The head of NATO expressed his worry that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a war between Russia and NATO, according to an interview released Friday.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, said in the interview that “There is no doubt that a full-fledged war is a possibility.”

He added that is was important to avoid a conflit that “involves more countries in Europe and becomes a full-fledged war in Europe.

Democratic Sentator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced Friday that she has registered as an independent, a move that could bolster her political brand but won’t upend the Democrats’ narrow senate majority. Sinema says she will not caucus with Republicans.

Rather than assailing the Democratic Party in her statement Friday, Sinema said she was “Declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington.”

A rash of COVID-19 cases in schools and businesses were reported Friday in areas across China after the ruling Communist party loosened anti-virus rules as it tries to reverse a deepening economic slump.

While official data showed a fall in new cases, they no longer cover large parts of the population after the government ended mandatory testing for many people Wednesday.

Sam Larson can be reached at lars4378@stthomas.edu.