Finland accuses senior crew of Russia-linked vessel in damage of undersea power cable in Baltic Sea
They say the oil tanker, the Eagle S, dragged its anchor to damage the Estlink-2 power cable and communication links between Finland and Estonia on Dec. 25. The Kremlin previously denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.
The Eagle S is flagged in the Cook Islands, but has been described by Finnish customs officials and the European Union's executive commission as part of Russia's shadow fleet of fuel tankers. Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine and operating without Western-regulated insurance.
Russia's use of the vessels has raised environmental concerns about accidents given their age and uncertain insurance coverage.
For the West, the incidents are a test of resolve in the face of what are believed to be widespread sabotage attacks in Europe allegedly linked to Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Eagle S was carrying 35,000 tons of oil and investigators allege it left a drag trail with its anchor for almost 100 kilometers (62 miles) on the sea bed before it was stopped and escorted to the vicinity of a Finnish port.
The senior officers, whose names were not made public, were the master, the chief mate and the second mate, Finnish police said in a statement Friday. The trio was responsible for the safe passage, navigation and operation of the tanker and are suspected of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
'The criminal investigation has examined and assessed, among other things, the extent of their responsibility for the condition of the vessel and the degree to which they should have observed the anchor falling into the sea,' said Detective Chief Inspector Sami Liimatainen, who is leading the case for the National Bureau of Investigation.
The investigators' findings have been referred to Finnish prosecutors for possible charges.
The damage to the Estlink 2, which can provide about half of the electricity needs for Estonia in winter, did not disrupt service, although it did drive up energy prices in the Baltic nations.
The cable is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) long and is located at a depth of 90 meters (295 feet) at its deepest point, across one of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe.
The undersea cables and pipelines that crisscross the sea link Nordic, Baltic and central European countries, promote trade, energy security and, in some cases, reduce dependence on Russian energy resources.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
20 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trump's ‘no tax on tips' sparks questions for workers: ‘We're looking at a crystal ball,' expert says
President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" includes a section called "no tax on tips" — an idea that both Republicans and Democrats floated during the 2024 that the provision has been enacted, questions remain about how the tax break works and who qualifies. Despite its name, "no tax on tips" doesn't eliminate tax on tips, which are still subject to payroll and state taxes. Instead, it's a deduction worth up to $25,000. The tax break is available from 2025 through 2028. It phases out, or gets reduced, once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000. However, the IRS needs to clarify which occupations qualify, which is expected to come in early October, according to the agency. Meanwhile, "we're looking at a crystal ball" for guidance, said Larry Gray, a Missouri-based certified public accountant who serves as IRS liaison for the National Association of Tax Professionals. More from Personal Finance:Trump's 'big beautiful bill' caps student loans. What it means for youWhy 22 million people may see a 'sharp' increase in health premiums in 2026Trump's 'big beautiful bill' cuts SNAP for millions of families: Report In 2023, there were roughly 4 million U.S. workers in tipped occupations, representing 2.5% of all employment, according to estimates from The Budget Lab at Yale University. The cohort of workers who qualify for the tax break is even smaller — actors, musicians and singers, directors and playwrights — are included among the professions that are already prohibited under the legislation's text. Here's a breakdown of what to know about Trump's tip deduction. As written, "qualified tips" are cash tips an employee earns. This includes tips a customer offers in cash or added to a credit card charge, as well as payouts under a tip-sharing arrangement. Yet, the law also says that the tip must be paid voluntarily and determined by the customer or payor, which can put other forms of gratuities or mandatory service charges in question. "It's an entirely voluntary transaction," said Alex Muresianu, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. For example, the definition may exclude mandatory service fees, such as an automatic gratuity a restaurant might tack on for a large dining party. "Based on the plain text of the law, it's hard to argue that that's something that's given voluntarily," said certified financial planner and enrolled agent Ben Henry-Moreland, a certified financial planner with advisor platform who analyzed the legislation. To qualify for the deduction, tips must be "properly reported," according to Melanie Lauridsen, AICPA's vice president of tax policy & advocacy. That means employers must report the worker's tips on so-called information returns — such as Form W-2 or 1099 — with a copy going to the employee and the IRS. However, Trump's legislation also increased the income thresholds for certain information returns. That could raise eligibility questions for tipped workers who don't get a form. For example, Form 1099-K reports business transactions from apps, such as PayPal or Venmo, along with gig economy platforms like Uber or Lyft. For 2025, the 1099-K reporting threshold returns to $20,000 and200 transactions. Previously, the threshold was $2,500 for 2025. Starting in 2026, the threshold for 1099-NEC, which reports contract income, jumps from $600 to $2,000. However, there is also uncertainty about whether workers fully disclose cash tips to their employer and the IRS. "The elephant in the room around this whole 'no tax on tips' provision is, so many tips go unreported to begin with," said Henry-Moreland.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
