Russia fumes as Finland and Sweden push for NATO membership
CBSN
Senior Russian officials have slammed Finland's decision to seek membership in the NATO alliance — which came as a direct reaction to President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Finland's President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin both said on Thursday that their country should apply to join the transatlantic military bloc "without delay."
Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde said Friday that her country would follow suit without delay, arguing that "Swedish NATO membership would raise the threshold for military conflicts and thus have a conflict-preventing effect in northern Europe."
As Russian political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov said on his Telegram channel "Russia in Global Affairs," Finland joining NATO would increase Russia's land border with NATO member states by around 800 miles. Putin has repeatedly cited the eastward expansion of NATO — which he calls a threat to Russian security — as one of the primary reasons for launching his war in Ukraine.
London — As authorities clamp down on fentanyl distribution and the amount of heroin produced in Afghanistan decreases under the Taliban, criminal enterprises have turned to a deadly alternative. Some health agencies in Europe are reporting a rise in deaths and overdoses from a type of synthetic opioid that can reportedly be hundreds of times stronger than heroin and up to forty times stronger than fentanyl.
Vaughan Gething was elected as the new first minister of Wales on Wednesday, becoming the first Black leader of a government in the U.K. Gething was elected to lead the government by members of the Welsh parliament in Cardiff, four days after winning the contest to be leader of Wales' governing Labour Party. He secured 27 of 51 votes in the legislature, the Senedd, where Labour is the biggest party.
Errekunda, Gambia — Lawmakers in Gambia will vote Monday on legislation that seeks to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, or FGM, which would make the West African nation the first country anywhere to make that reversal. The procedure, which also has been called female genital cutting, includes the partial or full removal of external genitalia, often by traditional community practitioners with tools such as razor blades or at times by health workers.
Man falls to his death from hot-air balloon in Australia, leaving pilot and passengers "traumatized"
A man fell to his death from a hot-air balloon Monday as it passed over suburban Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.