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It was after Liverpool‘s 4-1 defeat by PSV Eindhoven at Anfield in November that Steven Gerrard said his old team just kept on “bleeding”.

A ninth defeat in 12 matches was inflicted that night, but Liverpool have stemmed the painful flow and are now 10 games unbeaten since being embarrassed by the Dutch champions.

With a spirited display in Thursday’s goalless draw against leaders Arsenal, Arne Slot’s side became the first visiting team to take a Premier League point at Emirates Stadium since Manchester City in September.

Conor Bradley’s first-half effort which struck the crossbar was the closest either side went to scoring, while Liverpool were the better team in the second half with 66% possession.

Without a recognised striker, however, they lacked a focal point to their attacks.

Had Hugo Ekitike been fit enough to feature, the visitors could perhaps have taken the win, though this was still a decent night for Liverpool.

After poor showings in recent draws against Leeds and Fulham, last season’s champions delivered a performance from which Slot can take plenty of positives.

Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch were solid in midfield and Milos Kerkez had arguably his best game for the club as he dealt superbly with the threat of Bukayo Saka.

Defensively, Liverpool prevented Arsenal having an attempt in the second half until stoppage time. Mikel Arteta’s side have now failed to score against Liverpool in both games this season.

“I think Arne Slot will be absolutely delighted with the performance of the players,” said ex-Reds forward Daniel Sturridge on Sky Sports.

“You’ve got to give him credit for his game plan. They weathered the storm for the first 20 minutes. After that, their work rate, how tenacious they were, it was a very experienced performance and they showed why they are champions.

“They lacked the cutting edge up front but had very positive moments. Jeremie Frimpong was a threat all night but missed the final pass. Florian Wirtz was very good, picked up a load of pockets and was very clean tonight. The list goes on. The defence was magnificent.

“They stopped attacks all night and I think the manager and players should be very proud of themselves. They performed exceptionally.”

Finnish authorities have seized a Turkish-owned cargo vessel suspected of damaging an undersea telecommunications cable running from Helsinki to Talinn, Estonia. This marks the first incident involving suspected sabotage of critical undersea infrastructure in the region since the creation of a NATO task force nearly a year ago to defend those cables, a NATO official told us.

The situation began early Wednesday local time after the Finnish Elisa telecommunications company “detected a fault in its telecommunications cable between Helsinki and Tallinn,” according to the Finnish Border Guard. The cable runs for about 40 miles between the two nations under the strategically important Gulf of Finland, which is bordered by Russia, Finland and Estonia and leads to the Baltic Sea. The damage occurred somewhere in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), officials claim.

“Elisa reported the matter to the Border Guard’s command center. The Border Guard immediately began investigating the damage to the critical underwater infrastructure.”

The Border Guard’s offshore patrol vessel Turva and a helicopter found the suspect ship, a St. Vincent Grenadines-flagged general cargo vessel named Fitburg, inside Finland’s exclusive economic zone, officials explained. The vessel is “suspected of causing the damage to the cable through its operations,” the Border Guard added.

The vessel was enroute from St. Petersburg, Russia to Haifa, Israel, according to the MarineTraffic ship tracking site.

“The vessel’s anchor chain was found to be in the sea,” the Border Guard noted, adding that it “asked the vessel to stop and raise the anchor chain.” 

The Fitburg was then ordered to move to Finnish territorial waters, where Finnish authorities “took possession of the vessel as a joint operation.”

“Finnish authorities have inspected the vessel suspected of causing the cable damage in the Gulf of Finland,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated on X. “Finland has prepared for various security challenges and we respond to them in the manner required by the situation.”

Responsibility for the case has since been transferred from the Gulf of Finland Coast Guard to the Helsinki Police Department. 

“The police have been in contact with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Prosecutor General has issued a relevant indictment,” the Border Guard stated. “The police are currently investigating the events under the criminal charges of suspected aggravated damage, suspected attempted aggravated damage and suspected aggravated interference with telecommunications.”

The Fitburg is owned and operated by the Turkish Albros Shipping & Trading company, according to BalticShipping.com. We reached out to the company for more details about the incident and will update this story with any pertinent details provided.

As of Wednesday evening local time, Finnish authorities had yet to offer a motive for the cable damage and did not assign any blame beyond the ship itself. However, the damage occurred amid growing concerns about Russian hybrid warfare against NATO nations. That is just below the threshold of armed conflict and comes at a time of mounting tensions between Moscow and the alliance as the war in Ukraine drags on.

Almost exactly a year ago, Finnish authorities seized the Russian-linked oil tanker Eagle S, accusing it of dragging its anchor on the sea floor to break an underwater cable running from Finland to Estonia. The ship was later found to be full of spy equipment. You can see the Eagle S being seized in the following video.

Police in Finland say Eagle S crew detained as Estlink-2 cable damage probe continues

That incident and a spate of others led NATO to stand up Baltic Sentry on Jan. 14. It is an effort “to deter any future attempts by a state or non-state actor to damage critical undersea infrastructure there,” according to NATO in a statement at the time.

Baltic Sentry has deployed warships and aircraft from several nations to help deter sabotage incidents. In addition, a U.K.-led 10-member consortium of northern European nations called the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) reactivated an AI-based system to track suspicious ships in these waters.

A NATO official we spoke with on Wednesday declined to comment on the specifics of today’s telecommunications cable break. However, he did reiterate that Baltic Sentry was created to keep incidents like this from happening

“Since Baltic Sentry began in early 2025, and before this current incident, still under investigation, there have been zero incidents of maligned damage to sea cables in the Baltic Sea,” a NATO official told us Wednesday morning. 

“Baltic Sentry plays a role in our deterrence efforts along with expedient responses when suspicious incidents occur,” the official added. “In this case, NATO is supporting Finland with analysis and information exchange from our NATO shipping center to assist Finland with their response.”

“These incidents are more broadly actioned beyond just regional navies and militaries,” the NATO official noted. “As in the case of the current incident, this is a national and local police investigation led by national authorities.”

There is still much we don’t know about this incident. However, regardless of whether this was intentional or not, the episode again highlights the precarious nature of important undersea cables.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to block nearly $12 million in cuts to the group.

Earlier this month, the federal government “abruptly terminated” grants to the group, the lawsuit says.

The funding supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.

“AAP does not have other sources of grant funding to replace the federal awards, and without the necessary funds it must immediately terminate its work on its dozens of programs that save children’s lives every day,” says the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Within a few weeks, AAP will have to begin laying off employees dedicated to this critically important work.”

The suit alleges Health and Human Services made the cuts in retaliation for the doctors’ group speaking out against the Trump administration’s positions and actions.

The doctors’ group has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed the agency’s positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — is seeking to broadly remake federal policies on vaccines. Earlier this year, the pediatrics group released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government’s recommendations.

The group also supports access to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized Health and Human Services positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government’s infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.

“The Department of Health and Human Services is using federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, trying to silence one of the nation’s most trusted voices for children’s well-being by cutting off critical public health funding in retaliation for speaking the truth,” Skye Perryman, president and chief executive officer of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. Perryman’s organization is representing the doctors’ group in the case.

A spokesman for Health and Human Services could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mark Del Monte, CEO and executive vice president of the 67,000-member doctors’ group, said the organization depends on its relationship with the federal government.

“We need this partnership to advance policies that prioritize children’s health. These vital child health programs fund services like hearing screenings for newborns and safe sleep campaigns to prevent sudden unexpected infant death,” he said in a statement. “We are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier.” 

Ungar writes for the Associated Press.