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The Star
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Prepping for war on ice and snow
THE Finnish Defence Forces sent out an urgent message: we are being invaded. We need help. Hundreds of US troops – part of a new Arctic division – boarded planes in Fairbanks, Alaska. Their flight curved over the North Pole and landed at Rovaniemi Airport in northern Finland. The soldiers quickly unpacked their M-4 assault rifles, rocket tubes and belt-fed machine guns and deployed to the quiet snowbound forests, dressed in Arctic whites and vapourproof boots. This was all just a drill, launched in mid-February. But the scenario is believed to be increasingly possible. As climate change melts ice across the Arctic, that part of the world that was once so remote and forgotten is becoming more accessible and more contested. The world's major militaries – US, Russian, Chinese and European – are all training for a winter war. 'It's really only been the past five or six years that everybody's moved on from the global war on terror,' said Robert McBride, a Canadian brigadier-general helping oversee the war game. 'Arctic nations are starting to understand the strategic importance,' he said. 'The Arctic now has come to preeminence.' The recent drill played out at a strange time in global affairs. US President Donald Trump has been leaning away from Nato and getting friendly with Russia, and European leaders are seriously discussing how to create their own defence industry should America abandon them, something unthinkable just a few months ago. But on this frozen ground, at least, US military cooperation and the perception of Russia as a widening threat appeared unchanged. In Finland, which fought the Soviet Union during World War II, Russia remains the once and future enemy. 'There's an old Finnish saying,' explained Janne Kuusela, a Finnish defence official. 'Russia will take what's not nailed to the wall.' America's relationship with Finland, one of Nato's newest members, seems solid. Trump recently played golf with its president, Alexander Stubb. Afterward he praised Stubb's golf skills and said, 'I look forward to strengthening the partnership.' The two sides worked well together during the battle in the snow. The Finns were nimble attackers, zigzagging through the woods on long, narrow skis. The Americans set up machine guns on small round hilltops and dug foxholes in the snow. Both sides said Arctic warfare was different. 'It's kind of like operating in space,' said Christopher Brawley, a US colonel. 'No one's coming to help you,' he said. 'And the environment will kill you.' The cardinal rule is staying dry. Jackson Crites Videman, a Finnish soldier, recounted a gruelling test that Finnish soldiers must pass. With all their gear on, including skis, they plunge through an ice hole cut into a river and have to scamper out – without freezing or drowning. The day he did it was -36°C. He had about two minutes to strip off drenched clothes and change into new ones before frostbite set in. And his hands stopped working. 'Your friends have to help you with the zippers,' he explained. Crites Videman, who is half-Finnish, half-American, was drafted into the Finnish military a few months ago. Finland is one of the few Western democracies with mandatory conscription. It's a country with a small population of 5.6 million, shares Nato's longest border with Russia – 1,336km – and it recently raised military spending. Finnish defence experts say tens of thousands of Russian troops used to be based near that border but have been decimated in the Ukraine war. They believe it will take five to 10 years before they become a threat again. Before the Ukraine war, the Finns say, Russia was investing in its Arctic forces, modifying tanks to operate better in the cold and designing new troop transporters. The United States has been doing the same. In 2022, it designated the 11th Airborne Division, based in Alaska, as its first and only Arctic division. The division is experimenting with new uniforms and different combat skis. During the exercise, the Americans showed off a new tracked vehicle that chewed its way up icy slopes, some quite steep. The soldiers lived off special cold weather rations, higher in calories, because of all the energy drained from trying to stay warm. Warfare during the Arctic summer isn't much easier. First, there is the issue of the sun. It never sets. So the advantage that night-vision equipment gives Western militaries is eliminated. When the ice melts, the land turns incredibly mushy. Upper Finland, for example, is covered in thick forests, small mountains, marshes, rivers, lakes and bogs, making it very difficult to navigate. In many ways, it's easier to move in winter. During the war game, the attackers exploited the frozen rivers like highways. Soldiers dashed across them, guns strapped to their backs. The commanders seemed pleased with the exercise and especially happy not to talk about politics. When asked if he were worried about Trump's friendliness with Russia, Sami-Antti Takamaa, a Finnish general, said, 'It doesn't worry me at all.' 'The US airborne division just came from Alaska,' he said. 'That's what matters to me,' he added. — 2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Indian Express
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Jammu region on high alert, protests break out in several locations after attack on tourists in Pahalgam
Jammu region has been put on high alert, and protests have broken out in several locations on Tuesday after the militant attack on tourists in south Kashmir's Pahalgam earlier in the day. The area where the attack took place is adjacent to Kishtwar district's Chatroo area, where security forces and the police had on April 10-11 killed three militants, believed to be foreigners. A large quantity of arms, including M-4 and AK series rifles, ammunition and explosives were seized from them. Expressing concern over the killing of tourists in Kashmir, the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the main organisation of traders and industrialists, has given a call for Jammu bandh on Wednesday. While people in Doda town held a demonstration and burnt effigies late in the evening, the Kishtwar unit of Sanatan Dharam Sabha gave a call for bandh on Wednesday in protest against the attack. In Jammu city's Gujjar Nagar area, people from the Muslim community came out in large numbers, raising slogans against Pakistan. They described the attack on tourists as an attempt to damage the image of the Kashmiri people's hospitable nature. Bhaderwah's Anjuman-e-Islamia president Riaz Ahmed Najar condemned the attack, describing it as a 'murder of humanity'. He demanded stern action against those involved in the attack. Lt Governor Manoj Sinha also condemned the attack, saying: 'Anti-terror ops launched to neutralise terrorists. Entire nation is angry & blood of our forces is boiling. I want to assure the nation that perpetrators of Pahalgam attack will have to pay a very very heavy price for their heinous act. My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families.' Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed shock and anguish over the attack, describing it as an 'abomination'. 'This attack on our visitors is an abomination. The perpetrators of this attack are animals — inhuman and worthy of contempt. No words of condemnation are enough,' he said. Sunil Sharma, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the J&K Legislative Assembly, accused Pakistan of trying to create unrest in India. 'It has been targeting the Hindu community in the Jammu region to create division in the region,' he said, adding that the harm inflicted is irreversible and expressing confidence that security forces would neutralise every culprit. J&K Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra also condemned the attack and accused the BJP of misleading the nation on the situation in Kashmir.
