#nuijamaa

[militaryleak]

NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) Visited Finland

The Chief of the Defence Command, Lieutenant General Vesa Virtanen hosted the visit of NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), Admiral Sir Keith Blount, to Finland on 29 November–1 December 2023. The purpose of the visit was to familiarise Admiral Blount with Finland's defence based on the reserve and the capabilities of the Finnish Defence Forces. The programme of the visit included, among other things, familiarisation with the exercise activities and discussions with the Commander of the Defence Forces, General Timo Kivinen and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Esa Pulkkinen. During his visit, Admiral Blount learned about the activities of conscripts and reservists during the Repo 23 exercise in Lappeenranta. A total of 4,000 personnel from several brigade-level units of the Defence Forces and the Border Guard are participating in the exercise led by the Karelia Brigade. Approximately one thousand of the training audience are reservists. In addition to the Repo 23 exercise, Admiral Blount visited the Nuijamaa Border Guard Station, where he learned about the operations of the Southeast Finland Border Guard and the current border situation. Admiral Sir Keith Blount visited the Nordic region for the first time in his new post, noting that as the newest member, Finland brings valuable experience to NATO, further strengthening the Alliance.

The Chief of the Defence Command, Lieutenant General Vesa Virtanen hosted the visit of NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), Admiral Sir Keith Blount, to Finland on 29 November–1 December 2023. The purpose of the visit was to familiarise Admiral Blount with Finland’s defence based on the reserve and the capabilities of the Finnish Defence Forces. The programme of the visit…

[nordnews]

The Prime Minister described the situation at the border as very unusual, but refused to comment on whether the government plans to close more border crossings or the entire easter...

[newstfionline]

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog (NYT) There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems—with remembering, concentrating or making decisions—than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows. The increase started with the pandemic: The number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people. About as many adults ages 18 to 64 now report severe cognitive issues as report trouble walking or taking the stairs, for the first time since the bureau started asking the questions each month in the 2000s. The sharp increase captures the effects of long Covid for a small but significant portion of younger adults, researchers say, most likely in addition to other effects of the pandemic, including psychological distress. Emmanuel Aguirre, a 30-year-old software engineer in the Bay Area, had Covid at the end of 2020. Within a month, he said, his life was transformed: ‘I felt like I was permanently hung over, drunk, high and in a brain freeze all at once.’ He stopped dating, playing video games and reading novels, though he managed to keep his job, working remotely. Some of his physical symptoms eventually abated, but the brain fog has lingered, disappearing at times only to steamroll him days later.

Finland to close 4 border crossing points after accusing Russia of organizing flow of migrants (AP) Finland will close four crossing points on its long border with Russia to stop the flow of Middle Eastern and African migrants that it accuses Moscow of ushering to the border in recent months, the government said Thursday. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the southeastern crossing points—Imatra, Niirala, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa—will be closed at midnight Friday on the Finland-Russia land border that serves as the European Union’s external border. It runs a total of 1,340 kilometers (832 miles), mostly in thick forests in the south, all the way to the rugged landscape in the Arctic north. Dozens of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived in recent days at the Nordic nation without proper documentation and have sought asylum after allegedly being helped by Russian authorities to travel to the heavily controlled border zone.

Russian musician sentenced to seven years for trivial antiwar protest (Washington post) Alexandra Skochilenko, a pacifist Russian artist and musician with no prior history of political activism, was sentenced to seven years in prison by a St. Petersburg court, for a trivial antiwar protest: covering five supermarket price tags in March of last year with stickers giving information about Russia’s war against Ukraine. Skochilenko, wearing one of her trademark bright hippie shirts with a red heart emblazoned on the front, fixed her eyes on Judge Oksana Demyasheva and told her: “Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You are not judging an extremist. You are not even judging a political activist. You are judging a pacifist.”

Troubled times for Syrians in Turkey (BBC) Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees and asylum seekers in the world. These include around 3.6 million Syrians, who fled there during the war in their country. Now many of those Syrian refugees feel forgotten and unsafe once more, while tensions with locals are higher than ever. Seven years ago, the EU handed Turkey six billion euros in a deal to stop Syrians heading to Europe. Since then, many Turks say their welcome has worn thin. And now, the Turkish government is deporting Syrians it says are in Turkey illegally, back to the warzone. Karam was 19 when the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, had security forces fire on peaceful protesters and arrest hundreds of citizens. Karam was one of those arrested, and after being released he eventually paid a people smuggler to take him to Turkey. He believes that he will be arrested and tortured if he returns to Syria. But he is also afraid to stay in Turkey, saying that local Police ask for his papers around five times a day. What is next for Syrians living there?

