“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)
“A panel of federal judges in Texas on Tuesday blocked the state’s new GOP-favored House map from being used ahead of the 2026 midterms by declaring it a likely racial gerrymander, dealing a blow to Republicans who have looked to net extra seats. In a 2-1 vote, the panel ordered Texas Republicans to use the congressional lines they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year. The new map would have offered Republicans up to five pickup opportunities in the House in 2026. … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quickly vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court, which is already considering wide-ranging questions about racial gerrymandering lawsuits in a long-running battle in Louisiana.” (11/18/25)
“An Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 13 people and wounded several others, state media and government officials said. It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago. … The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas training compound that was being used to prepare an attack against Israel and its army.” (11/19/25)
“The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to compel the Justice Department to release all files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sending it to President Trump’s desk. Trump said Monday he would sign the bill, but the files still may not be released any time soon. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent Monday evening, just hours after it cleared the House via a nearly unanimous vote — and before the bill had even technically been sent over. In a stunning reversal, Trump this week supported the legislation after opposing the effort for months. But his recent directive of DOJ to investigate Epstein’s ties to former President Bill Clinton, officials at JP Morgan Chase and others may cause the files to never see the light of day.” (11/18/25)
“NATO scrambled fighter jets in Polish and Romanian airspace as Russia carried out a massive and deadly attack using ballistic and cruise missiles and hundreds of drones across Ukraine into Wednesday. Romania defense ministry claimed a Russian drone entered its airspace during the attack. It comes as Russia said it shot down four US-made ATACMS long-range missiles ‘deep within’ its territory yesterday, that Ukraine claimed it fired. … Many regions of Ukraine were left without power Wednesday after strikes on the country’s energy infrastructure.” (11/19/25)
“The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits stood at a two-month high in mid-October at the time when the Labor Department would have been conducting its survey of U.S. households for the monthly employment report that has been held up by the recently ended government shutdown. Continued claims for jobless benefits — those receiving benefits beyond an initial week of relief — rose to 1.957 million in the week ended October 18, updated figures posted to a Labor Department website showed on Tuesday. That was up 10,000 from the prior week and was the highest since early August. It was up notably from the 1.916 million level in the week ended September 13, the last week of data to have been reported prior to the start of the shutdown on October 1.” (11/18/25)
