We’ve got a short (20-item) Friday edition for you this morning. Hope you’re enjoying the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend — and yes, I’m still asking you for money.
“The suspected shooter of two national guard members in Washington DC on Wednesday worked with CIA-backed military units during the US war in Afghanistan, the agency has confirmed. The alleged gunman, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, came to the US in September 2021 under an Operation Allies Welcome program that gave some Afghans who had worked for the US government entry visas to the US. Lakanwal’s ties to the Central Intelligence Agency, which worked alongside US special forces in Afghanistan, were confirmed by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to media outlets on Wednesday evening. … Following the shooting, Donald Trump ordered 500 additional national guard [occupation] troops to Washington.” (11/27/25)
“Guinea-Bissau’s military installed General Horta Nta Na Man as transitional president on Thursday, an army statement said, a day after soldiers toppled President Umaro Sissoco Embalo in a swift power grab that followed a disputed election. The self-styled ‘High Military Command for the Restoration of Order’ announced in a televised statement on Wednesday that they had ousted Embalo, in the latest episode of unrest in the coup-prone country. … Wednesday’s army takeover came one day before provisional results had been expected to be announced in the race between Embalo and Fernando Dias, a 47-year-old political newcomer who had emerged as Embalo’s top challenger to run the West African state, which is a hub for cocaine trafficking.” (11/27/25)
“President Trump’s criminal prosecution in Georgia came to its end Wednesday, as the prosecutor who took over the case announced he will not move forward. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council (PAC) who took over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s (D) 2020 election subversion case against Trump and his allies, filed a motion indicating to the judge that he is declining to prosecute them further. … He contended the case should have been pursued at the federal level instead of by Willis, a Democrat who was later disqualified due to her romance with a man she chose to lead the prosecution. … Willis indicted Trump and more than a dozen of his allies in August 2023 for allegedly entering a months-long, unlawful conspiracy to overturn former President Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia. Several pleaded guilty, but Trump and most of his co-defendants continue to proclaim their innocence.” (11/26/25)
“Two members of the West Virginia National Guard were shot in an attack in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon, officials said. FBI Director Kash Patel said the two Guardsmen were in critical condition. … The Metropolitan Police Department said the crime scene was secured and a suspect is in custody. Police said the suspect was wounded and was taken to a hospital. … The suspect has been identified by the Trump administration as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021. Law enforcement said he is believed to have acted alone.” (11/26/25)
It’s the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. We’ve got a short (13-item) special edition for you, and there might be another “weekend special” before Monday. News and opinion don’t stop happening for the holidays, after all!
We’re thankful for our readers here at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper, but especially for the readers who support us financially.
We love doing what we do, but we probably wouldn’t have kept doing it for 23 years as Rational Review News Digest, and going all the way back to 1991 as Libernet and Freedom News Daily, if we weren’t getting at least a LITTLE money out of it (early on as RRND, we kept going after a month in which we brought in only $6).
Which brings me to JR, a long-time supporter AND monthly subscribing contributor, who donated ANOTHER $65 yesterday. Thanks again, and as always, JR! That brings our year-end fundraiser total to $1,350.84.
We’re trying to raise $5,501 this year. Between our web, email, and social media editions, about 5,000 people read RRND/FND every day, so that’s a little more than a dollar per reader … and ONE reader, GL, has offered to cover half of it in the form of a “matching funds” pledge.
We’re $1,364 away from wrapping this fundraiser up, after which I’ll stop talking about money entirely for the rest of 2025 and mostly until October of 2026. Our “mini-goal” is to hit the $2,000 mark by Monday.
If you find value in our work (and if you read RRND/FND daily, you obviously do), please return some of that value as a donation, and help us get where we’re going:
“Bitcoin price ripped higher above $90,000 on Wednesday, extending a sharp rally fueled by accelerating institutional demand and a new wave of Wall Street–engineered crypto products. The surge followed fresh disclosures showing BlackRock increasing its exposure to its own spot Bitcoin ETF, and JPMorgan pitching a complex, high-stakes structured note tied directly to BlackRock’s IBIT fund. Bitcoin price touched 24-hour lows of $86,129 before rebounding above $90,300, continuing a volatile upswing that has defined the fourth quarter.” (11/26/25)
“The Cour de Cassation, France’s highest court, upheld on Wednesday former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s conviction for illegal campaign financing, in his latest legal headache after recently being jailed for nearly a month in another case. Sarkozy, 70, had appealed against the 2024 conviction for illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid, in which he had been handed a one-year prison sentence. Six months of that sentence were suspended and could be served through alternative means such as wearing an electronic bracelet without going to jail. Sarkozy, a one-term president from 2007-2012, has faced a series of legal challenges since leaving office and was sent to jail last month in a separate case related to an earlier election campaign.” (11/26/25)
“International tourists visiting popular national parks in the US next year will be required to pay additional fees and raised rates on annual passes, the US Department of the Interior announced Tuesday. In a statement hailing a new ‘resident-focused fee structure that puts American families first,’ the department said as of January 1, 2026, the annual pass will cost non-US residents $250 to obtain, more than triple the standard $80 which US residents will continue to pay. Foreign tourists who don’t purchase the pass will pay a $100-per-person fee, in addition to the standard entrance fee, to enter 11 of the most visited national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone and Yosemite, the statement said. … This announced price hike comes amid a decline in international tourism to the US, fueled by changes to tariff policies and crackdowns on immigration.” (12/26/25)
“The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the European Union to set minimum ages for children to access social media, to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents from excessive exposure. The call, which is not binding, comes as Australia is poised to institute the world’s first social media ban for children younger than 16 and as Denmark and Malaysia also plan bans. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously called for EU regulation to ban social media for children under 15, although it is not quite clear how the EU would carry this out, given it is up to individual EU members to impose age limits. Parliament’s resolution, backed by 483 votes to 92, with 86 abstentions, called for an EU-wide ban on access for children under 16 to online platforms, video-sharing sites and AI companions without parental consent and an outright ban for those younger than 13.” [editor’s note: It’s not about protecting kids, it’s about protecting themselves. They’re desperate to stop kids from finding out things / having ideas the political class would rather they didn’t know / think – TLK] (11/26/25)
