NATO fast-tracks membership for Finland and Sweden
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday announced that the security bloc would grant membership quickly to Sweden and Finland. The move increases pressure on Vladimir Putin, who has justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with what he claims is the need to keep the military alliance away from his country’s borders. Follow the latest updates.
The Finnish parliament is expected to approve the NATO application today, and the ruling Swedish Social Democratic Party yesterday said it would vote in favor of joining. “President Putin wants Ukraine defeated, NATO down, North America and Europe divided,” Stoltenberg said. “But Ukraine stands firm, NATO is stronger than ever, Europe and North America are firmly united.”
Finland and Sweden’s decision to join NATO increases the likelihood that the alliance’s troops will be deployed along Russia’s 810-mile border with Finland.
Next step: Applications to join NATO must be unanimously approved by the 30 members. One of them, Turkey, raised issues with pending applications, although they did suggest that they would not object to admission if their own security concerns be solved.
On the ground: Ukrainian forces have moved closer to the Russian border in recent days after pushing back Russian troops from the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. There is growing evidence that the Russian offensive in the Donbas region further east is faltering after modest initial results.
In other news from the war:
Lost Americans
Nearly a million people have died from Covid-19 in the U.S. Many of the loved ones they left behind are bring a sadness feel lonely, forever and pain is erased from a country that wants to move forward.
In dozens of interviews with The Times, people across the US who have lost loved ones, spouses, and friends to Covid describe how they experienced the pandemic, from the terrifying unknowns in the early weeks to up to this point, with an open country moving forward, even as more than 300 people are dying every day.
Currently, there is no permanent national memorial for those who have passed away, no social place to gather and mourn. And for some, their grief seems almost met with indifference.
First Person: “For us, the pandemic is not just a blip in our history,” said Erin Reiner, whose mother died of Covid. “People talk about it like it’s an inconvenience – we can’t do this; We cannot celebrate this celebration. I just wish that was all for us, for me, for countless other families.”
Alternative results: If the US had the same Covid mortality rate as Australia, about 900,000 lives would have been saved. Our Australia office chief discovers what happened in Australia and wrong in America
Somalia elects a president, but terrorists hold power
In a vote delayed by nearly two years, hundreds of lawmakers in Somalia yesterday elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new president of the country. Mohamud, a former president and peace activist, received 214 votes from 328 lawmakers, who were chosen by clan representatives.
His choice ends a bitter electoral period marred by corruption, his predecessor’s attempts to cling to power and bitter street battles. Mohamud defeated three dozen candidates after three rounds of voting, including Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who was condemned after extending his term last year.
The vote comes against a backdrop of many challenges facing Somalia: soaring inflation, a recent deadly drought and the threat posed by Al Shabab, a terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda. After more than 16 years, the group now has many powers, including extorting taxes, adjudicating trials, forcing minors into its ranks and carrying out suicide bombings.
Background: Somalia’s 16 million people have suffered for decades from civil wars, poor governance and terrorism. The central government was supported by African Union peacekeepers and Western aid.
Can quote: “Our country needs to move forward, not back,” Mohamud said after taking the oath earlier today. “I promise to build a Somalia that is in harmony with itself and in harmony with the world.”
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What does the data tell us about wealth and happiness?
The wealthiest Americans — 140,000 people earning more than $1.58 million a year — may not be the tycoons you think they are. And the things that make us happy are almost exactly what you’d expect: nature, sex, friends, and exercise, writes Seth Stephens-Davidowitz in this from our Opinions section.
Financial nihilism
Many adults under the age of 35 are toss financial prudence to the wind, Anna P. Kambhampaty reports in The Times. Depressed about the future – amid climate change, pandemics, war and more – this group is saving less and pursuing passion projects, like coral farming, above or other professions. risky.
There are some historical analogies here. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear war shaped the plans of young people. And when the 2008 financial crisis hit, saving up to buy a home felt futile for many. “If you have an apocalyptic vision of the future, why would you save for it?” a financial psychologist said.
Hannah Jones, a popular comic in Denver, put it this way: “I am not going to deprive me of some of the comforts of life now for a future that feels like it could be ripped from me at any moment. when.”
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