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New York Times : Bluesky reports a record spike in usage as many X users in Brazil move to Bluesky and Threads; Brazil is X's fifth-largest international market, with 20M+ users   —  The platform went dark across Brazil on Saturday, sending online commentators to new digital town squares.

Nick Burns / Americas Quarterly : A profile of Alexandre de Moraes as even some supporters wonder if the Brazilian Supreme Court judge has become too powerful and gone too far by banning X   —  An escalating clash with Elon Musk and damaging revelations in the press are intensifying a long-running debate about whether Alexandre de Moraes is too powerful.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore falsely claimed to have received the Bronze Star medal earlier in his political career, according to reports. The specter of stolen valor has hovered over the Democratic governor since his campaign for the office in 2022, when two television interviewers introduced the politician as a Bronze Star recipient.  Moore did not correct either interviewer, but his staff has been adamant that he never claimed to have gotten the reward.  WES MOORE PRAISES WALZ FOR MILITARY SERVICE, COMPLETING 'MISSION' DESPITE RETIREMENT OUTRAGE A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by the New York Times revealed Moore did, in fact, assert that he had received the Bronze Star, on an application for the White House fellowship in January 2006. "For my work, the 82nd Airborne Division have awarded me the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge," Moore wrote. Moore later received the Combat Action Badge in May of that year but was not a recipient ...

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch : LAION, a research org whose dataset was used to train Stable Diffusion and other models, releases a new dataset it claims has been “thoroughly cleaned” of CSAM   —  LAION, the German research org that created the data used to train Stable Diffusion, among other generative AI models …

Former President Donald Trump's latest comments on abortion, including his opposition to Florida's ban on abortions after six weeks' gestation, have sparked backlash from pro-life advocates on social media. "Trump has destroyed both the conservative movement and the pro-life movement. He’s done what even Barack Obama couldn’t do," one user on X said. Former Vice President Mike Pence also posted to X, saying, "I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it." HARRIS REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM TRUMP WANTS TO 'BAN' ABORTION DURING FIRST CAMPAIGN RALLY SINCE BIDEN QUIT RACE Georgia-based nationally syndicated radio host Erick Erickson also slammed Trump's comments, saying on X, "Instead of having all the focus on the Kamala Harris interview tonight, Trump decided to further divide the GOP. Not a good strategy for winning." Other users expressed anger over Trump's "betrayal" of the pro-life movement, which helped elect h...

FIRST ON FOX: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has been a longtime vocal supporter of a medical research institute in his home state with a long track record of collaborating with a firm labeled by the Pentagon as a "Chinese military company" and with Chinese officials with controversial ties to the CCP. Walz, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, has long been aligned with the Hormel Institute, a biomedical research center in Austin, Minnesota, within the University of Minnesota's Research and Innovation Office. As recently as April, a press release from the institute highlighted how Walz went to "meet with local leaders and learn of the Institute’s recent progress in groundbreaking biomedical and agricultural research and its expanding education and outreach initiatives." "[The Hormel Institute] is no longer a secret, and we don’t want it to be a secret – it’s very un-Minnesotan of us because we’re bragging all the ti...

New York Times : Michael Lacey, co-founder of the classified ad site Backpage, gets five years in prison and a $3M fine for money laundering; two other executives get 10 years   —  Michael Lacey, 76, co-founded the website that became known for its ads for prostitution.  He was convicted on a money laundering charge …

The U.S. Army says a staff member was "abruptly pushed aside" during a ceremony attended by former President Trump and his campaign during a Monday ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, but that the campaign member will not face charges. The incident took place at a ceremony honoring the 13 U.S. soldiers who were killed in an attack on the Kabul airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. The Army confirmed reports of an altercation between at least one Trump campaign official and a cemetery staff member. "Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside," the Army said in a statement. "Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further...

David Pierce / The Verge : ESPN launches a Where to Watch feature on its website and app, which aims to be a universal guide for streaming sports with data from 250+ streaming services   —  ESPN's newest feature will be a welcome bookmark for sports fans everywhere: the company just launched “Where to Watch,” …

FIRST ON FOX : Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas , is sounding the alarm about the effect the Biden administration’s "open border policies" are having on airport security -- alleging that weaknesses in vetting could be putting safety at risk. "DHS, particularly TSA, must explain how it is responding to the serious ways in which the administration’s open border policies are undermining airport security and Americans’ safety," Cruz, who is ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Cruz has been quizzing various agencies and airports about the effect that migration has had on the safety and security at airports, including the sheltering of migrants at a number of major U.S. airports. SENATE COMMERCE REPUBLICANS EXPAND PROBE INTO AIRPORTS IN ‘SANCTUARY’ JURISDICTIONS SHELTERING MIGRANTS In this letter to Mayorkas, Cruz highlighted three ways that he says ...

Only days after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. dropped his presidential bid to join forces with former President Donald Trump, Kerry Kennedy announced she will be publicly stumping against the ticket her brother is party to in a key swing state. Kerry Kennedy has been one of the most outspoken Camelot brethren against RFK Jr’s political quest, calling his endorsement of Trump "set[ting] fire to [their] father’s memory." Kerry Kennedy, who was previously married to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York for 15 years, will be stumping for the Harris-Walz ticket in Arizona. She plans to join with Dolores Huerta at several appearances in that particular swing state, according to published reports. RFK JR RESPONDS TO KENNEDY FAMILY DRAMA FOLLOWING ENDORSEMENT OF TRUMP Huerta, a labor leader credited with the phrase "Si, se puede [Yes, we can]", had notably joined former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Sr. onstage at his tragic June 5, 1968 Los Angeles campaign e...

