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COY WIRE: Hello, everyone.
Wonderful Wednesday to you.
I'm Coy.
This is CNN 10, and we've got a rendezvous with the news.
But before we do, I have to ask, raise
your hand if you have a Halloween
costume picked out yet.
I do.
Any guesses?
No, it's not Mr. Clean, Agent 47, or handsome Squidward,
though I would rock those with pride.
Hit me up on TikTok or Insta at Coy Wire with your best guesses
or even some suggestions.
All right, let's get this show started.
Finland, a country in northern Europe
that shares an 800-mile border with Russia,
is taking steps to join NATO.
This after decades of the nation maintaining independence.
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
is a military alliance between 30 countries,
and members agree to help one another
if they ever come under attack.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Finland decided to join.
There's history here too, as, Finland was invaded
by the Soviet Union in 1939 in what
was named the Winter War, which happened at the beginning
of World War II.
During the conflict, Finland faced massive artillery
bombardments from the Soviets.
We're going to travel now to the Finnish capital of Helsinki,
where CNN correspondent Nic Robertson takes us
on an underground tour of a city that
has more than 5,000 bunkers designed to protect
its citizens from attack.
NIC ROBERTSON: Question is, when is a parking
garage not a parking garage?
And the answer is when it's part of a tunnel and bunker network
to be used in case of war.
And there's one country threatening
that war, potentially, the big threat, Russia.
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NIC ROBERTSON: Tommi Rask, Helsinki
City Rescue Department, is going to show us around.
TOMMI RASK: So if we go and see that main entrance--
NIC ROBERTSON: 20 meters, 60 feet below ground,
cut into Helsinki's bedrock.
How quickly can you put this together in case of war?
TOMMI RASK: 72 hours.
TOMMY RASK: And 6,000 people in here,
how many people can you fit in shelters
in the whole of Helsinki?
TOMMI RASK: Over 900,000.
NIC ROBERTSON: So that's enough for the population
plus visitors.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah, yeah.
It is.
NIC ROBERTSON: The government's been building
bunkers here since the 1960s.
5,500 in Helsinki, more than 50,000 across the country,
enough for 80% of the country's 5.5 million population.
Deeper and deeper.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah.
NIC ROBERTSON: But the scale of it, not the only surprise, some
of it's open to the public.
What's this?
TOMMI RASK: For a ball game.
NIC ROBERTSON: This is a bunker with a sports hall.
Oh, my goodness.
Much of it dual use to offset the costs.
TOMMI RASK: So this is one example of our dual-purpose use
of the shelter.
NIC ROBERTSON: Dual purpose, yeah.
Yeah, so sports, every day of the week, time of crisis,
what happens here?
TOMMI RASK: All the sporting goods are stacked way.
All these halls, the sheltering halls,
are divided by smaller sheltering rooms.
NIC ROBERTSON: And not just sports halls, children's play
areas, possibly the safest in the world, cafes,
even a swimming pool.
Just the sheltering hall, but with a pool.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah, with an Olympic-sized pool.
NIC ROBERTSON: Olympic size.
OK.
Wow.
But everything here with one purpose in mind.
Blast doors, gas barriers, decontamination areas.
And now it's a car park.
TOMMI RASK: It's a car park. NIC ROBERTSON: Again.
TOMMI RASK: Again.
NIC ROBERTSON: But that's quite a bizarre feeling.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah.
NIC ROBERTSON: One minute, you're preparing for a war,
the next minute, you're playing hockey, and now it's a carpark.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah.
Here you can see the different layers.
NIC ROBERTSON: And before we leave,
Rask shows us another shelter just begun.
Drill a hole in it, put explosives
in, blow it, and move forward.
TOMMI RASK: Yeah. NIC ROBERTSON: Thank you.
TOMMI RASK: Bye. NIC ROBERTSON: Goodbye.
Cheers. Bye.
Up here, come the traffic.
This looks like the way out.
Absolutely fascinating, intriguing.
COY WIRE: Next up, we're heading to the Asian continent,
where the South Korean boy band, BTS, is in the news this week,
but not because the popular k-pop band has a new song out.
It's because the band and all its members are stopping
to join the South Korean army.
The nation requires all able-bodied men
to serve at least 18 months in the armed forces by age 28 due
to ongoing threats from North Korea.
Fans are upset.
And I mean, they are hot.
No new tours or music for BTS for several years.
The plan is for the band to get together
again around 2025 after all seven
members complete their service.
The decision could also come with an economic cost.
Analysts project that between 2014 and 2023,
the group would have contributed $29.4 billion
to the South Korean economy.
PAULA HANCOCKS: This announcement today
has ended months of speculation, will they?
Won't they?
We now know that BTS will be going
into their mandatory military service.
We heard from the label Bighit Music saying, quote,
"they respect the needs of the country."
Now, this has been under speculation, as I say,
for months.
This has been debated within the South Korean parliament itself
as to whether or not BTS should be exempted
or whether they should be carrying
out their mandatory service.
It is a conscription that all able-bodied men
between the ages of 18 and 28 do need to go
and serve in the military.
Now, it was increased by two years just a couple of years
ago to the age of 30, just for those
who excel in popular culture and, art
so it did defer somewhat the decision for BTS
and gave them some breathing space.
But the argument for their exemption
is that there are some sportsmen who have won Olympics medals,
Asian games medals, who have been
exempted from military service.
There's also some classical musicians,
award-winning global musicians, and singers that
have been exempted as well.
But it was decided, and it was debated at length,
that BTS should go ahead.
Bighit Music saying, quote, "both the company
and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening
as a group around 2025."
So certainly, the BTS army, as the very
passionate fans are known, will be
looking forward to that date.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
COY WIRE: 10-second trivia, which of these animals
is nicknamed the canary of the sea?
Beluga whales, dolphins, stingrays, or penguins?
Belugas it is.
Their rounded forehead is flexible and capable
of changing shape, allowing them to make
noises such as a series of chirps, clicks, and whistles.
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No, my bald head cannot do that.
For today's 10 out of 10, we've got a story
that will blow hole you away.
Long-distance travel for large cargo
can be overwhelming, but not with the Airbus
Beluga Cargo Jet.
The Airbus, which gets its name from its resemblance
to a beluga whale, made a rare appearance on US soil
over the weekend.
It landed at the Kennedy Space Center.
CNN's space and defense correspondent, Kristin Fisher,
has more.
KRISTIN FISHER: Behold, the Airbus Beluga,
making a rare appearance over American soil
this weekend with a special delivery
to the Kennedy Space Center.
The Eurostar Neo telecommunications satellite
safely arrived in Florida in the cargo
bay of this whale of a plane.
The giant transporter is named for its resemblance
to the beluga whale.
First rolled out in the 90s, the Beluga ST
was designed to move oversized cargo across the globe,
from military hardware to aircraft
parts for its own fleets.
With a payload length of 39 meters, about 128 feet,
it's one of the only planes that can transport space equipment.
And spotting the Beluga is a treat for airplane enthusiasts.
Aviation lovers in the US got a look
at this giant over the weekend for the first time since 2009
when it delivered Europe's tranquility
module for the International Space Station.
And if you think this model is impressive,
take a look at the Beluga XL.
It is 30% more transport capacity
than its little brother.
But it only flies the European skies for now.
Kristin Fisher CNN.
COY WIRE: Well, that's all I have time for for now.
I had a killer time with you all.
But before I go, our favorite part of the day, a special
shout out to Frelinghuysen Middle School
in Morristown, New Jersey.
I hope you and everyone watching around the world
have a wonderful one.
I'm Coy.
This is CNN 10, and I'll see you tomorrow.
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