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Until last summer, key equipment linking Greenland's undersea cables to North America and Europe was supplied and managed by a firm linked to China's Huawei, raising security concerns as the U.S. moves to expand its military presence on the island under a new defense pact, security experts say.

Catholics across South America are praying for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from lung cancer surgery as uncertainty grows over his planned visit next month

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk named President Donald Trump as “ultimately” responsible for limits on Ukrainian troops’ satellite internet after Ukraine’s president said a sudden slowdown left people dead.Musk made the remark Wednesday in a post on X, replying to former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who had urged him to lift a speed limit on Starshield, the government version of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service.Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told British broadcaster Piers Morgan in an interview that people were killed because interceptor drones relying on Starlink did not work.“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk wrote.“Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company,” he added.“Starlink connectivity at speeds of up to 160 km/h is being restored. Removing Starshield’s speed limit entirely is now critical for Ukraine’s defense,” Fedorov had written, thanking Musk.SpaceX capped Starshield terminals in motion at 100 miles per hour overnight, without warning, disrupting several military missions, presidential adviser Serhii Beskrestnov said, the Kyiv Independent reported.“This complicates drone missions — specifically those involving interceptors and mid-range strike drones — and hampers capabilities for frontline logistics, reconnaissance, and signal relay,” a Defense Ministry source told the outlet.Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said the actual limits were “significantly lower” during the day, but service had stabilized by evening with the cap still in place, according to the Kyiv Independent.In the interview, Morgan pointed out that only four of 40 ballistic missiles fired at Ukraine had been shot down and asked whether Musk, who Morgan said had recently called for a new Ukrainian president, had deliberately slowed the service.“I’m sure that they knew what they did. Absolutely. Because it was 1 a.m.,” Zelenskyy replied.“And Starlink was blocked, of course, by SpaceX and ... by the United States. It is their right, but … what they did, [is] they made (sic) whole pressure on us ... No working information about ballistic [missiles] before attack, and then switch off the Starlinks,” he continued.“And when you destroy Shaheds [Russia’s Iranian-designed attack drones], and often when we destroy jet Shaheds, we use drones with Starlinks … So people were killed because not enough destroying, not enough interceptors, including interceptors with Starlink, which didn’t work, of course,” Zelenskyy said.Zelenskyy also told Morgan he hoped the slowdown was only a “mistake,” The Hill reported.“Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is associated with the current political situation,” Beskrestnov said earlier, according to the Kyiv Independent. The outlet noted that the White House has not commented on the restriction.The satellite slowdown came days after Trump publicly warned Zelenskyy to stop the refinery strikes, in remarks the White House shared on X.“We told Zelensky, ‘You can do whatever you want to Russia, but don’t hit the refineries because that’s a world problem.’ And what does he do? He goes and hits the diesel fuel. He better damn well stop,” Trump said Oct. 10.“Zelensky has gone too far,” Musk wrote the same day, sharing the clip.

President Donald Trump seems to be caught up in what The Guardian's editorial board describes as a "coordinated pressure" campaign to tip the Ukraine war in Russia's favor.The editorial board pointed to several "perilous circumstances" that have arisen in recent weeks. They pointed to Ukrainian forces losing access to Elon Musk's Starlink internet service, Ukraine suffering significant casualties after a Russian missile strike that the U.S. did not warn them about, and Trump's insistence that Ukraine hold elections despite the country still being at war, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has also called for. "This raises suspicion of coordinated pressure to tip the scales in Russia’s favor after many months when Mr. Putin’s forces have failed to deliver significant advances and his country’s economy has been suffering from the effect of Ukrainian missile and drone counterstrikes," the editorial argued. The editorial argues that there is good reason to suspect Trump would go along with such a campaign. For instance, Trump has sought to blame Ukraine's attacks on Russia's oil refineries as the reason for rising diesel prices to avoid scrutiny of his disastrous war against Iran, which resulted in the Strait of Hormuz being closed for several weeks. "Mr. Trump is unhappy with Ukraine targeting Russian oil refineries. He claims that this is the cause of high energy prices afflicting American consumers and threatening Republican prospects in next month’s midterm elections," the editorial reads in part. "The domestic imperative to keep pump prices down led Mr. Trump to do a grubby deal to import diesel from Russia, in flagrant breach of international sanctions.""Russia is failing to achieve its war aims because the invasion was conceived in delusional hatred for the very idea of independent Ukrainian nationhood, which routinely underestimates that country’s will to resist. That is a flaw in Mr Putin’s plans that no amount of collusion with Mr Trump can fix," it added.

Vessels were hit by missiles as rise in strikes suggests Iran is trying to close waterway before US midterm electionsTwo container ships near the strait of Hormuz have ⁠sunk after being struck by missiles, amid the sharpest rise in Iranian attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.The increase in attacks suggests Iran is trying to fully close the strategic waterway in an attempt to frustrate Donald Trump’s efforts to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections on 3 November. Continue reading...

King Felipe VI said Tuesday that people who entered Spain irregularly during this summer's mass crossing into Ceuta should return to their places of origin ASAP through established legal procedures.

International alliance of China-sceptic legislators warns of risks inherent in misjudging bilateral relationshipThe UK’s approach to China is “beset by incoherence” and plagued by a lack of senior expertise, according to a report warning of the risks inherent in misjudging the bilateral relationship.An audit by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), an international grouping of China-sceptic legislators, says past engagement with Beijing has often exposed the UK to the risks of interference without delivering the opportunities promised. Continue reading...

Zimbabwean author Simbarashe Kundizeza denies using AI to write his short story, "The Blue Fighter," which won the $10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing