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World Monthly Headline News March 2023
Story by Peter Suciu

The official social media account of NATO's Allied Command Transformation (@NATO_ACT) shared a simple photo of the Finnish flag alongside the NATO flag in a social media post on Thursday evening. It officially welcomed the Nordic nation to the international military alliance.

"All #NATO member countries have ratified Finland’s membership; the Alliance is stronger, and #Finland will help improving #NATO's stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe. Welcome, Finland! #WeAreNATO," @NATO_ACT tweeted.

Finland will become a formal member of NATO within days, following a unanimous vote by the Turkish Parliament that ratified the accession. The Turkish vote, which occurred just minutes before midnight in Ankara, came after months of delay.

"All 30 NATO members have now ratified Finland's membership. I want to thank every one of them for their trust and support. Finland will be a strong and capable Ally, committed to the security of the Alliance," Finnish President Sauli Niinistö also via a post on social media.
“The Russian intelligence services are under pressure, and they need to show that they are doing something,” said one intelligence expert.
By Dan De Luce and Ken Dilanian

Before it arrested a Wall Street Journal reporter Thursday, Russia suffered a string of embarrassing setbacks to its foreign intelligence operations, with hundreds of suspected Russian spies’ being expelled or charged with espionage in Western countries.

Poland arrested nine Russians this month, accusing them of plotting possible sabotage of rail routes carrying Western military aid to Ukraine. Last week, U.S. authorities unmasked an alleged Russian spy who posed as a Brazilian graduate student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and who prosecutors say tried to land a job at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Sweden, Norway and Germany say they have uncovered and disrupted attempted Russian spying in recent months, and officials in Greece told news outlets that the owner of a knitting shop in Athens was actually a suspected Russian spy.

The head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service says roughly half of Russia’s spies working under diplomatic cover in Europe were expelled within six months of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The FBI and the CIA have helped allied countries arrest an unusually large number of Russian spies since the war began, a former senior U.S. counterintelligence official familiar with the matter said. The arrests have targeted Russians operating as “illegals” with fictitious names and passports, unlike Russian spies posted to embassies, who enjoy legal protections.
ABC News

Pope Francis has been diagnosed with a respiratory infection, according to the Vatican Press Office.
Holly Rosenkrantz | USA TODAY

Israeli labor unions launched a nationwide strike, malls and ports were closed and airlines were grounded, as opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary threatened to impact the nation's economy.

The chaos came after floods of protestors stormed the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in response to Netanyahu's abrupt ousting of his defense minister, who had opposed his controversial judicial reform plan. The plan, driven by the country's new right-wing government, would weaken the role of the Israeli Supreme Court, and intense opposition has sparked what some analysts say is among the country's worst crises ever. On Sunday, the intense protests included highway bonfires and knocking down police barricades outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem home.
Story by Alexander Motyl

A tape-recording of a recent conversation between two members of the Russian elite has gone viral on Russian social media. Yosif Prigozhin, a music producer, and Farkhad Akhmedov, a billionaire oligarch, allegedly discussed Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in the most unflattering way.  Prigozhin claims the conversation was stitched together from a variety of recordings; Akhmedov has refrained from commenting.  A source in the Russian secret service claims the exchange is genuine. Judge for yourselves from several choice quotes.

Akhmedov: “ won’t save , he is responsible for everything. We have a republic, a federation, a presidential country. The President will answer for all this. For everything.… f-cked us, our children, their future, their fate.”
BBC News

Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, President Vladimir Putin has said.
Story by By DAVID RISING, Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — China threatened “serious consequences” Friday after the United States Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its sovereignty and security.

The warning comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States in the region, as Washington pushes back at Beijing's growingly assertive posture in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway it claims virtually in its entirety. On Thursday, after the U.S. sailed the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer near the Paracel Islands, China said its navy and air force had forced the American vessel away, a claim the U.S. military denied.

The U.S. on Friday sailed the ship again in the vicinity of the islands, which are occupied by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, as part of what it called a “freedom of navigation operation" challenging requirements from all three nations requiring either advance notification or permission before a military vessel sails by.
Story by tporter@businessinsider.com (Tom Porter)

Russia failed to supply weapons it had been contracted to deliver because of being embroiled in the war in Ukraine, according to the Indian military, one of the Kremlin's main customers. The Indian Air Force disclosed this week to its parliament that a "major delivery" contracted from Russia would not be showing up.

The delay was blamed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has cost vast numbers of lives and destroyed tanks, helicopters, planes and other equipment in large numbers. It did not say what was missing, though Reuters reported that Russia had been due to deliver two S-400 Triumf air-defense systems. The S-400s would have completed an order for five systems, which India bought for a total $5.4 billion in 2018.
By Emily Olson

The U.S. is retaliating after a drone strike killed a U.S. contractor, injured five American service members and wounded one other contractor in Syria, Defense Department said on Thursday. Intelligence sources found the drone, which struck a Syrian coalition base, was of Iranian origin, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

In response, the U.S. Central Command conducted "precision airstrikes" on targets it believed were connected with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said. "As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."
Story by Zeleb.es

Here's what we know
Chinese companies have been caught secretly supplying Vladimir Putin with assault rifles and body armor according to newly leaked data obtained by American media.

