“Monaco authorities have issued an Interpol Red Notice for a Ukrainian woman believed to have carried out a parcel bombing earlier this week that seriously wounded a Ukrainian-born oligarch and two others, including a 13-year-old. An Interpol Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect. It is not an international arrest warrant. The alert lists three charges: ‘attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent’ and ‘criminal conspiracy.’ The Red Notice identifies the suspect as a 39-year-old woman, Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian national.” (07/03/26)
Friday kicks off Independence Day weekend in the US, but we’re not taking the day off! We’ve got more than 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you in “FIREHOSE FRIDAY” format here at the web edition.
I’m not sure the name “Independence Day” really reflects the American situation anymore, or that it has since at least as far back as FDR’s New Deal. The state revels in its hope of ruling a population of perpetually dependent serfs, not in securing our real independence as exercised in our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I like to think that Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily is pretty independent, though.
As the freedom movement’s oldest and longest running daily news and commentary roundup, we do our best to keep you informed and energized without support from government or “the corporate establishment.” We’re funded solely by the willingness of our readers to reward us for our work.
If you’d like to use that support to celebrate “Independence Day,” might I suggest a contribution of $2.50, $7.04, or $17.76 (please feel free to move the decimal points) to mark “250 years of America,” 07/04, aka July 4, or the year of the Declaration of Independence? Just a suggestion, of course — any amount you think reflects the value you get out of RRND/FND is welcome.
Have a great weekend and we’ll be back on Monday!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
“Iran’s ruling clerics are preparing days of mass funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a show of public devotion to the Islamic Republic and proof that its revolutionary fervour still burns strong. Iran’s supreme leader was killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes in their first attack of the war and the funeral events will begin over the weekend in Tehran, with mass processions planned next week in Qom and Mashhad and ceremonies in Iraq. ‘The large public turnout at the funeral procession of the martyred leader and the other martyrs will, in effect, be another referendum for the Islamic Republic,’ Qom Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Saidi declared to state media. If they do see it as a referendum, authorities are not leaving the result to chance. They hope to mobilise millions of supporters to flood Iran’s cities, laying on transport, accommodation and food, to proclaim the might of their theocratic state after it survived what they saw as an existential war.” (07/03/26)
“A former Olympic canoeist who had been arrested in June on charges that he had vandalized the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been indicted, according to court documents. He is charged with ‘destruction of property $1,000 or more,’ a felony. President Trump blamed vandals for the problems following a quick and costly makeover of the pool, and the canoeist, David Carter Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., was among the first to be charged. The U.S. Park Police had arrested Mr. Hearn near the pool on June 19, and accused him of destroying government property. … Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a news briefing that prosecutors had ‘tremendous evidence’ underpinning the indictment, and she condemned what she called ‘unchecked vandalism and civil disorder.’” (07/02/26)
“At least two people were killed in Russia’s border regions and several industrial sites suffered damage during Ukrainian drone attacks overnight, local authorities and media said on Friday. … Ukrainian officials said on Telegram that four people were killed and a further 10 people were injured in Russian overnight attacks on Ukraine.” (07/03/26)
“German workers will have to report to a doctor in person to get a sick note on the first day they are ill, under strict proposals from Friedrich Merz. The tough new rules, aimed at boosting productivity in Germany’s stagnant economy, replace a system where employees could get a note by phoning a doctor and did not need to do so until their third day off work. … The move will be welcomed by employers, but has angered Germany’s powerful trade unions. Frank Werneke, the head of the services sector union Verdi, accused Mr Merz of creating ‘a culture of distrust of employees.’ Doctors also opposed the change, warning it would swamp Germany’s GPs with unnecessary appointments.” [editor’s note: The claim that any of that is any of the government’s business is both idiotic and horrifying – TLK] (07/02/26)
“A bomb blast at a crowded cafe in central Damascus has killed at least nine people and injured 22 others, Syrian state media say. The interior ministry said an explosive device was planted inside the cafe, which is located only 100m (330ft) from the Palace of Justice, a major government building in the capital’s Hejaz district. There was no immediate claim from any group for the attack. It was the deadliest bombing in Damascus since a suicide attack on a church in June 2025 killed 25 people. A shadowy jihadist group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, said it was behind that bombing, but authorities blamed the Islamic State (IS) group.” (07/02/26)
“U.S. applications for jobless aid inched down last week as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 27 fell by 1,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 225,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet. Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.” (07/02/26)
“Ether and solana led crypto higher on Friday as a squeeze on bearish traders pushed bitcoin toward $62,000, capping the market’s first genuinely strong week since mid June. Bitcoin traded around $61,360, up 2.5% over seven days, per CoinDesk data. Ether rose 4.2% in 24 hours to about $1,702 and is up 9.7% on the week, while solana held near $80 with a weekly gain of 18.6%, the strongest among the majors. XRP added 5.7% over the week to $1.09 and Hyperliquid’s HYPE rose 5.1% on the day. Traders betting against crypto lost $281 million to liquidations over the past 24 hours, against $159 million in longs, out of $440 million in total forced closures across 95,690 traders, according to Coinglass data.” (07/03/26)
“A Southern California man pleaded guilty in federal court to sending fake ransom notes to Nancy Guthrie’s family shortly after her disappearance, prosecutors announced on July 2. Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device at a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, on July 2, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. The charge has a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a potential fine of up to $250,000. … Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on the morning of Feb. 1 after she failed to show up at a friend’s house to watch a virtual church service. While the FBI obtained footage of an armed and masked individual captured by her Google Nest doorbell camera, investigators for months have been unable to identify a suspect behind her likely abduction.” (07/03/26)
