“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)
“Saudi [terror kingpin] Mohammed bin Salman arrived to a grand welcome from President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, greeted at the South Portico with an honor guard of black horses and herald trumpeters, a remarkable turnaround for the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia who had been branded a pariah in 2018 after the CIA concluded that he had approved the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The arrival, filled with more pomp than any world leader thus far in Trump’s second term, was a measure of the U.S. president’s affection for the Saudi [terror kingpin] and his rehabilitation following the killing. … The leaders are expected to sign deals ranging from weapons sales to agreements around artificial intelligence and critical minerals, according to White House officials.” (11/18/25)
“Toyota said it plans to invest nearly a billion dollars in U.S. manufacturing across five southern states to grow its hybrid model line. On Tuesday, Japan-based Toyota Motor announced it will invest around $912 million as part of separate plans to invest up to $10 billion in the United States by 2030. … The Japanese automaker currently holds more than 51% market share in hybrid vehicle manufacturing, and the new finance boost in its American facilities is largely intended to build upon that.” (11/18/25)
THANK YOU to long-time supporters PD and SZ! Their contributions yesterday, totaling $70, bring our year-end Fundraiser total (as of 5am on Wednesday) to $1,260.84!
Here’s the hump we need to get over: We’re a little more than halfway through the fundraiser period, but only 45% of the way to our goal. Making it to $1,375.25 TODAY — with donations of at least $114.41 — would put us at the halfway mark.
Please support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper and get us over that 50% “hump-day hump” at …
