“Greenland’s elected leader said the gigantic Arctic island is not for sale after Donald Trump once again raised the issue of ‘ownership and control’ of the vast territory that has been part of Denmark for more than 600 years. ‘Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,’ Greenland’s prime minister, Múte Egede, said in a written comment. The US president-elect on Sunday announced that he had picked Ken Howery, a former envoy to Sweden, as his ambassador to Copenhagen, and commented on the status of Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of Denmark. ‘For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.” (12/23/24)
“Mauritius’s deputy prime minister has hinted that negotiations with the UK over the future of the Chagos Islands are being held up over the amount of money involved. Under the terms of the original agreement, which was announced in October, the UK would relinquish sovereignty to Mauritius over the archipelago but maintain a 99-year lease for Diego Garcia, home to a major UK-US military airbase. As part of the deal, the UK said it would provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, including annual payments and infrastructure investment, but neither side has said how much is involved. However a new government in Mauritius, elected since the agreement was first made, has said it wants to see some changes. The proposed deal has also attracted criticism in the UK, with the opposition Conservative party calling it a ‘monumental failure of statecraft.'” (12/23/24)
“A retired police officer in the nation’s capital was convicted Monday of lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson convicted former Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Shane Lamond of obstructing justice and making false statements after a trial without a jury. Sentencing was scheduled for April 3 after Lamond’s conviction on all four counts. Lamond was charged with leaking information to then-Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was under investigation in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner.” (12/23/24)
“Panama’s president has responded to President-elect Trump’s idea that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal. After Trump said Sunday that the United States ‘foolishly gave it away’ and is now ‘being ripped off’ at the waterway, Panama’s conservative President Jose Raul Mulino released a video declaring that ‘every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong’ to his country. Without mentioning Trump by name, Mulino addressed Trump’s complaints over rising fees for ships crossing the canal, saying they are set by experts who take into account operational costs, and supply and demand factors. … Washington relinquished control of the waterway to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under a treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.” (12/23/24)
“Former [sic] U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan will be extradited from Australia to the United States over allegations that he illegally trained Chinese aviators. Australia’s Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition Monday, ending the Boston-born 55-year-old’s nearly two-year attempt to avoid being returned to the U.S. Duggan, who served in the Marines for 12 years before immigrating to Australia and giving up his U.S. citizenship, has been in a maximum-security prison since he was arrested in 2022 at his family home in the state of New South Wales. He is the father of six children. Dreyfus confirmed in a statement on Monday he had approved the extradition but did not say when Duggan would be transferred to the U.S.” (12/23/24)
“A 33-year-old man was arrested Sunday after allegedly setting on fire and killing a woman on a New York subway train in what authorities called a ‘brutal murder’ and an example of ‘depraved behavior.’ The assailant approached the woman without saying a word, ignited her clothes and she was enveloped in flames ‘in a matter of seconds,’ police said. Surveillance video appears to show the suspect sitting on a station bench and watching the woman burn as police officers responded. … The suspect, identified as Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old Guatemalan citizen who entered the US unlawfully [sic] sometime in the past six years, was arrested at another subway station in Manhattan about eight hours after the attack, officials said.” (12/23/24)
“Mozambique’s highest court on Monday upheld the governing party’s win in the October presidential election following weeks of opposition protests in which more than 100 people have died. The court, called the Constitutional Council, said irregularities in the election ‘did not substantially influence the results’ and that Daniel Chapo with the governing party, Frelimo, won with 65.17% of the vote, while opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane had 24.29%. The court revised the initial results that said Chapo received 70%. Soon after the announcement of the results, Mondlane’s supporters again took to the streets in the capital of the southern African nation, Maputo, burning tires and blocking roads.” (12/23/24)
“The House Ethics Committee’s report investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has been released, external. The 37-page report details the findings from a long-running investigation by the committee. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing …. In its report, the House Ethics Committee says it found ‘substantial evidence’ that: * From at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz ‘regularly’ paid women for sexual activity, and engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl in this period * He used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019 * He accepted gifts in excess of permissible amounts in connection to a 2018 Bahamas trip * He arranged for his chief of staff to help a woman he was involved with sexually to obtain a passport, falsely indicating to the US Department of State that she was a constituent …” (12/23/24)
“The sisterhood reigns on. Actresses America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel released a joint statement on Sunday, standing ‘in solidarity’ with their ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ co-star, Blake Lively, who is currently embattled in a lawsuit with actor Justin Baldoni, her costar and the director of her 2024 film, ‘It Ends with Us.’ ‘As Blake’s friends and sisters for over twenty years, we stand with her in solidarity as she fights back against the reported campaign waged to destroy her reputation,’ the women wrote. … Lively is suing Baldoni and his production company, WayFarer Studios (which produced ‘It Ends with Us’), as well as several individuals for a litany of things, including sexual harassment, negligence, interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional affliction of emotional distress, and more.” (12/23/24)
“Social media users in Vietnam on platforms including Facebook and TikTok will need to verify their identities as part of strict new internet regulations that critics say further undermine freedom of expression in the communist country. The law, which comes into force on Christmas Day, will compel tech giants operating in Vietnam to store user data, provide it to authorities on request, and remove content the government regards as ‘illegal’ within 24 hours. Decree 147, as it is known, builds on a 2018 cybersecurity law that was sharply criticised by the United States, European Union and internet freedom advocates who said it mimics China’s repressive censorship of the internet.” (12/23/24)
