JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON SWORN IN TO SUPREME COURT

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in on Thursday, the culmination of her historic ascension as the first black woman to claim a seat on the nation’s highest court.

“I am truly grateful to be part of the promise of our great Nation. I extend my sincerest thanks to all of my new colleagues for their warm and gracious welcome,” Jackson said in a statement, in which she also thanked Chief Justice John Roberts and now-retired Justice Stephen Breyer.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, President Joe Biden said he was honored to see his nominee officially take her seat.

“Her historic swearing in today represents a profound step forward for our nation, for all the young, Black girls who now see themselves reflected on our highest court,” Biden said. As a candidate on the 2020 campaign trail, Biden pledged he would nominate a Black woman to be a Supreme Court justice.

Jackson was sworn in by Roberts, who administered the constitutional oath, and Breyer, the justice for whom Jackson once clerked and whose place on the bench she has taken over. Jackson, nominated last February by President Joe Biden to replace Breyer, was confirmed by the Senate on a 53-47 vote in April.

The newest associate justice assumes her role in the wake of a string of high-profile, controversial decisions issued by the court, including one ruling that dismantled federal abortion rights and another that struck down a New York law that limited carrying firearms outside the home.

Jackson’s placement on the court will have no impact on its ideological tilt. Justices appointed by Republican presidents still outnumber their Democrat-appointed colleagues by a 6-3 margin.

NATO VOWS TO GUARD ‘EVERY INCH OF TERRITORY’ AS RUSSIA FUMES

An unstable world could get even more dangerous if NATO does not remain strong and united, the head of the alliance said Thursday at the end of a summit where Western leaders labeled Russia “a direct threat” to the security of their nations.

During their three-day meeting in Madrid, NATO members confronted a geopolitical landscape marked by big-power competition and myriad threats, from cyberattacks to climate change. The leaders cast their sights around the world —- drawing a rebuke after accusing China of posing “serious challenges " to global stability. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the summit.

“We live in a more dangerous world and we live in a more unpredictable world, and we live in a world where we have a hot war going on in Europe,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “At the same time, we also know that this can get worse.”

That is why the Western military alliance has a “core responsibility” to keep the war in Ukraine from spilling into other countries while making clear to Moscow that it would “protect every inch of NATO territory,” Stoltenberg said.

That territory is set to grow. At the summit, NATO leaders formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, after striking an agreement to end opposition from Turkey. However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could still block the Nordic countries’ membership, if the Nordic pair do not keep their promises.

If the accession is approved by all 30 member nations, it will give NATO a new 800-mile (1,300 kilometer) border with Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned he would respond in kind if Sweden or Finland agreed to host NATO troops and military infrastructure. He said Russia would have to “create the same threats for the territory from which threats against us are created.”

The U.S. and other Western nations also are seeking to counterbalance the growing influence of China and Russia in the developing world. Stoltenberg said “Moscow and Beijing are using economic leverage, coercion and hybrid approaches to advance their interests in the region.”

The Beijing government called the alliance a “Cold War remnant” and accused it of “maliciously attacking and smearing” China by including it on NATO’s list of global challenges.

RUSSIA WITHDRAWS FROM SNAKE ISLAND

Russian forces abandoned the strategic Black Sea outpost of Snake Island on Thursday, in a major victory for Ukraine that could loosen the grip of Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had decided to withdraw from the outcrop as a “gesture of goodwill” to show Moscow was not obstructing UN efforts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grains to be shipped from Ukraine.

Ukraine said it had driven the Russian forces out after a massive artillery and missile assault overnight.

“KABOOM!” tweeted Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff. “No Russian troops on the Snake Island anymore. Our Armed Forces did a great job.”

Ukraine’s southern military command posted an image on Facebook of what appeared to be the island, seen from the air, with at least five huge columns of black smoke rising above it.

“The enemy hurriedly evacuated the remains of the garrison with two speed boats and probably left the island. Currently, Snake island is consumed by fire, explosions are bursting.”

The bare rocky outcrop overlooks sea lanes to Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port, where Russia is blocking food cargos from one of the world’s leading grain suppliers.

Snake Island has held the world’s attention since Russia seized it on the war’s first day, when a Ukrainian guard, ordered by Russia’s flagship cruiser Moskva to surrender, responded by ridiculing them.

IMF TELLS BANKRUPT LANKA TO TACKLE GRAFT, RAISE TAXES

Colombo : Sri Lanka should stamp out corruption and substantially raise taxes to rescue its economy, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday after bailout talks with the bankrupt island nation. Representatives from the global lender of last resort have just concluded a 10-day visit to the capital Colombo to map out a resolution to the South Asian country’s unprecedented economic crisis.

