Sweden released a new pamphlet for citizens this week with survival tips in case the country ever goes to war. The government-issued publication covers topics like how to stop bleeding, the difference between various emergency sirens, and what food should be stockpiled. Given the fact that Sweden just joined NATO this year, the advice is more relevant than ever as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues and Vladimir Putin continues to threaten nuclear strikes against Western countries. But this isn’t the first time Sweden has put out this kind of literature. The country actually has a long history of trying to prepare its population for war with Russia, from pamphlets and educational films to community nuclear shelters much fancier than anything the Americans produced at the height of the Cold War. At one point, it even printed the guides in its phone book. The new pamphlet is available online and titled “In Case of War or Crisis.” It’s distributed by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and opens with an explanation of its necessity. That all seems pretty straightforward and reasonable here in 2024. But it’s easy to forget there was a period before our current geopolitical hostilities when that kind of language may have seemed unnecessarily alarmist. Because Sweden has a similar pamphlet that was distributed from the middle of World War II until the fall of the Soviet Union. And then it didn’t start producing this kind of pamphlet again until 2018. Launched in 1943, Sweden’s original pamphlet was called “If the War Comes,” published at a time when the country was officially neutral. But the booklet received revisions during the Cold War, when the concern involved both the potential of a Soviet Union invasion of Sweden and the possibility of nuclear war. One of the big messages throughout was the idea that if a foreign army attacked and occupied, the average citizen wasn’t just supposed to give up. There was supposed to be a resistance and that resistance would take the form of whatever small way you could contribute. Sweden approached the idea of civil defense somewhat differently from the U.S. during the height of the Cold War. America had a fierce debate in the early 1960s about whether it was the responsibility of the government to build community fallout shelters and help their citizens prepare. Ultimately, the debate was won by those who believed Americans should be independent and not look to the government. Sweden went the other direction, building extremely nice nuclear bunkers for entire communities . One bunker in Stockholm featured classrooms for students, a theater, and an enormous gymnasium. The bunker was featured in a 1958 film titled “Vi går under jorden,” translated in English as We Go Underground. The Cold War pamphlet wasn’t distributed anymore after the official collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and there really did appear to be a receding threat to Western-aligned countries after the Communist government fell. The political fight between communist and capitalist superpowers was largely over but the first two decades of the 21st century would see the old divisions reemerge. Australia’s SBS TV news channel produced a documentary in 2019 about the ways that Sweden was preparing its citizens for the possibility of war as what might be called the Second Cold War or New Cold War was knocking on the door. Sweden isn’t the only country trying to prepare its citizens for the possibility of a Russian invasion. Finland shares a border with Russia and has always been more alert to the possibility than their Swedish neighbors. And Finland has its own government pamphlets with information about resisting an occupation and reminding people to stock enough food for 20 days. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine changed the perspective of a lot of people, according to a new report from the BBC . Because the idea of Russia invading a foreign country seemed largely theoretical to so many younger people until very recently. “From the Finnish perspective, this is a bit strange,” Ilmari Kaihko, associate professor of war studies at the Swedish Defense University who’s originally from Finland told the BBC . “[Finland] never forgot that war is a possibility, whereas in Sweden, people had to be shaken up a bit to understand that this can actually happen.” The New Cold War is here and people are trying to stay prepared for the worst as best they can. But nobody knows what the future holds, especially as traditional geopolitical allies seem ripe for disruption in the second presidency of Donald Trump. The president-elect has shown himself to be devoid of any real ideology beyond whatever helps him personally. The U.S. could just as easily be exiting NATO or building up new support for NATO allies, depending on who offers Trump the best deal in the coming months and years. And that kind of instability is not great for Americans, to say the least.
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PORTSMOUTH, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 3, 2024-- Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) (the "Company"), a global leader in information management services, today announced that it has priced an upsized offering by way of a private placement of $1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of its 6.25% Senior Notes due 2033 (the "Notes"). This represents an increase of $450.0 million in the combined aggregate principal amount of the Notes, from the previously announced amount of $750.0 million. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the Company’s subsidiaries that are obligors under each series of its existing notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings under the Company’s revolving credit facility. The Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or under any state securities law, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. The Notes are being offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. This announcement shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Iron Mountain Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) is trusted by more than 240,000 customers in 60 countries, including approximately 95% of the Fortune 1000, to help unlock value and intelligence from their assets through services that transcend the physical and digital worlds. Our broad range of solutions address their information management, digital transformation, information security, data center and asset lifecycle management needs. Our longstanding commitment to safety, security, sustainability and innovation in support of our customers underpins everything we do. View source version on businesswire.com : https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241203239410/en/ CONTACT: Investor Relations Contacts:Mark Rupe SVP, Head of Investor Relations Mark.Rupe@ironmountain.comErika Crabtree Manager, Investor Relations Erika.Crabtree@ironmountain.com KEYWORD: NEW HAMPSHIRE UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: NETWORKS SECURITY HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE SOURCE: Iron Mountain Incorporated Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/03/2024 04:48 PM/DISC: 12/03/2024 04:48 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241203239410/en
