“Two Baltic subsea cables connecting four different NATO nations have likely been severed, according to officials in Finland and Sweden. The first fiber-optic line in question is the C-Lion1 cable, which runs about 750 miles from Helsinki, Finland to Rostock, Germany. According to Finland’s state telecom company, Cinia, the line may have been cut by an ‘outside force.’ A cable ship is preparing to get under way to make repairs, but fixing the damage could take up to two weeks. At about 0800 GMT on Sunday, a subsea fiber connection between Lithuania and the strategic island of Gotland, Sweden also went out of service, according to Swedish telco Telia. By the nature of the failure, the company believes that the cause was physical damage to the cable, a spokesperson told CNN. Suspicion immediately turned to ‘intentional damage,’ and to Russia.” (11/18/24)
“Armed gunmen attacked and looted about 100 trucks carrying desperately needed supplies for Palestinians in Gaza over the weekend, the biggest such attack during 13 months of war in the territory and new evidence of the growing power of Gaza’s criminal gangs. The convoy, which was transporting thousands of tonnes of food provided by UN agencies Unrwa and the World Food Programme (WFP), was attacked shortly after entering Gaza on Saturday, UN officials and local community leaders said. Ninety-eight trucks of the 109-truck convoy were looted and some transporters were injured during the incident, said Louise Wateridge, Unrwa’s senior emergency officer.” (11/18/24)
“President-elect Donald Trump on Monday confirmed he would declare a national emergency to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportations of migrants living in the U.S. without legal permission. Overnight, Trump responded to a social media post from Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, who said earlier this month there are reports the incoming administration is preparing such a declaration and to use ‘military assets’ to deport the migrants. ‘TRUE!!!’ Trump wrote. Trump pledged to get started on mass deportations as soon as he enters office.” (11/18/24)
“Danish lawmakers on Monday agreed on a deal to plant 1 billion trees and convert 10% of farmland into forest and natural habitats over the next two decades in an effort to reduce fertilizer usage. … Under the agreement, 43 billion kroner ($6.1 billion) have been earmarked to acquire land from farmers over the next two decades, the government said. Danish forests would grow on an additional 250,000 hectares (618,000 acres), and another 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres), which are currently cultivated on climate-damaging low-lying soils, must be converted to nature. Currently, 14.6% of land is covered by forests. The deal was reached by the three-party Danish government — made up of the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the center Moderates — and the Socialist People’s Party, the Conservatives, Liberal Alliance and the Social Liberal Party.” (11/18/24)
“Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to end its quest to own a package of live National Basketball Association games in the U.S. for the 2025-26 season and beyond, settling all of its legal disputes with the league. Warner Bros. Discovery sued the NBA in July, claiming the league failed to allow the media company to use its so-called matching rights on a package of live games. … The settlement with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced Monday, as well as a separate agreement between WBD and ESPN, will keep the company in the mix with some NBA content, production partnerships and licensing deals. However, it officially ends Turner Sports’ 40-year relationship with the NBA as a carrier of live games in the U.S. after this season.” (11/18/24)
“Spain has arrested 14 people suspected of links to the powerful Mexican Sinaloa cartel as part of a kidnapping and murder probe, police said Sunday. The ring busted by Spanish investigators was mainly made up of Mexican nationals. It was connected to the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is based in northwestern Mexico and has been shaken by weeks of gang infighting. ‘The dismantled criminal network, which is based in Catalonia, is believed to be involved in the kidnapping and death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area’ in the northeastern Spanish region in August, police said in a statement. The victim, whose nationality was not specified, allegedly worked with the gang and ‘had come from Italy for a meeting with several chiefs.'” (11/18/24)
“Australia’s Resolute Mining said Monday it would pay $160 million to Mali’s ruling junta to resolve a tax dispute, more than a week after the company’s CEO and two employees were detained in the West African country. Earlier this month, the Australian gold mining company’s CEO Terence Holohan and the two others were detained in Mali’s capital Bamako on Nov. 8 as they were visiting the country for talks over an unspecified dispute. The government did not say why they were detained. Andrew Wray, the company’s non-executive chairman, said in a statement published on Resolute Mining’s website that all claims against the company made by Malian authorities, ‘including those related to tax, customs levies, maintenance and management of offshore accounts’ are settled.” (11/18/24)
“Conservative strategist Steve Bannon won’t face trial until February on state charges of conspiring to dupe donors to build a border wall, a judge said Monday …. His trial in the case surrounding the onetime charity known as WeBuildTheWall Inc. had been set to start Dec. 9. Bannon chaired the group’s advisory board. The judge delayed the trial date after deciding to let the future jurors hear evidence that some of the wall charity’s money went to pay a more than $600,000 credit card debt that a separate Bannon not-for-profit organization had racked up in 2019. Prosecutors wanted to introduce it, but defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully that it was irrelevant. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy and money laundering in the case. Manhattan prosecutors brought it after Trump pardoned Bannon in a similar federal prosecution that was in its early stages.” (11/18/24)
“Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Monday calling for an immediate end to hostilities in Sudan where a war between two rival generals has been raging since April 2023. A draft of the resolution prepared by Britain and Sierra Leone, which was seen by AFP, had called on both sides to ‘immediately cease hostilities’ and begin talks on ‘a national ceasefire.’ … Sudan has been ravaged by fighting between the regular army of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who seized power in a 2021 coup, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his one-time deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Before Monday’s vote, a diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that Russia had appeared to become ‘visibly more aligned’ with General Burhan’s camp during negotiations over the draft. During previous votes on Sudan in the Security Council, Russia had abstained.” (11/18/24)
“Organic and baby carrots sold at grocery stores across the US have been recalled after an E. coli outbreak that has killed one person. So far, 15 people are in hospital and 39 cases have been reported across 18 states, the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The recall covers bagged carrots sold by Grimmway Farms to big supermarket names including Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods’s 365, Target’s Good & Gather, Walmart’s Marketside, Wegmans and others. Officials say that impacted products are likely no longer in store but may still be in homes, and should be thrown away or returned to stores for a refund if so. Most of the infected people live in New York, Minnesota and Washington, followed by California and Oregon, according to the AP news agency.” (11/18/24)
