“Senior Pentagon officials have arrived in Ukraine to ‘discuss efforts to end the war’ with Russia, the US military has said. The team, led by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday. Reports began surfacing on Wednesday that the US and Russia had prepared a new framework peace plan, requiring significant concessions from Ukraine including giving up territory it still controls and dramatically cutting the size of its military. Neither Washington nor Moscow has officially confirmed the plan, drafted by President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev.” (11/20/25)
“The U.S. Justice Department will release files from its investigation into the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within 30 days, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday, after Congress voted nearly unanimously to force President Donald Trump’s administration to make them public. The material could shed more light on the activities of Epstein, who socialized with Trump and other notable figures before his 2008 conviction on charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution. The scandal has been a thorn in Trump’s side for months, partly because he amplified conspiracy theories about Epstein to his own supporters. Many Trump voters believe his administration has covered up Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and obscured details surrounding his death, which was ruled a suicide, in a Manhattan jail in 2019 as he faced federal sex trafficking charges.” (11/19/25)
“Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 28 Palestinians on Wednesday in the latest escalation of violence since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect. The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out the strikes on Hamas targets after ‘several terrorists’ fired on Israeli soldiers operating in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. … Hamas condemned the strikes as ‘a dangerous escalation’ and rejected the IDF’s account, accusing Israel of trying to ‘justify its ongoing crimes and violations.'” (11/19/25)
“The Justice Department acknowledged in court Wednesday the grand jury that charged former FBI Director James Comey was not presented with a copy of the final indictment, a concession that may further imperil a prosecution already subject to multiple challenges and demands for its dismissal. The revelation is the latest indication of a troubled presentation of the case to the grand jury by an inexperienced and hastily appointed U.S. attorney named to the job just days earlier by President Donald Trump. Concerns about the process surfaced earlier in the week when a different judge in the case said there was no record in the transcript he had reviewed of the grand jury reviewing the indictment that was actually presented against Comey.” (11/19/25)
“China will suspend importing Japanese seafood products after a diplomatic spat brought on by recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. According to Japanese new media, China’s rationale to suspend the imports was to enable Chinese authorities to monitor wastewater from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Takaihi’s statements ‘fundamentally damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations,’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday. Mao added there there was ‘no longer a market for Japanese seafood.’ … Takaichi told lawmakers Japan could use its military to intervene in any conflict that might occur in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainland China.” (11/19/25)
“Iran on Wednesday released a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker with all its 21 crew members aboard days after Tehran seized the ship without explanation, the vessel’s managers said. Tehran had no immediate comment on the release of the Talara, which marked the first ship seizure by Iran in months. The Middle East remains tense after its 12-day war in June with Israel and as concerns [sic] remain over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.” (11/19/25)
It’s a “hybrid Thursday” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — a full email/social media edition PLUS another 35 or so News stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links at our web edition:
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“On Monday, men arrived in a boat at a beach in northeast Mexico and installed some signs signaling land that the U.S. Department of Defense considered restricted. Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said late Monday that the country’s navy had removed the signs, which appeared to be on Mexican territory. … The signs read in English and Spanish, ‘Warning: Restricted Area,’ and went on to explain that it was Department of Defense property and had been declared restricted by ‘the commander.’ … The U.S. Embassy in Mexico shared a comment from the Pentagon Tuesday about the incident, confirming that contractors putting up signs to mark the ‘National Defense Area III’ had placed signs at the mouth of the Rio Grande. … The Pentagon said the contractors would ‘coordinate with appropriate agencies to avoid confusion in the future.'” (11/19/25)
“Former Treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers has resigned from the OpenAI board, he and the company told Axios in separate statements Wednesday, amid new revelations about the depths of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. … In recent days, a House panel released years of email exchanges between Epstein and Summers. Among them was one in which Summers appeared to be seeking advice on a relationship with a woman.” (11/19/25)
“Ukraine’s parliament voted on Wednesday to dismiss the energy and justice ministers after a major corruption investigation into the energy sector sparked the country’s biggest wartime political crisis. The probe into an alleged $100 million scheme to control contracting at the state nuclear agency has stirred public anger at Ukraine’s leadership as it struggles to fend off Russian forces. Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who served as energy minister from 2021 until 2025, and current Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk had both resigned earlier under pressure from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Both cabinet ministers deny any wrongdoing in the scandal.” (11/19/25)
