THANK YOU to supporters ES, MM, WSS3, CW, TK, and DH! Their one-time donations and “subscribing contributor” payments over the weekend, totaling $70, bring our year-end fundraiser total (as of 5:30am on Monday, November 18) to $1,857!
We’re now only $818.50 short of our $5,351 goal (once we’ve raised $2,675.50, supporter GL will “match funds” for the other half) … about 70% of the way there.
If you haven’t supported the freedom movement’s daily newspaper recently — maybe ever — please help us wrap up our fundraiser THIS WEEK at:
Once we hit the goal, I’ll stop mentioning money to you ENTIRELY for the rest of 2024, and MOSTLY until October of 2025. Wouldn’t that be nice? YOU can make it happen at:
“US President Joe Biden has authorised Ukraine to launch limited strikes into Russia using US-supplied long-range missiles, in a big policy shift before the end of his White House term in January, two people familiar with the decision said. … Biden has long resisted allowing Kyiv to launch strikes within Russia using long range missiles known as Atacms on the grounds that it could escalate tensions with Moscow.” (11/17/24)
“Bitcoin posted its biggest two-day retreat over the weekend since the US election amid a bout of caution in global markets as traders assess the potential impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s policy agenda. The digital asset fell almost 3% across Saturday and Sunday before paring some of the drop to change hands at $90,100 as of 9:05 a.m. Monday in Singapore. Among the uncertainties are Trump’s timetable for delivering on his pro-crypto pledges and whether all are feasible, such as setting up a US Bitcoin stockpile. … US ETFs investing directly in Bitcoin attracted a net inflow of $4.7 billion from Nov. 6 to Nov. 13, the day the original cryptocurrency set an all-time peak, based on data compiled by Bloomberg. But about $771 million exited the products over Thursday and Friday.” (11/18/24)
“Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released on Sunday from a new book ahead of the pontiff’s jubilee year. It’s the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been ‘immoral’ and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war. … ‘According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,’ the pope said in excerpts published on Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa. ‘We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,’ he added.” (11/17/24)
“A federal judge in Texas is blocking a rule enacted by President Joe Biden earlier this year that provides overtime pay protection for roughly four million American workers. The U.S. Department of Labor exceeded its authority when it enacted the rule, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Judge Sean Gordon ruled Friday. In April, the Biden administration announced the rule would take effect July 1 and guarantee salaried employees working over 40 hours in a week would be financially compensated for the extra time. The rule would have extended to approximately four million American workers, guaranteeing them overtime pay.” (11/16/24)
“Tropical Storm Sara on Sunday weakened to a tropical depression after making landfall in Belize, where forecasters expected heavy rain to cause flash flooding and mudslides. The storm hit Belize after drenching the northern coast of Honduras, where it stalled since Friday, swelling rivers and trapping some people at home. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expected Sara to continue to lose strength as it moved further inland Sunday over the Yucatan Peninsula.” (11/17/24)
“Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus said Sunday that his administration will seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, where [she] has been in exile since fleeing a mass uprising in August. In a televised address to the nation on his first 100 days in office, Yunus said that the interim government will try those responsible including Hasina for hundreds of deaths during the student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule. Yunus took the helm on Aug. 8, three days after Hasina fled the country. … Bangladesh has sought help from the global police organization Interpol in issuing a red notice for the arrest of Hasina and her associates.” (11/17/24)
“President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement that included a confidentiality clause, according to Hegseth’s attorney. Attorney Timothy Parlatore said Hegseth denies assaulting the woman and has characterized the October 2017 incident in Monterey, California as a ‘consensual sexual encounter.’ … Hegseth has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit in connection with the incident.” (11/17/24)
“A South African court has ordered that a police blockade of a disused goldmine, in which hundreds of people are located illegally, be lifted. Emergency services have been at the site, in Stilfontein, around 90 miles south-west of Johannesburg, for several days. Police have blocked food and water entering the mine to, as one government minister put it, ‘smoke them out.’ The miners — who have been underground for a month — have so far refused to exit the mine over fears of being arrested. Among them are undocumented migrants who also fear deportation. Police welcomed the order but said it would not stop them arresting miners who left the mine. On Saturday, a court in Pretoria ordered that the mine ‘may not be blocked by any person or institution whether government or private.'” (11/16/24)
“Venezuela’s government on Saturday released some of the thousands of people who were detained during and after deadly protests that followed the July presidential election. The disputed results have earned officials, including [former] President Nicolas Maduro, international scorn. The individuals left prison a day after the attorney general, who is loyal to the ruling party, announced the review of 225 cases linked to the aftermath of the election, which Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González both claim to have won. Tearful reunions took place outside prisons in various cities. The Venezuelan-based nongovernmental organizations Penal Forum and Venezuelan Prison Observatory announced the prison releases on X. The former confirmed the release of at least 70 people, while the latter said the government freed the individuals under certain conditions, which it did not explain further.” (11/17/24)
