Foreign News

Tight vote in Norway to decide whether to stick with Labour or turn right

Published

7 months ago

2025/09/7

Priyan

Conservative Erna Solberg is challenged by Labour's Jonas Gahr Støre during a TV debate in the run-up to the election [BBC]

Norwegians go to the polls on Sunday and Monday in a tight race to decide whether to continue with a Labour-led government or turn to the centre right.

There are only four million voters in this founding member of Nato, which shares an Artic border with Russia and is part of the EU’s single market but not a member state.

Despite its small population, Norway has long punched above its weight on the international stage, and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine – as well as US trade tariffs – have played a significant part in the election campaign.

Nevertheless, in the final stretch of the race, the focus has switched to the increasing cost of living and inequality.

“Public spending, school and infrastructure, railway infrastructure and road construction, those kinds of things,” says Andreas, who is father to a small child, about what he considers the key issues.

This domestic focus became clear during Norway’s summer politics fest in the small town of Arendal, last month.

Every year, Norway’s political class joins company bosses, unions and the public on the south-east coast for an array of panel talks and meetings. This time, it opened with a nationally televised election debate in which all the main political leaders took part.

Among them was Labour Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, 65, who is aiming for a second term in office after eight years of conservative rule ended in 2021.

He is fighting off a challenge from a bloc made up of two conservative parties: the right-wing populist Progress Party under Sylvi Listhaug, 47, which has risen in popularity, and the Høyre party of ex-Prime Minister Erna Solberg, which is looking to return to power.

BBC/Alex Maxia A man and woman, both political leaders, stand behind a microphone in front of a dark wooden panelled wall — *Silvi Listhaug (L) and Jonas Gahr Støre answer questions during the annual festival in Arendal [BBC]*

One of the hot-button issues of the campaign has been the future of a 1% wealth tax, which Norwegians pay if their assets add up to more than 1.76m Norwegian kroner (£130,000; $175,000).

Hundreds of wealthy Norwegians have already left the country for Switzerland in recent years, anecdotally because of their native country’s high taxes.

Can that exodus be reversed?

Sylvi Listhaug has called for the abolition of the wealth tax and cutting other taxes too, while Solberg’s conservatives want to remove the wealth tax on what they call “working capital”, such as shares.

Labour refuses to go that far but has promised a wide-ranging review of taxation. It has heavyweight former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg in charge of finance and he warns against creating a tax system that means the wealthiest in Norway end up paying little or no tax.

Opinion polls ahead of the vote have put Labour in the lead, ahead of Listhaug’s Progress party and the conservatives, and buoyed partly by the “Stoltenberg effect”.

But if the combined forces of the centre right win, one of the big questions of this election is which of the two party leaders would be prime minister.

Solberg, 67, who was prime minister for eight years, has so far refused to accept the idea that her populist rival could take office ahead of her, suggesting that voters see her as too polarising as a politician.

Foreign policy has rarely been far away from the election campaign, and recent weeks have been dominated by a move by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – the world’s largest – to scrap investments in almost half the Israeli companies it held because of alleged rights violations.

The $1.9tn (£1.4tn) fund, built up over decades from Norway’s enormous oil and gas resources, is managed by the central bank but it has to follow ethical guidelines.

Buffeted by political headwinds surrounding the Gaza war, the fund’s chief executive Nicolai Tangen, has described its recent decisions as “my worst-ever crisis”.

*Nicolai Tangen also appeared at the annual conference in Arendal last month [BBC]*

Although Norway is part of Nato, it has never been part of the European Union.

It does have access to the EU’s single market through its membership of the European Economic Area, so it has to respect its rules. And it is part of the EU’s border-free Schengen zone.

Russia’s war in Ukraine may have brought Norway closer to its European neighbours on a range of levels, but the question of joining the EU has been barely touched on during the election campaign as parties are wary of losing voters on such a polarising issue.

“There’s still a massive ‘no vote’ in Norway. And so the voters are not there,” said journalist Fredrik Solvang, who was one of the moderators of the TV debate in Arendal.

For Solberg’s conservatives, working actively towards EU membership is a core policy, but it would have to be based on a referendum.

“So it’s not about this election campaign,” she told the BBC. “And of course, as long as we don’t see a clearer move towards a majority for EU membership, none of us will start a new debate about the referendum.”

“The Labour Party has always been pro-EU, but it’s not a topic on the agenda today,” said foreign minister Espen Barth Eide.

“I’m not precluding that it could happen in the future if major things happen, but right now, my mandate as foreign minister is to try to maintain as best as possible the relationship as we have it.”

