Important Takeaways:
- Two subsea telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea have been damaged in a suspected act of Russian sabotage, highlighting the fragility of the world’s data networks.
- A 730-mile (1,170km) C-Lion1 cable carrying data between Germany and Finland was severed on Monday.
- Meanwhile, a 135-mile (218km) internet link between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday, according to Sweden’s Telia Group.
- “No one believes that the cables were accidentally damaged,” said Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister.
- “We have to assume, without certain information, that the damage is caused by sabotage.”
- Germany and Finland said they were “deeply concerned” by the damage to the C-Lion1 cable, which is run by Finnish state-controlled cyber security and telecoms company Cinia.
- “Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors,” a joint statement read.
- The economic damage caused by the loss of data services from a cable is difficult to estimate, but according to a recent report by Gallagher, it can quickly reach billions of dollars.
- The incident is the latest in a series of mysterious disruptions to undersea cables that have been linked to Russia.
- It comes amid deepening tensions with the West over the Ukraine war.
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Important Takeaways:
- A company affiliated with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones asked a federal judge on Monday to disqualify a bid by the satirical news outlet The Onion to buy Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction, alleging fraud and collusion.
- The company, First United American Companies, which is affiliated with a Jones website that sells dietary supplements, was the only other bidder at the recent auction, offering $3.5 million. In a filing in federal bankruptcy court in Houston, a lawyer for the company asked the judge to declare it the winning bidder instead of The Onion.
- The lawyer, Walter Cicack, claimed that the bankruptcy trustee overseeing the auction improperly colluded with The Onion and families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in naming The Onion the winning bidder. Cicack also alleged the trustee violated rules for the sale set by the judge, and said the company’s cash offer was twice the amount of The Onion’s.
- Over the weekend, Collins posted a series of comments about the auction on X, formerly known as Twitter.
- “Long and short of it: We won the bid and — you’re not going to believe it — the previous InfoWars folks aren’t taking it well,” he wrote.
- Collins said last week that The Onion planned to turn the Infowars website into a parody site, taking aim at conspiracy theorists and other social media personalities while promoting gun violence prevention efforts.
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Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control.
- A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Bryansk region lit up the night sky early this morning on what is the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine.
- Kyiv is yet to officially confirm the ATACMS strike, but Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed they shot down five missiles. A sixth missile was damaged but ultimately landed on the military facility, it said.
- The reports emerged within minutes of the Kremlin threatening a ‘nuclear response’ should Ukraine hit targets on Russian soil with Western-supplied long-range munitions.
- ‘The Russian Federation reserves the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against it with the use of conventional weapons,’ Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Russia this morning.
- His statement followed Vladimir Putin’s approval of an updated nuclear doctrine that allows his strategic forces to deploy nuclear weapons if Russian or Belarusian territory is threatened by a non-nuclear nation supported by a nuclear power.
- Threats that could make Russia’s leadership consider a nuclear strike include an attack with conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft, according to the updated document.
- A Ukrainian strike on Russian territory with US-supplied missiles meets these criteria, raising fears that Moscow may now consider a dramatic escalation in the conflict.
- … ‘if anyone has the urge to launch ATACMS, SCALP, Storm Shadow missiles… there will be essentially nothing left of America trying to pull us into escalation.
- ‘There will be no Biden and no Trump. The American people and we know this perfectly well.’
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Important Takeaways:
- What happens when an atmospheric river and a “bomb cyclone” happen at the same time? Unfortunately, millions of people living on the west coast are about to find out. Extremely high winds, massive amounts of rain, and blizzard conditions in the mountains are being forecast for the days ahead, but nobody is quite sure exactly how this extremely unusual weather event is going to play out.
- It is very rare for an atmospheric river and a “bomb cyclone” to occur simultaneously, but that is precisely what we are witnessing…
- The arrival of an atmospheric river – a long, narrow band of heavy moisture from the tropics – coincides with conditions in the Pacific where a polar air mass collides with a tropical air mass, causing the atmospheric pressure to drop quickly. Meteorologists call such low-pressure systems a bomb cyclogenesis, bombogenesis, or a bomb cyclone, which intensifies the storm and increases its winds.
- It would be bad enough to be facing an atmospheric river and a “bomb cyclone” at the same time, but it turns out that both of them are also immensely powerful.
