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President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made the announcement at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.
Finland’s president and government announced Sunday that the Nordic country intends apply for membership in NATO, paving the way for the 30-member Western military alliance to expand amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made the announcement at a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki.
The Finnish Parliament is expected to endorse the decision in coming days, but it is considered a formality.
A formal membership application will then be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels, most likely at the some point next week.
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Three children, three soldiers killed in Pakistan suicide blast
A suicide bomber killed three children and three soldiers in an attack on a military vehicle in Pakistan’s restive northwestern region bordering Afghanistan, officials said on Sunday. On Saturday evening a suicide bomber detonated in a small market near Miran Shah in North Waziristan, just 26 kilometres (16 miles) southeast of Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban — Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — has a long history of plotting strikes in the region.
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Sri Lanka lifts curfew; president calls on lawmakers to work together | 5 points
Sri Lanka, which facing the worst economic crisis, lifted the ongoing curfew for one of its most important Buddhist festivals on Sunday. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has also called on lawmakers to work together on a solution to the worsening crisis. The island nation of 22 million has been witnessing violence and protests even after Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down from the prime ministerial position.
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Putin very sick, coup to overthrow him underway, claims Ukraine: Report
Amid intense speculations over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence Major General Kyrylo Budanov, in an exclusive interview to Sky News, said Putin is seriously ill. Asserting that he is not spreading Ukrainian propaganda against Russia, the major general said it is impossible to coup in such a situation. The 36-year-old also said the ongoing war will reach a breaking point in the second part of August.
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Blinken offers support to family of slain Palestinian journalist
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with the family of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after criticizing Israel’s use of force at Shireen Abu Akleh’s funeral, an official said Sunday. Blinken, during his flight Saturday to Berlin for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, offered “deep condolences” in a phone call with family members of Shireen Abu Akleh, a State Department official said.
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Crisis-hit Sri Lanka lifts curfew for Buddhist festival
Sri Lankan authorities lifted a nationwide curfew Sunday for an important Buddhist festival, with celebrations muted as the island weathers a worsening economic crisis. In recent weeks, protesters across the Buddhist-majority nation have demanded the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in its history as an independent nation. Sunday marks Vesak, the most important religious event on Sri Lanka’s calendar, which celebrates Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death.
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