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin has called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the second time in two days to continue discussions about the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane. Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti , citing Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov; Azerbaijani president's press service Details: Peskov stated that Putin and Aliyev held a phone conversation on Sunday, 29 December, continuing their discussions about issues related to the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash. The Azerbaijani president's press service confirmed that it was Putin who initiated the call to Aliyev. Quote from Azerbaijani president's press service: "During the phone conversation, the heads of state continued discussions on issues related to the crash of the passenger plane of the Closed Joint-Stock Company Azerbaijan Hava Yollari." Background: Support UP or become our patron !Harry Maguire reveals Man Utd weakness that rivals are ‘targeting’ after dreadful 2-0 defeat to Wolves
Revolve to present at the Small Cap Growth Virtual Investor Conference December 5thIrish civil servants compiled a list of “major leaks” they claimed originated from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and Special Branch officers in the region, records show. The confidential briefing note is part of the tranche of documents made public in the annual release of State papers from the Irish National Archives. An Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official focusing on justice and security created the list in October 2002. The document starts by referencing a 1999 interview given by George Mitchell, the chairman of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, in which he claimed the British and Irish governments, as well as Northern Ireland’s political parties, had leaked information to manipulate public opinion. However, he further accused the NIO of attempting to sabotage the process by leaking information on British Government policy to the media. Mr Mitchell, a former US senator, is said to have expressed alarm and anger over the frequency of leaks from the NIO – saying they were uniquely “designed to undermine the policy of the British Government of which they were a part”. The Irish civil servant notes Mr Mitchell himself was subjected to an attempted “smear” when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, as newspaper articles falsely claimed his chief of staff Martha Pope had had a liaison with Sinn Fein representative Gerry Kelly with ulterior motives. The Irish civil servant goes on to list several “leaks”, starting with the publication of a proposed deal in a newspaper while “intense negotiations” for the Downing Street Declaration were under way. Next, the Department lists two “high-profile and damaging leaks issued from the NIO”. A so-called “gameplan” document was leaked in February 1998, showing papers had been prepared weeks before the Drumcree march on July 6, 1997. In the preceding years, there had been standoffs and clashes as nationalists opposed the procession of an Orange parade down Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The gameplan document showed then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam, who was publicly expressing a desire for a negotiated solution to the 1997 parade, advocated “finding the lowest common denominator for getting some Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road”. In 1997, a large number of security forces were deployed to the area to allow the march to proceed. The incident sparked heightened tension and a wave of rioting. The document further describes the release of a document submitted by the NIO’s director of communications to the secretary of state as a “second major leak”. It claims a publicity strategy was released to the DUP in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement and showed how the UK Government would support a yes vote in a referendum following any talks agreement. In addition, it is claimed unionists used leaked sections of the Patten report on policing to invalidate its findings ahead of its publication in 1999. The report recommended the replacement of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the changing of symbols, and a 50-50 recruitment policy for Catholics and Protestants. At the time, UUP leader David Trimble said the recommendations would lead to a corruption of policing in Northern Ireland. Chris Patten, chairman of the independent commission on policing, said some of the assertions were a “total fabrication” and designed to “muddy the waters” to create a difficult political atmosphere. Elsewhere, the author notes it was leaked to the media there was serious disagreement between the governments of the UK and Ireland on the composition of that commission – with not a single name submitted by the Irish side being accepted by the other. The author notes this incident, still under the heading “NIO leaks”, was believed by British officials to have emanated from the Irish side. The report turns to leaks of other origin, claiming “disgruntled Special Branch officers in Northern Ireland” were blamed by the British Government for a series of releases about the IRA which were designed to damage Sinn Fein in the 2001 general election in Northern Ireland. One senior Whitehall source was quoted in the Guardian as complaining that Special Branch was “leaking like a sieve” after details of an IRA intelligence database containing the names of leading Tories – described at the time as a “hit list” – was passed to the BBC in April 2002. The briefing note adds: “This was followed days later by a leak to The Sunday Telegraph which alleged that senior IRA commanders bought Russian special forces rifles in Moscow last year. “The newspaper said it was passed details by military intelligence in London.” The briefing note adds that other Special Branch leaks were associated with the Castlereagh break-in. The final incident in the document notes the Police Ombudsman’s Report on the Omagh bombing was also leaked to the press in December 2001. Then Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said at the time: “Leaks are never helpful and usually malicious – I will not be commenting on this report until I have seen the final version.” The reason for creating the list of leaks, which the Irish National Archives holds in a folder alongside briefing notes for ministers ahead of meetings with officials from the UK Government and NIO, is not outlined in the document itself. – This document is based on material in 2024/130/6.HAMILTON — There’s a first time for everything.In this case, the Mooch Senior Girls Soccer game ended in a scoreless draw for the first time in history on Sunday afternoon at Al Cowell Field inside Veterans Park.“Honestly, no, not expecting that,” said Ewing goalie Emily Gamboa Ordini, who helped preserve the clean sheet for the [...]
Sri Lanka's President and National People's Power party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake after casting his vote on Nov 14. Most new governments take office with the weight of public expectations hanging heavy over them. In that regard, the expectations of Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his leftist-oriented National People’s Power (NPP) movement are particularly onerous. After a decisive outcome in the September presidential polls , Mr Dissanayake swiftly ordered parliamentary elections, seeking a clear mandate for NPP, which was at the forefront of the 2022 uprising that toppled then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Sri Lankans responded to the call. Already a subscriber? Log in Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month $9.90 $9.90/month No contract ST app access on 1 mobile device Subscribe now All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel nowDT Kenneth Grant to leave Michigan for NFL Draft10 Mistakes You Might Be Making When Installing Smart Home Products Around Your HouseRainbow-laden revelers hit Copacabana beach for Rio de Janeiro’s pride parade
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