- According to meteorologist Ryan Maue, this is a “Category 5 atmospheric river”, and the central pressure of the “bomb cyclone” will drop so low that it will be “similar” to a Category 4 hurricane…
- A massive “bomb cyclone” is set to explode off the U.S. West Coast with hurricane force winds, flooding rains, and enormous mountain snow from Category 5 atmospheric river.
- Central pressure will fall almost 70 mb / 24 hours reaching 942 mb — similar to Category 4 hurricane.
- Ryan Maue is a very highly respected meteorologist, and I have no reason to doubt what he is saying.
- He is also telling us that approximately 20 trillion gallons of moisture will be dumped on the U.S. over the next week…
- According to Accuweather, it is being projected that the central pressure of the “bomb cyclone” will “crash from 29.53 inches (1000 mb) to at least 28.05 inches (950 mb) in 24 hours”…
- The storm will strengthen so fast that it will fit into a special category of weather terminology known as a bomb cyclone. A storm, or cyclone, is essentially a giant spinning vacuum in the atmosphere. When a storm’s central pressure drops 0.71 of an inch of mercury inches (24 millibars) or more in 24 hours or less, it is considered to be a bomb cyclone.
- “This storm’s central pressure is forecast to crash from 29.53 inches (1000 mb) to at least 28.05 inches (950 mb) in 24 hours, which is double the criteria for a bomb cyclone,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Heather Zehr said.
- We are being told that the hardest hit areas along the west coast will be “between the San Francisco Bay area and Eureka, California”…
- A blizzard warning has been issued for the Cascade mountains outside of Seattle…
- I think that this storm has the potential to do an enormous amount of economic damage.
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Important Takeaways:
- New Yorkers have been told to take shorter showers after the city on Monday issued its first drought warning in 22 years after months of little rain.
- New York City officials had already implemented water-conservation protocols when Mayor Eric Adams upgraded the drought warning yesterday.
- Water-saving measures planned for the coming weeks will include washing buses and subway cars less frequently and limiting water use for fountains and golf courses, the mayor said in a press conference on Monday.
- ‘Our city vehicles may look a bit dirtier, and our subways may look a bit dustier, but it’s what we have to do to delay or stave off a more serious drought emergency,’ Adams noted.
- The measure comes after fires broke out across the region in the last few days amid unexpectedly drier-than-usual conditions.
- Last week, a park on the northern tip of Manhattan caught fire, sending smoke billowing across the city – less than a week after a brush fire in Brooklyn´s Prospect Park.
- Meanwhile, New York City’s fire department said it had responded to 229 brush fires from October 29 to November 12.
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Important Takeaways:
- Russia has begun serial production of mobile bomb shelters that can protect against a variety of threats including shockwaves and radiation from a nuclear blast.
- The emergency ministry’s research institute said the “KUB-M” shelter could offer protection for 48 hours against these and other natural and man-made hazards.
- Among those it listed were: explosions and shrapnel from conventional weapons; falling debris from buildings; dangerous chemicals and fires.
- The “KUB-M” looks like a reinforced shipping container and consists of two modules – a room for 54 people and a technical block. More modules can be added if needed, the institute said.
- It did not link the move to any current crisis, though the announcement came days after the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to allow Ukraine to fire U.S. long-range missiles deep into Russia – a decision that the Kremlin said was reckless and would draw a response from Moscow.
- President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday approved a new official doctrine that lowered Russia’s threshold for using nuclear weapons.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Israel Defense Forces eliminated another top leader as they continue to destroy Hezbollah’s military infrastructure in Lebanon. It comes as Israel is also closely evaluating President-elect Trump’s choices for his foreign policy team.
- In waves of attacks, the IDF is systematically taking apart Hezbollah sites in Beirut and other Lebanese cities. The military says that for years, underneath the targeted buildings, Hezbollah built weapons manufacturing facilities within civilian neighborhoods.
- Before the attacks in such places, the IDF sends evacuation orders to prevent civilian casualties.
- However, a warning was not issued for one strike during the weekend, a rare attack in central Beirut, where Hezbollah Spokesman Mohammed Afif was eliminated. Afif served as a key leader in the terror group’s operations and propaganda machine.
- While the fighting goes on, observers note President Trump’s election could have a profound impact on Israel’s wars and the entire Middle East. Many consider the first Trump administration the most pro-Israel in American history.
- He moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and acknowledged the city as Israel’s capital.
- He agreed Israel should possess the strategic Golan Heights.
- His White House pushed for the Abraham Accords, forging alliances between the Jewish nation and former Muslim foes.
