The Latest Breaking News from Stockholm

Senior officials from Sweden and Finland held some five hours of talks with Turkish counterparts in Ankara on Wednesday in an effort to overcome Turkey’s strong objections to the Nordic nations' bids to join NATO. Sweden and Finland submitted their written applications to join NATO last week.

Turkish officials will meet with Swedish and Finnish delegations in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss Stockholm and Helsinki's applications to become members of NATO, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Move comes hours after the Nordic nations officially launched their bids to join the alliance

Sauli Niinisto, Finnish president, says Helsinki will have ‘contructive discussions’ with Ankara

If both countries join the 30-member security bloc, NATO forces may be right next to the Finnish-Russian border.

The GOP leader spoke from Stockholm following a trip to Kyiv. He backed Sweden and Finland joining NATO and pushed back on more isolationist voices in his party.

Turkey has not shut the door to Sweden and Finland joining NATO but wants negotiations with the Nordic countries and a clampdown on what it sees as terrorist activities especially in Stockholm, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Saturday.

Britain pledged to defend Sweden if the country came under attack, with Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Magdalena Andersson signing a security assurance deal outside Stockholm on Wednesday.

Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE:PM) offers to acquire Swedish Match AB (OTC:SWMAF) for SEK161.2 billion (~$16 billion). Swedish Match's board recommends shareholders accept the offer. Investors in the Stockholm-based company will receive SEK106 in cash for each share held.  The offer price represents a 39.4% premium to the company’s share price of SEK76.06 on…