Here’s hoping you and yours are enjoying a happy, healthy, and prosperous holiday break. As usual, we’re taking it easier (mostly because there’s less content to bring you) but we’ll continue bringing you daily editions during the annual Christmas-to-New-Year period.
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
“The Justice Department said Wednesday that ‘over a million more documents’ potentially related to the Jeffrey Epstein case have been found by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and FBI, and it is reviewing them for release. DOJ released thousands of new documents from the Epstein files on Tuesday, including many that mention President Trump. … One notable file includes a 2020 email from a prosecutor in New York saying that flight logs revealed that Mr. Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet ‘many more times’ than was previously known. Emails from July 2019 showed investigators discussing ’10 co-conspirators’ before Epstein’s arrest. Another email from 2020 showed that prosecutors had drafted a memo about ‘co-conspirators we could potentially charge.'” (12/24/25)
“At least five people have been killed in a bomb explosion in a packed mosque in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state, a police spokesman has said. Nahum Daso told local media another 35 people were injured in the blast in the Gamboru market of Maiduguri, the state capital, during evening prayers. Unverified footage on social media appears to show the aftermath of the explosion, with people stood in a market area with dust particles in the air. No group has admitted carrying out the attack, but militants have previously targeted mosques and crowded places in the area with suicide attacks and improvised explosive devices (IED).” (12/24/25)
“A man protecting his girlfriend and three children fatally shot an man trying to break into their apartment as police were nearly on the scene, the Fort Smith Police Department reported. The suspect, later identified as Wayne Nance, died of one gunshot wound …. The caller was inside the apartment with his girlfriend and three children and told dispatchers the intruder, later identified as Nance, attempted to force his way into the apartment through the door, according to Restine. … Officers arrived at the scene at 8:54 p.m. and, as they were trying to access the property through secured gates and fencing, the caller contacted dispatchers again to report Nance had opened a window and tried to get into the apartment, yelling at the occupants, Restine said. The caller fired one shot and Nance left from the window area …. Emergency responders arrived and pronounced Nance dead at the scene, according to police.” (12/24/25)
“The Ukrainian military says its forces have withdrawn from the battle-scarred town of Siversk in the [seceded] Donetsk region after heavy fighting with Russian forces. In a statement on Telegram on Tuesday, Ukraine’s General Staff said that Russian troops had a ‘significant advantage’ in manpower and equipment and had exerted constant pressure on the defending Ukrainian troops by staging small-unit assaults in difficult weather conditions. … Ukraine’s DeepState military monitoring site reported late on Tuesday that Russian forces had occupied Siversk as well as Hrabovske, a village in Ukraine’s Sumy region close to the border with Russia. Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev had told Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 11 that troops had taken Siversk, where fighting has been fierce in recent months, but Ukrainian officials denied the Russian reports at the time.” (12/24/25)
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place a ruling by a federal judge in Chicago that bars the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops in Illinois. In a three-page unsigned order, the justices turned down the government’s request to put the temporary restraining order issued by U.S. District Judge April Perry on Oct. 9 on hold while litigation continues in the lower courts. ‘At this preliminary stage,’ the court said, ‘the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.’ … Although the dispute came to the Supreme Court in its preliminary stages, the case was an important test of the president’s power to send National Guard troops, who are normally controlled by the states, into U.S. cities.” (12/23/25)
“Israel’s parliament has extended an order allowing the government to shut down foreign broadcasters operating in the country. The legislation, passed by 22 votes to 10, expands temporary powers introduced during the Gaza war to shutter outlets seen as a threat to national security. It allows the government for the next two years to cease operations of a foreign outlet even in peace time and without the need for a court order. Originally dubbed the ‘Al Jazeera Law,’ the powers were used to shut down the Qatari-owned channel’s offices and block its broadcasts in May 2024.” (12/23/25)
“The Justice Department on Tuesday released a third batch of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including some that have references to President Donald Trump. The Justice Department, which [was legally required to release the files by last Friday] under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, acknowledged the Trump appearances in a post on social media, and said some include ‘untrue and sensationalist claims.’ ‘The Department of Justice has officially released nearly 30,000 more pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already,’ the department said in a post on X.” (12/23/25)
“Bitcoin was falling in holiday-thinned trade, with the cryptocurrency on course to end the year lower. … With many markets closed early for Christmas Eve on Wednesday, reduced liquidity raises the potential for increased volatility. Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $87,090 and is down 7% in the year to date, LSEG data show.” (12/24/25)
“The Libyan army chief has been killed in an air crash in Turkey, Libya’s prime minister has said. Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four others were on board a Falcon 50 aircraft flying out of the Turkish capital, Ankara. In a post on X, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said signal with the business jet was lost at 20:52 local time (17:52 GMT) – about 42 minutes after it took off from Ankara’s airport. The Tripoli-bound jet had issued an emergency landing request before contact was lost.” (12/23/25)
