(LONDON) — An initial investigation into possible sabotage has been launched by four NATO countries — Finland, Germany, Sweden and Lithuania — after two underwater telecommunications cables connecting Germany and Finland across the Baltic Sea were cut in two separate incidents in recent days, a European official told ABC News.
Sweden is leading the investigation, as both incidents occurred in the Swedish economic zone, a Swedish Ministry of Defense official told ABC News.
“Against the backdrop of the security situation, the government is following developments very closely and is in close contact with its authorities. It is central that greater clarity is brought to the cause of this event,” Swedish Minister for Civil Defense Carl-Oskar Bohlin told ABC News in a written statement.
The German-Finnish cable was one of two Baltic Sea connections damaged in recent days.
An underwater cable that runs between Lithuania and Sweden in the Baltic Sea was cut on Sunday around 10 a.m. local time, Telia spokesperson Audrius Stasiulaitis told ABC News. Telia is a Lithuanian telecommunications company. A cable that runs between Germany and Finland was cut on Monday around 3 p.m. local time.
“Our monitoring systems could tell there was a cut due to the traffic disruption and that the cause was not the equipment failure but physical damage to the fiber cable itself,” Stasiulaitis said.
Internet traffic was not impacted, as the company rerouted the traffic after the disruption occurred, Stasiulaitis said.
The underwater cable has been in place since 1997, Arelion spokesperson Martin Sjogren told ABC News. Arelion is a Swedish telecommunications company that operates and owns the cable.
Arelion is in touch with Swedish authorities about the incident, Sjogren said.
A repair ship will need to get on-site in order to determine the cause of the break, Sjogren said. Repair work is scheduled to start later this week and could be finished by late next week depending on the weather, Sjogren added.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the matter, a statement from their office said Tuesday. Swedish police have also opened a preliminary investigation into the matter, a statement from Swedish police said Tuesday.
The foreign ministries of Germany and Finland said in a joint statement on Monday they were “deeply concerned” by the severing of an undersea cable connecting the two countries across the Baltic Sea — one of two Baltic Sea connections suddenly damaged in recent days.
Finnish company Cinia reported a “fault situation” with its C-Lion-1 submarine cable on Monday afternoon, saying in a statement that an investigation and repair work were underway.
Cinia did not offer any explanation for the interruption to the connection and said undersea cable repairs generally take between five and 15 days. The 730-mile cable has connected Finland to central European communication networks since 2016.
The German Interior Ministry confirmed to ABC News that authorities believe the cable was severed by an external force near the Swedish island of Oland.
Berlin and Helsinki said they were “deeply concerned about the severed undersea cable.”
“The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times,” the joint foreign ministries’ statement continued.
“A thorough investigation is underway. Our European security is not only under threat from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, but also from hybrid warfare by malicious actors. Safeguarding our shared critical infrastructure is vital to our security and the resilience of our societies.”
The damage to the C-Lion-1 cable came one day after Telia Lietuva — a Swedish telecoms company in Lithuania — said one of its undersea telecommunications cables linking Lithuania and Sweden across the Baltic Sea sustained damage.
That cable — which intersects with the C-Lion-1 Finnish-German cable — was damaged on Sunday morning, company spokesperson Andrius Semeskevicius told local media.
The damaged cable has been the subject of faults and accidents in the past. But, Semeskevicius told Lithuanian National Radio and Television, “since both are damaged, it is clear that this was not an accidental dropping of one of the ship’s anchors, but something more serious could be going on.”
The cause of the damage to the cables has yet to be established. The interruptions come against a backdrop of concerns over Russian sabotage operations in Europe and elsewhere, prompted by Western support for Ukraine in its defensive war against Moscow.
The Baltic Sea has been the scene of mysterious undersea incidents in recent years, such as the sabotage attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany in 2022.
The following year, a Chinese container ship — the Newnew Polar Bear — dragged its anchor for more than 100 nautical miles through the Gulf of Finland, damaging an undersea natural gas pipeline and two telecommunications cables. Finnish and Estonian authorities are conducting a joint criminal investigation into the incident.
ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(ATHENS, Ga.) — The last moments before Laken Riley was killed while out on a run on the University of Georgia’s campus were shown in court Tuesday on the third day of the trial involving the murder of the 22-year-old nursing student.
