News
Associated Press, May 16, 2022 – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm (ET)
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-stockholm-sweden-finland-f7328801f699fbb2f28826c0f14d4ef6
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.
CNN, – 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.”
May 16, 2022 – 12:00 pm to 12:29 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour, May 16, 2022 – 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour, May 16, 2022 – 2:30 pm to 3:33 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour, May 16, 2022 – 3:00 pm to 7:16 pm (ET)
PBS NewsHour – May 16, 2022 (08:06)
CNN, May 16, 2022 – 1:00 pm to 1:33 pm (ET)
https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/16/opinions/putin-georgia-ukraine-war-mitchell/index.html
Upon arriving in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, for the first time since the pandemic began, I dropped my bag off at my Airbnb, strolled out and noticed the words “F**k Putin” graffitied in English on my building. A few meters away, a similar sentiment was scrawled in Russian and not far from that, my friend pointed to the same phrase painted on the wall in Georgia’s distinctive alphabet.
This is a country where anti-Russia sentiment runs very strong today and signs of support for Ukraine are everywhere. On Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s picturesque and bustling main drag, elderly women sat selling pins, flags, wristbands and other merchandise emblazoned with the Ukrainian flag or pro-Ukraine messages.
Many restaurants have signs on their doors welcoming “all who believe Putin is a war criminal” and the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, rather than the red and white of the Georgian flag. Blue and yellow now seem like the official colors of the country.
Reminders of the war are everywhere and some Georgians, I was told numbering 3,000, are fighting in Ukraine — and at least nine have been killed. A Russian invasion of Georgia of another kind is already under way as thousands of Russians have fled to Tbilisi since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Some may be there because of their anti-Putin views, but most of my Georgian contacts told me the Russians were there because they simply wanted to be able to spend their money.