*Norway’s political leaders have taken part in several TV debates during the campaign [BBC]*

Part of the TV debate in Arendal featured a duel between party leaders from the same side in politics.

When two parties on the centre right – the Liberals who want to join the EU and the Christian Democrats who don’t – were offered a choice between the EU or Pride flags in schools, they preferred to discuss flags.

“I guess with the geopolitical status, it’s an unsure future and I think that we maybe have to take the discussion seriously,” said Iver Hoen, a nurse.

Christina Stuyck, who has both Norwegian and Spanish nationality, agrees.

“I think Norwegian politics kind of acts as if it’s on a separate island to the rest of the world and isn’t affected, but clearly it is.”

Norway’s political system requires parties to attract 4% of the vote to get into parliament, and because it has proportional representation no party can govern on its own.

To form a majority in the 169-seat Storting, a coalition needs 85 seats, and minority governments have long been common in Norway.

Støre’s Labour Party formed a minority government with the Centre party after the last election, but that two-party coalition collapsed in January in a row over EU energy policies.

The centre-right bloc has its own disagreements, so this election may end up with no clear majority when votes are counted on Monday evening.

***[BBC]***

Bloomberg via Getty Images A man in a checked-blue jacket and light blue shirt stretches his hands out as he talks, while a woman looks on — *Silvi Listhaug (L) and Jonas Gahr Støre answer questions during the annual festival in Arendal [BBC]*

One of the hot-button issues of the campaign has been the future of a 1% wealth tax, which Norwegians pay if their assets add up to more than 1.76m Norwegian kroner (£130,000; $175,000).

Hundreds of wealthy Norwegians have already left the country for Switzerland in recent years, anecdotally because of their native country’s high taxes.

Can that exodus be reversed?

Sylvi Listhaug has called for the abolition of the wealth tax and cutting other taxes too, while Solberg’s conservatives want to remove the wealth tax on what they call “working capital”, such as shares.

Labour refuses to go that far but has promised a wide-ranging review of taxation. It has heavyweight former Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg in charge of finance and he warns against creating a tax system that means the wealthiest in Norway end up paying little or no tax.

Opinion polls ahead of the vote have put Labour in the lead, ahead of Listhaug’s Progress party and the conservatives, and buoyed partly by the “Stoltenberg effect”.

But if the combined forces of the centre right win, one of the big questions of this election is which of the two party leaders would be prime minister.

Solberg, 67, who was prime minister for eight years, has so far refused to accept the idea that her populist rival could take office ahead of her, suggesting that voters see her as too polarising as a politician.

Foreign policy has rarely been far away from the election campaign, and recent weeks have been dominated by a move by Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – the world’s largest – to scrap investments in almost half the Israeli companies it held because of alleged rights violations.

The $1.9tn (£1.4tn) fund, built up over decades from Norway’s enormous oil and gas resources, is managed by the central bank but it has to follow ethical guidelines.

Buffeted by political headwinds surrounding the Gaza war, the fund’s chief executive Nicolai Tangen, has described its recent decisions as “my worst-ever crisis”.

*Nicolai Tangen also appeared at the annual conference in Arendal last month [BBC]*

Although Norway is part of Nato, it has never been part of the European Union.

It does have access to the EU’s single market through its membership of the European Economic Area, so it has to respect its rules. And it is part of the EU’s border-free Schengen zone.

Russia’s war in Ukraine may have brought Norway closer to its European neighbours on a range of levels, but the question of joining the EU has been barely touched on during the election campaign as parties are wary of losing voters on such a polarising issue.

“There’s still a massive ‘no vote’ in Norway. And so the voters are not there,” said journalist Fredrik Solvang, who was one of the moderators of the TV debate in Arendal.

For Solberg’s conservatives, working actively towards EU membership is a core policy, but it would have to be based on a referendum.

“So it’s not about this election campaign,” she told the BBC. “And of course, as long as we don’t see a clearer move towards a majority for EU membership, none of us will start a new debate about the referendum.”

“The Labour Party has always been pro-EU, but it’s not a topic on the agenda today,” said foreign minister Espen Barth Eide.

“I’m not precluding that it could happen in the future if major things happen, but right now, my mandate as foreign minister is to try to maintain as best as possible the relationship as we have it.”

*Norway’s political leaders have taken part in several TV debates during the campaign [BBC]*

Part of the TV debate in Arendal featured a duel between party leaders from the same side in politics.

When two parties on the centre right – the Liberals who want to join the EU and the Christian Democrats who don’t – were offered a choice between the EU or Pride flags in schools, they preferred to discuss flags.