The Augusta University student was found dead in a wooded area on the Athens campus on Feb. 22.
Jose Ibarra, 26, is accused of murdering Riley after prosecutors said she “refused to be his rape victim.” Ibarra, an undocumented migrant, was charged with malice murder and felony murder in connection with her death, which became a rallying cry for immigration reform from many conservatives, including President-elect Donald Trump.
On the morning of the murder, at 8:55 a.m., Riley texted her mother, “Good morning, about to go for a run if you’re free to talk,” according to University of Georgia Police Sgt. Sophie Raboud, one of the lead investigators in the case, who testified on Tuesday about Riley’s cellphone activity.
Riley called her mother at 9:03 a.m., then started listening to music, Raboud said. She was captured on a trail camera at 9:05 a.m. running with her iPhone in her left hand toward the intramural fields, Raboud said. She runs out of view of the camera at 9:06 a.m.
At 9:11 a.m., she called 911, Raboud said. Witnesses previously testified that Riley initiated the call through the SOS application on her phone. The dispatcher was not able to speak with anyone before the call was hung up and called back twice with no answer, the witnesses said.
At 9:24 a.m., Riley received a call from her mother that went unanswered, Raboud said.
At 9:38 a.m., her mother texted, “Call me when you can,” Raboud said.
Raboud said Riley’s mother continued to try to reach Riley but the calls went unanswered, before texting at 9:58 a.m., “You’re making me nervous, not answering when you’re out running. Are you OK?”
Riley received subsequent calls from her mother and sister that went unanswered, Raboud said.
At 11:47 a.m., her mother texted, “Please call me, I’m worried sick about you,” Raboud said.
Subsequent calls, including from her stepfather, also went unanswered, Raboud said.
Trail camera footage from later that morning shown in court captured Laken’s roommates, Lilly Steiner and Sofia Magana, on the trail searching for her.
Riley’s roommates reported her missing, and a University of Georgia police officer found her body at 12:38 p.m., witnesses previously testified. Data from the Garmin watch she was wearing on her run showed her heart stopped at 9:28 a.m., witnesses previously testified.
Riley had sustained significant blunt force trauma to her head, including eight injuries to the left side of her skull and an injury just above her right temple, Dr. Michelle DiMarco, who conducted her autopsy, testified on Tuesday. One of the injuries was significant enough that it caused brain bleeding and could have been fatal, she said.
There was also evidence of asphyxiation, though DiMarco said she was unable to categorize how that occurred. Her cause of death was determined to be the “combined effects of blunt force head trauma and asphyxia,” DiMarco said.
Ibarra was interviewed on Feb. 23 in connection with her death and had multiple scratches observable on his arms, police testified. His DNA was found under Riley’s fingernails, prosecutors said. A man was captured on a trail camera the morning of the murder heading toward the intramural fields shortly before 8 a.m., Raboud said.
Prosecutors said the person was wearing clothes similar to what Ibarra had on in a Snapchat selfie posted earlier that morning, including a black Adidas cap.
Ibarra was also seen discarding a bloodied jacket and disposable gloves near his apartment on Feb. 22 at 9:44 a.m., prosecutors said.
Hairs removed from the jacket were determined to have originated from Riley or “someone with hair possessing the same distinct characteristics,” Anne Kisler-Rao, with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab, testified on Tuesday.
The gloves recovered from a bush near Ibarra’s apartment were determined to have matched ones recovered from a drawer in his apartment, GBI specialist Alexander Covin testified on Tuesday. Under cross by the defense, Covin admitted that the gloves may have matched but could also have come from different sources.
Ibarra has pleaded not guilty. He waived his right to a jury trial and the case is being presented in the Athens-Clarke County courtroom to Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who will render a verdict.
Police have said they believe Ibarra — a migrant from Venezuela who officials said illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 — did not know Riley and that this was a “crime of opportunity.”
ABC News’ Janice McDonald contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday called for a halt in confirming judges until he takes office, accusing Democrats of “trying to stack the courts.”
“The Democrats are trying to stack the Courts with Radical Left Judges on their way out the door,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, urging Republican senators to “show up and hold the line.”
“No more Judges confirmed before Inauguration Day!” Trump wrote.
