“The French navy opened fire at drones that were detected over a highly-sensitive military site harboring French nuclear submarines, according to newswire Agence France-Presse. Five drones were detected Thursday night over the submarine base of Île Longue, in Brittany, western France, a strategic military site home to ballistic missile submarines, the AFP reported, citing the the French gendarmerie, which is part of the military. The submarines harbored at the base carry nuclear weapons and are a key part of France’s nuclear deterrent. French navy troops in charge of protecting the base opened fire, the report said. It was unclear whether the drones were shot down.” (12/05/25)
We’ve got a short (10-item) “weekend special edition” for you this morning. Enjoy.
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PS: Would you like RRND/FND to have a “real” office? I’ve been working from a home office in whatever corner I can find for 30 years now, but …
My family is in the process of moving — after 13 years of renting since moving to Florida, we bought ourselves a little place. Not TERRIBLY little, but this weekend I hope to look at used “camper trailers.” The idea I have is to park one out back and use it as my office, maybe (MAYBE) as a podcast studio, and for general “man cave” purposes. If I find what I’m looking for, it will cost $1-2k. If you’d like to help out with that, donating to our year-end fundraiser is the way to go about it!
“A man accused of planting pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol appeared in court for the first time Friday afternoon, though the brief hearing offered no additional details into his possible motivations. Brian Cole Jr., 30, was charged Thursday with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and attempted malicious destruction by means of an explosive material. Dozens of FBI agents and teams in camouflage apprehended him at his Northern Virginia home. … The arrest, nearly five years after the discovery of the pipe bombs near the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees, marked a breakthrough in a case mired by conspiracy theories and dead ends.” (12/05/25)
“The death toll from a drone strike on civilian facilities in the Kalogi locality of Sudan’s South Kordofan state has risen to 79, including 43 children, a local official said on Friday. Issam al-Din al-Sayed Angalo, Executive Director of Kalogi, blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attack, which he described as one of the deadliest in the region since the conflict began. A drone fired three missiles at the town in the eastern part of the state on Thursday. The first missile struck a kindergarten, causing initial casualties, Angalo said. A second missile was fired as residents gathered to rescue the wounded. A third strike hit the rural hospital where victims were being transported, killing and wounding more people and destroying large sections of the facility.” (12/05/25)
“The Supreme Court will decide if President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship can stand, the court announced on Friday. If the justices agree with the president, the court could overrule a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and upheld by SCOTUS over a century ago. … The president’s executive order leaned into a once-fringe belief that children born to undocumented immigrants have no right to U.S. citizenship as a way to deliver on his promises to cut down on illegal [sic] immigration. However, the 14th Amendment automatically offers citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, regardless of the citizenship status of their parents.” (12/05/25)
“The Pentagon announced on Thursday that the US military had conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics, [murdering] four men in the eastern Pacific, as questions [sic] mount over the legality of the [illegal] attacks. Video of the new strike was posted on social media by the US southern command, based in Florida, with a statement saying that, at the direction of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, ‘Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization.’ … It is the 22nd strike the US military has carried out against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, bringing the [murder count] of the campaign to at least 87 people since September when the strikes began.” (12/04/25)
“The Israeli military has carried out a new round of air strikes in southern Lebanon, less than a day after Israel and Lebanon held their first direct talks in decades. Residents of the towns of Mjadel, Baraachit, Jbaa and Mahrouna were told to evacuate areas around locations that the Israeli military alleged were weapons warehouses belonging to the Iranian-backed group. No casualties have been reported. An Israeli military spokesman said the sites constituted a ceasefire violation and warned that it would continue to operate ‘to remove any threat’ to Israel. Israel has carried out near-daily strikes on Lebanon since a ceasefire took effect in November 2024, following 13 months of conflict.” (12/04/25)
“The Justice Department on Thursday failed to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. The presentation to the grand jury came less than two weeks after the original criminal case against her was dismissed. James, a frequent political target of President Donald Trump’s who had successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him, had previously been indicted by a grand jury on one charge of bank fraud and another of making false statements to a financial institution. James has denied any wrongdoing. Lindsey Halligan, the acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a former personal attorney to Trump with no prior prosecutorial experience, presented the case to a grand jury on her own in the first go-round — and that case was declared void on Nov. 24 when a judge found Halligan’s appointment was unlawful.” (12/04/25)
“Texas can use a congressional map drawn to give President Donald Trump and Republicans an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections, the Supreme Court said Dec. 4 in a decision that may help the GOP keep control of the U.S. House. An ideologically divided court paused a lower court’s ruling that the map likely discriminates against racial minorities by diluting the voting power of Hispanic and Black Texans. That opinion, which replaces a temporary freeze on the ruling issued by Justice Samuel Alito on Nov. 21, keeps the map in place for the midterm elections as litigation over the boundaries continues. The high court said the lower court’s ruling was improper because it came too close to the election.” (12/04/25)
“Taiwan’s government has imposed a one-year ban on a popular Chinese-owned social media app after the company failed to cooperate with authorities investigating fraud cases. Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, has grown rapidly among young people in Taiwan, attracting 3 million users on the island of 23 million. But the Instagram-like platform has also raised alarms among officials who fear it could be exploited for pro-Beijing propaganda or disinformation, a threat Taiwan says it has contended with for years. … The ban has already triggered backlash from some users and opposition politicians, who argue it infringes on free speech.” (12/05/25)
