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Monday – 5/16/22

Monday - 5/16/22

News

Latest

PBS NewsHour live episode, May 16, 2022
Associated Press, May 16, 2022 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (ET)

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-stockholm-sweden-finland-f7328801f699fbb2f28826c0f14d4ef6

Once neutral Sweden seeks NATO membership in historic shift
Associated Press, Karl RitterMay 16, 2022

Sweden on Monday decided to join neighboring Finland in seeking NATO membership, ending more than two centuries of military nonalignment in a historic shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that the Nordic country would be in a “vulnerable position” during the application period and urged her fellow citizens to brace themselves for the Russian response.

“Russia has said that that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO,” she said. “We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us.”

Sweden’s move came a day after the governing Social Democratic party endorsed a plan for the country to join the trans-Atlantic alliance and Finland’s government announced that it would seek to join NATO.

Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden of repercussions should they pursue NATO membership. But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday seemed to downplay the significance of their move.

Supreme Court sides with Ted Cruz, striking down cap on use of campaign funds to repay personal campaign loans
CNN, Ariane de Vogue et al.May 16, 2022

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a case involving the use of campaign funds to repay personal campaign loans, dealing the latest blow to campaign finance regulations.

The court said that a federal cap on candidates using political contributions after the election to recoup personal loans made to their campaign was unconstitutional.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 decision. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the dissent for her liberal colleagues, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“The question is whether this restriction violates the First Amendment rights of candidates and their campaigns to engage in political speech,” Roberts wrote. He said there is “no doubt” that the law does burden First Amendment electoral speech. “Any such law must be at least justified by a permissible interest,” he added, and the government had not been able to identify a single case of so-called “quid pro quo” corruption.

Roberts concluded that the “provision burdens core political speech without proper justification.”

President Biden awards public safety officers for ‘extraordinary valor’ in ceremony
May 16, 2022 – 12:00 pm to 12:29 pm (ET)
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby holds news briefing
PBS NewsHour, May 16, 2022 – 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET)
White House’s Karine Jean-Pierre holds first news briefing as new press secretary
PBS NewsHour, May 16, 2022 – 2:30 pm to 3:33 pm (ET)

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