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The newly appointed foreign minister, Tobias Billström, aims to end Sweden’s feminist foreign policy.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson unveiled his new government on Tuesday, with ministers chosen from among his three coalition parties: the moderates (13 ministers), the Christian Democrats (six) and the Liberals (five). Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch was appointed Minister of Energy and Food, while Liberal leader Johan Pehrson was appointed Minister of Labor Markets and Integration.

“Change was necessary, change is now possible,” Ulf Kristersson said in his introductory speech to the Swedish Riksdag, adding that “this cooperation forms the basis for the long-term solution of Sweden’s main social problems.”

After the presentation of the new government, the newly appointed foreign minister, Tobias Billström, declared in an interview with Aftonbladet that the takeover of the new government would put an end to “Sweden’s feminist foreign policy”.

“We will not engage in feminist foreign policy. This label did not serve a good purpose. This obscured the fact that Swedish foreign policy must be based on Swedish interests and values,” he told the paper.

Under the previous Social Democratic government, which had been in power since 2008, Sweden had introduced a “feminist foreign policy”, defined as a policy to promote equality between women and men as a fundamental objective of foreign policy.

This policy included the realization of the fundamental human rights of women and girls, both as an obligation of international agreements and as a prerequisite for achieving Sweden’s broader goals of peace, security and sustainable development.

According to Billström, however, other major foreign policy challenges await the new government.

“The biggest and most important task is what the prime minister mentioned in her government statement. To ensure that NATO membership is successful and that we can fulfill the parts of the tripartite agreement between Turkey, Finland and Sweden to ensure that we can become members and improve our security situation,” he told SVT Nyheter.

Billström stressed that the dialogue with Ankara will also not change under the new government.

“It is important that we maintain a good and positive dialogue in this area; You won’t see any difference from the outgoing government. This issue found broad support in Parliament. The policy in this area is set,” he told SVT.

Turkey has presented a list of requirements to approve Finland and Sweden’s candidacy to join NATO.

This includes demanding that Sweden start exporting weapons to Turkey and that Stockholm cut all ties with the YPG militia, which fights ISIS and which Ankara considers a terrorist organization, and extradite some Kurdish political refugees captured by those accused of terrorism by the Turkish government.

A new caravan of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, is transiting through Mexico aiming to enter the United States. They are protesting the new immigration policy introduced by Washington, which is trying to stem the flow of people across the Mexican border.

About a thousand people, including children, have left the town of Tapachula, in the state of Chiapas, on the Mexican border with Guatemala. These migrants, mostly Venezuelans, began a march north to try to enter the United States, 1,700 miles (2,800 km) away.

The Mexican Migration Institute has already warned that Venezuelans crossing the country with this caravan will not be able to enter the United States. Especially given the new rules announced by Washington.

An agreement between the US and Mexican governments stipulates that only 24,000 Venezuelans can enter the United States. However, one of the criteria imposed is that immigration applicants must know a person living in the US who is willing to meet his/her costs if necessary. Also, entry into the country can only be done by air, which excludes all caravan members.

“It’s unfair because a lot of us are tired and exhausted and trying to get through, so they give us this message,” Venezuelan Sandy Araujo told AFP. For the young man, the measure taken by Washington should have been communicated to migrants in advance like him, who has been facing the difficult path for weeks.”But we’re making progress,” he said.

Those who started the march earlier and have already reached the US border are also protesting. For days, dozens of people have been demonstrating on one of the bridges that connect the Mexican state of Tamaulipas to the US state of Texas, blocking passage through this road, local authorities said.

As of October 2021, US officials have counted more than 155,000 Venezuelans entering its southern border, more than three times the number in the previous period.

Published on: 18.10.2022 – 23:54

The German media revelations have been chaotic as the war in Ukraine has dragged on for a decade and relations with Russia have faltered. For almost ten days, the president of the German cyber security authority sat in the hot seat because of criticism of the lack of distance to Russia. The facts are still not clear, but the Minister of the Interior has decided to thank the person concerned.

With our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut

“Especially in the current situation against the background of Russian hybrid warfare, the necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality of the authority is being called into question,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, on which the authority depends, to the German cyber security company BSI on Tuesday in these terms the dismissal of the president of the organization.

Arne Schönbohm, who has been in office for six years, has been criticized in the media for his affiliation with a cybersecurity advisory association he co-founded ten years ago, whose members are suspected of having contacts with Russian secret services. The president of this association is close to Moscow and was invited to observe the last presidential elections in Russia.

The Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that the presumption of innocence applies. An expert from the Green Party government majority regrets that the allegations made against the deposed head of the cyber security agency remain imprecise. But the organization’s image has been damaged while the Russian threat in this area is regularly mentioned. The recent attacks on the gas pipeline north current or one railway sabotage Magnitude earlier in the month has reignited debates.

Russian forces confirmed on Tuesday (18) that they had hit Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in fresh bomb attacks that caused power and water outages in several cities in the country, including the capital Kyiv. “All targets were hit,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a similar statement to the previous day. An adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency warned the population to prepare for the winter with shortages of energy, water and heating.

The new Russian bombings killed at least two people in Kyiv and a 55yearold man in Mykolayev, a city in southern Ukraine.

“Russian forces continued to attack Ukraine’s military command and power systems with highprecision, longrange air and sea weapons,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in its daily report. The report is virtually identical to the one released on Monday following the bombings in Ukraine that killed nine.

The Russian army also claims that on Tuesday it recaptured the village of Gorobivka in the Kharkiv region (northeast), which it lost to Ukrainian forces in the counteroffensive launched from Kyiv in September.

As winter approaches, “since October 10, 30% of Ukraine’s power plants have been destroyed, leading to massive power outages across the country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Twitter. He also reiterated his refusal to negotiate a ceasefire with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian operator DTEK has reported “interruptions” in power supplies in a key area of ​​Kyiv. “Engineers are making every effort necessary to restore power,” DTEK said on Facebook. The mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, urged residents to save water and electricity.

In a television interview, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency, described the situation across the country as “critical” “because our regions are interdependent”. He said the population must prepare for the lack of power, water and heating given the damage caused by the recent Russian bombings.

As of Monday, Moscow’s attacks had killed at least nine people, five of them in Kyiv, and caused power outages in three regions of Ukraine. The current Russian air offensive comes on top of the October 10 bombings, which also destroyed electrical infrastructure and left 19 dead and 105 wounded. Western allies have promised more air defense systems, some of which have already been delivered to Ukraine.

Ukrainian operator Energoatom also on Tuesday accused the Russian army of “kidnapping” two executives at the Zaporiya (South) nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, which has been occupied by Moscow forces since March. The complex has suffered frequent bombings and power outages since the Russian invasion on February 24, raising fears of a nuclear disaster.

The General Staff of Ukraine took stock of the operations of the two parties to the conflict.

“In the last 24 hours, the enemy launched 10 rocket attacks and 58 airstrikes, in addition to firing up to 60 shots from multiple rocket launchers,” the Kiev military command summarized on Tuesday morning. “Russia has deployed 43 Iranianmade Shahed136 drone planes,” the report said, “of which 38 were shot down by Ukrainian soldiers.”

Kyiv claimed responsibility for “22 strikes” by its air force on Monday, showing once again that Russia had failed to establish its air supremacy.

“We don’t have this information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied when asked by a journalist about the use of Iranian drones. “Russian technology with Russian names is used,” the spokesman added.

On Monday, the Ukrainian government called on the European Union to impose more sanctions on Iran, claiming that “Iran is responsible for the deaths of Ukrainians.” But the Iranian government has again denied involvement in the conflict. “Iran has not exported arms to any of the warring factions,” said Nasser Kanani, a diplomatic spokesman for the Islamic Republic.

After the attacks in Ukraine, Washington is threatening sanctions against companies or states that cooperate with the Iranian drone program.

Russians “continue to do what they do best terrorize and kill civilians,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “In Mykolayev, the enemy destroyed an apartment building with C300 rockets. One person was killed,” said the Ukrainian leader. According to local authorities, the victim was a 55yearold man who was found in the rubble of a building hit by a latenight bomb blast.

In Dnipro, “the Russians shelled an electrical infrastructure … with two missiles”. There is a fire and severe damage,” said the head of the regional military administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, citing power and water outages across the region.

In Kharkiv, “the enemy fired eight missiles from the Russian city of Belgorod,” according to Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegoubov, who reported no casualties.

Further bombings hit the town of Jytomyr west of Kyiv. Already on Monday, Russian attacks had hit the capital near Kharkiv and Soumy (northeast), Donetsk (east), Dnipropetrovsk (central east), Kherson and Mykolayev (south).