In China, state media does U-turn on US (Washington Post) Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Biden this week was an unmitigated success, according to the Chinese version of events, as state media made an about-face so abrupt it caused whiplash on social media. After months of criticizing the United States for trying to contain China’s growth, state-controlled Chinese websites were filled Thursday with reports on the “positive, comprehensive and constructive” talks between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. This left more than a few Chinese social media users confused, report our colleagues Meaghan Tobin and Lyric Li. “I haven’t been online for two days … a look at the trending topics shows the atmosphere between China and the U.S. is as if a couple in an arranged marriage fell in love,” read one post on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo.

How China strong-armed its way into dominating the South China Sea. (NYT) Beijing says many of these boats are just fishing boats. But they bristle with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and high-velocity water cannons. They’re here for intimidation. This fleet, built largely with government money, helps China dominate one of the most crucial and disputed waterways in the world: the South China Sea. Working in tandem with an aggressive coast guard, these militarized fishing boats assert Beijing’s presence more than 1,000 miles from the Chinese mainland. The boats patrol the tiny, disputed Spratly islets. Their reinforced steel hulls make it easy to ram smaller boats. They swarm other countries’ outposts and squat on shoals within sight of foreign coastlines. These fishing boats, most of which don’t actually fish, make up a maritime militia that is upending the rules of the sea. By providing backup to the China Coast Guard and maintaining a constant presence in remote waters—often parking on contested reefs for weeks at a time—they amplify China’s ambitions in the South China Sea. Beijing has used similar methods across its vast frontier, from the mountainous borders with South Asia to rocks in the East China Sea. And once China incrementally takes over, a new reality reigns.

‘Israeli public in a bubble,’ journalists says (CJR) Writing for Jewish Currents, Jonathan Shamir traces how Israeli officials have sought to discredit the reporting of journalists in Gaza—and to justify violence against them—by casting them as accomplices of Hamas. As a result, “the Israeli public is in a bubble,” Oren Persico, an Israeli journalist, said. “It doesn’t understand why the world is angry.”

Aid to Gaza halted with communications down for a second day, as food and water supplies dwindle (AP) Communications systems in the Gaza Strip were down for a second day Friday with no fuel to power the internet and phone networks, causing aid agencies to halt cross-border deliveries of humanitarian supplies even as they warned people may soon face starvation. Gaza is now receiving only 10% of its needed food supplies daily, and dehydration and malnutrition are growing with nearly all of the 2.3 million people in the territory needing food, said Abeer Etefa, a Mideast regional spokeswoman for the United Nations’ World Food Program. “People are facing the immediate possibility of starvation,” she said from Cairo. With few trucks entering Gaza and no fuel to distribute the food “there is no way to meet the current hunger needs,” she said Thursday. “The existing food systems in Gaza are basically collapsing.” With hospitals under siege and humanitarian supplies paused, U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk warned of “massive outbreaks of infectious disease and hunger,” adding that if fuel supplies run out entirely, Gaza would likely see the collapse of its sewage system and health care.

Thousands of bodies lie buried in rubble in Gaza. Families dig to retrieve them, often by hand (AP) The wreckage goes on for block after devastated block. The smell is sickening. Every day, hundreds of people claw through tons of rubble with shovels and iron bars and their bare hands. They are looking for the bodies of their children. Their parents. Their neighbors. All of them killed in Israeli missile strikes. The corpses are there, somewhere in the endless acres of destruction. More than five weeks into Israel’s war against Hamas, some streets are now more like graveyards. Officials in Gaza say they don’t have the equipment, manpower or fuel to search properly for the living, let alone the dead. More than 11,400 Palestinians have been killed, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to Palestinian health authorities. The U.N. humanitarian affairs office estimates that about 2,700 people, including 1,500 children, are missing and believed buried in the ruins.

