Sweden – Le journal du peintre 2

Sweden will complete its ‘long farewell to neutrality’ with Nato accession

For Swedes it means a dramatic change of national identity, while the alliance gets greater control of the Baltic Sea

Just a few short months ago, Sweden’s Nato membership seemed a very long way from being a done deal. Having submitted its application to join in May 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it seemed at times as though Stockholm might be left hanging interminably. While Finland, which had applied to join the alliance at the same time as its neighbour, became a member at record speed last April, Sweden got stuck in a diplomatic quagmire.

For Nato, it gives the alliance access to Sweden’s territory and turns the Baltic into a “Nato sea” surrounded by member countries.

Emma Rosengren, a research fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, said Sweden would probably serve as a logistical hub for defence planning, “including transportation of personnel and materiel to an imagined future war front”.

And what of Sweden? For months, the country has been preparing for this moment, acting almost as if it were already a full Nato member. It has signed a deal with the US giving full access to 17 of its military bases, started its Nato integration and even announced plans to send forces to Latvia.

For the historically neutral country, it marks a dramatic change in national identity. In January, Kristersson warned Swedes – accustomed to seeing themselves as a peaceful nation – to prepare for the possibility of war and the country restarted compulsory civic duty, a form of national service that had been dismantled after the cold war. A small proportion of the population will be called up for military service against their will. Nato membership also means increased defence spending.

For Social Democrat voters, the move will mark a particularly striking departure. The idea of Nato membership was long considered unthinkable in the party, with a former defence minister, Peter Hultqvist, declaring in the autumn of 2021 that he could “guarantee” that he would never participate in a process to join NATO.

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

France and Sweden strengthen nuclear ties

France plans to build several nuclear reactors in Sweden, according to an agreement signed on the sidelines of the EU’s Energy Council meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.

The letter of intent, signed by Sweden’s Minister for Energy, Ebba Busch, and French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, notes: “French industry’s interest in submitting an offer for French nuclear power reactors in Sweden.”

Specifically, French state-owned energy company EDF, which specialises in nuclear power, is “actively engaged” in discussions with Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall about the advancement of nuclear energy in the Scandinavian country.

“EDF has all the assets to propose suitable solutions as part of its development strategy for new nuclear power in Europe, encompassing both a high-power technology offering with its family of EPR and EPR1200 reactors, and a low-power technology offering with its small modular NUWARD SMR reactor,” the letter states.

France and Sweden “will endeavour to facilitate technical exchanges for the participation of their industry in support of reactor maintenance, life extension and power upgrades of the reactors”, it continues, outlining preparation phases for the launch of new nuclear projects as well as ways in which the two governments can collaboratively, “cost-efficiently” deploy low-carbon energy.

France has been adamant in pushing its nuclear agenda within EU negotiations. At the recently closed UN climate summit, COP28, it led a group of 20 countries in the signing of a pledge to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 from 2020 levels. The declaration emphasised “the key role of nuclear energy in achieving global net-zero greenhouse gas emissions/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century” but is not legally binding.

France has a long history with nuclear power, with the country still producing the majority of its domestic electricity from its ageing nuclear reactors, all operated by EDF. State takeover of the company was only finalised this year, after initially being proposed in March 2022, as EDF continued to suffer losses owing largely to failures across its nuclear fleet.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s coalition government has made efforts to revive the country’s waning nuclear industry this year. In June, it changed the wording of its 100% renewable energy by 2045 to “100% fossil-free,” leaving room to include nuclear power in its energy mix. Last month, the government presented its road map for the development of its nuclear industry, which aims to enable the “massive expansion of new nuclear power by 2045”.

https://www.power-technology.com/news/france-sweden-nuclear-collaboration-agreement-signed/

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

The Unsolved Mystery of Descartes’ Skull

According to the Musée de l’Homme in Paris and many historians and forensic experts, this is the skull of French philosopher René Descartes. Swedish researchers disagree.

French mathematician, scientist, and philosopher René Descartes died in 1650 while in Sweden. His body remained there until 1666, when it was brought to Paris to be buried. During the period of the French Revolution, it was discovered that the skull was missing.

The leading belief is that the skull was removed in Sweden and sold, and that it was then handed down to various collectors before being rediscovered in the 19th century and brought to his grave in Paris.

However, a new study suggests that this skull is not Descartes’ and that a skull fragment held by Lund University in Sweden is from the true skull of Descartes.

According to the investigators, after Descartes’ skull was removed, it was subjected to “skull blasting,” an old-fashioned practice of using pressure to separate a skull into fragments so that they could be sold to multiple buyers.

Methods to separate the bones in the skull were traditionally used in anatomic study. The Beauchêne method, which involved soaking or boiling the skull until the bones separated, could preserve delicate bone structures better than skull blasting.

Although not all are convinced by the new theory, the researchers are confident that historical evidence shows the intact skull is not that of Descartes

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

13 years ago : Terry Jones

Terry Jones (born October 1951) is an American anti-Islamic right wing activist and the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small nondenominational Christian church located, until July 2013, in Gainesville, Florida, United States.

He is the president of a political group, Stand Up America Now. He first gained national and international attention in 2010 for his plan to burn Korans, the scripture of the Islamic religion, on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks and for burning the Koran afterward.

Since then, Jones has seemingly disappeared. You could argue that his virality was due to the public’s horrified shock at the gross act of desecrating Islam’s most sacred text — according to Islamic tradition, the literal word of God.

