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Two newspapers - one Swedish, the other Finnish - have reported the governments of Sweden and Finland have agreed to submit NATO applications at the same time and that it will happen in the middle of next month. Finnish newspaper Iltalehti said that the Swedish government has expressed a wish to Finland that they apply together in the week starting May 22 and Swedish government sources confirmed the information to Sweden's Expressen tabloid. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to growing support in Sweden and Finland, a Russian neighbour, for joining NATO. Though not members, both Nordic countries closely co-operate...

On 17 March 2022, the African People’s Socialist Party (“APSP”) held a press conference putting forward the official position of the African Revolution regarding “Russia’s defensive war in Ukraine against global colonial powers.” “It is absolutely necessary for Africans and all the victims of European colonialism to take a definitive stance in solidarity with Russia,” APSP announced. The APSP is an African internationalist organisation working towards reparations for slavery in the United States (“US”). The party was formed in May 1972 by the merger of three black power organisations based in Florida and Kentucky. Omali Yeshitela, one of the original...

Right now, the fight for control of Ukraine is taking place in the skies above Kyiv and in the streets of Mariupol. However while the conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the sky and on the land has ground to a stalemate, Vladimir Putin and his virtual war machine dedicated to sowing disinformation are decidedly losing the information war. The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks the first major conflict in Europe to take place in the age of social media, an online space that Vladimir Putin has spent decades working to dominate. Over the years, Putin has carefully constructed...

Two Russian generals have been killed near Kherson, the Ukrainian ministry of defence’s intelligence directorate has said. Another is in critical condition. The Ukrainian military on Friday hit the command post of Russia’s 49th army near occupied regional capital Kherson, according to the statement.

Talks between Moscow and Kyiv to put an end to nearly two months of Russia’s military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine have stalled, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. “They [negotiations] have stalled now,” Lavrov said after talks with his Kazakh counterpart, adding that Moscow has still had not received an answer to its latest proposal sent around five days ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled plans for his forces to storm the Azovstal plant in the besieged city of Mariupol, saying he instead wants them to continue blockading it. Putin told his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, it was "inadvisable" to storm the sprawling industrial plant, where more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen are said to remain. "We must always think...about preserving the life and health of our soldiers and officers," Putin said, according to a transcript on the Kremlin's website.

"At the end of the day, we're gonna have to stand up to [Putin] more forcefully," he said. Trump administration acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller on Wednesday applauded Ukraine for executing what may be the "most successful military campaign" in history, but he warned that if the West does not "stand up" against Russian President Vladimir Putin, World War Three III could start — if it hasn't already. "I fear if we don't get our act together ... this will be World War III," Miller said, adding, "Many people think it already is." The Kremlin threatened to take nuclear...

UnionPay is afraid to cooperate with a number of large Russian banks because of the risk of secondary sanctions, RBC learned. Sanctioned banks that issued such cards or planned to do so are forced to abandon projects Large Russian banks that have been under blocking sanctions from Western countries will not be able to issue UnionPay cards, as the payment system is afraid to cooperate with them because of the risk of secondary sanctions. RBC was told about this by five sources in large banks, including those that fell under sanctions. An interlocutor close to Sberbank said that the bank’s...

Russia has lost another colonel as Ukraine continues to inflict punishing losses on Vladimir Putin's top brass. Mikhail Nagamov, 41, the commander of a sapper regiment, died fighting in Ukraine on April 13, according to articles that have appeared in Russian media. It is not clear how or where exactly Nagamov died, with reports saying only that he perished 'performing a combat mission in Ukraine'. He leaves behind a wife and child in the village of Suslonger, around 400 miles east of Moscow. Nagamov's death is just the latest suffered among Russia's command corps, with dozens of colonels and eight...

Australia has been warned Chinese military troops, ships and aircraft could arrive in the Solomon Islands within weeks. There are growing fears China will act swiftly to establish a military base less than 2,000km from Australian shores after its security pact with the South Pacific island nation was finalised on Tuesday. Security experts expect Beijing to have 'boots on the ground' by the time Australians go to the polls next month.

According to The Times, a US marine surveillance P-8 Poseidon aircraft, was tracking Moskva in the hours before it was attacked before supplying its location to the Ukrainian military. The Boeing-made aircraft is based upon the Boeing 737-800 jet - which is widely used by airlines such as Ryanair. However, instead of passengers, the Poseidon is packed with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment which can track surface vessels and submarines at ranges of more than 100 miles. .. the P-8 left US Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily on April 13, hours before the attack. Before reaching the Black Sea coastline, the...

A senior US official has accused Russia of driving food shortages in Yemen and around the world, suggesting Moscow is to blame for rapidly rising prices. The Kremlin rejected the charge, instead citing American sanctions as a leading cause of starvation. In an address at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield attempted to tie Russia’s attack on Ukraine to Yemen’s dire hunger crisis. “The World Food Program’s March report identified Yemen as one of the countries most affected by wheat price increases and lack of imports from Ukraine. This is...

FETESTI AIR BASE, Romania—As Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Ukraine in early February, amassing some 150,000 troops along its border, worrying NATO allies, the U.S. Air Force needed to reassure eastern flank Allies, and fast. The 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, answered the call. They had one week to deploy to Romania with eight F-16Cs, 150 service members, and a million pounds of equipment. Seven days later, they were flying. “Usually these things takes months to plan,” said 1st Lt. Jayce Webster, project manager for the mission support group “We had to plan airlift, plan ground...