June 30, 2022

*) Finland, Sweden get official invite to join NATO after Türkiye's consent NATO has officially invited Finland and Sweden to become members of the alliance. The announcement came as part of the Madrid summit declaration following the meeting of NATO heads of state and government. NATO welcomed the conclusion of the trilateral memorandum between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden. Israel lawmakers dissolve parliament, set election for November 1 Israel’s parliament has voted to dissolve itself and send the country to the polls in November for the fifth time in less than four years. Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister and architect of the outgoing coalition government, will become the country’s caretaker prime minister just after midnight on Friday. He will be the 14th person to hold that office, taking over from Naftali Bennett, Israel's shortest serving prime minister. New elections will be held on November 1. *) Amnesty accuses Russia of bombing Mariupol theatre A theatre sheltering civilians destroyed in March in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol was likely hit by a Russian air strike in a "war crime," says Amnesty International report. Oksana Pokalchuk, head of Amnesty's Ukraine branch said "We were speaking about an alleged war crime. Now we can clearly say it was one, committed by the Russian armed forces," She dismissed the Russian claims that the theatre was hit in a false-flag attack by the city's Ukrainian defenders. *) US govt 'supports' F-16 fighter jet sales to Türkiye The Biden administration has thrown its support behind the potential sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Türkiye. Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, told media that strong Turkish defence capabilities would reinforce NATO's defences. Wallander said that the US supports Türkiye's modernisation of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security. And finally… *) First ever 'Africa Fashion' exhibition opens in UK U