“A number of countries have offered to take part in the international stabilization force expected to operate in Gaza, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, even as key details, including its mandate, were still being negotiated. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would determine ‘which forces are unacceptable to us.’ ‘This is, of course, acceptable to the United States as well, as its most senior representatives have expressed in recent days,’ Netanyahu told a session of his Cabinet. During a visit to Israel, Rubio said Friday that the force would have to be made up of countries that Israel is ‘comfortable with,’ adding that any potential role for the Palestinian Authority has yet to be determined.” (10/26/25)
“President Trump on Sunday attended a ceremony to formalize a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia to put to rest a border dispute, giving the president a platform to bolster his image as a global peacemaker. … Trump was joined by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul for the event, which formalized an agreement the U.S. president helped broker earlier this year. Malaysia also played a central role in mediating the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. The agreement covers issues that include withdrawing heavy weapons from the border of the two countries and new guidelines to address accusations of encroachment at the boundary. The agreement also calls for Thailand to release 18 detained Cambodian soldiers.” (10/26/25)
“Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for new strong sanctions against Russia and its allies after Russian drones killed three and injured 31, including six children, in an overnight air attack on Kyiv. The attack destroyed two high-rise apartment buildings and Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app that seven of the injured, including two children, were taken to city hospitals. Debris from destroyed Russian air weapons fell onto a nine-storey apartment building in Kyiv’s leafy Desnianskyi district, sparking a fire that engulfed several storeys, the mayor said.”(10/26/25)
“Paramilitary fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have entered the center of El Fashir, the last major city in the western region of Darfur held by the country’s military and allied forces, an adviser to the force said Sunday, raising fears of another bloodbath. Bash Tabiq, an RSF adviser, said Sunday that the forces had taken control of Sudan’s military headquarters in El Fashir, and social media pages loyal to the RSF broadcast images from inside the building. Sudanese military officials told The Washington Post that as of Sunday, the RSF had entered the city and army forces had redeployed to other locations. The RSF has besieged the city since April 2024. ” (10/26/25)
THANK YOU to long-time supporter AT, whose $30 donation over the weekend brings our year-end fundraiser total (as of 5:30am on Monday) to $815.50!
Manic Monday “mini-goal”: $101.34.
Why such an odd … er, even … number?
Because that will get us to the 1/3 point, $916.84, in our fundraiser. Our goal is $5,501, but supporter GL’s generous “matching funds” offer will cover the second $2,750.50 once we’ve raised the FIRST $2,750.50.
Please support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper TODAY at …
“The donor whose millions of dollars are intended to help pay American troops during the federal government shutdown is the heir to the largely Pittsburgh-made Mellon fortune, according to the New York Times. Timothy Mellon, grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon and great-grandson of Mellon Bank founder Thomas Mellon, gave the U.S. government $130 million that President Donald Trump said this week will help pay members of the military during the shutdown. … It wasn’t immediately clear how Mr. Mellon’s $130 million donation for troops would be distributed among 1.3 million active-duty salaries, the Times reported.” [editor’s note: According to the Constitution, only Congress gets to raise revenues, and they can only be spent per congressional appropriations – TLK] (10/25/25)
“Police and protesters clashed outside a Portland-area Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Saturday, October 25. … According to Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), a crowd of about 100 people gathered outside the building, which houses an ICE office. Citing protest organizers, OPB reported the rally was held to ‘demand the revoking of ICE’s permit to operate out of the facility.’” (10/25/25)
“Hurricane Melissa rapidly intensified into a potentially catastrophic storm in the Caribbean overnight, U.S. forecasters warned early Sunday. The U.S. National Hurricane Centre reported Melissa had maximum sustained winds of 220 km/h, reaching Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. Melissa is expected to continue intensifying throughout the day, the Miami-based forecaster said, predicting the storm will make landfall in Jamaica Monday night or Tuesday morning. … The erratic and slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.” (10/26/25)
“The US and China have agreed the framework of a potential trade deal that will be discussed when their respective leaders meet later this week, the US treasury secretary has said. Scott Bessent told the BBC’s US news partner CBS that this included a ‘final deal’ on TikTok’s US operations and a deferral on China’s tightened rare earth minerals controls. He also said he did not anticipate the 100% tariff on [American buyers of] Chinese goods threatened by US President Donald Trump coming into force, while China will resume substantial soybean purchases from the US. Both nations are seeking to avoid further escalation in a trade war between the world’s two largest economies.” (10/26/25)
“The Social Security Administration announced Friday that benefit payments will increase 2.8% next year to account for the higher cost of living. The 2026 cost-of-living adjustment, knowns as the COLA, represents an increase over last year’s 2.5% figure, but it is lower than the historical average of about 3.7%. Individual retirement benefits will climb an average of about $56 per month, the agency said in a statement. The COLA is typically calculated using benchmark inflation data from July, August, and September.” (10/24/25)
