“London police are probing whether Prince Andrew asked an officer assigned to him as a bodyguard to dig up dirt on sexual assault accuser Virginia Giuffre. The Metropolitan Police said it was ‘actively looking into’ media reports that Andrew in 2011 sought information to smear Giuffre by asking an officer on the force to find out if she had a criminal record. The report by the Mail on Sunday followed Buckingham Palace’s announcement Friday that Andrew agreed to relinquish use of Duke of York and other remaining royal titles after emails emerged showing he had remained in contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously admitted.” (10/19/25)
“Former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus retired with full pension and benefits on Tuesday just hours after the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove her from office following multiple investigations within the past year. Corpus retired ‘under duress’ so she could retain health benefits for herself and her children, according to ABC7 News reporter Danny Noyes. He posted on X, saying she texted him: ‘I will be okay! They don’t deserve me.’ Supervisor David Canepa confirmed the validity of Corpus’[s] retirement, explaining to KTVU-TV that under county protocol, Corpus will receive her pension, which reportedly includes 90% of her paycheck and benefits upon retirement.” (10/17/25)
“A business owner in Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood shot and killed a man during a burglary at his jewelry store early Thursday morning, police said. … Baltimore police described it as a commercial burglary at the jewelry store across the street and confirmed the store owner shot and killed a 39-year-old man. Police have yet to identify the man who died. … Maryland law includes the Castle Doctrine, which allows the use of force to protect your home, but that force must be proportional to the perceived threat.” (10/17/25)
“Israel said on Thursday it was preparing for the reopening of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt to let Palestinians in and out, but set no date as it traded blame with Hamas over violations of a U.S.-mediated ceasefire. A dispute over the return of hostages’ bodies held by Hamas threatens to derail the truce and other unresolved elements of the plan, including disarmament of militants and Gaza’s future governance. Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters Israel remained committed to the agreement and continued to uphold its obligations, demanding Hamas return the bodies of the 19 deceased hostages it had not handed over. … On Thursday, a senior Hamas official accused Israel of flouting the ceasefire by killing at least 24 people in shootings since Friday, and said a list of such violations was handed over to mediators.” (10/17/25)
“The U.S.-listed crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) bled money Thursday, snapping a two-week streak of consistent inflows. The 11 bitcoin ETFs registered a net outflow of $536.4 million as investors pulled out $56.8 million from ether ETFs. … The reversal caps a volatile fortnight that saw bitcoin tumble from its $126,000 highs amid leveraged liquidations, structural problems with Binance’s data feeds, and renewed U.S.–China trade tensions. … Despite the volatility, Citi reiterated its year-end target of $133,000 for bitcoin, citing resilient ETF participation despite the pullback, a target that prediction markets tend to agree with.” (10/17/25)
“India has seemingly pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s claim it had agreed to stop importing Russian oil, signaling the issue that has strained ties is unlikely to be resolved soon. Trump on Wednesday said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ‘assured me today that they (India) will not be buying oil from Russia,’ which is subject to US sanctions, describing it as a ‘big step.’ But on Thursday India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters he was ‘not aware of any conversation’ between Trump and Modi, or any assurance from the Indian leader that he would stop purchasing Russian oil. … India has long maintained close ties with the Kremlin and is due to host Russian President Vladimir Putin later this year. It has emerged as one of the top buyers of Russian oil since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.” (10/17/25)
“A federal grand jury indicted former national security adviser John Bolton on charges of transmitting and retaining national defense information, bringing another criminal case against a critic of President Trump. Prosecutors allege that, beginning in April 2018 until at least August this year, Bolton ‘abused his position’ as national security adviser to share more than a thousand pages of information about his daily activities in the role with two unauthorized individuals, both of whom were ‘related’ to him and never held security clearances. The information included details classified as top secret and related to the national defense and was sent to the individuals in ‘diary-like entries’ through non-governmental messaging apps and email accounts, according to the 26-page indictment.” (10/16/25)
“Senate Democrats rejected for the 10th time Thursday a stopgap spending bill that would reopen the government, insisting they won’t back away from demands that Congress take up health care benefits. The vote failed Thursday morning on a 51-45 vote, well short of the 60 needed to advance with the Senate’s filibuster rules. … Democrats say they won’t budge until they get a guarantee on extending the tax credits for the health plans.” [editor’s note: The Republicans can bring on the 51-vote “nuclear option” any time they please, and did so only a couple of months ago on another subject. The “shutdown” continues because the GOP wants it to continue; they should own that instead of pretending otherwise – TLK] (10/16/25)
It’s a “web-only Friday” at the freedom movemement’s newspaper — we’ve got at least 108 news stories, opinion pieces, and audio/video links (far more than would easily fit in an email edition, and there may be more coming by the time you read this) lined up for you at our web edition:
We’re also 18.6% of the way through our annual fundraiser period (yep, we only do one fundraiser per year) and 19.7% of the way to our goal.
That goal is $5,501 — but thanks to reader GL’s “matching funds” offer, we only have to raise $2,750.50 from the rest of you, and we’re currently at $542.50.
What we need right now is a big weekend and a “mini-goal” to reach, so … please support our work and help us get to the $1,000 mark by Monday morning!
Over the years I’ve gone through all the reasons why you should do that, many times. The only one that really matters is this:
We’re reader-supported, you’re a reader, you obviously wouldn’t be a reader if you didn’t find some kind of value in our work, and returning some of that value as financial support helps us keep the Internet’s oldest daily news and commentary roundup for libertarians coming to your inbox every non-holiday weekday, as it has for nearly 23 years as Rational Review News Digest and for more than 30 years as Freedom News Daily and, before that, Libernet.
We never pull the “if you don’t pony up, we’ll just have to close our doors” stuff. If we’re running a year-end fundraiser, it means we plan to be here for AT LEAST another year absent some kind of major force majeure event.
We also generally stay away from “charity case” pleas — you know, “one of us needs an elbow transplant” or “the payment on the Lamborghini is coming up” kind of thing. Our focus is on delivering a product that you find worth paying for, not making our problems your problems.
That said, my wife and I did finally decide to stop renting and buy a place, our offer has been accepted, inspections/appraisals are underway, and most of you probably know that moving (which will hopefully happen in November) entails various not-as-usual expenses. So hey, if the “charity case” pitch moves you, feel free to be moved by my upcoming move!
THANK YOU to all of the readers who have supported us over the years, and who are about to support us now. We appreciate it, and we try to show our appreciation by delivering the goods. That URL, one last time:
Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous weekend — we’ll be back Monday with the regular email edition (and, who knows, maybe even a “weekend special edition” if there’s lots of content to show you)!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily
“Ireland’s High Court on Thursday struck down a decision by the Irish police not to investigate the legality of Airbnb operations in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, rejecting the argument that it did not have jurisdiction. The ruling does not automatically trigger an investigation by police in Ireland, where Airbnb has its Europe and Middle East headquarters, but it obliges the Irish police to consider the matter afresh, the court heard. The case was brought by Irish-Palestinian non-governmental organisation Sadaka, which asked police to investigate whether Airbnb had broken Irish law by operating in the settlements.” (10/16/25)