Weapons and other vital equipment
Politico reporters Erin Bano and Sarah Anne Aarup revealed that Chinese companies shipped weapons and other pieces of vital equipment to “Russian entities” via Turkey and the United Arab Emirates between June and December 2022.
Story by Ellie Cook

Aclip of an elderly Russian woman denouncing the "brainwashing" of citizens by state television has been viewed nearly 1 million times online as of Monday morning. The clip is taken from the Telegram channel, Neshutki, an opposition outlet. There are a few of these, such as Sota and others, that have been conducting interviews on Russian streets to gauge public opinion on various issues. Human Rights Watch listed the arrest of Neshutki's owner in 2022 as an example of repressions against those opposing the war.
John Bacon, Maureen Groppe, Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY

The Pentagon released footage Thursday of what it says is a Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on a U.S. drone, damaging the propeller and forcing U.S. controllers to crash land the device in the Black Sea on Tuesday. Two Russian Su-27 warplanes conducted an "unsafe and unprofessional intercept" with an Air Force reconnaissance MQ-9 Reaper flying in international airspace, the Pentagon said in a release issued with the video to counter Russian denials of contact between the aircraft.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the video provided “clear and convincing evidence of the account we laid out there” and shows “the Russians have been flat-out lying.” But he said it was not clear the pilot intended to strike the unmanned aircraft, so officials were unable to say if it was deliberate.

Kirby said the United States is not seeking conflict with Russia. Still, the incident further escalated tensions between two global powers already sharply at odds since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year spurred the United States into providing billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv and leading a coalition opposing the aggression. Steven Myers, founder of an aerospace and defense management consulting firm that bears his name, said the Russians were clearly sending a message with the incident, possibly telling the U.S. to stop poking the bear.
Reuters

AMSTERDAM, March 17 (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of being responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its one-year invasion of its neighbour.

The ICC arrest warrants "have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel. She added that Russia is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty underpinning the world's permanent war crimes tribunal. In its first warrant for Ukraine, the ICC called for Putin's arrest on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.
Story by Josh Milton

At least one person has been killed and two injured after a building owned by Russia’s secret service in Rostov-on-Don near the Ukrainian border. Witnesses say they heard an ‘explosion’ before the fire erupted, sending smoke billowing up the skyline this morning, according to local media on Telegram.

A short circuit caused the fire in a two-storey warehouse, igniting nearby fuel tanks, said Rostov’s regional governor Vassily Golubev. ‘The spread of fire caused containers of fuel and lubricants to explode,’ he said on Telegram. The fire then engulfed the low-rise building used by the Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB responsible for counter-intelligence.
Story by John Bacon, USA TODAY

The Pentagon released footage of what it says is a Russian aircraft dumping fuel on an unmanned U.S. drone, damaging the propeller and forcing U.S. controllers to crash land device in the Black Sea on Tuesday.

"Two Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 Reaper operating within international airspace," the Pentagon said in a release issued with the video.
Story by Lauren Sforza

Two of the Americans who were kidnapped at gunpoint just over the Mexican border on Friday have been found dead, while two others were found alive with one wounded, a Mexican state governor said Tuesday.

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said that the fourth kidnapping victim had no injuries, according to The Associated Press. The FBI revealed on Sunday that the group of four Americans were kidnapped by armed men on Friday, and asked for the public’s assistance in helping locate them.

The four Americans were in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates and were taken by the gunmen just after crossing into Matamoros in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Several media outlets had reported on Tuesday that the group was traveling to Mexico for a medical procedure.
Peter Weber, Senior editor

Finland's parliament on Tuesday started debating legislation to finalize the country's bid to join NATO, and lawmakers are expected to approve the bill on Wednesday. After the legislation passes, President Sauli Niinisto will have about three months to sign it, preferably alongside Sweden, and send Finland's instruments of NATO accession to Washington, AFP reports. Finland would then be part of the Western military alliance as soon as all 30 member states ratify its membership, as 28 countries have already done. Only Turkey and Hungary have held off.

Turkey has threatened to block Sweden's accession over Stockholm's perceived tolerance of Kurdish groups Ankara calls terrorists. But Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated Monday that Finland will likely get its vote, and probably before Ankara works out its differences with Sweden. Sweden and Finland would prefer to join NATO at the same time, but Finland's vote on Wednesday is an acknowledgment that it may accede separately if Sweden runs into roadblocks. That leaves Hungary.
Vote increases chance of Finland joining alliance before Sweden, which is facing objections from Turkey
Jon Henley Europe correspondent

Finland’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved legislation allowing the country to join Nato, increasing the chances of it becoming a member of the transatlantic defensive alliance before its Nordic neighbour Sweden. Both countries last year abandoned decades of military non-alignment in a historic policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, submitting simultaneous Nato membership applications and pledging to complete the process “hand-in-hand”.