FIRST ON FOX: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is issuing a subpoena for information on the political work conducted by the daughter of New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. Jordan sent a letter to Michael Nellis, the founder and CEO of Authentic Campaigns – a company that's done political work for top Democratic clients like President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris – accusing him of failing to comply with House investigators' demands for any and all documents related to the prosecution of former President Trump. The committee wrote to Loren Merchan, the company's president and Judge Merchan's daughter, earlier this month requesting documents in its probe into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Trump. Jordan pointed out in his Wednesday letter that Nellis himself rejected that request as well as a subsequent one later in the month. JORDAN INVESTIGATES DAUGHTER OF JUDGE IN NY V. TRUMP CASE OVER HER W...

The clock is ticking for Vice President Kamala Harris to schedule the formal interview she and her team promised would happen before the end of the month. After formally receiving the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Harris told reporters on the tarmac in Detroit earlier this month that she wanted to schedule her first formal interview as the party's nominee before the end of August. Meanwhile, the exact date, time, place and media outlet that will be conducting the interview has remained a mystery, even as Harris' self-imposed deadline quickly approaches. With only four days left this month, questions about the interview have been prevalent inside the beltway. Some of those questions include who on the Harris campaign is making the final interview decision, what kind of message Harris will try to send and who will be the figurehead posing the questions to her. SPECULATION GROWS AS KAMALA HARRIS' FIRST INTERVIEW AS CANDIDATE STILL UNSCHEDULED WITH SEPTEMB...

Rachel Kaser / VentureBeat : Web3 esports startup Gameplay Galaxy, focused on developing upcoming game Trial Xtreme Freedom, raised a $24M seed co-led by Blockchain Capital and Merit Circle   —  Gameplay Galaxy announced today that it has raised $24 million in total for its seed round of funding, following …

The $75 million policing budget for the just-concluded Democratic National Convention paid off for Chicago but also shows a stunning contrast with the money devoted at the height of the 2020 George Floyd riots, a retired Illinois police chief tells Fox News Digital. "The security for the DNC is the largest police presence in the history of Chicago, as far as they go back of tracking of all local, state, county, suburban federal agencies, there's never been a larger police presence ever," retired Riverside, Illinois, police chief Tom Wetizel told Fox News Digital in an interview.  Weitzel recalled that when he was chief during the protests after the death of Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, the department "was not given the resources that we needed from outside our own agency when we would ask for them, and certainly not anywhere near this level." DNC IN CHICAGO: WINDY CITY ROCKED BY VIOLENCE EVEN WITH MIGRANT GANGS ON ‘GOOD BEHAVIOR’ "People f...

New York Times : French prosecutors: Pavel Durov's arrest is part of a probe “against person unnamed” into CSAM, drug sales, and more on the app and not working with authorities   —  A case was opened last month to investigate child pornography, drug sales, fraud and other criminal activities on the platform.

@telegram : Telegram says its CEO Pavel Durov has “nothing to hide” and that the messaging app “abides by EU laws”, including the Digital Services Act   —  ⚖️ Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing another accusation of misrepresenting his background after a Nebraska Chamber of Commerce letter from 2006 resurfaced amid Walz's campaign for vice president.  When Walz first ran for Congress in Minnesota, he touted on his campaign website that he received an award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce in 1993 for his work with the business community, according to a 2006 article from the Post Bulletin.  He never received such an award, however, which was outlined to him in a blistering letter from the then-president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Barry L. Kennedy.  "We researched this matter and can confirm that you have not been the recipient of any award from the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce," the letter addressed to Walz on Nov. 1, 2006, reads.  FLASHBACK: OBAMA WAS ONE OF EARLIEST BIG-NAME DEMS TO ENDORSE WALZ AT DAWN OF HIS POLITICAL CAREER "I am not going to draw a conclusion about your intentions by including this...

Vice President Kamala Harris has frequently cited her upbringing and family as she crisscrosses the nation in an effort to rally support for her newly-formed presidential campaign, including touting her father in a rare mention at the DNC.  "My early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones. A home filled with laughter and music: Aretha, Coltrane and Miles. At the park, my mother would say, ‘Stay close.’ But my father would say, as he smiled, ‘Run, Kamala, run. Don’t be afraid. Don’t let anything stop you.’ From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless," Harris said during her acceptance speech during the DNC in Chicago last Thursday.  Harris was born in Oakland, California, in 1964 to Shyamala Gopalan, a ​​biologist who immigrated to the U.S. from India, and Donald Harris, an economist who immigrated from Jamaica.  Harris’ parents divorced when she was 7 years old, with the future vice president spending a lot of her time with her mother and sister...

Grant Stoner / IGN : How prominent games accessibility advocate Susan Banks, who worked with studios and raised awareness for accessibility in games, may never have existed at all   —  In 2019, the games accessibility community mourned the death of Susan Banks.  Now, evidence suggests she may have never existed to begin with.