Sweden’s Social Democrat minority government on Monday took the formal decision to apply for NATO membership, following in the footsteps of its neighbour Finland in a move that will redraw the geopolitical map of northern Europe.
“There is a broad majority in Sweden’s parliament for joining NATO,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said following a debate on security policy in parliament. “The best thing for Sweden and the Swedish population is to join NATO.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it calls a “special operation”, has highlighted Sweden and Finland’s vulnerabilities despite their close cooperation with NATO in recent years.
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Sri Lanka out of petrol, economy in a precarious condition: PM Wickremesinghe
Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday said the island nation’s economy was in a precarious condition and that the cash-strapped nation was currently out of petrol. He also proposed privatising the Sri Lanka airlines. “At present, the Sri Lankan economy is extremely precarious. Although the former government’s budget projected revenue of SLR 2.3 trillion, SLR 1.6 trillion is the realistic projection of this year’s revenue,” the PM said in Colombo.
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‘Won’t simply put up with…’: Russia’s warning amid NATO’s Nordic expansion
According to an AFP report, Swedish public support for NATO membership has risen to nearly 50 per cent in the aftermath of the Ukraine war. The situation is the same in Finland, with the AFP report revealing that the number of Finns who want to join NATO has climbed to more than three-quarters – almost triple the level before the Ukraine war.
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China’s Uyghur county has highest prison rate in the world
Nearly one in 25 people in a county in the Uyghur heartland of China has been sentenced to prison on terrorism-related charges, in what is the highest known imprisonment rate in the world, an Associated Press review of leaked data shows. A list obtained and partially verified by the AP cites the names of more than 10,000 Uyghurs sent to prison in just Konasheher county alone, one of dozens in southern Xinjiang.
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China: Shanghai likely to reopen on June 1 with Covid-19 spread curbed
Shanghai will reopen gradually and resume “normal life” from June 1 after stamping out its Covid-19 infections from 15 of its 16 districts, a city official said on Monday, releasing a staggered timetable for lifting the current lockdown over the next two weeks. “Shanghai has planned its epidemic control work for the coming period, dividing it into three stages,” deputy mayor Zong Ming said. “Low social movement” will mark the initial period of opening up.
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