Our daily journey around the world

🇷🇺🇺🇦 A Russian military plane allegedly carrying Ukrainian prisoners crashed near the countries’ border. Russian officials accused Ukraine’s military of shooting down the plane, saying the crash killed all 74 people onboard, including 65 captured Ukrainian soldiers headed for a prearranged prisoner swap. Ukrainian military intelligence said a swap was due to take place, but didn’t immediately confirm or deny Russia’s claims. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he plans to push for an international investigation into the incident. As of yesterday evening, US officials and independent news organizations have been unable to confirm who was onboard the plane, or why it crashed.

🇹🇷🇸🇪 Turkey approved Sweden’s NATO membership bid after a 20-month delay. On Tuesday, the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden’s accession protocol in a 287-55 vote. Turkey initially blocked Sweden's NATO bid in May 2022, saying the country’s government was too lenient toward Kurdish separatists and other terrorist groups. Sweden has since lifted restrictions on defense industry sales, and tightened anti-terrorism legislation. Hungary is now the last country from which Sweden needs approval to officially join NATO, with President Viktor Orbán indicating yesterday that Hungary’s government will soon vote to accept Sweden’s bid.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia opened its first-ever alcohol store. The store, located in the diplomatic quarter of the capital city of Riyadh, debuted as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s multi-trillion-dollar Vision 2030 campaign aimed at attracting tourism and diversifying the Saudi economy away from oil. The store is exclusive to non-Muslim diplomats, and stipulates that patrons 1) attain validation through an app, 2) not use phones or take photos, and 3) be subject to a monthly purchase quota system.