The Free Press · October 9, 2026 · By Oliver Wiseman

News briefs: Douthat Joins The Free Press, Cornell 7 Civil Suit

• Ross Douthat — former New York Times columnist and current 60 Minutes correspondent — was announced as a new weekly columnist for The Free Press.
• Seven men, described as the “Cornell 7,” are accused in a civil suit of raping Jane Doe, a Cornell sophomore. Olivia Reingold reported from a protest at Cornell in Ithaca, New York; Frannie Block and Madeleine Long reported that members of the Chi Phi fraternity at other chapters — who the article says have nothing to do with Cornell’s chapter — were threatened, doxxed, or harassed, even for wearing the organization’s sweatshirt.
• Garry Kasparov was crowned chess world champion at age 22; in 2025, his pro-democracy group, the Free Russia Forum, was listed as a “terrorist organization” by Vladimir Putin. Five Russian agents were charged last month with plotting to kill a prominent dissident in America; Kasparov says he was the target.

Roundup format: each bullet distills a story summarized in the October 9 Front Page edition. The threat/harassment claims and Kasparov’s identification as the target are the article’s reporting, not independently verified here. Original headline: "What Happened to Kids’ Books? Plus. . .".