“Poland has announced it will close its last remaining Russian consulate in the northern Polish city of Gdansk following the targeting of a railway line to Ukraine from Warsaw, blaming Moscow for the incident. ‘I have decided to withdraw consent for the operation of the Russian consulate in Gdansk,’ Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told journalists on Wednesday. … The move means the only Russian diplomatic mission that will remain open in Poland will be the embassy in Warsaw. The Kremlin responded to the allegation by accusing Poland of ‘Russophobia.'” (11/19/25)
“The government lawyer knew what was coming as she stood inside a courtroom and texted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent waiting in a corridor a few feet away. ‘I can’t do this,’ the lawyer said in a text message as she looked at her docket of cases. ‘This is a new emotional load.’ ‘I understand,’ the agent responded. ‘Hopefully we meet again in a better situation.’ Nearby, a Cuban man who had lived in the United States for years stepped from an elevator and into the courtroom where the government lawyer was waiting for what the man thought was a routine hearing. The man was doing what the law required, and brought along his wife, a legal resident, and their 7-month-old infant. Then the lawyer quickly moved to have the man’s asylum claim dismissed and a judge agreed, making the man eligible for ‘expedited removal.'” (11/19/25)
“An Arlington homeowner shot an intruder who broke into his house Tuesday afternoon, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. JSO said the armed intruder broke into a rear bedroom window at a home on Arlex Drive North around 12:45 p.m. Then, led the man to the back bedroom, where he demanded valuables and car keys. The man was able to retrieve his gun from the bedroom and shot the man in the shoulder, police said. … The intruder was taken to the hospital in police custody.” (11/18/25)
“A schoolgirl who was abducted with 24 others from a dormitory in northwestern Nigeria has escaped and is safe, the school’s principal told The Associated Press on Tuesday, as hunters joined security forces in the search for the missing students in forests close to the school. The girls were kidnapped before dawn on Monday, when gunmen attacked the dorm at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Kebbi state’s Maga town. Local police said the gunmen scaled the fence to enter the school premises and exchanged gunfire with police officers before seizing the girls and killing a staff member. No group has claimed responsibility for taking the girls, but analysts and locals say gangs of bandits often target schools, travellers and remote villagers in kidnappings for ransom.” (11/18/25)
“A veteran FBI employee training to become a special agent was fired last month for displaying at his workspace an LGBTQ+ flag, which had previously flown outside a field office, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. David Maltinsky had worked at the FBI for 16 years and was nearly finished with special agent training in Quantico, Virginia, when he was called into a meeting last month with FBI officials, given a letter from Director Kash Patel and told he was being ‘summarily dismissed’ over the inappropriate display of political signage, Maltinsky’s lawsuit said. The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, said Maltinsky had been a decorated intelligence specialist working in the Los Angeles field office and most recently was pursuing a longtime dream of becoming a special agent.” (11/19/25)
“The U.S. Department of Energy said Tuesday that it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island that is under contract to supply power to data centers for tech giant Microsoft. The loan is in line with the priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration, including bolstering nuclear power and artificial intelligence. For Constellation Energy, which owns Three Mile Island’s lone functioning nuclear power reactor, the federal loan will lower its financing cost to get the mothballed plant up and running again. The 835-megawatt reactor can power the equivalent of approximately 800,000 homes, the Department of Energy said.” (11/18/25)
“Action is needed now to reduce ultra-processed food (UPF) in diets worldwide because of their threat to health, say international experts in a global review of research. They say the way we eat is changing – with a move away from fresh, whole foods to cheap, highly-processed meals – which is increasing our risk of a range of chronic diseases, including obesity and depression. Writing in The Lancet, the researchers say governments need ‘to step up’ and introduce warnings and higher taxes on UPF products, to help fund access to more nutritious foods. However some scientists say this review can not prove that UPFs directly cause health harms and more research and trials are needed to show that. Ultra-processed foods are defined as containing more than five ingredients you would not find at home in your kitchen cupboard, such as emulsifiers, preservatives, additives, dyes and sweeteners.” (11/19/25)
“Mexico’s president on Tuesday ruled out allowing US strikes against cartels on Mexican soil, a day after President Donald Trump said he was willing to do whatever it takes to stop drugs entering the United States. ‘It’s not going to happen,’ President Claudia Sheinbaum said. … Sheinbaum said she had given this message to Trump and to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on previous occasions and that they had understood. ‘Would I want strikes in Mexico to stop drugs? OK with me, whatever we have to do to stop drugs,’ Trump said Monday, adding that he’s ‘not happy with Mexico.'” (11/18/25)
“Gustav Klimt’s ‘Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer’ sold at Sotheby’s Tuesday night for $236.4 million, making it the second-most expensive painting ever sold at auction — breathing new life into the high-end art market after three years of declines. The portrait is the most expensive work ever sold at auction at Sotheby’s, blowing past its original estimate of more than $150 million. … The Klimt was part of the collection of Leonard Lauder, the Estee Lauder heir and longtime art collector, that is expected to total over $400 million. Along with the Lederer portrait, the collection included two Klimt landscapes, which sold for $86 million and $68 million.” (11/19/25)
“Billionaire and climate change activist Tom Steyer is throwing his hat in the ring to become the next California governor, further crowding the pool of candidates seeking to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy. Steyer, the Democrat who once attempted to run for president and joined an effort to impeach Donald Trump during his first presidential term, announced on Wednesday a gubernatorial run focused on addressing California’s affordability issues. ‘I wanted to build a business here. Now, it’s worth billions of dollars. And I walked away from it because I wanted to give back to California,’ Steyer said in a video announcing his campaign. In his release, Steyer touts several achievements that include his roles in defeating a proposal to roll back California’s clean air and climate laws and raising the state’s tobacco tax to fund health care programs.” (11/19/25)
