NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Turkey on Monday to expedite the approval of Sweden’s pending membership, stating that it should be done “as soon as possible.” Stoltenberg emphasized that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments, and now it is crucial for Turkey to conclude the accession process.

As of now, Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO member states that have not ratified Sweden’s bid for membership, despite Sweden applying for it over 18 months ago. The Turkish parliament initiated discussions on Sweden’s membership earlier this month, following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s initiation of the process after a NATO summit agreement in July.

While the other 29 NATO allies had hoped to officially welcome Sweden into the alliance during a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels this week, the process is currently in the committee stage in the Turkish parliament.

Expressing his desire for a swifter ratification process, Stoltenberg remarked, “I would have liked to see more speed in the ratification process, that’s no secret. I would like them to finalize that, and that’s exactly what I have communicated many times.”

Just a month after the start of a fierce conflict between the Israeli military and Hamas militants, Israel has agreed to institute daily four-hour ceasefires in the northern Gaza Strip, as confirmed by the White House. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby mentioned that the announcement of these pauses will be made three hours in advance. He stated, “According to information from the Israelis, there will be no military operations in these areas during the ceasefire, and this process begins today.”

It’s worth noting that an armed conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip escalated on October 7, 2023, following a multi-pronged invasion by the latter into Southern Israel. Since October 7, there have been reports of at least 10,812 Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip.

In October, there was a slowdown in job growth in the United States, as reported by government data released on Friday. This deceleration was, in part, attributed to a strike by auto workers.

The largest economy in the world added 150,000 jobs last month, falling short of analysts’ expectations and down from the revised figure of 297,000 in September, as reported by the Labor Department. The report also noted a slight increase in the unemployment rate, bringing it to 3.9 percent.

From a policymaker’s perspective, this development is likely to be viewed positively, as there were concerns that an excessively strong labor market could sustain elevated inflation. Over the past year, the job market has shown unexpected resilience, even as the central bank raised interest rates rapidly to combat inflation. Such rate hikes typically result in a slowdown in hiring and a rise in unemployment.

However, the strong growth in jobs and wages has enabled consumers to continue spending, even as inflation has decreased, thus supporting economic growth. This has raised optimism that the United States may avoid a recession despite the presence of higher interest rates.

Labor Department data for October showed that average hourly earnings inched up by 0.2 percent, a slight decrease from the previous month. The department explained, “Employment in the manufacturing sector declined by 35,000 in October, primarily due to a drop of 33,000 in motor vehicles and parts, largely stemming from strike activity.”