The Russian army, which will send up to 9,000 troops and about 170 tanks to Belarus, an ally of Moscow that borders Ukraine, said Monday it hit all of its targets with “highprecision weapons.” The statement provoked a reaction from the United States.

The Russians are “attacking critical infrastructure…things that people need in their daily lives that are not military targets,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. “This is a sign of desperation on the part of Russia,” Blinken said.

The Russian army has suffered significant territorial losses since the Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in September. Russian troops withdrew from areas of northern, eastern and southern Ukraine. The only region where Moscow is still advancing is an area around the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Russian soldiers have been trying to take from the Ukrainians since the summer.

Despite this context, in which neither party is ready to make concessions, 108 women, mostly military personnel, have been released in a new prisoner exchange with Russia, the Ukrainian presidency said.

For its part, Russia claims that the Ukrainian army bombed two villages in the Kursk border region, Tiotkino and PopovoLejatchi, causing power outages. In the Belgorod region, which also borders Ukraine, a Ukrainian fire struck a train station, causing damage and injuring one person, according to Governor Vyacheslav Beglov.

Not far from that area on Monday, a Russian supersonic fighterbomber crashed, killing 13 and injuring 19. The incident took place in Yeysk, a town of 90,000 in southwest Russia across from Ukraine’s Mariupol, which was devastated by a siege by Moscow forces early in the conflict. The device fell on an apartment building housing 600 people, sparking a massive fire. According to rescuers, among the dead were three children who finished operations on the rubble of the building.

Russia has launched an investigation to determine the causes of the plane crash, favoring the hypothesis of a “technical failure”.

Von der Leyen calls Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine “war crimes”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this Wednesday launched charges against the latest campaign of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy and health infrastructure that began last week, unequivocally calling them “war crimes”.

Speaking in the European Parliament explaining the Commission’s plans to alleviate the energy crisis, von der Leyen stated: “Targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure with the clear aim of depriving men, women and children of water, electricity and heating as winter approaches acts of pure terror. And that’s what we should call them.”

In his opinion, this Russian offensive campaign with missiles and drone bombs marks “a new chapter in an already very cruel war”. “The international order is clear,” he declared, these attacks “are war crimes.” He then reiterated that Europe would support Ukraine “for as long as necessary”.

The President of the European Executive then claimed that the Commission must protect Europeans from the “other war” unleashed in the energy sector by Russian President Vladimir Putin by invading Ukraine, and detailed some of Brussels’ plans to deal with the energy crisis and the high gas prices. Aware of the “concerns” of Europeans, “the best response to Putin’s blackmail is European solidarity and unity,” he said, before insisting on joint gas purchases rather than competition, which, as can be seen, is causing them to rise in prices August. “We have to be smarter,” he said. For this reason, Brussels proposes to jointly buy at least 15% of the gas consumed in the EU.

The second proposal is to share gas with the Central European countries most dependent on Russian supplies. However, Von der Leyen has argued that because of the highly integrated EU market, if one country is hit by an issue, it has “a big impact” on the others. For this reason, he has called for solidarity between states and considered it “absolutely crucial” that member countries share gas.

“These three measures: filling [las reservas de gas]save money [en el consumo de energía] and the split will have a positive impact on prices, but more needs to be done,” he stated, advocating gas price caps and an alternative reference market for gas prices as an alternative to the Dutch TTF, which only considers the price of natural gas passing by the gas pipeline.

On gas prices for electricity generation, he referred to the “Iberian model”, the derogation of Spain and Portugal, which has somewhat eased consumers’ electricity bills. “Really, it deserves to be looked at at a European level,” he said, but “there are still questions to be answered.”

Numerous press articles, including research by German public television, uncovered possible connections to a cyber security consulting association.

The head of Germany’s cybersecurity agency was fired on Tuesday following media reports of his lack of distance from Russia, amid concerns in Berlin over possible acts of sabotage by Moscow.

“Minister of the Interior (Nancy) Faeser decided today to remove the President of the Federal Office for Cyber ​​Security (BSI), Arne Schönbohm, from office with immediate effect,” said a ministry spokesman in an email statement.

Connections to a cybersecurity advisory association

Arne Schönbohm has been in the hot seat for more than a week after press articles about his affiliation with a cybersecurity advisory association that itself suspects of having contacts with Russian secret services.

The ministry spokesman said that these allegations had permanently damaged “the necessary public trust in the neutrality and impartiality” of the president of Germany’s most important cyber security authority.