The directive from the president-elect comes as Senate Democrats are expected to dedicate hours of floor time in the coming weeks as part of a last-minute effort to confirm as many of President Joe Biden’s nominees to the federal judiciary before Trump takes over in January. Senate Republicans thwarted their efforts late Monday night, a plan from their soon-to-be leader Sen. John Thune and a reversal from his previous stance on blocking confirmations of qualified judicial nominees.
Senate Republicans rebelled late Monday night, dragging out the floor process by forcing Democrats to hold time-consuming votes on procedural motions that are usually routine and otherwise mundane. Actions that should have taken minutes on the floor instead took hours.
Thune, who takes over as Republican leader of the Senate in January, took credit for the rebellion saying in a statement that Republicans would not “roll over” to appoint Biden’s nominees to the federal bench in the “final weeks of the Democrat majority.”
“If Sen. Schumer thought Senate Republicans would just roll over and allow him to quickly confirm multiple Biden-appointed judges to lifetime jobs in the final weeks of the Democrat majority, he thought wrong,” Thune said in a statement to ABC News.
Thune’s statement vowing to obstruct the judicial confirmation process in the final hours of the Biden presidency is a departure from comments he made just a few years ago toward the end of Trump’s administration. At the time, Thune touted the importance of confirming judges to the bench, saying it was “one of our most important responsibilities as senators” and one of the main reasons he ran for the Senate.
“Mr. President, confirming good judges is one of our most important responsibilities as senators. And it’s a responsibility I take very seriously,” Thune said during a floor speech on Nov. 18 2020 — after Biden won the election.
“After George W. Bush’s election, Democrats decided that the president’s judicial nominees might not deliver the results Democrats wanted. And so, they decided to adopt a new strategy — blocking judicial nominees on a regular basis,” Thune said during his remarks in 2020. “I was one of the many Americans upset by the blockade of talented, well-qualified nominees. And it was one of the main reasons I ran for the Senate. I promised South Dakotans that if they elected me, I would help put outstanding judges on the bench.”
“In fact, one of the main reasons I was first elected to the Senate was to make sure outstanding judicial nominees were confirmed to the federal bench. It’s hard to imagine now, but confirming judges used to be a pretty bipartisan affair,” Thune said at the time.
His comments from 2020 are a notable reversal from his comments this week, as Senate Republicans look to obstruct Democrats as they attempt to do the same for Biden.
Schumer though, doubled down on his efforts Tuesday, and said he expects the Senate to work late into the night again this Wednesday to get the nominees through. Senate Democrats are hoping to confirm as many judges to lifetime appointments as they can while Biden is still president.
“Members should be prepared for another late night on Wednesday to vote on the nominations I filed last night,” Schumer warned.
“Voting on the president’s judicial nominees is a core function of the Senate. It’s one of our basic responsibilities, and we’re going to carry out that responsibility as long as this majority continues. I’m very proud of the judges we’ve confirmed over the past four years under this administration, they have all been highly qualified individuals, and together, they represent a wide range of experiences and areas of expertise.”
Schumer touted the quality of judges the Senate has passed under his leadership, noting their many backgrounds and cultures and identities. He said under his watch, the Senate has confirmed a record number of women and people of color to the federal bench.
Republicans have Democrats’ record on judicial confirmations beat.
Republicans confirmed 234 of Trump’s nominees to the federal courts during his four years in office, and so far the Democrat-controlled Senate has confirmed 216 under Biden’s administration.
“We’re not done,” Schumer said on the floor Tuesday. “There are more judges to consider and confirm.”
Schumer vowed to spend the rest of the week — and the year — confirming more judges. Every judge confirmed in this lame-duck session of Congress is one fewer vacancy Trump can fill come January.
(LONDON) — The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza — particularly in the north of the strip — and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut. The strikes form the backdrop for a fresh diplomatic push by the White House ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January.
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after the former launched what it called “precise strikes on military targets” in several locations in Iran following Tehran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
US sanctions Hamas leaders as officials say group’s political wing has rebased in Turkey
The U.S. is rolling out sanctions against six senior Hamas leaders accused of facilitating the transfer of weapons and funds into Gaza to support the group’s terror activities as well as smuggling in construction materials to build the underground tunnels critical to its operations, according to the Biden administration.
