“Hundreds of thousands marched in cities across France on Saturday in largely peaceful protests to support schoolchildren’s demands for more teachers and repairs to dilapidated buildings, as Emmanuel Macron faces a social and political crisis in his final months as president. In Paris, at least 110,000 people marched along the eastern edge of the city, according to government estimates. They supported high schoolers but also complained of the high cost of living and the government’s heavy policing, saying riot police had been sent to target school protesters over the past month, instead of the government offering political solutions. … But at the end of the Paris demonstration, at Porte de Vincennes on the city’s eastern edge, different groups of masked men dressed in black emerged who had not appeared to have taken part in the peaceful march.” (10/24/26)
“All West Bank land crossings will be closed during Tuesday’s election in Israel, the country’s military says, and Palestinian workers will be barred from entering all [Israeli squats]. The restrictions come amid a crackdown in the occupied West Bank after Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers in the territory. The Israel Defense Forces announced ‘a ban on the entry and exit of Palestinian workers throughout Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including industrial zones, as well as the closure of all land crossings’ on Tuesday. It said most workers would also be barred from [squats] from Sunday, with the exception of industrial zones and a limited number of other areas. Before the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, more than 100,000 Palestinian workers were permitted to enter Israel. Since then only a small fraction have had their permits restored.” (10/24/26)
“The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to pay more than $800m to settle the legal claims of about 1,300 survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. New York Archbishop Ronald Hicks said on Saturday that the settlement will be formally signed on November 6 after an agreement with the plaintiffs and their lawyers. … According to The New York Times, which broke the story, each of the approximately 1,300 survivors will receive at least $250,000 from the Archdiocese of New York and potentially more depending on the severity of the abuse suffered. The settlement is the second-largest of its kind after an $880m deal reached by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2024.” (10/25/26)
“At least 12 people were injured, including six children, in a shooting Saturday near a football stadium in Tallahassee on homecoming weekend for Florida A&M University, authorities said. Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell told reporters that no arrests had been made. In a statement, police said the preliminary investigation indicates that a fight broke out prior to the shooting. It followed a football game in a crowded area. Eleven of the victims sustained gunshot wounds, and at least three victims sustained serious injuries, according to police. The university said on social media that the shooting happened near its campus and that it remained safe.” (10/24/26)
“A drone has hit a commercial ship off the coast of Romania, killing at least one crew member with three more still missing, Romanian President Nicușor Dan said Friday. … The Khoryv ship, flying under the flag of Comoros, suffered significant damage, capsized and partially sank, according to Romania’s Interior Ministry. The incident is the latest in a string of drone attacks on commercial shipping in the Black Sea.” (10/23/26)
THANK YOU to long-time supporter JR, whose $25 donation yesterday (with a note: “Not sure how much your copay is, but hopefully this helps” brings our annual fundraiser total to (as of 5am) $1,028!
Before going any further (it gets a little weird), let me mention that today is a “FIREHOSE FRIDAY” at the freedom movement’s daily newspaper, with no email edition but about 100 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links lined up for you here at our web edition.
That “copay” remark from JR refers to yesterday’s update, in which I mentioned a medical appointment. I expected a 45-minute thing, but it turned into a four-plus-hour thing (not including an hour or so of travel time). A big chunk out of my usual work time, which is why I decided to go “web-only” today. Why more than four hours? Read on if you’re interested. But first:
PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER!
We’re $1,723.50 short of our goal. Once we reach $2,751.50, supporter GL will “match funds” to get us to our goal of $5,503.
So: I went to the doctor to find out what kind of procedure I’d need to repair a hole in my left retina. Good news! The hole is too small to bother with, no surgery needed.
BUT!
Well, let me go with more good news: I PROBABLY don’t have cancer.
The four hours was all about multiple rounds of imaging because they saw something else in my eye. Optometrists doing regular eye exams have been mentioning a “freckle” in my eye for a decade or so, but the imaging at the specialist says it’s bigger than that. Ultrasound (one of, IIRC, four kinds of scans) says it is shaped “consistent with a choroidal melanoma.”
Which means more imaging every three months for probably a year to see if it is growing, changing, etc. It’s hard to biopsy the back of the eye, so all they can really do is watch and guess, then (if necessary) hit it with radiation, lasers, or surgery to remove the mass (or, possibly, the eye).
Am I worried? Yes. But there are worse things than rocking a Snake Plissken eyepatch for the rest of my life, which sounds like both a stretch and the worst even remotely likely outcome. Fortunately I have decent health coverage (through my wife’s employer).
If I was cynical, I’d say a cancer scare was just the thing I could use to get y’all to
“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says seven vessels were damaged in attacks or by naval mines near the Strait of Hormuz overnight Thursday, according to Iranian state media and the IRGC Navy. The move comes amid reports that the U.S. and Israel are drawing up plans to strike Iran after the U.S. midterm elections. President Donald Trump told NewsNation that the U.S. has ceased negotiations with Iran, but demurred on indicating when any additional military actions could take place. … On Truth Social, Trump accused Iran of trying to drive up the price of oil ahead of the upcoming election.” (10/22/26)
“Jared Kushner has strongly denied allegations raised in a new Vanity Fair report that Dutch intelligence monitored activity on his phone and uncovered purported secret financial arrangements involving Middle Eastern governments, calling the claims ‘completely insane’ and saying they ‘never happened.’ … The report, written by Matthew Cole and excerpted from his forthcoming book Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East, alleges that Dutch intelligence obtained screenshots of Kushner’s iPhone through files found on a Russian military intelligence operative’s server and subsequently monitored his phone activity. … The report alleges that roughly $750 million was transferred into an account at First Abu Dhabi Bank held by the Watani Al Emarat Foundation, a UAE government-funded charity. Kushner was allegedly a signatory on the account, giving him access to it, but was not its owner … The article also alleges that a separate account in Israel received roughly $1 billion intended for Kushner’s personal benefit.” (10/22/26)
“A strong earthquake struck [Chinese-occupied Tibet] on Thursday night, killing at least 16 people and injuring 65 others, Chinese state media reported. Hundreds of homes in the remote Himalayan region collapsed due to the magnitude 7.0 quake, Xinhua reported. … The earthquake’s epicenter is around 190 kilometers (120 miles) northeast of Nagqu, a city around 300 kilometers north of the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, the US Geological Survey said.” (10/23/26)
“A US judge has ordered President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath in his [frivolous] defamation lawsuit against the BBC by 11 December. Trump is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama that edited together two different sections of a speech he gave before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021. Charles Tobin, a lawyer representing the BBC, said in court that ‘we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff’ with two months left in the discovery period. Trump cancelled a previous deposition on 16 October, citing ‘matters of national importance’ while he was campaigning in Georgia. The judge in the case, US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett, said that Trump must sit for the deposition by 11 December, unless the discovery period is extended.” (10/22/26)