“This is even more true in the current crisis situation of Russian hybrid warfare,” he added.

The ministry made it clear that a review of the allegations was underway and that the presumption of innocence “applied as a matter of course”.

53-year-old Arne Schönbohm, in office since February 2016, was elected by the government of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Revelations by German public television

The appointment of the former manager of the German-French aviation group EADS was criticized at the time, above all by the Greens, who are in power today.

“One can ask oneself whether the security staffing of previous CDU-CSU governments (conservatives, editor’s note) were the best possible,” commented cybersecurity expert Markus Beckedahl recently in an interview with the public broadcaster SWR.

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Arne Schönbohm has been suspected of alleged contacts with the “Cyber ​​Security Council Germany” for more than a week.

The Berlin-based association, co-founded by Arne Schönbohm in 2012, advises companies, authorities and politicians on cyber security issues.

These connections were the subject of investigations that were presented in a program on the public television channel ZDF in early October.

One of the CSRD member companies is specifically targeted. This company, called Protelion, is a subsidiary of the Russian cybersecurity company OAO Infotecs, which was founded by a former employee of the Russian secret service KGB, according to the research network Policy Network Analytics.

Russians behind the hacking of Bundestag computers?

Arne Schönbohm assured the magazine “Der Spiegel” on Tuesday that he did not know “what the ministry checked and what the specific allegations” against him are. He claims that he himself applied to be subjected to disciplinary proceedings for this reason.

In a previous article, Der Spiegel had “at least doubted that Protelion really plays an important role in the German cybersecurity architecture” and wondered whether the criticism of those responsible was not “a welcome opportunity for the government” to change the management of the BSI.

This dismissal comes at a time when Germany is wary of possible acts of sabotage from Moscow. On October 8, following leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines built to transport Russian gas to Europe, the country suffered large-scale rail sabotage, which some blamed on the Russian railways in connection with the war in Ukraine route have referred . . .

Russia was repeatedly accused of cyber-espionage against Germany even before it began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. She is specifically blamed for a large-scale computer hack that in 2015 targeted the computers of the Bundestag, the Bundestag and the services of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A necessary evil”

Olaf Scholz’s government has promised to prioritize strengthening computer security.

“We have paid too little attention to IT security over the past 20 or 30 years,” says expert Markus Beckedahl.

In Germany, he felt that this topic was “always a necessary evil in political and economic decision-making bodies, but not necessarily a basic requirement for the creation of sustainable infrastructure”.

Original article published on BFMTV.com

VIDEO – Russia, Ukraine: Should we fear cyber war?

Published on: 10/18/2022 – 21:16 Modified on 10/18/2022 – 21:30

The mayor of Moscow announced the end of partial mobilization in the Russian capital on Monday. An announcement that does not bode well for the future: The partial mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists for the fight in Ukraine is not complete “for the time being”, the Kremlin confirmed on Tuesday through the voice of its spokesman. The lack of prospects for tomorrow and the fear remain.

From our correspondent in Moscow,

These images from Moscow on Monday drew thousands of views: a military police station — that’s what mobilization centers are called in Russia — and closed faces waiting to be formally drafted. Then suddenly: “It’s over, you can go home,” announces an officer. Announcement followed by formalization by the mayor of the Russian capital: quota met, end of operations.

Except that in reality this announcement has no legal value. Warning from the Kremlin spokesman this Tuesday morning: The real end can only be announced by a presidential decree. In concrete terms, it is always possible to summon a Muscovite who meets the criteria. A recent example pointing in this direction: in Buryatia in the east of the country, on September 30, the regional head declared “the quotas have been met”; then, on October 12, the military official announced a “small additional recruitment.”

Vladimir Putin himself last Friday mentioned the end of October mobilization deadline. But everyone has it in their heads: the front line is not stabilized. This question arises in all private conversations: what if another wave of mobilization is announced in November or December? We also refrain from this advice from the few civil society organizations that are still registered on Russian soil and from specialized lawyers: that the refugees do not return, nobody is safe.

Closing of mobilization centers in Moscow announced two hours before: Today at 2 p.m., says the mayor of the Russian capital https://t.co/COLrGGJDEi

— Anissa El Jabri (@anissaeljabri) October 17, 2022

In this already difficult climate, another possibility also weighs: martial law (and its consequence, the closure of the borders). The possibility of using it was passed simultaneously with all the laws that increased the penalties for refusing to put on a uniform or deserting on the battlefield.