Their meetings follow months of lengthy blackouts and days-long queues for petrol as a financial crunch leaves Sri Lanka without the funds to meet its energy needs.

The IMF said more work was needed to set the nation’s finances right and repair its runaway fiscal deficit before a deal could be struck on a funding arrangement to address its balance of payments crisis. “Given the low level of revenues, far-reaching tax reforms are urgently needed,” the lender said in a statement.

Sri Lanka needed to “reduce corruption vulnerabilities”, contain spiralling inflation and bring an end to costly energy subsidies that had long been a drain on the government budget without hurting more vulnerable citizens, the statement added.

“The authorities have made considerable progress in formulating their economic reform program. We are looking forward to continuing the dialogue with them," it said.

Sri Lanka has already reversed drastic 2019 tax cuts introduced by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which have been blamed for precipitating the economic crisis.

It has also scaled back energy subsidies, with the cost of fuel rising by up to 400% this year, and in April the government defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt.

Sri Lanka’s 22 million people have laboured through shortages of food, pharmaceuticals and other essentials this year, and already hardships have worsened in recent weeks. It is almost completely without petrol and the government has shut down non-essential public services to save fuel.

The UN estimates 80% of the public are skipping meals to cope with food shortages and record prices.

PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA OPEN TO DIALOGUE ON NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION

Russian President Putin said on Thursday Moscow was open to a dialogue on strategic stability and nuclear non-proliferation. Despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both Moscow and Washington have stressed the importance of maintaining communication on the issue of nuclear arms. The two countries are by far the world’s largest nuclear powers with an estimated 11,000 nuclear warheads between them.

“Russia is open to dialogue on ensuring strategic stability, preserving non-proliferation regimes for weapons of mass destruction and improving the situation in the field of arms control,” Putin said in remarks to a legal forum in St Petersburg. He also said that the efforts would require “painstaking joint work”.

36 YRS AFTER FATHER’S OUSTER, MARCOS JR SWORN IN AS PHILIPPINES PREZ

Ferdinand Marcos, the son of the Philippine ruler overthrown in a popular uprising 36 years ago, was sworn in as the country’s president on Thursday, promising to strive for unity and a better future while praising his late father’s legacy.

Marcos, 64, won last month’s election in a landslide, capping off his wealthy family’s decades-long quest to regain the presidency and transform its image after it was driven out in 1986. “We are here to repair a house divided, to make it whole and to stand strong again,” he said in an inauguration speech that echoed his campaign slogans of unity. In a rousing, 30-minute address with sister Imee, a se- nator, and mother Imelda, a former congresswoman, seated nearby, Marcos Jr thanked voters for giving him “the biggest electoral mandate in the history of Philippine democracy”, and said the country would go far on his watch.

The elder Ferdinand Marcos ruled for two decades from 1965, almost half of it under martial law, helping him extend his power until his overthrow and his family’s retreat into exile during a “people power” revolution. Thousands of his opponents were jailed, killed or disappeared during his rule, and the family name became synonymous with cronyism, extravagance and billions of dollars of missing state wealth. The Marcos family denies embezzlement.

“I am here not to talk about the past. I am here to tell you about our future,” Marcos Jr said before thousands of cheering supporters, waving flags, and wearing red, a colour associated with his father.

Close by, hundreds protested against Marcos, angered by a campaign his critics say relied heavily on social media to win votes by debunking narratives of Marcos-era abuses. Carrying banners saying “Reject, Marcos” they gathered at the Plaza Miranda, where his father’s opponents were killed in a bombing blamed on communists.

PUTIN HITS BACK AT G7 LEADERS FOR MOCKING HIM: ‘THEY’LL LOOK DISGUSTING TOPLESS’

Moscow : Russian President Putin shot back at Western leaders who mocked his athletic exploits, saying they would look “disgusting” if they tried to emulate his bare-torso appearances. As they sat down for talks, British PM Boris Johnson jested that G7 leaders could take their clothes off to “show that we’re tougher thanPutin”. Putin retorted that, unlike him, Western leaders abuse alcohol and don’t do sports. “I don’t know how they wanted to get undressed, above or below the waist,” he said. “But I think it would be a disgusting sight. ” He noted to look good “it's necessary to stop abusing alcohol and other bad habits, do exercise and take part in sports”.