Gaza’s economy obliterated (Washington Post) The solar energy company Sunbox paid its 15 full-time employees in Gaza this month. But next month is uncertain: The company’s main offices in Gaza City were destroyed in an Israeli strike. With its office obliterated, its revenue cut and its employees sheltering from Israeli bombardments, the company, like most in the Gaza Strip, has bleak prospects in the months ahead. Gaza’s economy already was crumbling. The war has pounded it to dust. Last year, 80 percent of the population relied on international aid, according to a United Nations estimate. Most of whatever economic activity persisted has ground to a halt amid Israel’s response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7. Bombardments and a ground invasion have left more than 11,400 Palestinians dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Some 1.5 million people—much of the population of Gaza—have been displaced, according to the United Nations. “Gaza’s economy ceased to function as of the last quarter of 2023, and will continue to be so indefinitely,” read a statement this month from the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute.

Bodies unearthed and bridges swept away (BBC) At least 32 people have been killed across Somalia after devastating floods which followed years of drought. The UN warns that more than 1.6 million people could be affected. Correspondent Sahnun Ahmed reported: Following Somalia’s worst floods in a century, gushing waters have swept through a cemetery in the central city of Galkayo, leaving bodies floating through the streets. The gruesome sight has haunted residents like Ayaan Mohamed, who lives near the graveyard. Somalia’s fragile, UN-backed government has been trying to provide emergency relief, but it says it cannot cover all the affected areas.

Madagascar Votes Amid Violence and Calls for Boycott (NYT) After weeks of political violence, voters on the island nation of Madagascar went to the polls on Thursday to elect a president, even though 10 of the 13 candidates called for a boycott, accusing the man they are vying to replace of unfairly tilting the process in his favor. Most of the 30 million residents of this nation off the southeastern coast of Africa live in poverty. A series of weather-related catastrophes in recent years have damaged the country’s agricultural production, its economic mainstay, increasing the humanitarian crisis. Madagascar is heavily reliant on foreign aid, and there are fears that a disputed election could cause some benefactors to pull back support, which “will lead the country to a chaotic situation,” said Andoniaina Ratsimamanga, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross, which is helping with the humanitarian response in Madagascar.

[santsu1992]

#inktober #inktober2017 #teeming #fierce Greetings from border! #lpr #nuijamaa #leirillä #camplife

[warpicshistory]

🇫🇮 Great photo and amazing colorization work. Thanks to @finnishwarheroes for allowing me to share with you guys. Check out his insta for more Finnish war history. (His caption for this photo is pasted below.) @finnishwarheroes @finnishwarheroes @finnishwarheroes #Repost @finnishwarheroes (@get_repost) ・・・ Finnish soldiers on a ride with armoured Soviet artillery tractor Komsomolets T-20. During the Winter War Finns captured some 500 pieces from the enemy. After WW2 Finnish army auctioned almost all Komsomolets. Picture is taken during the Continuation War 07.08.1941 at Nuijamaa. sa-kuva.fi, coloured by Jared Enos. #finnish #warhero #winterwar #continuationwar #ww2 #komsomoletst20 #artillery #nuijamaa #suomi100

[mapsontheweb]

Names of some Finnish municipalities (current and former) translated literally to English.

by u/Rascally_Raccoon

Automobile Accident – Kolari Barren Rock – Luoto Barren Rock With Riding Crops – Raippaluoto Barren Rock With Sharks – Hailuoto Beating Hill – Pieksämäki Big-stick-ville – Karttula Bludgeon Country – Nuijamaa Bone Hill – Luumäki Bottom – Pohja Candyville – Karkkila Candyville – Mellilä Cougarville – Puumala Creating Maternal Uncles – Enontekiö Death Lake – Kuolemajärvi Drool Lake – Kuolajärvi Fishing Lure – Perho Gulf Of Lapland – Lapinlahti Hatville – Hattula Hazel Hen With A Crown – Kruunupyy Health Care Island – Vårdö Hill Of Forty Squirrel Furs – Kiihtelysvaara Injuryville – Vammala Landslide – Vieremä Lapland – Lappi Limb Country – Lemland Mallet – Kurikka Maternal Uncle – Eno Maternal Uncle’s Rapids – Enonkoski Pitchfork – Hanko Preaching Band – Liperi Predator Bay – Petolahti Puttyville – Kittilä Real Bay – Aitolahti River of Totally Yes – Juupajoki Rule By Brushes – Harjavalta Sea Lake – Merijärvi Stink – Lemu Theft – Varkaus Tight – Tiukka Twice – Kakskerta Viper Lake – Kyyjärvi Virgin Bay – Impilahti War Town – Sodankylä Weird Hill – Outokumpu Wienerville – Nakkila

[beardedmrbean]

The tabloid Ilta-Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun)carries an item reviewing on a Swedish STV television programme Sunday night in which President Sauli Niinistö provided a positive view of what Nato membership would mean for Finland.

