Why Everyone's Turning to Finland on National Security
Small countries with big threats on their borders worked this out a long time ago. As far back as the 1950s, Finland urged citizens to prepare for disruptions and emergencies following World War II, when it was forced to cede territory to the Soviet Union and then live in its shadow during the Cold War. Its latest push began in 2017, when the government recognized that the main danger was not just conventional war, but also terrorism, disinformation, food and cyber security, pandemics and natural disasters. Facing those threats takes more than military readiness — it also takes civilian preparedness.
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Associated Press
37 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Ukraine's prime minister resigns, opening the door to a broad government reshuffle
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's prime minister announced his resignation Tuesday in the first formal step of what is expected to be a significant reshuffle of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government, which could also see the country's ambassador to Washington replaced. 'I am tendering my resignation from the post of the Prime Minister of Ukraine,' Denys Shmyhal wrote in a letter posted on his Telegram page. Zelenskyy said Monday that he has offered Shmyhal's job to 39-year-old Yuliia Svyrydenko, who is currently deputy prime minister and the country's first female economy minister. Svyrydenko played a key role in negotiating a U.S.–Ukraine mineral agreement. She has frequently represented Ukraine in high-level talks with Western partners, focusing on defense cooperation, economic recovery and reconstruction. It wasn't immediately clear how the reshuffle will play out in coming days, as the Ukrainian parliament must schedule a vote on Zelenskyy's proposed changes amid the all-out war launched by Russia on Feb. 24, 2022. The reshuffle coincides with increasing pressure on the front line by Russia's bigger army and escalating assaults by drones and missiles on Ukrainian cities. U.S. President Donald Trump pledged Monday to supply more weapons for Ukraine, paid for by European countries. But Kyiv officials are keen to lock in Washington's future support amid fears that the Republican administration could walk away from the conflict. 'To us it is very important, in the context of what is happening now, to strengthen ties with the U.S.,' Zelenskyy said last week. The Ukrainian leader recently said that he thought Shmyhal would make a good defense minister — a move that would make the current defense chief, Rustem Umerov, available to take over as Ukraine's envoy to Washington, observers note. Zelenskyy had previously voiced his intention to replace U.S. Ambassador Oksana Markarova. Umerov, 43, was appointed as Ukraine's defense minister in September 2023, following a series of corruption scandals. He has sought to introduce reforms, but critics said that the Defense Ministry was plagued by mismanagement. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Defence Secretary offers ‘sincere apology' for leak of Afghans' personal data
Defence Secretary John Healey has offered a 'sincere apology' on behalf of the British Government for a massive data breach which exposed details of Afghans who helped British troops. Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, who were in power when the leak occurred and when it was discovered more than a year later. Their apologies came after a superinjunction was lifted on Tuesday, which had prevented the media from reporting the data breach. Mr Healey told the Commons: 'This serious data incident should never have happened. 'It may have occurred three years ago under the previous government, but to all those whose information was compromised, I offer a sincere apology today on behalf of the British Government, and I trust the shadow defence secretary, as a former defence minister, will join me.' Mr Cartlidge, who was a minister in August 2023 when the then-government became aware of the data breach, mirrored this sentiment. He said: 'The Secretary of State has issued an apology on behalf of the Government and I join him in that and in recognising that this data leak should never have happened and was an unacceptable breach of all relevant data protocols. 'And I agree it is right that an apology is issued specifically to those whose data was compromised.' A dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) was released 'in error' in February 2022 by a defence official. Arap was responsible for relocating Afghan nationals who had worked for or with the UK Government and were therefore at risk of reprisals once the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) only became aware of the breach over a year after the release, when excerpts of the dataset were anonymously posted onto a Facebook group in August 2023. The Government sought a court order to prevent details of the breach being published and was granted a superinjunction, which also stopped the fact an injunction had been made from being reported. The leak resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) – in April 2024. Between 80,000 and 100,000 people, including family members of the Arap applicants, were affected by the breach and could be at risk of harassment, torture or death if the Taliban obtained their data, judges said in June 2024. However an independent review, commissioned by the Government in January 2025, concluded last month that the data loss was 'unlikely to profoundly change the existing risk profile of individuals named'. Around 4,500 people, made up of 900 Arap applicants and approximately 3,600 family members, have been brought to the UK or are in transit so far through the Afghanistan Response Route. A further estimated 600 people and their relatives are expected to be relocated before the scheme closes, with a total of around 6,900 people expected to be relocated by the end of the scheme. The ARR is understood to have cost around £400 million so far, with a projected cost of around £850 million, once completed. Mr Healey told MPs that he had been 'deeply uncomfortable to be constrained from reporting to this House' as he referred to the superinjunction, which was made at the High Court in September 2023 to reduce the risk of alerting the Taliban to the existence of the data breach. He added that the safety of Afghans who were at risk from the leak had weighed 'heavily' on him. The Defence Secretary said: 'I would have wanted to settle these matters sooner, because full accountability to Parliament and freedom of the press matter deeply to me. They're fundamental to our British way of life. 'However, lives may have been at stake, and I've spent many hours thinking about this decision. Thinking about the safety and the lives of people I will never meet, in a far-off land, in which 457 of our servicemen and women lost their lives. 'So this weighs heavily on me, and it's why no Government could take such decisions lightly, without sound grounds and hard deliberations.' He assured MPs that the MoD has taken steps to prevent another such data breach happening again. He said: 'This data leak was just one of many from the Afghan schemes at the time. 'And what I can say is that since the election, in this last year, we as a Government have appointed a new chief information officer. 'We have installed new software to securely share data, and we have also completed a comprehensive review of the legacy Afghan data on the casework system.' The minister said 'one can never say never', but added that he is 'more confident than I was 12 months ago about the reduced risk of data losses and data breaches in future'. Chairman of the defence committee Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi told the Commons: 'This whole data breach situation is a mess and is wholly unacceptable.' The Labour MP added that he is 'minded to recommend to my defence committee colleagues that we thoroughly investigate, to ascertain what has actually transpired here, given the serious ramifications on so many levels'.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Offshore wind farms to be allowed to apply for contracts before planning consent
Offshore wind farms will be able to apply for energy contracts while they are still waiting for full planning consent, the Government has announced. The plans are part of a raft of reforms launched by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) to help the Government reach its ambitious 2030 clean power targets. Energy secretary Ed Miliband said changes to Contracts for Difference (CfD) rules will give developers 'the certainty they need to build in Britain' and invest in more clean energy projects. Auctions for the CfD scheme see developers bid to secure a fixed price contract for what they can charge for the renewable power they generate. This system helps to protect them from market volatility, incentivising investment in new wind and solar farms. Earlier this year, the Government launched a consultation on the flagship CfD scheme, including proposals to remove planning barriers. It has now given the green light to changes to the scheme ahead of the next planned auction process, Allocation Round 7 (AR7), which is due to open in August. Officials have said this will include increasing the length of contracts from 15 years to 20 years for offshore wind, onshore wind and solar projects. It said this is intended to spread out the costs of energy projects over a longer period and potentially reduce costs for consumers, while also improving investors confidence. Changes will also include allowing offshore wind projects to apply for a contract while awaiting full planning consent, in a bid to reduce completion times. The department will also change how budgets are set and published to allow the energy secretary to view developer bids before setting his final budget. Mr Miliband said: 'We need to go further and faster to make Britain a clean energy superpower, end our reliance on volatile global gas prices and make working people better off with homegrown power we control. 'These reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build in Britain, helping deliver more clean power projects and supporting thousands of jobs – all part of the mission to bring bills down for good through our plan for change.'
