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Sveriges Natoansökan

 

Ben Wallace, Kaja Kallas, Mette Frederiksen and Ursula von der Leyen. TT  

Sweden's NATO application

Analysis: The game behind the scenes about NATO's new chairman  

 

There is a feverish effort to find a new NATO chairman, preferably before the summit in Vilnius in July, writes Reuters' Andrew Gray in an analysis.  

 

"Even though it is a very public mission, the fight for the post takes place in secret, most of it takes place in consultations between leaders and diplomats. Consultations will continue until all NATO members agree and consensus is reached," writes Gray.  

 

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced last week that he is interested in the role. Another serious candidate is the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. 

 

"The question is whether NATO will choose a Scandinavian for the third time in a row?", asks Uffe Jørgensen Odde in the English-language Danish newspaper Copenhagen Post. 

 

Other names mentioned are Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and the President of the European Commission, German Ursula von der Leyen. However, Kallas is considered by many to be too hawkish in his approach to Russia, while the government in Berlin wants von der Leyen to remain in his EU role. 

Stock Photo Gregory Bull/AP  

 

Elon Musk's Twitter  

Twitter leaves EU deal against disinformation  

 

Twitter has decided to leave an EU agreement on countering misinformation in social media, several news agencies write. Around 30 companies have signed the voluntary agreement from 2018. Including Meta, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Tiktok.  

 

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter six months ago, the platform has reduced content moderation. 

 

- If he does not take the agreement seriously, it is just as well that he leaves, says a source within the European Commission to AFP.  

 

Stock image of an abortion protester. Pat Nabong/AP  

 

America's abortion policy 

Judge temporarily halts new abortion law in South Carolina 

 

South Carolina's new law banning most abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy has been temporarily halted by a judge pending review by the state's highest court, US media reports.  

 

State Governor Henry McMaster signed the law the other day without warning, according to NBC.  

 

Most people do not know they are pregnant as early as the sixth week.  

 

South Carolina is the latest of a total of eleven states in the American South to effectively ban abortion.