The programme presented a report filmed in Nuijamaa, on the Finnish-Russian border and featured views on security issues from MP Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) and President Niinistö.

Tuomioja, explained his reasoning why Finland should not join Nato, at least for the time being.

"We have an independent opportunity to mobilize if war breaks out. We have 280,000 reservists. No other European country, not even the large ones, has more [reservists]. We have a relatively safe situation," he told SVT.

According to Tuomioja, the border between Russia and Finland has been and is stable. However, Putin's regime is unpredictable.

He stated the position that Finland should build even deeper security cooperation with Sweden, and the United States could be a third party in this cooperation.

President Niinistö presented a different view on Finland's possible security policy future. Ilta-Sanomat reports that he estimates that in the long term, Nato membership can provide a guarantee that the Finns will feel safe in their own country and that foreign countries will see Finland as a safe and stable state.

"In the long run, Nato would provide a positive answer to both of these things," Niinistö stated.

SVT reporters interviewed a number of Finns about their views on Nato membership. Members of the Finnish Reservists’ Association who were interviewed spoke out in favour of membership, but an elderly Finnish war veteran suggested that while Nato membership could be a good option, the timing of it should be considered carefully.

Helsinki's Iltalehti (siirryt toiseen palveluun)reports comments on the debate surrounding Nato membership from former National Coalition Party prime minister Alexander Stubb, who is currently Director and Professor of the School of Transnational Governance based at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

"One can have an effect on history, but not geography," Stubb told the paper, adding that geography is now in favour of Nato membership.

"It is clear that the Finland's state leadership is currently preparing short-term security guarantees with the United States, Britain and Sweden, or with whomever they are now doing so. At the same time, Finland's leadership is preparing to apply for Nato membership by consulting all Nato members and making sure there will be no surprises or backlash. They can’t say publicly that 'yes here we go into NATO now',” Stubb pointed out.

Stubb did not add his voice to those who are critical of national leadership for not openly expressing support for membership.

"Hindsight is not worthwhile. Finland was never built on hindsight, but rather in the moment. Of course, there will come a time when we will review old positions, who said what. But, that time is not now," Stubb stressed.

Maternal Burnout

Helsingin Sanomat (siirryt toiseen palveluun) carries a review of a fresh scientific study that reveals what it calls "a surprising paradox" - mothers in Finland suffer more from burnout than do those in countries with less gender equality.

The study, published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (siirryt toiseen palveluun), surveyed approximately 11,500 respondents from 40 countries.

Matilda Sorkkila, adjunct professor at the University of Jyväskyläs Department of Psychology, told Helsingin Sanomat that result is surprising and paradoxical.

"It feels like something doesn’t match up. Equality is not quite successful if it is not visible at home," she said.

Upon closer examination, however, she sees several possible explanations for high rates of burnout among Finnish mothers.

There is “double pressure” - a desire to participate in working life on an equal footing, but in addition, still bearing a great deal of responsibility for the home and children.

In addition, there may be more subtle reasons, such as unfulfilled expectations.

"When you see equality in other areas of life, but not at home, the contrast may be more pronounced and the experience of inequality at home may be greater," Sorkkila pointed out.

According to researchers, expectations concerning motherhood in Finland are very high, and even unrealistic.

Interpreter shortage

The local Helsinki paper Helsingin Uutiset (siirryt toiseen palveluun)looks at what it writes is a "huge shortage" of qualified interpreters in Finland.

This has become even more evident with the large number of Ukrainians who have arrived in Finland. Older Ukrainians in particular do not speak much English, and on the other hand there are very few Ukrainian-speaking interpreters in Finland.

According to Gun-Viol Vik, head of interpretation education at Diakonia University of Applied Sciences, a shortage of qualified interpreters can lead to problems, for example in the healthcare field.

She noted a survey of hundreds of doctors and nurses a few years ago found this to be a concern.

"Some respondents considered that patient safety was being compromised in situations where a professional interpreter was not used," she said.

Even cases involving more commonly spoken languages such as Russian, Arabic, Kurdish and Somali, problems arise.

"Of course, these languages are used by a larger number of interpreters, but their educational backgrounds are also quite varied. It may be tempting to use one's own relative or even a child as an interpreter," Vik noted.

