“Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has won parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, although his populist ANO party fell short of an overall majority. ANO received just under 35% of the vote, earning them 80 seats in the 200-seat lower house – up from 72 seats four years ago, according to preliminary results. Babis – who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021 – is expected to be invited to lead talks on forming a new coalition. ‘This is a historic success,’ Andrej Babis announced to cheering supporters at the ANO headquarters in the suburbs of Prague. He’d entered the building holding aloft a Bluetooth speaker blasting a remix of the 1981 hit ‘Sarà perché ti amo’ by the Italian pop trio Ricchi e Poveri. The same song resounded across the stage as he accepted the applause. Some colleagues – including the former finance minister Alena Schillerova – danced along to the beat.” (10/04/25)
“A federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s call-up of 200 National Guard troops in Oregon, ruling on Saturday that Trump’s claims of daily unrest in Portland were ‘untethered to facts’ and risked plunging the nation into an unconstitutional form of military rule. ‘This is a nation of Constitutional law, not martial law,’ wrote U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee. Immergut said Trump’s decision to enlist members of Oregon’s National Guard was based on false claims about nightly unrest targeting federal immigration authorities and buildings in Portland. Though Trump described the city as ‘war-ravaged’ and wracked with violence, police said immigration-related protests had been small, manageable and largely peaceful in the days leading up to Trump’s pronouncement.” (10/04/25)
“The state’s insurance commissioner — the person who helps advocate for everyday consumers and prevent industry overreach — is under scrutiny after allegations that he has spent exorbitant amounts of taxpayer dollars on questionable expenses. Ricardo Lara, a former legislator in both the state Senate and Assembly, is being probed by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, a bipartisan independent oversight agency. An KGO-TV investigation earlier this year revealed that he racked up expensive receipts on at least a dozen trips, including paying for significant security and high-end dining and hotels, since he assumed office in 2019.” (10/03/25)
“A judge sentenced Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to 50 months in prison, fined him $500,000 and ordered five years of supervised release. … A jury acquitted Combs of racketeering and sex trafficking charges on July 2, but convicted him on two lesser counts of transporting former girlfriends for prostitution.” (10/03/25)
It’s a FIREHOSE FRIDAY at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper — we’re “web-only” today, with more than 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links (too many to fit well in an email edition) at:
After a $55 start to our year-end fundraiser, we had a “zero-dollar day” yesterday. Our total remains (as of 5am on Friday, October 3) at $55 toward our goal of $5,501.
Thanks to reader GL’s generous “matching funds” offer, we only have to raise half of that $5,501 from the rest of you … so we’re THEORETICALLY already at $2,805.50.
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We’ve been bringing this publication to you for nearly 23 years now as Rational Review News Digest, and for another 11 years before that in previous formats (Freedom News Daily and Libernet). It’s a labor of love, but we also have to eat, so please consider the value you find in our work and return some of that value at:
“Hamas will demand key revisions to Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire proposal but is likely to accept the plan in coming days as a basis for renewed negotiations, analysts and sources close to the group say. Trump imposed a deadline of ‘three or four days’ from Tuesday for Hamas to give its response to his 20-point plan, which aims to bring the two-year war in Gaza to a close and allow an apparently indefinite international administration of the devastated territory, or ‘pay in hell.'” (10/02/25)
“Bitcoin rose to $120,000 for the first time since setting a record high seven weeks ago as speculation increases that the US government shutdown will drive investors to safe-haven assets. … The largest digital-asset by market value rose for a sixth straight day, and is up about 10% since Friday. Bitcoin was around 2% higher at $120,163 as of 2:37 p.m. in New York. It reached a record $124,514 on Aug. 14.
Smaller, more volatile tokens were up even more, with Solana rising 5.7%, Litecoin advancing 6.7% and Dogecoin strengthening 4.7%.” (10/02/25)
“A massive fire erupted on Oct. 2 at an oil refinery in Southern California, officials said, producing giant flames visible across the Los Angeles basin. … The El Segundo facility was built in 1911 and is the largest producing oil refinery on the West Coast, according to Chevron. The refinery processes more than 276,000 barrels of crude per day.” (10/03/25)
“Munich Airport in Germany was forced to close for almost seven hours overnight after a wave of drone sightings, the latest European aviation hub to shutter over unexplained drone flights. A total of 17 flights were grounded shortly after 10 p.m. local time on Thursday, affecting nearly 3,000 passengers, the airport said in a statement. In addition, 15 arriving flights were diverted to the German cities of Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Frankfurt, as well as Vienna in neighboring Austria, the statement said. … Europe has been on high alert in recent weeks due to a string of drone sightings, as well as alleged incursions by Russian drones into NATO airspace over Poland and Romania, and the alleged violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets.” (10/03/25)
“The White House on Wednesday sent letters to nine of the nation’s top public and private universities, urging campus leaders to pledge support for President Trump’s political agenda to help ensure access to federal research funds. The letters came attached to a 10-page ‘compact’ that serves as a sort of priority statement for the administration’s educational goals — the most comprehensive accounting to date of what Mr. Trump aims to achieve from an unparalleled, monthslong pressure campaign on academia. The compact would require colleges to freeze tuition for five years, cap the enrollment of international students and commit to strict definitions of gender. Among other steps, universities would also be required to change their governance structures to prohibit anything that would ‘punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative [sic] ideas.'” (10/02/25)
