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)
“Andy Burnham will officially become leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party on Friday, clearing his final hurdle to taking office as prime minister next week. The center-left party will announce the result of a leadership contest to replace departing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in which Burnham was the only contender. He had secured nominations from 379 of the 403 Labour lawmakers in the House of Commons as of Thursday night. … Starmer announced last month that he would resign after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.” (07/17/26)
“Donald Trump accused China of interfering with the 2020 election in a primetime televised address that laid bare his continuing obsession with his defeat to Joe Biden, but which opponents warned was a smokescreen for him to meddle in the forthcoming congressional midterms. … As a prelude to his claims of interference by China, Trump on Thursday said he was announcing the ‘immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure’. … Several networks, including NBC, ABC and CNN, declined to air the speech on their main broadcast networks, citing concerns that the content could be politically partisan or inflammatory. The move prompted Trump to call for their broadcast licenses to be revoked.” (07/16/26)
“Puerto Rico announced water rationing measures on Thursday as a drought grips the U.S. territory, worsening chronic water shortages that have forced the governor to declare a state of emergency. Thousands of people in the island’s northeast region face 48-hour rationing periods from Friday, said Luis González, executive president of the island’s water and sewer authority. … The U.S. Drought Monitor says 14% of Puerto Rico is currently under a severe drought and another 59% under a moderate drought, up from 18% in late June. Around 2.3 million people out of Puerto Rico’s 3.2 million inhabitants are currently living in a region affected by drought, it estimates.” (07/16/26)
“SpaceX aborted the launch of its latest Starship test flight July 16 when some of the vehicle’s engines failed to ignite. Starship was scheduled to lift off on the Flight 13 mission from the company’s Starbase, Texas, test site at 6:45 p.m. Eastern. However, the launch was aborted just as Raptor engines in the Super Heavy booster ignited. SpaceX said moments later that it was calling off the launch attempt for the day.” (07/16/26)
“A Spanish law granting amnesty to those involved in Catalonia’s separatist drive does not violate European Union law, the EU’s top court says, in a boost to the Spanish government and its Catalan allies. The Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that EU law does not preclude the Spanish amnesty law because its adoption and application fall within the competence of member states. … In 2024, the Spanish lower house approved a law to annul the criminal records of hundreds of officials and activists involved in crimes related to the Catalonian secessionist push from 2011.” (07/16/26)
“A UK court on Thursday jailed two young men for a 2024 cyberattack on London’s public transport operator that exposed the details of millions of customers, in one of Britain’s biggest data breaches. Thalha Jubair, 20, from East London, and 18-year-old Owen Flowers from England’s West Midlands were each handed five-and-a-half-year sentences at London’s Woolwich Crown Court. The pair pleaded guilty last month to hacking Transport for London’s (TfL) network between August 31 and September 3, 2024, gaining access to around 7 million customers’ names and contacts.” (07/16/26)
“Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz was furious to learn that the Trump administration is threatening to withhold grant money the city uses to help prosecute rapists — all because the California city was deemed a refuge for immigrants. ‘Justice for victims shouldn’t be politicized. It has nothing to do with immigration enforcement,’ Janz told USA TODAY. It’s the latest example of the Trump administration’s promise to withhold funding from cities it calls ‘sanctuary jurisdictions.’ It pressures cities to sign cooperation agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials with the strongest tool at its disposal: money.” (07/16/26)
“The former chief executive of an Italian highway operator was handed a 12-year prison sentence by an Italian court on Thursday for lapses that contributed to the collapse of a major bridge in Genoa in 2018 that killed 43 people. The former executive, Giovanni Castellucci, oversaw the highway operator, Autostrade per l’Italia, that ran the bridge — named for its designer, Riccardo Morandi — when the structure failed on Aug. 14, 2018. … Since July 2022, Mr. Castellucci had stood trial with 56 other defendants, including others from the company and civil servants from the Transport Ministry. Mr. Castellucci was convicted of negligence and manslaughter, and prosecutors had asked for a sentence of about 18 years.” (07/16/26)