However, new entrants must be approved by all 30 existing members and while both applications still await approval from Hungary and Turkey, Sweden’s faces objections from Ankara for harbouring what it considers members of terrorist groups. Finnish MPs voted 184 in favour of accepting the Nato treaties, with seven against and one abstaining, after earlier pushing for the legislation to be passed before general elections planned for early next month in order to avoid a political vacuum.
Elliot Smith

LONDON — The new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU may help bring Britain’s “healthy fundamentals” back to the fore, providing relations with Brussels continue to improve, analysts suggest. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday announced the agreement of the Windsor Framework, which aims to fix the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Protocol had been a long-standing bugbear for unionist pro-Brexit parties in Northern Ireland, and had brought the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly to a standstill over the past year, after the Democratic Unionist Party resigned in protest. Though expected to pass through the British parliament, the agreement has been met with mixed messages from Belfast, with the DUP currently examining the details of the deal against the “seven tests” it has insisted upon.
By Laura Paddison, CNN

CNN — It may seem strange to see Greta Thunberg protesting against wind turbines, but this week the Swedish climate activist has joined Indigenous and environmental groups in Norway to do just that. Dozens of protestors, including Thunberg, have blocked access to Norwegian government buildings in Oslo to protest against two windfarms built on Sámi reindeer grazing grounds. On Wednesday morning, 10 people including Thunberg were removed by police from the entrance of the ministry of finance, according to a spokesperson for the Oslo police district.

The Sámi people, the only recognized Indigenous group within the European Union, say their centuries-old tradition of reindeer herding is jeopardized by the windfarms in the Fosen region in Central Norway. Among the largest onshore windfarms in Europe, they are made up of 151 wind turbines that stretch 285 feet high. “The constructions are stealing the reindeer’s grazing land,” Maja Kristine Jåma, a reindeer herder and Sámi politician, told CNN. The reindeer are also affected by the infrastructure around the turbines, including roads, she said. “It disturbs them a lot.”
Larry Madowo Jessie Yeung
By Stephanie Busari, Nimi Princewill, Bethlehem Feleke, Larry Madowo and Jessie Yeung, CNN

Lagos, Nigeria CNN — A Nigerian opposition party has said it will launch a legal challenge after Bola Ahmed Tinubu was on Wednesday declared the winner of Nigeria’s controversial presidential elections. Tinubu, 70, represents the ruling All Progressives Congress party, which received close to 8.8 million votes – about 36.6% of the total, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Mahmood Yakubu. He defeated vice president Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and a third leading candidate Peter Obi, who gained popularity among young people with his lesser-known Labour Party.

“We won this election as Labour Party, we are going to claim our mandate as Labour Party,” said Datti-Baba Ahmad, the party’s Vice Presidential candidate. Obi is yet to comment on the official results. However, Ndi Kato, Labour Party’s presidential campaign spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday: “We are defiant. The elections were rigged.”
Simone McCarthy
By Simone McCarthy

Hong Kong CNN — Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko – a close ally of Vladimir Putin – on Wednesday, in a state visit that comes as the West warns China against providing lethal aid for Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Xi greeted Lukashenko in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Wednesday before the two began officials talks, according to Belarusian state media outlet Belta.

It is their first face-to-face meeting since the two leaders in September agreed to upgrade their countries’ ties to an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership” on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan, which Putin also attended.
Heather Chen Mohammed Tawfeeq
By Heather Chen, Chris Liakos, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Jennifer Hauser and Sana Noor Haq, CNN

CNN — Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a head-on collision between two trains in central Greece killed dozens of people and left scores injured, raising questions about the country’s poor track record of railway safety.

At least 36 people were killed when a passenger train carrying more than 350 people collided with a freight train on Tuesday, shortly before midnight, in Tempi, near the city of Larissa, leaving strewn carriages and heaps of debris in its wake. The Greek Fire Service said 66 people were being treated for their injuries in hospital, with six in intensive care units. The country’s transport minister resigned Wednesday, saying the railway system the government inherited was “not up to 21st century standards.”

The two trains involved in the fatal collision were traveling on the same track for many kilometers before the incident occurred, state-owned public broadcaster ERT reported Wednesday. The passenger train had changed lanes and switched to a cargo track before it collided head-on with a freight train, according to ERT. Recovery efforts are underway, with the focus on the first carriages of the passenger train, the Greek Fire Service said. The death toll is expected to rise.
Stacey Vanek Smith

It's not easy to find a tomato in the U.K. right now. And if you do, you'd better savor it. Supermarkets like Tesco and Aldi have placed strict limits on the number of tomatoes customers can buy, as well as other produce, like cucumbers and broccoli.

Three Packs Left
Economist Tim Harford, host of the podcast Cautionary Tales, serves tomatoes to his family a lot. So when he heard the news about shortages, he rushed to the local Tesco. "There's this whole shelf that normally has crates and crates of different kinds of tomatoes," he recalls. "And there were just three packs left." Limit per customer: one package.
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