“I guess with the geopolitical status, it’s an unsure future and I think that we maybe have to take the discussion seriously,” said Iver Hoen, a nurse.

Christina Stuyck, who has both Norwegian and Spanish nationality, agrees.

“I think Norwegian politics kind of acts as if it’s on a separate island to the rest of the world and isn’t affected, but clearly it is.”

Norway’s political system requires parties to attract 4% of the vote to get into parliament, and because it has proportional representation no party can govern on its own.

To form a majority in the 169-seat Storting, a coalition needs 85 seats, and minority governments have long been common in Norway.

Støre’s Labour Party formed a minority government with the Centre party after the last election, but that two-party coalition collapsed in January in a row over EU energy policies.

The centre-right bloc has its own disagreements, so this election may end up with no clear majority when votes are counted on Monday evening.

***[BBC]***

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Foreign News

Two killed when Air Canada jet hits fire truck at NYC’s LaGuardia Airport

Published

4 days ago

2026/03/23

Priyan

An Air Canada Express CRJ-900 sits on the runway after colliding with a Port Authority fire truck at LaGuardia Airport in New York on March 23, 2026 [Aljazeera]

At least two people have been killed when an Air Canada Express flight from Montreal struck a ground vehicle while landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, according to several United States media outlets. The airport has been closed and flights diverted.

Kathryn Garcia, the executive ⁠director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said 32 of the 41 people who were injured had been released on Monday while nine remained in hospital with “serious injuries”. Those injured included passengers, crew members and the two officers on the fire truck. Both officers remained hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.

The aircraft, operated by Jazz Aviation, a regional partner of Air Canada, struck a firefighting truck on Runway 4 about 11:40pm on Sunday (03:40 GMT on Monday) as the vehicle drove to a separate incident, the Port Authority said.

A preliminary passenger list showed 76 people on board Flight AC8646, including four crew members, Jazz Aviation said in a statement.

The CRJ-900 aircraft ⁠struck the vehicle at a speed of 39 kilometres per hour (24 miles per hour), the flight tracking website Flightradar24 said.

“The airport is currently closed to facilitate the response and allow for a thorough investigation,” the Port Authority said in a statement to the AFP news agency.

Emergency response protocols were “immediately activated”, it said.

A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lays on its side off of runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia Airport, Monday — *A Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle lies on its side off Runway 4 after colliding with an Air Canada jet after it landed at LaGuardia Airport in New York [Aljazeera]*

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for all departures to LaGuardia due to the aircraft emergency with the airport closure in effect until 05:30 GMT. The probability of an extension was listed as high.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Eid celebrations dimmed by war and displacement across Middle East

Published

7 days ago

2026/03/21

Priyan

Shireen Shreim says that Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to find the joy in Eid [Al Jazeera]

Along Beirut’s downtown waterfront, Alaa is looking for somewhere to rest his head.

The Syrian refugee, originally from the occupied Golan Heights, is now homeless. He explained that he had already spent the day wandering around the Lebanese capital trying to find shelter.

He used to live in Dahiyeh – the southern suburbs of Beirut that have been pummelled by Israeli attacks, which have now killed MORE THAN 1,000 across Lebanon.

Now, he’s just looking for somewhere he can be safe. And in that context, Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim festival that began on Friday, is far from his mind.

When asked if he had any plans for Eid, he replied in the negative. Instead, his focus was on getting a tent.

“I got rejected from staying in a school, then I went to sleep on the corniche,” Alaa said. “Then people from the municipality told me to come here to downtown Beirut’s waterfront.”

Alaa wasn’t able to find a tent and is sleeping in the open air for now. But others in the area have, transforming a downtown more famous for its expensive restaurants and bars into a tent city for those displaced by the fighting. Across Lebanon, more than a million people have been displaced.

Lebanese are uncertain when this war will end, particularly as they have barely recovered from the conflict with Israel that ran between October 2023 and November 2024.

It makes celebrations difficult – a common theme across the countries affected by the current conflict.

In Iran, now in its third week of US-Israeli attacks – with no sign of an immediate end and an economic crisis that preceded the conflict, people are struggling to afford any of the items typically bought during the holiday season.

And it is potentially dangerous for people to shop at places like Tehran’s grand bazaar, which has been damaged by the bombing.