"In matters such as social or healthcare, friends or relatives should not be used as interpreters. Officials will provide a professional interpreter. The interpreter is bound by professional ethics and interprets comprehensively and impartially," she pointed out.

The Diakonia University of Applied Sciences has been training interpreters in various languages for the past ten years, during which time about 120 have graduated. By this summer, about 25 will have completed specialised training in legal interpreting.

A sunny but chilly Easter coming

The daily Karjalainen, (siirryt toiseen palveluun) published in the city of Joensuu, carries an item looking at the week ahead and the weather outlook for the upcoming Easter holiday weekend.

The week is starting off with a mix of both sun and rain, but also with warming temperatures, especially in the south.

Colder air moving in from the north is likely to bring temperatures down to below average for the time of year by the time the holiday weekend arrives.

Easter weather is now being forecast to be mostly sunny, with daytime temperatures around 6C-7C in the south, dipping down at night to -5C to -10C nationwide.

[populusfennicapatriam]

Squad leader 2nd lieutenant Sirkkilä taking orders from battalion commander major Söderholm. 2nd of August 1941 Nuijamaa, Finland.

Partiolle annetaan tehtävä. Sen antaa pataljoonan komentaja majuri Söderholm. Partionjohtajana vänrikki Sirkkilä Nuijamaa 1941.08.02

[anirobot]

The Finnish Border Guard took special measures - Picture from Hietanen the frontier dog collects sympathy

Lappeenranta’s Nuijamaa border station has taken all available forces into passport control.

[theschengen]

Finland Arrests German Man for Trying to Enter Russia Illegally on a Bike

Finland Arrests German Man for Trying to Enter Russia Illegally on a Bike

Border guards in southeastern Finland stopped a German citizen who tried to reach Russia via the Nuijamaa border crossing on a bicycle. According to a statement issued on November 15, the border guard confirmed that the man moving at the border had been captured the day before, on November 14, by the border guard patrol on the Russian side, which had ordered the German back to the border. The…

[gregarnott]

Finnish soldiers hitch a ride on a Universal Carrier in Nuijamaa, Finland, August 7th, 1941

[lucygeo-blog1]

Лев в шоке от того, как долго мы выезжали из Финляндии в Россию в субботу. Почти сразу после прохождения контроля с финской стороны мы встали в огромную пробку на пункт Брусничное, в которой было около 400 машин. В Бруснике я окончательно разочаровалась, а ведь раньше это был мой любимый пограничный пункт. Зато Финляндия продолжает меня радовать спокойствием, тишиной и безлюдными парками. Каждый раз я стараюсь строить маршрут таким образом, чтобы прогулка или поездка на машине пролегала по новым, еще неизведанным местам. Сезон путешествий по Финке на данный момент окончен.��Снова посетить Финляндию я смогу уже в новом году, после поездки в Ригу. #Финляндия #Finland #Suomi (at Duty Free Nuijamaa) https://www.instagram.com/p/B52TqdBhvOK/?igshid=wzkkghyso7ct

[aflsgm]

Soldados finlandeses siendo transportados en un tractor de artillería T-20 Komsomolets (Nuijamaa, Finlandia, 7 de agosto de 1941). El tractor T-20 fue diseñado para remolcar piezas de artillería ligera, tales como el cañón antitanque de 45 mm y el mortero pesado de 120 mm. Podía remolcar las piezas de artillería además de una pequeña cantidad de municiones, usualmente remolcada en un armón, junto a seis tripulantes. Durante la guerra, Finlandia se apoderó de algunos cientos de estos tractores así como otros vehículos soviéticos. https://www.instagram.com/p/Buo2kBbgO4n/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=192yjaxo5wmfd

[costyaklein]

Шоппинг в Финляндии утром воскресного дня... #laplandia #shopping #finland #лапландия #финляндия #шоапинг (at Nuijamaa, Etelä-Suomen Lääni, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuTQv3znAst/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1q6y4eb7oxncg

[webbkamera]

Нуйяма: Tie 13 Lappeenranta, Nuijamaa − lähtevä liikenne

Webcam by Finnish Transport Agency

Europa, Ryssland, Нуйяма

from Senast adderade webkameror http://ift.tt/2z6ms57

[atsypin]

Золотая коллекция номерных знаков сайта usedcars.ru - престиж по-русски / #город #велопрогулки #автомобили #престиж #санктпетербург #авто (at Nuijamaa, Etelä-Suomen Lääni, Finland)