Source: CNBC
Security & Justice
Southern Lebanon Endures Massive Damage: 40,000 Homes Leveled Across 37 Towns
Israeli forces have systematically destroyed entire neighborhoods in southern Lebanon, leveling more than 37 towns and wiping out over 40,000 residential units, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
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Lebanon’s army chief, General Joseph Aoun, detailed to Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati how Israeli forces likely exploited gaps in the country's coastal radar system during the recent raid carried out in Batroun. The briefing comes as Lebanese officials seek answers on how Israel’s elite Shayetet 13 unit carried out the landing undetected.
Monday, November 4, 2024
Opinion
The Emptying of Baalbek Is a Moment to Take Stock
“Large numbers of people continue to flee their homes every day, as Israel’s military operations in Lebanon have been going on unabated.” These disturbing words could be from almost any news report about Israel’s invasion of its northern neighbour over the past month. However, they can be found in a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre issued on July 27, 2006.
Saturday, November 2, 2024
A Future Without Hezbollah
At the end of September, when Israel’s campaign to destroy Hezbollah was reaching its height, I met one of the group’s supporters in a seaside café in western Beirut. He was a middle-aged man with a thin white beard and the spent look of someone who had not slept for days. He was an academic of sorts, not a fighter, but his ties to Hezbollah were deep and long-standing.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Sports
Tottenham Forward Son Heung-min Crowned Asia’s International Player of the Year
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min was crowned as Asia’s International Player of the Year for the fourth time by the Asian Football Confederation at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Real Madrid Launch Investigation into Racist Insults After El Clasico Defeat
Real Madrid has launched an investigation into racist insults directed at players during Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga, it said on Sunday.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Wednesday 11 May 2022 15:31:30
Finland Is Just Days Away from Applying for NATO Membership
After completing a few more steps, Finland will be ready to send its application to join the NATO military alliance, the country’s foreign affairs minister told CNBC Tuesday.
The Nordic nation has been considering joining the alliance in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has previously said the invasion “changed the security policy situation in such a way that there is no going back to the way things were.”
Joining NATO would mark a sharp U-turn in Finland’s decades-long policy of neutrality but could lead to a backlash from Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has been vocal about his opposition to NATO enlargement.
“When all our political parties are ready — and the latest, the Social Democrats on Saturday — then we are ready to move as [a] government forward and then this discussion, of course, on the NATO membership, will come to the Parliament, starting probably next Monday. But then we are, after that, ready to send an application,” Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s minister for foreign affairs, said.
Finland is currently led by a five-party coalition government. Finnish president, Sauli Niinisto, is due to announce his opinion on the country’s membership of NATO Thursday, kicking off a sequence of events that should result in the formal application being sent through.
But Finland is not alone in reconsidering its security policy. Neighboring Sweden has also been reviewing its stance in the aftermath of Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine.
“I’ve been really much in favor of us [Finland and Sweden] joining together and now it looks like we have a parallel process, which could end in a similar way,” Haavisto told CNBC, adding that Sweden is likely to send its NATO application “around the same time” as Finland.
“We have very good cooperation on military issues with Sweden, actually, we can have a common surveillance of our airspace, on our maritime areas and so forth, and we are relying very much [on] each other, and of course, if it so happens in the future that one is in the ... defense alliance and the other one is not — that might hamper also our good cooperation,” he said about the reasoning behind applying at the same time.
Several NATO members, notably Germany and the United States, have said they are ready to provide security guarantees to Stockholm and Helsinki during the period of time between their applications and official membership.
Before both countries join the defense alliance, the 30 members already in NATO have to approve their applications. A process that is likely to take at least some months.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken about a “minimum delay” for their applications.
June NATO summit
In the meantime, Finland is hoping to receive some political commitments from the alliance at a summit in June, due to take place in Madrid, Spain.
“Madrid is very important for political commitments and, on the highest level, welcoming new member states like Finland and Sweden,” Haavisto said.
“But even prior to that, the NATO Council certainly will discuss this matter and we are also expecting that single NATO member states will give their commitments and opinions immediately when Finland and Sweden will send an application,” he added.