LA Mayor Karen Bass spread alleged hoax claiming ICE tried to forced an illegal migrant mom to self-deport
Lefty Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was among those to help fuel an alleged hoax that claimed ICE had kidnapped an illegal immigrant mom and then tried to force her to self-deport. Bass spread the claims in a newly resurfaced social media post — just weeks before the migrant, Yuriana Julia 'Juli' Pelaez Calderon, was accused of staging the abduction as part of an elaborate scam. 'She's a mother from LA — taken out of her car on her way to work, and then held in a warehouse as officers hoped she would 'self-deport.' No hearing. Just fear. This doesn't make anyone safer,' the Bass posted on X on July 1. 5 LA Mayor Karen Bass helped fuel an alleged hoax claiming ICE had kidnapped an illegal immigrant mom and tried to force her to deport herself. AP 5 Bass posted about the claims on social media weeks before Yuriana Julia 'Juli' Pelaez Calderon was accused of staging the abduction. @MayorOfLA/X 5 Family, friends, and community members call for information about the whereabouts of Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon. REUTERS Calderon was charged Thursday with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers after the feds said she falsely claimed two armed bounty hunters had ambushed her at gunpoint at a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in downtown Los Angeles. Her family held a press conference about the so-called saga, alleging the men had taken her to San Ysidro where an ICE staffer tried to get her self-deport. They later created a GoFundMe page soliciting donations. But federal prosecutors said the entire tale was part of a hoax to scam people and 'smear federal law enforcement.' 'Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are 'kidnapping' illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public and discredit our courageous federal agents,' US Attorney Bill Essayli said. 5 Feds say that the family's claim is all a hoax to scam people and 'smear federal law enforcement.' @DHSgov/X 5 Calderon was charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers. KTLA 5 'The conduct alleged in today's complaint shows this hoax kidnapping was a well-orchestrated conspiracy.'
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
County officials say they were blindsided by DeSantis administration plans for Alligator Alcatraz
Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration left many local officials in the dark about the immigration detention center that rose from an isolated airstrip in the Everglades, emails obtained by The Associated Press show, while relying on an executive order to seize the land, hire contractors and bypass laws and regulations. The emails show that local officials in southwest Florida were still trying to chase down a "rumor" about the sprawling "Alligator Alcatraz" facility planned for their county while state officials were already on the ground and sending vendors through the gates to coordinate construction of the detention center, which was designed to house thousands of migrants and went up in a matter of days. "Not cool!" one local official told the state agency director spearheading the construction. The 100-plus emails dated June 21 to July 1, obtained through a public records request, underscore the breakneck speed at which the governor's team built the facility and the extent to which local officials were blindsided by the plans for the compound of makeshift tents and trailers in Collier County, a wealthy, majority-Republican corner of the state that's home to white-sand beaches and the western stretch of the Everglades. The executive order, originally signed by the Republican governor in 2023 and extended since then, accelerated the project, allowing the state to seize county-owned land and evade rules in what critics have called an abuse of power. The order granted the state sweeping authority to suspend "any statute, rule or order" seen as slowing the response to the immigration "emergency." A representative for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Known as the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, the airstrip is about 45 miles west of downtown Miami. It is located within Collier County but is owned and managed by neighboring Miami-Dade County. The AP asked for similar records from Miami-Dade County, where officials said they are still processing the request. To DeSantis and other state officials, building the facility in the remote Everglades and naming it after a notorious federal prison were meant as deterrents. It's another sign of how President Donald Trump's administration and his allies are relying on scare tactics to pressure people who are in the country illegally to leave. Collier County Commissioner Rick LoCastro apparently first heard about the proposal after a concerned resident in another county sent him an email on June 21. "A citizen is asking about a proposed 'detention center' in the Everglades?" LoCastro wrote to County Manager Amy Patterson and other staff. "Never heard of that … Am I missing something?" "I am unaware of any land use petitions that are proposing a