American Military News
21-04-2025
- American Military News
In cinema-style heist, tunneling thieves steal millions in gold, jewels from downtown LA
The FBI is now investigating a jewelry heist that involved thieves tunneling through multiple walls to break into a downtown Los Angeles jewelry store over the weekend. Millions of dollars in gold and jewels were stolen from a downtown jeweler's two enormous safes after burglars tunneled into the Broadway shop through multiple reinforced walls, police said. In security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castlelike wall, making a hole big enough for a person to slip through to enter Love Jewels, Reina de Oro at Broadway and 5th Street. Los Angeles Police say the thieves on Sunday night cut through a room next to the gold merchant in the 500 block of Broadway. LAPD officials said the owners informed the department that the thieves took about $10 million worth of merchandise. LAPD Capt. Raul Jovel, who oversees the department's central division, said the thieves tunneled into the building through the Roxy, a small movie theater next door. 'They went for some really thick old walls. They went into one small room and then through a second wall,' Jovel said. 'This was serious digging.' Jovel said initially it was thought only about $5 million in jewelry was stolen, but officials now believe north of $10 million was taken. On Tuesday, the FBI's major theft task force took over the investigation, according to LAPD communications director Jennifer Forkish. In recent years, burglars have entered jewelry stores through rooftops, Joven said. Tunneling, while rare, isn't unheard of. A business in the Fashion District was burglarized through tunneling thieves, Joven said. In Northern California, thieves last summer stole dozens of guns by tunneling into a store. The jewelry store, which has heavy security, is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists, and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets, and enormous racks of gold chains. The theft is the latest in a series of cinema-style high-profile capers that have seen millions in cash, gold, or diamonds stolen while the suspects avoid detection. In 2022, as much as $100 million in jewels was stolen from a Brinks big rig. As one guard and another went into a gas station, a gang of thieves made off with the massive haul within a 27-minute window. Then, in March of last year, thieves stole as much as $30 million from GardaWorld's Sylmar cash storage facility. Los Angeles police responded to three alarms at the facility during the biggest heist in the city's history on Easter weekend, but the criminals remained undetected. In the latest downtown tunnel caper, LAPD investigators say the burglars, after entering, cut the security camera feed, and there are no images of them inside the business. However, LAPD forensic experts are examining the scene for fingerprints and DNA. LAPD investigators examined recordings and determined the heist began about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, but the burglar crew could have begun cutting into adjacent properties earlier. The jewelers discovered the theft Monday morning when they arrived at their shop. Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business. The modus operandi of such a crime has already helped narrow the potential participants in the heist. Burglars have taken to digging their way into vaults since at least the 1980s. Back then, there was a crew known as the Hole in the Ground Gang that tunneled under three L.A.-area banks, zipping around underground in all-terrain vehicles. They broke into two of the banks, making off with about $270,000 and the contents of safe-deposit boxes worth potentially millions. Last March, thieves tried to tunnel into a jeweler at the Topanga Canyon Plaza in Chatsworth. According to the LAPD, the owner was working and triggered the robbery alarm despite it being the middle of the night. The thieves had broken through multiple walls in a neighboring salon and another business to reach the jeweler's interior wall. ___ © 2025 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Millions in gold, jewels stolen by burglars who tunneled into downtown L.A. jewelers
Millions of dollars in gold and jewels were stolen from a downtown Los Angeles jeweler's two enormous safes after burglars tunneled into the Broadway shop through multiple reinforced walls, police said. In a security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castle-like wall, making a hole big enough for a person to slip through to enter Love Jewels, Reina de Oro at Broadway and 5th Street. Los Angeles Police say the thieves sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning cut through a room next to the gold merchant at 510 S. Broadway. LAPD Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said the owners informed the department that the thieves took about $5 million worth of merchandise. In an interview with KTTV, the owner said the loss was upwards of $20 million. The store with heavy security is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets and enormous racks of gold chains. Investigators say the burglars, after entering, cut the security camera feed so there are no images of them inside the business. But LAPD forensic experts are examining the scene for fingerprints and DNA. The jewelers uncovered the massive heist Monday morning when they arrived at their shop. Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
15-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Millions in gold, jewels stolen by burglars who tunneled into downtown L.A. jewelers
Millions of dollars in gold and jewels were stolen from a downtown Los Angeles jeweler's two enormous safes after burglars tunneled into the Broadway shop through multiple reinforced walls, police said. In a security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castle-like wall, making a hole big enough for a person to slip through to enter Love Jewels, Reina de Oro at Broadway and 5th Street. Los Angeles Police say the thieves sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning cut through a room next to the gold merchant at 510 S. Broadway. LAPD Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said the owners informed the department that the thieves took about $5 million worth of merchandise. In an interview with KTTV, the owner said the loss was upwards of $20 million. The store with heavy security is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets and enormous racks of gold chains. Investigators say the burglars, after entering, cut the security camera feed so there are no images of them inside the business. But LAPD forensic experts are examining the scene for fingerprints and DNA. The jewelers uncovered the massive heist Monday morning when they arrived at their shop. Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business.
