jazeera that snipers had taken positions on rooftops in the village ahead of the killings.” (09/03/26)
“A judge has again told the deadlocked jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial to keep trying to reach a verdict after a dramatic sixth day of deliberations. Tensions flared in court after the jury forewoman sent the judge a note saying one juror would not follow the court’s instructions on reasonable doubt.
The defence team asked for the holdout to be removed, a request that was denied by the judge. Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan – at her Massachusetts family home on 24 January 2023. … If the jury does not reach a verdict and Judge Sullivan declares a mistrial, prosecutors would need to decide whether to retry the case.” (09/03/26)
“In a country where governments are famously short-lived, the perceived success of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni has often been attributed to her survival skills rather than her accomplishments. On Thursday, after 1,413 days — nearly four years — Meloni’s conservative administration became Italy’s longest-serving uninterrupted government since World War II, surpassing the record set by the late Silvio Berlusconi between 2001 and 2005. None of Italy’s 68 governments in the country’s 80 years as a republic has yet to complete a five-year term without interruption. Berlusconi came closest, but a government crisis forced him to resign briefly in 2005 before forming a new Cabinet. Meloni and her party will celebrate their feat on Friday with a large preelection rally in the southern city of Bari.” (09/03/26)