- Regardless of Donald Trump’s views on Judea and Samaria, his choices for foreign policy positions come with strong pro-Israel backgrounds, including Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Elise Stefanik for U.N. ambassador, and a choice many are praising – former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee for U.S. ambassador to Israel.
- Huckabee, who first came to Israel more than 40 years ago, says he is passionate about his calling. He believes the U.S. president should decide weighty matters such as annexing Judea and Samaria.
- Huckabee has said he doesn’t consider a two-state solution to be practical and he has called Judea and Samaria the “Promised Land.”
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Important Takeaways:
- The United States allowing its long-range tactical missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia for the first time would “inevitably lead to a serious escalation,” Kremlin figures warn after Washington D.C. appears to brief one of President Biden’s final acts in office will be to permit such attacks.
- Russia warned of dire consequences if Ukraine used long-range U.S.-made ATACMS missiles to strike strategic targets deep inside the Federation, but also confidence it would be able to foil the attacks in the first place. The responses came after claims were published in the beltway-interest newspapers favored for leaks by the U.S. intelligence community at the weekend that U.S. President Joe Biden would permit Ukraine to use the American Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles to strike targets within Russia.
- Until now, the system was permitted for Kyiv to strike Russian targets inside Ukraine, but deeper strikes inside Russia had been prohibited over fears using American weapons to directly attack the Russian Federation would lead to Russia treating the U.S. as a direct combatant in the conflict. Ukraine sees hitting Russia inside Russia as essential as it would theoretically allow them to destroy Russian weapons before they have a chance to join battle.
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Important Takeaways:
- Sweden is sending out some five million pamphlets to residents urging them to prepare for the possibility of war, with instructions on how to stockpile food and water amid growing fears of a conflict with Russia.
- Neighboring Finland has also launched a new preparedness website while Norwegians recently received booklets instructing them on how to manage on their own for a week in the event of war and other threats.
- Since the start of the war, Stockholm has repeatedly urged Swedes to prepare both mentally and logistically for the possibility of war, citing the serious security situation in its vicinity.
- The booklet ‘If Crisis or War Comes’, sent by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), contains information about how to prepare for emergencies such as war, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks.
- It is an updated version of a pamphlet that Sweden has issued five times since World War II. However, underlining the seriousness of the potential threat, the book is twice the size of previous years.
- In one of the more worrying excerpts… ‘The global security situation increases the risks that nuclear weapons could be used. In the event of an attack with nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, take cover in the same way as in an air attack,’ it instructs readers
- ‘Shelter provides the best protection. After a couple of days, the radiation has decreased significantly.’
- Another message, which has been brought forward from the middle of the booklet in the updated version, reads: ‘If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.’
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Important Takeaways:
- How long will it take to unwind the Biden-Harris Middle East policy? About five minutes, according to Mike Huckabee.
- The former Arkansas governor-turned-U.S. ambassador to Israel nominee suggested that President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office would signal a dramatic change, bringing unwavering loyalty to Israel while “taking the money tree” away from terrorist groups.
- “To be fair, sometimes Joe Biden has been very supportive of Israel, and we’ve heard often he and Blinken and others talk about the ironclad relationship [between Israel and the United States], and then the next day, we would hear pressure on Israel not to continue their efforts against Hamas. You’re thinking, ‘well, why wouldn’t you continue your efforts against people who massacred innocent civilians and just had a bloodthirsty attitude about it?'”
- “The fact remains that the real problem here is not Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis. It’s Iran,” Huckabee told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Monday.
- “They’re the ones who fund it [terrorism], and when the Biden administration reversed the maximum pressure campaign that was effectively shutting down Iran’s ability to have money to fund this nonsense, that’s what changed everything, so I expect the president [Trump] will put the maximum pressure back on Iran, and that’s going to take the money tree away from some of these terrorist groups and make it much harder for them to do their incredibly horrible and dastardly deeds of murdering civilians.”
- More shakeups will come with the changing of the guard, Huckabee insisted, as he weighed in on Trump’s Cabinet nominees thus far.
- “[They are] disruptors, people who don’t come just to oil the machinery of DC, and if there ever was a time when this country needed a disruption in the ebb and flow of the unit party, the deep state, the establishment, call it what you will call it, the swamp, the sewer [it’s now]… this president has putting together a team that is going to be disruptive to Washington, but restorative to the American families living out here in the middle of the country. That’s why he was overwhelmingly elected, and it’s why there is a solid mandate that he carries into office on January 20th.”
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