Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

What We're Watching

Sweden finally joins the NATO party

​U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accepts Sweden's instruments of accession from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for its entry into NATO at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accepts Sweden's instruments of accession from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for its entry into NATO at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2024.

REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
Make us preferred on Google

It’s official! Sweden has formally become NATO’s 32nd member. With the addition of Sweden and Finland, Vladimir Putin now finds himself surrounded by an enlarged and powerful NATO two years after he invaded Ukraine.


Sweden has gained NATO’s protection, but it brings a lot to the table as well. One of the most advanced arms industries in the world, for one. For another, it rounds out NATO’s coverage of the Baltic Sea – or NATO’s pond, as it can now be called.

Check out our explainer here to read what NATO has gained from its newest additions.

More For You

Medical workers treat injured people at Ameth Bek hospital after a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan, October 19, 2026.

Medical workers treat injured people at Ameth Bek hospital after a drone strike on a market in the disputed Abyei region along the border between South Sudan and Sudan, October 19, 2026.

REUTERS/Medecins Sans Frontieres
Drone strike raises tensions between Sudan and South SudanSouth Sudan is accusing neighboring Sudan of launching a drone strike that killed at least 73 people at a market in Abyei, a disputed, oil-rich region of roughly 4,000 square miles claimed by both countries. The attack has heightened tensions between the two states, which split in 2011 [...]
Protesters set up barricades and burn materials near Place de la Republique in Paris, France, on October 18, 2026, the day following a large demonstration.

Protesters set up barricades and burn materials near Place de la Republique in Paris, France, on October 18, 2026, the day following a large demonstration.

Jerome Gilles via Reuters Connect
Weekend of unrest rocks FranceOngoing student protests in France descended into looting and riots over the weekend as more than half a million people took to the streets across the country. The unrest briefly spread to Portugal, Belgium, and Italy as well. Although the French protests began with demands for more education funding, the latest [...]
People wearing protective masks walk through the street as haze from wildfires shrouds the area in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 14, 2026.

People wearing protective masks walk through the street as haze from wildfires shrouds the area in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 14, 2026.

REUTERS/Arief Rahman Septian Prathama
Indonesia’s wildfires ignite regional tensionsIndonesia’s worst wildfires in a decade are quickly becoming a domestic and international headache for President Prabowo Subianto. He has so far refused to declare a national emergency, which would free up more resources to fight the blazes. Prabowo says the government has things under control without [...]
Smoke rises as a person throws a projectile through the open door of a building, amid an anti-government protest by students in Tirana, Albania, October 14, 2026.

Smoke rises as a person throws a projectile through the open door of a building, amid an anti-government protest by students in Tirana, Albania, October 14, 2026.

REUTERS/Florion Goga
Flamingo protests escalate in AlbaniaProtests in Albania turned violent Wednesday night as rioters attacked government buildings and set storefronts ablaze in the capital, Tirana. More peaceful demonstrations began several months ago, triggered by opposition to a luxury hotel development project led by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner [...]