Inside the fight against livestreamed child abuse

Plus: Another Strait blockade  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Richard Hall | July 21, 2026 Hello there. Another day, and another energy transit route vital to the global economy is facing a blockade. This time it’s Yemen’s Houthi movement that is threatening to blockade the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, so I spoke to an expert on the group. First up, we have an in-depth investigation into livestreamed child abuse.   Five Must-Reads How Livestreamed Child Abuse Is Challenging How We Think About Online Privacy Livestreamed child abuse is emerging as the largest form of exploitation of minors in the world, according to U.S. investigators. This deeply reported story by TIME’s Charlie Campbell takes us behind the scenes of the fight against it, and how AI is being used by both abusers and the people trying to catch them. —TIME Lawmakers Demand End of Iran War Democratic lawmakers are demanding an immediate end to renewed hostilities between Iran and the United States. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is leading the calls, saying that  “the reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has been a disaster" for the American people following the deaths of three U.S. service members. —TIME The Biggest Hygiene Mistakes People Make in the Pool TIME asked infectious disease doctors and water-quality experts which hygiene mistakes they see most. Here's what you're probably getting wrong—and what to do instead. —TIME What to Know About the Tate Brothers’ Arrest Brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, two of the world’s most polarizing social media influencers who are known for promoting misogyny, face possible extradition to the U.K., which has leveled new rape and sex trafficking charges against them. Whether the Tates are extradited ultimately falls to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. —TIME How Biden Enabled Israel’s Aggression Toward Gaza—and Iran In this story by David Kirkpatrick, senior Biden Administration officials express their regret for failing to rein in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Gaza. —New Yorker   The California governor primary is live. So is the 2028 race. And the Billboard Hot 100. Real money. Real odds. No house edge. Kalshi — trade what you know.   IN FOCUS The Houthis threaten a new chokepoint for global trade When fighting between Iran and the United States turned the vital energy transit route, the Strait of Hormuz, into a dangerous and mine-filled gauntlet, another passageway took on some of the load. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a narrow opening that connects the Red Sea—and, by extension, the Suez Canal—to the world, became a critical alternative route for Gulf oil. An increase in traffic through it helped alleviate the global energy shock caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.  Now, that route too is being threatened with a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia at the hands of Yemen’s Houthis. The group announced the blockade on Monday in response to an attack on Sanaa International Airport by Saudi Arabia’s Yemeni allies and a Saudi blockade of Yemen.  The impact on the global economy could be profound. The Strait is vital for transporting oil between the Gulf of Aden and the Mediterranean, as well as for commercial traffic between Europe and Asia. As of 2024, it handled around 10% of global trade annually, with tankers passing through the Suez Canal at the northern end of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at its southern end.  The Houthis, an Iran-aligned group that controls much of northern Yemen, tentatively entered the war back in March. When I spoke to Yemen expert Thomas Juneau back then, he told me that while the group wouldn’t have a major impact on the direction of the war (and the group’s intervention was limited to a few missile and drone attacks on Israel), the closure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait would be a different story. A blockade of the Strait would affect not just energy prices, but also food security and the wider global economy.  I checked in with him again to ask about this latest threat.  “The combined effect of Hormuz being de facto closed and the Bab el-Mandeb perhaps being closed moving forward, will be magnified,” Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a fellow with the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, tells TIME today. “Because both of them are key choke points, it would be more than cumulative.” The Houthis have done this before. The group upended global shipping between November 2023 and January 2025 when it attacked over 100 merchant vessels in the Red Sea in a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during the Gaza war.  But Juneau’s analysis of why the Houthis are doing this again now is what should worry U.S. policymakers.  “Maybe they didn't do it in March and April because they had been deterred by pretty intense American and Israeli airstrikes,” he says. “What seems to have changed now is a perception on the Iranian and arguably Houthi side, that the Americans are backed into a corner, and that the Americans have lost the war, that Iran has come out on top, that Iran has gained tremendous leverage, and that the U.S. is basically demonstrating its incapacity to remove that leverage from Iran.”     ONE NUMBER 5 The debate over how many cups of coffee the human body can sustain before keeling over has been around for as long as coffee. But here’s some good news for addicts like myself: up to five cups a day is safe for most adults, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).  In fact, between three and five 8-ounce cups a day (that’s around 400 milligrams of caffeine) is linked to a lower risk of heart disease, heart failure, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.  The findings were published in the AHA’s journal, Circulation. SOURCE: AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION   The ops hire your budget can't justify. Payroll, cash flow, vendor invoices, overdue accounts, the investor update. Viktor handles the ops work a lean team can't hire for yet, right inside Slack and Microsoft Teams, connected to Stripe and QuickBooks. Start free with $100 in credits, no card. Get Started for Free   A VIRAL MOMENT Medal for mom Spanish soccer star Nico Williams paid tribute to his mother, María, after winning the World Cup on Sunday. Immediately after collecting his medal, he ran to give it to her in the stands. María was pregnant with her first child, Iñaki Williams, when she left Ghana with her husband in search of a better life in Spain. Iñaki, who is also a professional soccer player, told the Guardian in 2021 that his parents had crossed the Sahara on foot on their journey to Spain.     Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW   ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME IDEAS Trump, Rubio and a Zombie State In Venezuela WORLD  5 Key Moments From Andy Burnham’s First Day as U.K. Prime Minister IDEAS We’re Taking Hobbies Too Far POLITICS Trump Imposes 50% Tariff Hike on Canadian Goods   EMAIL US: thebrief@time.com   More Newsletters from Click to sign up. D.C. BRIEF +FUTURE PROOF +HEALTH MATTERS +INSIDE TIME +IN THE LOOP +WORTH YOUR TIME +   TIME may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email. Offers may be subject to change without notice. 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