“There is no distinction between Hamas’ so-called military wing and its political leadership,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement announcing the tranche of sanctions.
Three of the targeted individuals are based in Turkey, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Despite the denials coming from Hamas and the Turkish government, two U.S. officials say that the bulk of Hamas’ political wing has now relocated to Turkey following the group’s ouster from Qatar.
The U.S. has turned a blind eye to Hamas’ relationship with NATO ally Turkey for years, which allows the U.S. designated terror group to openly recruit, fundraise and interface with its government officials.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he hopes to strengthen ties with the U.S. when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. However, Trump’s cabinet is expected to feature many staunchly pro-Israel voices who will object to Turkey’s tolerance of Hamas — potentially complicating Erdogan’s plans.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Hospitals in northern Gaza running out of medical supplies, requesting patient transfers as attacks continue
Kamal Adwan Hospital is running out of medical supplies, and more people with cases of malnutrition are arriving at the hospital because of the lack of food and water allowed into northern Gaza, the hospital director said in comments Tuesday.
“There are a number of cases of malnutrition that have begun to arrive, including children and the elderly,” Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan hospital said.
“The health system is working under extremely harsh conditions to the point that we have started losing numbers of infected people due to the lack of medical supplies,” Abu Safia added.
At least 50 people were killed, and 110 people were injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent Society transferred 15 patients from Al Awda Hospital in north Gaza to Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City Sunday, the ICRC said in a statement Tuesday. The patient transfers were requested by the hospitals, the ICRC said.
The organizations also delivered medical supplies to three hospitals in Gaza City Monday, the ICRC said in a post on X.
“The delivery and medical transfer came in the wake of another large-scale attack in the Beit Lahia area of the Northern Governorate, in which dozens of people were killed and many more injured,” the ICRC said.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Sami Zyara
UN peacekeepers, buildings targeted in 3 incidents in south Lebanon
United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and facilities were targeted in “three separate incidents in south Lebanon,” Tuesday, UNIFIL said in a post on X.
Four Ghanian peacekeepers on duty “sustained injures as a rocket … hit their base,” UNIFIL said in a post on X. Three of the injured peacekeepers were transferred to a hospital in Tyre, Lebanon for treatment, UNIFIL said.
In a different attack, a UNIFIL building was “impacted by five rockets,” UNIFIL said.
“In another incident, UNIFIL Sector West Headquarters in Shama was impacted by five rockets, which struck the maintenance workshop,” UNIFIL said. “Although it caused heavy damage to the workshop, no peacekeeper was injured. This was the second time this UNIFIL base was impacted by the ongoing clashes in the area in less than a week.”
In a third incident, a UNIFIL patrol was “passing through” a village, and “an armed person directly fired at the patrol,” UNIFIL said. No injuries were reported from this incident.
UNIFIL is investigating the incidents and has informed the Lebanese armed forces about them, UNIFIL said.
“UNIFIL once again reminds all actors involved in the ongoing hostilities to respect the inviolability of United Nations peacekeepers and premises,” UNIFIL said in a post on X.
5 killed, 31 injured after Israeli strike on central Beirut
At least five people were killed, 31 were injured and at least two people remain missing after an Israeli airstrike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israeli Defense Forces did not issue a warning before conducting this airstrike on central Beirut Monday.
At least 28 people were killed and 107 were wounded across Lebanon from Israeli attacks Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
Overall, 3,544 people have been killed, and 15,036 have been injured since Israel’s increased attacks on the country began in mid-September, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut Tuesday, according to Lebanese state media.
After meeting with Hochstein for two hours, Berri said the cease-fire negotiations were “good in principle,” but warned Israel could change its minds about the proposal as it has done before.
Berri said the U.S. is managing guarantees about Israel’s position on the proposal, according to Lebanese state media.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor
Israel kills 5 in central Beirut strike, officials say
At least five people were killed and 31 wounded by an Israeli strike in the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood of central Beirut on Monday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Two other people are missing.
The Israel Defense Forces did not appear to issue any public evacuation order prior to the strike. ABC News has reached out to the IDF for comment on the target of the strike.
The attack made Monday the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes within central Beirut. To date, the vast majority of airstrikes on the capital have hit the southern Dahiya suburb, known as a Hezbollah stronghold.
