Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.

Swedish PM says ready to fortify crucial Baltic island

Summary: Just days after formally joining the NATO military alliance, the Prime Minister of Sweden has said that he’s open to investing in new defenses on the island of Gotland, which is considered to be the most crucial and strategically important island in the Baltic Sea.

Context: Gotland is often referred to as a “giant aircraft carrier” because of its position and capacity to house military assets that would allow it to project control across the whole of the Baltic region, and now that Sweden is in NATO, that means it’s in a position to shore-up the alliance’s defensive infrastructure in an area that could become vital if the war in Ukraine ever expands, though it could also be useful as a sort of overt threat if Russia ever decides to escalate its military activities in Europe.

—Financial Times

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US dominates foreign weapons market as Russian exports plummet

Summary: Russia has reoriented its weapons industry toward providing hardware and ammo for its invasion of Ukraine, which has depleted its exportable capacity, allowing the US to capture more of the international arms market, now accounting for more than 40% of the total global weapons trade.

Context: The US, France, and Russia have long been the top three most successful global arms dealers, and the US has been number one for some time, but France has recently taken second place after long lagging behind Russia; this is meaningful in part because of the economics involved and what it means for the national priorities of the nations selling these weapons, but it also suggests Russia will be less capable of geopolitical deals that involve the sale of high-end military hardware to other countries, while the US and France will be relatively more capable of striking such deals.

—The Wall Street Journal

India signs $100 billion free trade deal with four European nations

Summary: The Indian government has signed a free-trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association, which will result in about $100 billion-worth of investment in India by the members of that association, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Context: This agreement is the culmination of nearly 16 years worth of negotiation, and that outside investment will occur over the next 15 years, during which time most Indian tariffs on industrial goods like pharmaceuticals, machinery, and manufacturing equipment from these countries, which are currently substantial, will be lifted.

—BBC News

New research indicates that many teens—who are on their phones pretty much constantly throughout the day—believe they spend too much time on their phones, and they generally feel less anxious when they introduce more screen-less time into their lives, but they also have trouble doing so (for a variety of reasons, many of them social-pressure related).

—Pew Research

$9.4 billion

Eli Lilly’s 2023 revenue, up about 28% from the previous year, according to the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report.

That increase is largely attributable to its weight-loss drug Zepbound (its Ozempic competitor), of which the company sold $176 million-worth in less than a month.

—Quartz

Trust Click

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