Connect with us

News

Former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to become Norway’s finance minister

Published

on

Former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg to become Norway’s finance minister

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s former secretary-general, will make a surprise return to the frontline of Norwegian politics as finance minister, as the Nordic country frets about being caught in the middle of a US-EU trade war.

“I am deeply honoured to have been asked to help my country at this critical stage,” Stoltenberg, who served as prime minister for nine years, said on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg, who was head of Nato for a decade until last year, was known for his good relations with US President Donald Trump and for getting Sweden and Finland into the military alliance following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Advertisement

One of his first jobs will be to deal with the prospect of Norway, which is not a member of the EU, potentially being hit by tariffs from both Brussels and Washington.

This comes at the same time as an intense energy debate that last week felled the previous coalition government over whether Norway should keep more of its electricity for itself to lower prices for consumers or export it to the EU and UK, an issue seen as crucial to future relations with Brussels.

Stoltenberg, who served as finance minister from 1996-97, was a charismatic leader of Norway’s one-time dominant Labour party for more than a decade until taking up the Nato role in 2014. He was set to return to Norway as central bank chief in 2022 but was forced to turn down the job after receiving an extension at Nato.

He also confirmed he would step down temporarily from his role as head of the Munich Security Conference.

As finance minister Stoltenberg will play a key role in reinvigorating Labour’s fortunes ahead of parliamentary elections in September, as well as dealing with problems between Oslo and its two main allies, the US and EU.

Advertisement

Stoltenberg became known as the “Trump whisperer” during his time at Nato for his ability to manage the volatile US president, praising him for his efforts to raise defence spending across the alliance.

Norway was set to meet Nato’s informal target of 2 per cent of GDP spending on defence only last year, and spends proportionately far less than other countries bordering Russia such as Poland, Estonia and Lithuania.

Stoltenberg’s entry into Norway’s government comes after the collapse of the two-party minority coalition over whether to sign several EU energy directives into law.

The rural, Eurosceptic Centre party — led by former finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum — decided to leave, arguing Norway needed a new, more protectionist course on electricity.

Labour — led by Stoltenberg’s friend, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre — will now govern alone until the September elections, and has made several new electricity proposals including a guaranteed nationwide cheap price for power and no new interconnectors for export to Europe.

Advertisement

The latter issue is particularly controversial in both Oslo and Brussels. Next year, two electricity interconnectors to Denmark from Norway are due to expire and the Labour party has indicated that it will campaign in the elections not to renew them. But this has sparked fury in Denmark, Sweden and across the EU.

News

Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Published

on

Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Advertisement

“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Published

on

Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

Finn Gomez/Getty Images


hide caption



toggle caption

Advertisement

Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

Advertisement

The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

Advertisement

Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

Continue Reading

News

Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Published

on

Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

Advertisement

Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

Advertisement

The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending