COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian center-left government said Thursday that it wants to add 7 billion kroner ($630 million) to the Scandinavian country’s armed forces over the next 12 years amid increased tensions in the region.
The announcement came on top of plans announced last month of a “historic increase” of 600 billion kroner ($54 billion) in the oil-rich country's defense budget over the same period.
“We must increase the operational capability of the Armed Forces,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, citing heightened tensions in the region as the reason for the boost.
Gahr Støre said Thursday that the combined budget increase meant that Norway would be able to reach NATO's goal of military spending of 2% of each member country's GDP this year. In 2024, the Scandinavian country's defense budget is expected to increase to 104 billion kroner ($9.4 billion).
Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum called it “a strong growth” and said it was “a necessary investment to strengthen our freedom.”
Gahr Støre heads a coalition that includes his own social democratic Labor party and the left-leaning Center Party. He is expected to win support for the proposal in the 169-seat Storting assembly. No date for a vote was set.
On Tuesday, party leaders in the Norwegian parliament announced that the Scandinavian country was donating 7 billion kroner to Ukraine as part of a five-year support package. That comes on top of the 75 billion kroner ($6.8 billion) which Norway already has said it will donate, making it one of the world’s biggest donors to war-torn Ukraine.
Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, centre, Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, right and Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram, take part in a press conference on defense at SMK, in Oslo, Thursday, May 2, 2024. The Norwegian center-left government wants to add 7 billion kroner ($630 million) to the Scandinavian country’s Armed Forces on top of the hefty increase of the defense budget announced last month. (Terje Pedersen /NTB Scanpix via AP)
HOUSTON (AP) — Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to nearly 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area.
Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night.
“Stay at home tonight, do not go to work tomorrow, unless you’re an essential worker. Stay home, take care of your children,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said in an evening briefing. “Our first responders will be working around the clock.”
The mayor said four people died. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, and another happened when a crane blew over in strong winds, officials said.
Streets were flooded, and trees and power lines were down across the region. Whitmire said wind speeds reached 100 mph (160 kph), “with some twisters.”
Hundreds of windows were shattered at downtown hotels and office buildings, with glass littering the streets below, and the state was sending Department of Public Safety officers to secure the area.
“Downtown is a mess,” Whitmite said.
There was a backlog of 911 calls that first responders were working through, he added.
The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east.
Flights were briefly grounded at Houston's two major airports. Sustained winds topping 60 mph (96 kph) were recorded at Bush Intercontinental Airport.
More than 870,000 customers were without electricity in and around Harris County, which contains Houston, according to poweroutage.us. The county is home to more than 4.7 million people.
The damage extended to the city's suburbs, with emergency officials in neighboring Montgomery County describing the damage to transmission lines as “catastrophic” and warning that power could be impacted for several days.
The Houston Independent School District canceled classes Friday for all its 274 campuses.
Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Transmission power lines are down near the Grand Parkway and West Road after a storm Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Cypress, Texas. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)
