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Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Swedish furniture giant Ikea posted a six percent rise in full-year sales on Thursday, in what it described as a “challenging” year due to inflation and scaling back in Russia. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ikea closed its 17 shops and halted production in the country, where it was one of the largest Western employers before the war with 15,000 employees. According to Dutch holding company Inter Ikea’s CEO […]
Moscow, Russia | AFP | US President Joe Biden is “obliged” to answer if Washington is behind three reported gas leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Europe, Moscow’s foreign ministry said Wednesday. “On February 7, 2022, Joe Biden said that Nord Stream would be finished if Russia invaded Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media, posting a video of Biden saying “we will bring an end” to Nord Stream […]
Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) Two underwater blasts were recorded prior to the discovery of three leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia and Europe, a Swedish seismological institute said Tuesday as the unexplained leaks raised suspicions of sabotage. The Swedish National Seismic Network recorded two “massive releases of energy” shortly prior to, and near the location of, the gas leaks off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, Peter Schmidt, an Uppsala University seismologist, […]
Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP) by Camille BAS-WOHLERT The two Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe have been hit by unexplained leaks, Scandinavian authorities said Tuesday, raising suspicions of sabotage. The pipelines have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions in recent months as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. While the pipelines, which are operated by a consortium majority-owned by Russian gas […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – As leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson has steered his party from “pariah” to heavyweight whose support is indispensable if the right-wing bloc wants to govern after Sunday’s election. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats soared to become the country’s second-biggest party in the legislative vote, garnering 20.6 percent with more than 99 percent of electoral districts counted. With his impeccably coiffed brown hair, glasses and neatly trimmed beard, the casually […]
Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) A fire that broke out on a car ferry carrying 300 people off Sweden’s coast on Monday has been extinguished and the ship will be towed to port, Swedish maritime authorities said. The blaze appeared to have started on a refrigeration lorry on the car deck of the Stena Scandica, which was sailing from Sweden to Latvia. “The fire is out,” Swedish Maritime Administration spokeswoman Lisa Mjorning told AFP. “The ferry […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed US ratification of bids by Finland and Sweden to enter NATO, taking expansion of the Western alliance in response to Russia’s Ukraine invasion one step closer. Biden said the two northern European countries would become “strong, reliable highly capable new allies” by making the “sacred commitment” to mutual defense in the US-led transatlantic alliance. Earlier this month, the Senate voted 95-1 in favor of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate ratified the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO Wednesday, strongly backing the expansion of the transatlantic alliance in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Senate voted 95 to 1 in favor of the two Nordic countries’ accession, making the United States the 23rd of the 30 NATO countries to formally endorse it so far, after Italy approved it earlier Wednesday and France on Tuesday. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate on Tuesday took its first step towards bringing Sweden and Finland into NATO, with bipartisan support for the new alliance members following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All 30 members of NATO must ratify the accession of the two Nordic countries, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week again threatened to freeze their bids despite his assent during a summit in late June in Madrid. The Senate […]
“Fastest accession process in NATO’s history so far,” says NATO’s Stoltenberg by Marc BURLEIGH and Alex PIGMAN Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — NATO on Tuesday kicked off momentous accession procedures for Sweden and Finland, aiming to expand the military alliance to 32 countries in reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “This is an historic day, for Finland, for Sweden, for NATO, and for Euro-Atlantic security,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said after protocols were […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday told Sweden and Finland that he could still block their drives to join NATO if they fail to implement a new accession deal with Ankara. Erdogan issued his blunt warning at the end of a NATO summit at which the US-led alliance formally invited the Nordic countries to join the 30-nation bloc. The two nations dropped their history of military non-alignment and announced plans […]
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AFP) — Russia has “no problem” if Finland and Sweden join NATO, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. “We don’t have problems with Sweden and Finland like we do with Ukraine,” Putin told a news conference in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat. “We don’t have territorial differences,” the Russian leader continued. “There is nothing that could bother us about Sweden and Finland joining NATO. If Finland and Sweden wish to, they can […]