Israel has intensified its bombardment in and around Beirut over the past week, while Hezbollah has continued missile fire into Israel. Fresh discussions are ongoing as to a potential cease-fire to end the fighting.
-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israel demands ‘immediate’ action against pro-Iran militias in Iraq
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday published a letter sent to the president of the United Nations Security Council in which he called for “immediate action regarding the activity of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, whose territory is being used to attack Israel.”
“The Iraqi government is responsible for everything that happens on its territory,” Saar wrote, noting Israel’s right to self-defense.
“I called on the Security Council to act urgently to make sure that the Iraqi government meets its obligations under international law and to make these attacks on Israel stop,” Saar said.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias have been launching drone attacks into Israel from the east in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with whom Israeli forces have been engaged since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Nearly 100 aid trucks looted: UNRWA
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday their aid convoy was “violently” looted over the weekend, one of the largest such cases of looting since the war began.
The 109-truck U.N. convoy was carrying food supplies to people in Gaza when it was looted on Saturday, UNRWA said.
“The vast majority of the trucks, 97 in total, were lost and drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload aid,” UNRWA said in a statement.
UNRWA said the Israel Defense Forces made the convoy leave a day earlier than planned.
The IDF has not yet commented on this incident.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Israel’s October attack damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program: Netanyahu
Israel damaged some of Iran’s nuclear program in its October attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday.
Iran’s air defense, ballistic missile production and ability to produce “solid fuel” were impacted, Netanyahu said during remarks to Israel’s parliament.
“There is a certain element of their nuclear program that was damaged in this attack,” he said, though added that its ability to operate “has not yet been thwarted.”
Netanyahu said Iran’s nuclear threat must be dealt with.
“If we don’t deal with the nuclear program, then all the other problems will come back and resurface, both in the axis, and in armaments, and in other things,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also said Israel is “currently talking about possible negotiations for a settlement” to be reached between Israel and Lebanon, but added, “Even if there is a cease-fire, no one says it will last.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US envoy en route to Lebanon for cease-fire talks, official says
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein is on his way to Lebanon for talks on a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, an official familiar with the plans confirmed to ABC News.
Hochstein left from the U.S. for Lebanon on Monday, the official said.
Israel is getting close to being ready to agree to the U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal, which is very similar to the proposal that was floated by the U.S. at the end of September. The U.S. needs to see how Hezbollah feels about this proposal, which is what Hochstein aims to do during his trip, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
4 killed in Israeli attack in Beirut: Health ministry
Four people were killed and at least 18 injured in an Israeli attack in Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said Monday.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman
1 killed, 10 injured in strike on residential building in Israel: Officials
A woman was killed and 10 people injured after a Hezbollah rocket directly hit a residential building in northern Israel, Israeli emergency services said Monday.
Dozens of projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel Monday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces said. Not all of the projectiles were intercepted, the IDF said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
US sanctions entity, 3 individuals tied to West Bank violence
The State Department said Monday it is sanctioning three individuals and one entity for allegedly undermining “peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.”
The department accuses the entity, Eyal Hari Yehuda Company LTD, of having supported Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler who was sanctioned by the Biden administration over accusations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians earlier this year.
The three impacted individuals are Itamar Levi, Shabtai Koshlevsky and Zohar Sabah, the State Department said. Itamar Levi, the brother of Yinon Levi, is being designated for his role as the owner of the aforementioned company, while Koshlevsky is accused of holding a leadership position at Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that provides material support to U.S.-designated outposts in the West Bank and was sanctioned in August of this year.
Sabah is accused of engaging “in threats and acts of violence against Palestinians, including in their homes” as well as “a pattern of destructiveness targeting the livestock, grazing lands and homes of local Palestinians to disrupt their means of support,” the State Department said in a press release.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Hamas denies that leaders relocated from Qatar to Turkey
Hamas denied reports in Israeli media that its leadership has relocated from Qatar to Turkey amid a breakdown in Doha-supported cease-fire talks earlier this month.
Hamas dismissed the news reports as “rumors” spread by Israeli authorities in a statement posted to its official website.
Qatar told Israel and Hamas earlier this month it could not continue to mediate cease-fire and hostage release talks “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith.”
