NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s biggest military alliance on Tuesday, prompting a warning from Russia that it would bolster its defenses near their joint border if NATO deploys any troops in its new member.

Fearing that they might be targeted after Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, the Nordic neighbors Finland and Sweden abandoned their traditional positions of military non-alignment to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella.

Former President Donald Trump faces the most urgent legal challenge of his life this week in New York, where he’s set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges arising from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign.

But as much as the attention will be on the courthouse in lower Manhattan, investigations from Atlanta to Washington will press forward, underscoring the broad range of peril he confronts as he seeks to reclaim the presidency.

President Joe Biden is set to tour a clean energy technology manufacturer in suburban Minneapolis on Monday as part of his effort to highlight his investment agenda ahead of an expected reelection campaign.
Biden plans to highlight job growth and investments nationwide while pushing clean energy and manufacturing in the U.S. during his visit to engine maker Cummins Inc.

The company intends to announce in conjunction with the Democratic president’s visit that it’s investing more than $1 billion in its U.S. engine manufacturing network in Indiana, North Carolina and New York to update facilities so they can produce low- to zero-carbon engines.

Diana Zaharia can be reached at zaha3727@stthomas.edu.