The religious element of Eid adds an extra sensitivity for antigovernment Iranians, some of whom now see any sign of religiosity as support for the Islamic Republic. The fact that Nowruz – the Persian New Year – falls on Friday this year means that some in the antigovernment camp will be focused on that celebration instead, and eschewing any events to mark Eid.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

King Charles praises ‘living bridge’ with Nigeria at glitzy banquet

Published

1 week ago

2026/03/19

Priyan

The King spoke of diplomatic ties between the countries during a speech at the banquet [BBC]

PA Media Britain's Queen Camilla in a floorlength cream dress, King Charles III in a black suit jacket and trousers and white waistcoat, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu in a navy blue outfit and Nigeria's First Lady Oluremi Tinubuin an all-black ensemble — *King Charles III and Queen Camilla welcomed Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu [BBC]*

PA Media The Duke of Edinburgh in a black suit walks alongside the Princess of Wales who is wearing a green, long-sleeve floor-length gown and tiara with the Prince of Wales next to her in a black suit — *Among the 160 guests was the Duke of Edinburgh and the Princess and Prince of Wales [BBC]*

A prayer room was set aside in Windsor Castle and the usual lunch hosted by the King on such state visits did not take place.

It’s become a tradition to invent a cocktail for state visits – and in this case the “crimson bloom” was made from non-alcoholic ingredients, combining the Nigerian drink Zobo with English rose soda and hibiscus and ginger syrup.

There were also alcoholic drinks available for guests in St George’s Hall, including fine red and white wines, port and whisky.

The King’s speech reflected on the importance of religious tolerance, in which “people of different faiths can, do, and must live alongside one another in peace”.

He also told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu of the importance of partners such as Nigeria and the UK standing together in difficult times “when rain clouds gather”.

As well as diplomatic ties, King Charles spoke of “Afrobeats filling our concert halls and Nollywood captivating our screens”.

There was also a reflection by the King on the “painful marks” of a shared history, in a reference to colonialism.

“I do not seek to offer words that dissolve the past, for no words can,” said the King, but he hoped for a more optimistic future “worthy of those who bore the pains of the past”.

PA Media A member of Royal Household staff lights a candle during table preparations in St George's Hall, they wear a red jacket and black trousers. the long table is decorated in lavish floral arrangements and candle sticks. A row of plates and cuttlery line the edges of the table. — *The banquet table was adorned with spring flowers and candles [BBC]*

PA Media Place settings at the banquet table in St George's Hall for the banquet on white card, the cuttlery is gold and table cloth a lavish burgundy

The banquet, on an elaborately decorated table filled with spring flowers, saw a meat-free menu.

It included:

Soft boiled quail egg tartlet with watercress and kale and a basil sabayon
Fillet of turbot, lobster mousse wrapped in spinach, beurre blanc sauce, sprouting broccoli with hollandaise sauce, fricassee of peas and broad beans, Jersey Royal potatoes
Iced blackcurrant souffle with red fruit coulis

The two-day state visit began on Wednesday morning with a ceremonial welcome at Windsor.

In warm spring sunshine, the president and first lady – wearing traditional robes – were given the ceremonial grandeur of a royal welcome.

There was a carriage procession, bringing the Nigerian visitors into the quadrangle inside Windsor Castle, where a military band, with careful symmetry, paraded on the chequerboard lawn.

There was a gun salute, national anthems were played, guards were inspected and the Household Cavalry kicked up dust as they paraded inside the castle, in front of a viewing stand for the King and Queen and their visitors.

Reuters King Charles III with the President of Nigeria Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the Royal Dais during a welcome ceremony at Datchet Road in Windsor. Both men are dressed in black, with King Charles in a three-piece suit

Getty Images King Charles, President Tinubu, Queen Camilla and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu with other uniformed figures outside Windsor Castle — *President Tinubu received a full ceremonial welcome in Windsor Castle [BBC]*

Official gifts were exchanged. The president and Mrs Tinubu were given hand-crafted pottery, a silver photo frame containing a picture of the King and Queen and a silver and enamel bowl.

In return, the King and Queen were given a traditional Yoruba statuette and a jewellery box featuring the faces of important Nigerian women.

President Tinubu is a Muslim and his wife is a Christian and the couple attended an interfaith event at Windsor Castle, designed to build bridges between religions.

It’s at a time of tensions within Nigeria, with a series of suspected suicide bombings this week in the north-eastern state of Borno, in which at least 23 people were killed and 108 injured in attacks blamed on hard-line Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group.

This is Nigeria’s first state visit to the UK for 37 years and such visits are a way of building relationships with international partners.

The Nigeria visit will see a strengthening of business links, including financial services. And there are personal and family connections, with more than 270,000 Nigerian-born people living in the UK.

“This state visit is about turning a historic relationship into a modern economic partnership – transforming trust into opportunity,” said Nigeria’s government spokesman Mohammed Idris.

“Nigeria’s economic reforms are unlocking the potential of Africa’s largest consumer market. The United Kingdom is a natural partner in what comes next.”