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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

A Warsaw court has rejected an appeal by Zbigniew Ziobro, a former justice minister wanted on multiple criminal charges, against a request by Polish prosecutors to have him brought into pretrial detention.

The decision, which is now final, will not immediately result in Ziobro being detained, given that he recently fled to the United States. However, it paves the way for Poland to request his extradition.

Zażalenie obrońców Ziobry odrzucone. Sąd zgadza się na tymczasowy areszt Ziobry. Esktradycja coraz bliżej.

— Dariusz Joński MEP🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@Dariusz_Jonski) July 1, 2026

Ziobro served as justice minister in the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government from 2015 to 2023. Last year, prosecutors announced that they wanted to charge him with 26 crimes, including leading a criminal group and approving the unlawful purchase of Pegasus spyware .

In October, parliament approved the lifting of Ziobro’s immunity from prosecution. However, he had by then already travelled to Hungary, whose prime minister at the time, Viktor Orbán, is an ally of PiS. In December, Ziobro was granted political asylum by the Hungarian government.

In February this year, Warsaw’s district court approved a request from prosecutors to place Ziobro in pretrial detention. That decision was needed in order for the authorities to issue domestic and European arrest warrants against the suspect.

However, Ziobro’s lawyers appealed against the decision. While that appeal was waiting to be heard, Orbán lost power in Hungary and, as his successor Péter Magyar was being sworn in, Ziobro left the country and flew to the United States .

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On Monday this week, the Warsaw court rejected Ziobro’s appeal and upheld the decision to approve his pretrial detention. Spokeswoman Anna Ptaszek said the court had found that “the most important charges, relating to the most serious crimes, have been substantiated”.

She added, however, that, “at this stage, the court is not ruling on the suspect’s guilt or innocence…[but] merely assessing whether the evidence the prosecutor has gathered so far is strong and convincing enough to justify the application of detention”, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

Prosecutor Piotr Woźniak, who is leading the investigation into alleged abuses relating to justice ministry funds, noted that the court’s decision will help with an extradition request for Ziobro. While not formally required, without it there is “little chance of success”, he said.

Ziobro, meanwhile, claimed that the court’s decision “was made even before the hearing began” and “confirms the political nature of this case”. He repeated his previous claims that the entire case against him is an act of “political revenge” by Tusk’s government.

To, co wydarzyło się dziś przed Sądem Okręgowym w Warszawie w sprawie zażaleń moich obrońców na zastosowanie tymczasowego aresztowania przez sąd rejonowy, potwierdza polityczny charakter tej sprawy. Decyzja o utrzymaniu tymczasowego aresztowania została podjęta jeszcze przed…

— Zbigniew Ziobro | SP (@ZiobroPL) July 1, 2026

After Ziobro fled to the US, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk criticised Washington’s decision to grant him a visa as “outrageous”.

Subsequently, Polish prosecutors revealed that Ziobro had been given a visa as “a member of the media”. After arriving in the US, Ziobro announced he had been appointed as a correspondent for conservative Polish broadcaster Republika.

News agency Reuters has reported, based on unnamed sources, that US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau personally instructed State Department officials to facilitate a visa for Ziobro, whom he argued was being unfairly prosecuted.

Polish justice minister Waldemar Żurek has pledged that the authorities “will do everything to bring Mr Ziobro to justice in Poland”. However, both he and Tusk have warned that extradition proceedings in the US are lengthy, complex and often do not succeed.

PM @donaldtusk says it is "outrageous" that the US granted a visa to fugitive former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is wanted on 26 criminal charges.

Reuters earlier reported that a senior US official intervened personally to secure Ziobro's visa https://t.co/cQKMKXKMPV

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) May 19, 2026

During his time as justice minister, Ziobro was the architect of a series of controversial and contested judicial reforms , which Polish and European courts have repeatedly found to have violated the law.

After PiS lost power in December 2023, the new, more liberal government led by Tusk began a series of investigations into alleged corruption and abuses of power under the former administration.

However, while charges have been brought against a number of former PiS officials – including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki – none have yet gone on trial.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Adam Guz / KPRM (under public domain)

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Bitcoin Magazine

Metaplanet Adds 2,823 Bitcoin, Reaches 43,000 BTC and Becomes World’s Third-Largest Corporate Treasury

Metaplanet crossed the 43,000 BTC threshold on July 2, a milestone that places the Tokyo-listed firm as the world’s third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The company now trails Strategy and Twenty One Capital across the global corporate ranking, and its climb underscores Japan’s role in the corporate Bitcoin accumulation race.