Difficult climate, uncertain future? In any case, since September 21 and the announcement of the mobilization in all polls, Russians say they are now mostly anxious and worried. Those on the frontline also sometimes resent those who refuse to join them or have the means to leave, “metrosexuals who fled on scooters,” according to a prominent blogger.

An architect from Moscow – he will not give his name – took a plane ticket to an airport in southern Russia before buying a bicycle. Hidden in the back of a cab, which he’d paid to avoid being seen, and then on two wheels, he crossed the border into Georgia.

After four days of poor sleep, he joined other young men in his situation, “lost, not knowing what to do, often changing countries, trying to find options,” but determined never to return to Russia.

This editor of an advertising agency in Kyrgyzstan describes him of the “terrible helplessness” that followed his “hellish horror” when the partial mobilization was announced. “What’s happening isn’t what normal life should be like,” he said. Bishkek is just a temporary haven for him as he works remotely at his Russian company and his employers, he says, “have a negative attitude towards those who have left”. He doesn’t know how long he can keep his job and thus his income. In addition, in a phone conversation sent via encrypted message, he explains: “I have a wife and a child and I cannot get them out of Russia. This is the main theme of my torment and suffering, I miss it. »

However, there is never any doubt about his choice. For him, taking up arms is only “justified in one case: if someone attacks you and you are defending your country and your homeland, otherwise it is outrageous and against nature”.

As a refugee in Uzbekistan, the 30-year-old Muscovite does not have a good relationship with his relatives.

This is a very big problem for me, they only realized that something terrible had happened when the mobilization was announced. Before that, they remained loyal to the country. Such moments are very difficult when you are arguing with your parents just because you are telling them that killing people is wrong. All this, just because their past is Soviet, they were brought up differently. I have many Ukrainian friends and I absolutely cannot understand how anyone can pretend to solve problems in this way. At least I’ve been spared all that so far. I went to protest demonstrations even though we saw it was pointless. But when the mobilization was announced, we all realized that although we absolutely condemn it, we could be forced to take part. The fear of dying is normal. But the decisive factor for me was that I could be forced to fight. I’m not that kind of person.

Those who left in late February/early March sometimes distance themselves from those who join them today. Not this engineer who dreamed of a career in Canada and now lives in Kyrgyzstan.

The first wave of emigration were people who had the means and a job to do remotely, people who could leave without losing their quality of life. Today these are men who literally go into overdrive. They run and flee for their lives.

He returned to Russia a few days before the mobilization to visit his relatives before leaving the country. In just a few months, the country has changed profoundly for him: “People are much more afraid, they talk as little as possible about everything that is happening. They also give the impression of having gotten used to all this, as if it were normal for Russia to be involved in an armed conflict. People really don’t react anymore. »

With no military experience and total distrust of the authorities, Danil is convinced that if he returns to Russia today, he can be mobilized at any time.

►For further reading: Russia: With the partial mobilization, military equipment is snapped up in Moscow

Hanoi, Oct 19 (Prensa Latina) Exports of timber and its derivatives to Vietnam reported earnings estimated at $12.4 billion in the first nine months of the year, a sector official reported today.

That sum represents a seven percent growth over the same period in 2021, said Ho Chi Minh City Association of Crafts and Wood Industry President Nguyen Quoc Khanh.

This company and the Vinexad company are co-sponsors of the 14th International Exhibition of Industrial Machinery and Equipment for the Woodworking Industry (VietnamWood 2022) and the International Exhibition of Furniture, Hardware and Tools for this Sector (Furniec 2022), which will be held in the southern metropolis until 21.

According to Quoc Khanh himself, quoted by the VNA news agency, VietnamWood has become a representative technological event for the wood industry at the national level, giving participants an opportunity to learn about new production methods to increase the quality of their products.

In addition to the main exhibition activities, the program of VietnamWood 2022 includes seminars on knowledge sharing in the field of technological change, automation trends in the industry and practical applications in interior design, among others.

With the remarkable growth in the home textile sector in recent years, Vietnam has become the second largest exporter of wooden furniture in the world, which is further supported by the professionalism of domestic companies in the sector.

Sustainable sources of wood continue to be used in this Southeast Asian nation with the aim of making it a secure production base for various markets including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.

Vietnam’s exports of timber and timber products could reach $18.5 billion in 2025 and up to $20.4 billion in 2030, according to a government project on sustainable development of the timber industry.

ode/mpm