Good morning. It's Saturday, Nov. 30, and in this weekend edition, we're covering suspected sabotage in the Baltic Sea, a historic win at the National Dog Show, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.
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A Chinese commercial ship accused of sabotaging underwater telecommunications lines in the Baltic Sea has been surrounded by NATO warships for more than a week, according to reports. Investigators are probing whether the captain acted at the behest of Russian intelligence when he released the anchor and dragged it more than 100 miles across the seafloor.
The incident began Nov. 17, when the dragging anchor cut a cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden, followed by the severing of a cable connecting Finland and Germany early the next morning. Reports suggest the ship's transponders—which log its activity into an automated, aggregated database—went dark during the same time frame. Under international maritime law, NATO cannot force the ship into one of its ports, but sources say forces have been negotiating with the ship's captain to board the vessel and talk to the crew.
The two destroyed cables are part of a global underwater telecommunications network that carries more than 95% of the world's international internet traffic and processes $10T in financial transactions each day. See a global map of the cable network here. |
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Vito the pug wins National Dog Show.
The "very compact" canine took the top prize in the toy category as well as best in show, becoming the first of its breed to ever win the competition. Vito was complimented on his sympathetic eyes and a muscly stature.
Stanford professor nominated to lead National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to oversee the organization that funds medical research with its nearly $48B budget. Bhattacharya, who holds an MD and PhD and is a professor of economics and health policy, argued against widespread lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. See his bio here.
Australia passes social media ban for users under 16 years old.
The new law is the first of its kind worldwide and goes into effect in 12 months. Large platforms like X, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and others will face fines of up to $33M for failure to comply.
OpenAI's video generation model Sora leaks.
The AI-powered text-to-video generator has been in a private beta mode and is not open to the public. An unidentified group that had access to the model accused OpenAI of exploiting artists' work and "artwashing." An application granting open access to Sora was posted to the developer community Hugging Face.
British lawmakers vote in favor of assisted dying bill.
The law would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to end their lives in certain circumstances. Those eligible must be expected to have six months to live or less and must be capable of taking the life-ending drugs themselves.
Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral reveals renovated interior.
The iconic church, built in the 12th century, was nearly completely destroyed by a fire five years ago. French President Emmanuel Macron toured the renovated space, with an official reopening slated for next Saturday.
Three Americans freed in US-China prisoner swap.
The trio—Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung—had been imprisoned separately on different drug and espionage charges, with negotiators working for years to secure their release. Three Chinese detainees being held in the US were returned to China in the deal. |
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This upcoming week, we'll be digging into saving for retirement, including:
> The difference between traditional and Roth IRAs.
> Visualizing America's retirement savings by age.
> How Peter Thiel turned his Roth IRA into $5B.
... and much more. The newsletter comes out Wednesday morning. Sign up here for free! |
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Alaskan woman airdrops Thanksgiving turkeys to rural residents living off the grid. (More)
Four-year-old girl's reaction goes viral after learning she'll get a brother and a sister with twin siblings. (More)
Canadian centenarian makes daily trek to visit longtime wife—married in 1947—in an elder care home. (More)
Iowa man decorates neighbors' homes for Christmas to support his wife, diagnosed with Alzheimer's four years ago. (More)
Rayne Beau the cat makes its own way 900 miles home to California after getting lost at Yellowstone. (More)
Canoeist paddles 6,000 miles along the Great Loop on a "trip of gratitude," almost a decade after a near-death experience in a car accident. (More) |
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In partnership with Sundays |
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Today, we're sharing a story from reader Peggy L. in New York:
I am an elementary school teacher, single mom of two and caretaker to my wonderful 93 year old dad. Last Christmas ... I rented a little cabin by a large lake 40 miles away. The day school ended we packed the minivan with clothes, presents, ornaments and food for the week. There was really no room for our huge golden retriever but half on my dad’s lap in the passenger seat.
Exhausted and stressed, but trying to be upbeat, I ordered dinner for everyone at a McDonald’s drive through. When it was time to pay, the cashier said, “the car in front of you paid for your dinner and told me to tell you Merry Christmas!”
My dad and I looked at each other in confusion and from the stacks of boxes, totes and groceries in the back, I heard my daughter telling my son, “some total stranger just bought our dinner because ... because of being NICE”.
I will never forget the almost magical kindness of this moment.
What act(s) of kindness did you experience this week? Tell us here. |
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