Metaplanet acquired an additional 2,823 BTC during the second quarter of 2026, a purchase worth about $170.7 million. The buy brought total holdings to 43,000 BTC, valued near $2.6 billion. Shares of the company (ticker 3350) closed 3.5% higher at 207 yen ($1.28) on Thursday following the announcement.

The average acquisition price for the quarter landed at roughly 12.71 million yen (about $80,000) per Bitcoin, according to the company. The effective purchase price fell to around 12.09 million yen (about $77,000) once income from the firm’s Bitcoin Income Generation business is counted.

That segment produced approximately 1.75 billion yen ($10.85 million) in operating revenue for the quarter, lifting first-half revenue to about 4.72 billion yen. On a trailing 12-month basis, the division’s revenue reached about 11.4 billion yen.

Metaplanet’s total Bitcoin investment now stands at approximately 659.25 billion yen (about $4.2 billion), with holdings valued near 409 billion yen (about $2.6 billion) as of June 30. The overall average cost basis sits at 15.33 million yen (about $102,500) per BTC.

The company reported a BTC Yield of 6.6% for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, a metric that tracks growth in Bitcoin per share. That figure remains a core indicator for corporate treasury strategies of this type.

The corporate Bitcoin leaderboard is now well defined. Strategy, the former MicroStrategy, leads with holdings above 847,000 BTC. Twenty One Capital holds second place. Metaplanet takes third, a position that puts it ahead of other large players such as MARA Holdings, according to data tracked by Bitcoin Treasuries.

Michael Saylor marked the occasion on X, tweeting , “Congrats to Metaplanet on reaching ₿43,000 and becoming the #3 corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world. You are proving that the Bitcoin treasury strategy is global.”

JUST IN: Japan's Metaplanet buys 2,823 Bitcoin worth $172.7 million

They now own 43,000 BTC pic.twitter.com/tWnA47xnsH

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) July 2, 2026

The strategy behind Metaplanet

Metaplanet has scaled at speed since it adopted the treasury model in 2024. CEO Simon Gerovich has drawn on equity offerings, debt instruments, and options strategies to build the position, an approach designed to limit the shareholder dilution that comes with large corporate purchases. The Bitcoin Income Generation business uses Bitcoin options to create recurring cash flow while the company expands its holdings.

The balance sheet leaves room to grow. Total debt and preferred stock represent about 23% of the net asset value of the firm’s Bitcoin, a cushion that gives Metaplanet capacity to keep buying.

The dual model, one part aggressive accumulation and one part recurring income, cements Japan as a rising force in the corporate push to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

This post Metaplanet Adds 2,823 Bitcoin, Reaches 43,000 BTC and Becomes World’s Third-Largest Corporate Treasury first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman .

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Howdy, friends!

Welcome back to another perfect installment of Am I The Literary Asshole? , a drunken advice column that’s just happy to be here. I’m your host, Kristen Arnett, and I’m proud to announce that it’s officially Miller Time. That’s right, I’m about to pound my entire way through a twelve pack of beer. Would you care to join me, gentle readers?

Great! Let’s crack a couple of cold ones and get down to the scintillating business of reading everyone else’s petty gossip.

Cheers, let’s get into it:

1) Dear Dad,

There’s a pretty famous local author who lots of people love, but I don’t. I don’t have any critique of their work or personal bad experience, it’s all just a gut feeling. Does this make me a literary a-hole?

Melting in the Midwest

And we’re off to a strong start!

Listen, nobody has to like anybody. I mean, we need to be respectful. That’s paramount. But at the end of the day, nobody is going to force you to enjoy this person’s work or company. Everyone is different and we all have varying personalities. Some of those personalities mesh better than others. Simple as that!

Now, since you wrote in to me, I’m going to unpack this further. Why? Because you don’t choose to write into a stranger about something like this unless your feelings are a bit more complicated than “just a gut feeling.”

I’m a big believer in intuition. If your gut is telling you this is a bad character (and it’s truly nothing other than that), I think you can go with that alone. Keep your negative thoughts to yourself and simply keep your distance.

But! I’d ask you to question whether any of this might stem from something other than your “gut.” Because while I do strongly believe that our guts are great barometers of energy and vibe, I also think there are likely other layers to examine here.

This is a famous local author, right? Are you also from this place? Do you have strong feelings about people who write about that place? Does the fact that this person gets recognition and “love” of their work impact the way you view them since you are also (probably) a writer? Does it make you feel certain ways about your own work?

You say you have no critique of their writing, but maybe take a moment to consider why it is you don’t have any sort of feeling about it. Is it truly apathy, or is something else at the root? I always think it’s smart to take a beat and examine our own feelings. This is especially true when it comes to matters of personal dislike.

I’m not going to call you an asshole for just generally disliking someone! That’s perfectly fine. But it might do you some good to take a little peek at your inner working for this one, just to see if you can narrow down what’s causing all this. The answer may surprise you! And I bet you’ll learn something interesting from the exercise, regardless.

Beer for you? Beer for me. Let’s see what’s next on the docket:

2) Am I the Asshole for refusing an anthology request? Somebody reached out to me (through my agent) and asked if I’d consider contributing to an upcoming compilation. Thematically, the work isn’t remotely similar to my own. Think “romance” when all I write is “horror.” Honestly? I was pretty offended. I told my agent to nicely turn them down, and then my agent seemed upset because it’s fairly good pay for an antho. Apparently there are a lot of big names attached. Should I have just sucked it up and sent them something?

This one’s easy! You don’t need to feel bad about this, at all.

I get why your agent would see that there’s lots of money involved and want you to be part of things. It’s always nice to get paid for our writing, and anthologies generally don’t shell out all that much cash since there are so many contributors listed on the contract.

But if this anthology is dealing with work that isn’t remotely in your wheelhouse? It’s better to leave it alone. You’d likely wind up either:

Submitting work that doesn’t fit with the rest of the contributors (and likely getting a polite rejection for your efforts)

Submitting work that’s not your usual genre and doesn’t feel up to your standards

It’s perfectly fine to bow out of things if we feel like we aren’t the right fit. Jobs are jobs, buddy. Why try and shove ourselves into something uncomfortable when there are plenty of other opportunities out there that would be better for us artistically and professionally?

Don’t worry about this one. Something else will come along that’s better for everyone involved.

Okay, we’ve come to our final beer (and our final question) of the day. Let’s sip and see, shall we?

3) Sometimes when I try and attend open mic nights or other literary events in my (admittedly small) town, I feel so wildly out of place that I wind off coming off like a jerk. My best friend has told me I have “resting bitch face” so there’s nothing I can really do about that, but I’d like to make more friends in the community. Do you have any advice?

Sometimes all it takes is just toughing things out.

I know that’s hard to hear! But allowing ourselves to experience discomfort can oftentimes lead to necessary life experiences. Are there ways you can engage with other people at these events? That would take care of the “resting bitch face.” Although I have to say, sometimes we might feel as though we’re coming off poorly, and the reality is that we’re acting perfectly fine. Unless you’re actively saying negative stuff about the other readers, it’s likely nobody thinks you’re acting like a “jerk.” They probably just think you’re shy.

Maybe approach someone after they’re done and let them know you liked what they read. Ask someone a question about their work. Most artists really enjoy hearing positive feedback, especially in small spaces where they’re trying out new and vulnerable work.

The more you put yourself out there, the easier this will all feel. The more comfortable you get with talking to other people at these events, the more likely you are to create a larger and more welcoming community space for yourself. Odds are there are plenty of people at these events who are just as nervous as you. Making the effort can make all the difference.

I believe in you! You’ve got this!

And that’s all the time we have for today, folks. Join me next time when I answer more of your anonymous questions (submit them HERE , friends) and I also start building a fort out of all my empty beer boxes. Yes, you’re invited! BYOB!

Hi-ho,

Dad

__________________________

Are you worried you’re the literary asshole? Ask Kristen via email at AskKristen@lithub.com , or anonymously here.

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Henry Cavill came into the year hard at work filming his long-awaited Highlander reboot, which also features big stars like Russell Crowe and Dave Bautista . The movie is reportedly in the final stages of filming, expected to wrap any day now, but it’s still unclear when it will be released. For Cavill’s first project of the year, he reunited with director Guy Ritchie for In The Grey , the new action thriller co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rosamund Pike from The Wheel of Time . The film opened with mediocre reviews on its way to an underwhelming performance at the box office, but it has since gone on to find at least a small sort of redemption on VOD platforms like Prime Video. It’s even getting a new physical media release later this month.