Doha is under U.S. pressure to expel Hamas leaders. A senior administration official told ABC News earlier this month that the group’s “continued presence in Doha is no longer viable or acceptable.”
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Shannon K. Kingston and Somayeh Malekian
Gaza death toll nears 44,000, health officials say
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday that 43,922 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, with nearly 104,000 more injured.
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 96 people and wounded at least 60 in Gaza through the weekend, officials said. The dead included 72 people in north Gaza and more than 20 from other areas of the strip.
Most of those killed were displaced women and children sheltering in residential buildings in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, officials said.
Beit Lahiya is at the heart of the Israel Defense Forces’ recent northern offensive, which has been accompanied with sweeping evacuation orders and spiking civilian casualties.
-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah positive on US cease-fire proposal, reports say
Hezbollah responded positively to the U.S.-proposed cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli and Lebanese media reported Monday.
U.S. special envoy for Lebanon Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday to discuss the proposal before heading to Israel to speak with leaders there.
The proposal is reportedly based on the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 1701 that sought to end the last major cross-border conflict in 2006.
That deal ordered Hezbollah to withdraw all military units and weapons north of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. The resolution also prohibited Israeli ground and air forces from crossing into Lebanese territory.
Israeli leaders have demanded open-ended freedom to act against threats in Lebanon, a stipulation reportedly opposed by Hezbollah and Lebanese leaders.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Khamenei meets with ambassador injured in pager attacks
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, as the latter continues his recovery from injuries sustained during Israel’s detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in September.
Khamenei’s official X account posted a short video of their interaction on Monday, in which Amani told the Iranian leader he lost around half of the vision in his right eye in the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Hezbollah media relations chief killed in Israeli strike
Mohammed Afif, Hezbollah’s media relations chief, was killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed.
The strike on central Beirut partially collapsed a building and injured three others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed Afif’s death. In a statement, the IDF said he joined Hezbollah in the 1980s and went on to become a “central and veteran figure in the organization who greatly influenced Hezbollah’s military activity.”
Citing one particular incident, the statement claimed that he had played a key role in the drone attack on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea in October.
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
Pope calls for investigation to determine whether Israeli attacks on Gaza are ‘genocide’
Pope Francis, in an upcoming book to be released ahead of his 2025 jubilee, called for an investigation to determine whether Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, according to the Vatican.
“In the Middle East, where the open doors of nations like Jordan or Lebanon continue to be a salvation for millions of people fleeing conflicts in the region: I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory,” he wrote in a passage released by the Vatican.
“According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide,” the pope wrote. “It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”
Three Days Grace is teasing their first new material since original frontman Adam Gontier rejoined the band.
In a Facebook post, the “Just Like You” rockers share a video of the members on an airplane, soundtracked by the riff of a new song.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Our time of arrival is Friday, November 22nd,” the caption reads. “On behalf of the Captains and your entire crew, it is our pleasure to have you aboard.”
Three Days Grace announced Gontier’s return in October. He’ll be singing alongside current 3DG vocalist Matt Walst, who’s been fronting Three Days Grace since Gontier’s 2013 departure.
A live bootleg of a classic Tom Petty concert is being released in late November.
The Petty estate has teamed with Jack White‘s Third Man Records to release Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers Live In Edinburgh 1982: The Gennaro Tapes, a concert taken from a bootleg recording by sound mixer GennaroRioppo.
“This rare recording has not been touched since the day it was captured,” reads the announcement on Petty’s Instagram.
The concert took place during the band’s 1982 Long After Dark tour and features performances of such classic Petty tracks as “American Girl,” “You Got Lucky,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Breakdown” and “Refugee.”
The Gennaro Tapes will be released as a three-LP vinyl collection, pressed from the original cassette, on Nov. 29, with an exclusive turquoise vinyl variant available through the Tom Petty store.
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday they would oppose President-elect Trump’s attempt to dismiss his criminal hush money conviction in New York — but they told the judge they do not object to pausing the case.
The DA’s office faced a Tuesday deadline to propose the next steps in the case after the “unprecedented circumstances” of the former president’s election following his conviction on 34 felony counts earlier this year.
Trump’s sentencing in the criminal case is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 26, though defense attorneys have asked New York Judge Juan Merchan to dismiss the case ahead of Trump’s impending inauguration.
Trump’s lawyers laid out their new argument to dismiss the case in a filing made public Tuesday, writing that the case must be dismissed because a sitting president is immune from prosecution.
“To require President Trump to address further criminal proceedings at this point would not only violate the federal Constitution, but also disrupt the Presidential transition process,” wrote defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, both of whom Trump nominated last week to top DOJ posts.
Prosecutors pushed back on that claim, arguing that presidential immunity would not apply to a defendant who had already been convicted for conduct that is entirely private.
The district attorney’s office instead suggested deferring all remaining proceedings in the case, including the Nov. 26 sentencing, until after Trump leaves the White House in 2029.
“The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions. We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system,” prosecutors wrote.
Defense lawyers argued that, while Trump is not yet president, presidential immunity equally applies during the transition process and added that their appeal of the case would “take a year or more” and possibly reach the Supreme Court, dragging the case well past Inauguration Day.
“There is no material difference between President Trump’s current status after his overwhelming victory in the national election and that of a sitting President following inauguration,” their filing said.
Judge Merchan will have the final say regarding the next steps in the case.
Since July, Trump’s attorneys have been pushing to have the conviction vacated and the case dismissed by arguing that prosecutors filled “glaring holes in their case” with evidence of official acts that the Supreme Court recently ruled off limits in its landmark presidential immunity decision.
Trump’s lawyers have also argued for a dismissal by citing the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, which urges government officers to take “lawful steps to avoid or minimize disruptions” to the presidential transition.
Prosecutors have argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office has no bearing on Trump’s conviction.
“The People agree that these are unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the court last week.
Trump was convicted in May of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to silence allegations about a 2006 sexual encounter with Trump in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
His conviction carries a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison, but first-time offenders would normally receive a lesser sentence.
Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson‘s erotic thriller Babygirl is out with a second trailer.
The new look at the scandalous story of powerful CEO Romy, played by Kidman, falling into a sexually fueled affair with a younger intern, Samuel, played by Dickinson, was released by A24 on Tuesday. The Halina Reijn-directed film arrives in theaters on Dec. 25.
The trailer opens on the pair in an elevator; in voice-over, Kidman’s Romy expresses the need to “have a conversation” with Dickinson’s Samuel about their affair.
“I think I have power over you,” says Samuel, “cause I can make one call and you lose everything. Does that turn you on when I say that?”
Next, we see Kidman’s character away from the nefarious situation interacting with her family, including her husband, played by Antonio Banderas.
“Being a CEO means being a nurturer and a collaborator,” says Romy, recording a speech.
The trailer includes shots of the pair escalating their seduction, including shots of dancing in a club and sensually holding each other in bed.
Romy looks up to Samuel and states, “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” says Romy at the conclusion of the trailer.
“You’re my babygirl,” says Samuel in the closing moment.
Along with Kidman, Dickinson and Banderas, Sophie Wilde stars in the project, playing Esme, Romy’s assistant.
ScHoolboy Q is going on tour in support of his latest album, Blue Lips. He’s scheduled a quick nine-date run starting Jan. 23 in Oakland’s Fox Theater. He’ll then make stops in LA, Las Vegas and Anaheim before going abroad to Berlin and Cologne, Germany; Paris; The Netherlands; and the U.K.
The tour will see ScHoolboy performing songs from Blue Lips, as well as other hits from his discography. An artist presale begins Thursday at 9 a.m. local time via laylo.com/groovyq/m/bluelipslive, followed by the general sale starting on Friday. For more information, fans can visit groovyq.com/tour/.
Blue Lips dropped in March, featuring 16 tracks and Freddie Gibbs, Ab-Soul, Jozzy, Childish Major and more.
The upcoming Soulshine benefit concert, headlined by Dave Matthews Band, will stream live online.
The show takes place Nov. 24 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and you can tune in to watch starting at 7 p.m. ET via SoulshineMSG.com.
Soulshine will raise money in support of Hurricane Helene and Milton relief efforts. The bill also includes Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Goose and Warren Haynes Band, whose hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, was hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene.
Additional special guests include Phish‘s Trey Anastasio, Mavis Staples, Robert Randolph, Joe Russo, Trombone Shorty, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.
