“Tanzania’s president on Tuesday said her government may lose access to the international funding that largely keeps the nation afloat after the worst election violence in the country’s history. ‘We have to look for funds internally using our God-given resources,’ President Samia Suluhu Hassan said. The East African nation’s Oct. 29 elections were marked by three days of protests during which the opposition asserts that more than 2,000 people died. Hundreds of others were arrested and charged with treason. The president later asked for some to be released. Hassan was declared the winner with over 97% of the vote after competitors from the two main opposition parties were barred from running. On Monday, she announced her new cabinet, which includes her daughter and son-in-law. On Tuesday, Hassan urged it to find local money to fund development projects.” (11/18/25)
“Cloudflare, a company that helps websites secure and manage their internet traffic, experienced issues with its global network, the company said early Tuesday, disrupting service for many websites and apps.
‘Cloudflare is aware of, and investigating an issue which potentially impacts multiple customers,’ the company posted in a status update shortly before 7 a.m. ‘We are working to understand the full impact and mitigate this problem.’ In an update about 20 minutes later, it said disruptions had begun to ease, but said it was continuing to investigate the issue. … The outage hit nearly a month after Amazon Web Services experienced problems with its service, disrupting a wide range of online services for hours.” [editor’s note: Rational Review News Digest was down for several hours due to the Cloudflare problems, but it remains the best CDN/caching solution I’ve found – TLK] (11/18/25)
“As Democrats in the US House of Representatives introduced their latest measure to stop President Donald Trump from continuing his attacks against alleged drug cartels without approval from Congress, the president said he wouldn’t ‘rule out’ deploying US ground troops in Venezuela, and warned he could escalate attacks across Latin America, with possible strikes in Mexico and Colombia as well. Shortly after the Department of Defense, called the Department of War by the Trump administration, announced its 21st illegal airstrike on what they’ve claimed, without evidence, to be ‘narco-terrorist’ vessels mostly in the Caribbean (attacks that have killed at least 83 people) Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that he may soon begin similar operations against drug cartels in mainland Mexico.” (11/18/25)
“Britain’s MI5 security service issued a new warning to lawmakers on Tuesday about attempts by Chinese agents to collect information and influence activity, its latest accusation that Beijing was trying to spy on the nation’s parliament. Lawmakers were told Chinese spies were targeting them by posing as headhunters or companies to make contact, with two individuals reaching out on LinkedIn to ‘conduct outreach at scale on behalf’ of the Chinese government. The speakers of the lower and upper houses of parliament said MI5 had said the Chinese Ministry of State Security ‘was actively reaching out to individuals in our community.’ Britain’s Security Minister Dan Jarvis told parliament the alert revealed ‘a covert and calculated attempt’ by Beijing to interfere in UK politics and said the government would launch a counterespionage plan to address the threat.” (11/18/25)
“The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department. It represents a major step forward for the administration’s dismantling of the department, which has mainly involved cutting jobs since President Donald Trump called for its elimination with an executive action in March. Six new agreements signed by the Education Department will effectively move billions of dollars in grant programs to other agencies. Most notable is one that will put the Department of Labor over some of the largest federal funding streams for K-12 schools, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities. Department officials said the programs will continue to be funded at levels set by Congress.” (11/18/25)
“Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Monday voiced support for another interest rate cut at the central bank’s December meeting, saying he’s grown concerned over the labor market and the sharp slowdown in hiring. In an increasingly divided Fed, Waller’s comments put him squarely in the camp of those looking to ease monetary policy to head off further danger in the jobs picture. Others, including multiple regional presidents, have expressed opposition in recent days to more cuts as they view inflation as a persistent economic threat that could be reignited by additional easing.” (11/17/25)
“The UN security council has endorsed proposals put forward by Donald Trump for a lasting peace in Gaza, including the deployment of an international stabilisation force and a possible path to a sovereign Palestinian state. The resolution, passed by a vote of 13-0 with abstentions by China and Russia …. However, on the eve of the UN vote, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu restated his government’s adamant opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, raising questions on whether Israel will allow the implementation of the UN-mandated proposals. After the vote, Hamas rejected what it described as as an imposed ‘international guardianship mechanism’ and insisted it would not disarm.” (11/18/25)
“Bitcoin slipped below $90,000 for the first time in seven months on Tuesday in the latest sign that investor appetite for risk-taking is drying up across financial markets. The risk-sensitive cryptocurrency has erased 2025 gains and is now down nearly 30% from a peak above $126,000 in October. It traded down 2% at $89,953 in the Asia afternoon, having collapsed through chart support around $98,000 last week.” (11/18/25)
“Japan said Monday that it had scrambled aircraft after detecting a suspected Chinese drone near its southern island of Yonaguni, which is close to Taiwan, on Saturday, as tension between the Asian adversaries spiked. On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels spent several hours in Japan’s territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and a frequent flashpoint, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said. The incidents came amid escalating tension between the neighbors over remarks by Japan’s staunchly conservative new leader, who suggested Tokyo could intervene militarily in any hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan.” (11/17/25)
“A federal judge on Monday paused an order by another judge requiring the Department of Justice to give FBI Director James Comey all grand jury materials related to a criminal indictment that accuses him of lying to Congress in 2020 testimony. Judge Michael Nachmanoff said he would rule on whether to allow the order to take effect after considering objections to it by the DOJ and arguments in favor of it by Comey’s lawyers. …. The judge’s action came hours after Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick issued the order, and suggested that the charges against Comey could soon be dismissed because of potential ‘misconduct’ by the prosecution.” (11/17/25)