detention center in the Everglades. I'll check with my intake team, but I don't believe any such proposal has been received by Zoning," replied the county's planning and zoning director, Michael Bosi. Environmental groups have since filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the state illegally bypassed federal and state laws and county zoning rules in building the facility. The complaint alleges that the detention center went up "without legislative authority, environmental review or compliance with local land use requirements." In fact, LoCastro was included on a June 21 email from state officials announcing their intention to buy the airfield. LoCastro sits on the county's governing board but does not lead it, and his district does not include the airstrip. He forwarded the message to the county attorney, saying "Not sure why they would send this to me?" In the email, Kevin Guthrie, the head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which built the detention center, said the state intended to "work collaboratively" with the counties. The message referenced the executive order on illegal immigration, but it did not specify how the state wanted to use the site, other than for "future emergency response, aviation logistics, and staging operations." The next day, Collier County's emergency management director, Dan Summers, wrote up a briefing for the county manager and other local officials, including some notes about the "rumor" he had heard about plans for an immigration detention facility at the airfield. Summers knew the place well, he said, after doing a detailed site survey a few years ago. "The infrastructure is — well, nothing much but a few equipment barns and a mobile home office … (wet and mosquito-infested)," Summers wrote. FDEM told Summers that while the agency had surveyed the airstrip, "NO mobilization or action plans are being executed at this time" and all activity was "investigatory," Summers wrote. By June 23, Summers was racing to prepare a presentation for a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners the next day. He shot off an email to FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie seeking confirmation of basic facts about the airfield and the plans for the detention facility, which Summers understood to be "conceptual" and in "discussion or investigatory stages only." "Is it in the plans or is there an actual operation set to open?" Summers asked. "Rumor is operational today… ???" In fact, the agency was already "on site with our vendors coordinating the construction of the site," FDEM bureau chief Ian Guidicelli responded. "Not cool! That's not what was relayed to me last week or over the weekend," Summers responded, adding that he would have "egg on my face" with the Collier County Sheriff's Office and Board of County Commissioners. "It's a Collier County site. I am on your team, how about the courtesy of some coordination?" On the evening of June 23, FDEM officially notified Miami-Dade County it was seizing the county-owned land to build the detention center, under emergency powers granted by the executive order. Plans for the facility sparked concerns among first responders in Collier County, who questioned which agency would be responsible if an emergency should strike the site. Discussions on the issue grew tense at times. Local Fire Chief Chris Wolfe wrote to the county's chief of emergency medical services and other officials on June 25: "I am not attempting to argue with you, more simply seeking how we are going to prepare for this that is clearly within the jurisdiction of Collier County." Summers, the emergency management director, repeatedly reached out to FDEM for guidance, trying to "eliminate some of the confusion" around the site. As he and other county officials waited for details from Tallahassee, they turned to local news outlets for information, sharing links to stories among themselves. "Keep them coming," Summers wrote to county Communications Director John Mullins in response to one news article, "since its crickets from Tally at this point." Hoping to manage any blowback to the county's tourism industry, local officials kept close tabs on media coverage of the facility, watching as the news spread rapidly from local newspapers in southwest Florida to national outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times and international news sites as far away as Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland. As questions from reporters and complaints from concerned residents streamed in, local officials lined up legal documentation to show the airfield was not their responsibility. In an email chain labeled, "Not our circus, not our monkeys...," County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow wrote to the county manager, "My view is we have no interest in this airport parcel, which was acquired by eminent domain by Dade County in 1968." Meanwhile, construction at the site plowed ahead, with trucks arriving around the clock carrying portable toilets, asphalt and construction materials. Among the companies that snagged multimillion dollar contracts for the work were those whose owners donated generously to political committees supporting DeSantis and other Republicans. On July 1, just 10 days after Collier County first got wind of the plans, the state officially opened the facility, welcoming DeSantis, Trump, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other state and federal officials for a tour. A county emergency management staffer fired off an email to Summers, asking to be included on any site visit to the facility. "Absolutely," Summers replied. "After the President's visit and some of the chaos on-site settles-in, we will get you all down there…" ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