Except that people just keep burning the Quran. In 2023 Rasmus Paludan, the Danish-Swedish leader of the anti-immigration and anti-Islam group Hard Line, made headlines as he burned a Quran outside of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm. Paludan, who first gained notoriety in 2017 when he began posting Islamophobic content on YouTube, has since remained in the headlines solely through multiple public displays of Quran burning.

His acting out has made Paludan a persona non grata among some of his fellow citizens: In 2019, Hard Line was unable to secure a single seat in the Danish national elections. But it hasn’t stopped him, and he plans to run again in Denmark’s June elections.

On 28 June 2023, when a 37-year-old Iraqi Christian refugee ripped out and set fire to pages of the Quran outside the Stockholm Mosque. This incident caused international protests and condemnation, particularly among the Muslim world. On 20 July, this person desecrated the Quran again in Stockholm, resulting in more protests and attacks, including arson, against the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, starting a day before.

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

12 years ago, Markus Persson

Markus Persson is often referred to as the first superstar computer games developer. He broke the monotony in the video game industry by producing a creative adventurous sandbox video game, allowing players to create, craft and mine. His passion for developing and producing a virtual Lego game, with endless building possibilities, kept him engaged with programming to such an extent that he dropped out from high school. Markus Persson had been bitten by the computer bug since his childhood, which culminated into developing one of the most popularly played and enjoyed games across the globe, Minecraft.

Referred to as ‘Notch’ by his teenage fans in the industry, he has crafted a number of games for die-hard game players. His exceptional and innovative video game releases have won him appreciation and prestigious awards from various organizations. Besides, he has also participated in numerous competitions as a platform to display his excellence in game creation. Such is his extraordinary talent that he has even won 48-hour game creating contests. He became the newest and one of the youngest billionaires of the world in 2014 when Microsoft purchased Mojang and he bought a posh glass palace perched atop Beverly Hills.

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/markus-persson-5569.php

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Sweden rules out sweeping changes to free speech law amid Quran burnings

Sweden and Denmark have seen a string of protests in recent weeks in which copies of the Quran were burned

Sweden’s government has no plans to make sweeping changes to freedom of speech laws but repeated it would look into measures that would allow police to stop the burning of holy books in public if there was a clear threat to national security.

“We stand up for the Swedish freedom of speech,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference on Tuesday.

But he urged people to use the freedom of speech responsibly and respectfully.

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Sweden discovers biggest rare earths deposit in EU

Lapland mine could help reduce Europe’s dependence on China imports

Sweden’s state-owned mining company LKAB has said it has discovered Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals. The discovery bolsters the continent’s ambition to rely less on imported raw materials needed for the green transition. The deposit, dubbed Per Geijer, is located north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden’s province of Lapland and contains more than 1mn tonnes of rare earth oxides — the largest known deposit of its kind in Europe, the company said.

Speaking at the company’s existing iron ore mine in Kiruna — itself the largest in the EU — chief executive Jan Moström said it would take several more years to establish what the deposit contained. “We have ongoing exploration activities in this deposit, which means for us it’s open, it’s not closed — we don’t actually know how big it is,” he added in a press conference.

It would take 10 to 15 years before the raw materials could be delivered to the market, Moström said, but if permitting processes at a Swedish and EU level can be accelerated this timescale could be cut by upwards of 50 per cent. The company plans to submit an application for an exploitation concession this year

https://www.ft.com/content/78706a10-7ea6-445e-835c-ad8dd51b6a34

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

—

–

–

–

–

–

Le journal du peintre

Les tableaux du peintre

Painting news project

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

What game Erdogan is playing at with NATO?

Erdogan says Turkey can still block Sweden, Finland’s Nato bids.

Just two days after agreeing to lift deal-breaking objections to Sweden and Finland’s Nato accession, Turkey’s president has warned that Ankara could still block the process if the two countries fail to fully meet his expectations.

He particularly stressed the satisfying of Turkey’s demand for Sweden and Finland to extradite terror suspects with links to outlawed Kurdish groups or the network of an exiled cleric accused of a failed 2016 coup in Turkey

But Erdoğan added that if the two Nordic countries renege on their promises, Turkey’s parliament could refuse to ratify the deal reached on Tuesday. Nato accession must be formally approved by all 30 member states, which gives each a blocking right.

There are likely multiple reasons for Erdogan’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

One is the illiberal longtime Turkish leader’s genuine opposition to the close working relationship the U.S. military has developed with the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia, in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group. Another is a desire to see the lifting of certain European and U.S. sanctions on Turkey’s ability to purchase their weapons. And a third is likely a wish to project an image of a tough and strong leader on the international stage amid a tanking domestic economy with an inflation rate of 74 percent, which has greatly complicated Erdogan’s reelection hopes.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/30/erdogan-warns-turkey-could-still-block-finland-and-swedens-accession-to-nato?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Sofia Helin

Actress

Sofia Helin was born on April 25, 1972 in Hovsta, Örebro län, Sweden. She is an actress and writer, known for The Bridge (2011), Arn: The Knight Templar (2007) and The Snowman (2017). She is married to Daniel Götschenhjelm. They have two children.

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–https://lejournaldupeintre2.wordpress.com/

Painting news project

Les tableaux du peintre

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Design a site like this with WordPress.com