BRUSSELS: NATO will officially name outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as the alliance’s next head on Wednesday, after ambassadors from all 32 member countries greenlit his appointment, diplomats said Tuesday.
Diplomats from several NATO states said Rutte, who was strongly backed by leading power the United States, will take over from current secretary general Jens Stoltenberg when his term ends on October 1.
Rutte, 57, last week sealed the race to lead the Western military alliance after lone challenger Romanian President Klaus Iohannis dropped out.
The seasoned Dutch leader, who is set to leave office in the Netherlands soon after almost 14 years in charge, will take the reins at a pivotal time.
The next NATO chief will have to grapple with the ongoing fallout from Russia’s war on Ukraine and the potential return to the US presidency of Donald Trump after elections in November.
NATO to formally appoint Rutte next boss Wednesday: diplomats
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NATO to formally appoint Rutte next boss Wednesday: diplomats
- Diplomats from several NATO states said Rutte will take over from current secretary general Jens Stoltenberg
- The seasoned Dutch leader will take the reins at a pivotal time
More than 9,000 flights canceled as major winter storm bears down across much of US
- “Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are spreading into the area and will remain in place into Monday,” the agency said on X
DALLAS: More than 9,000 flights across the US set to take off over the weekend have been canceled as a major storm expected to wreak havoc across much of the country threatens to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways.
Roughly 140 million people were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England.
The National Weather Service forecast warns of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina.
Forecasters say damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.
Ice and sleet that hit northern Texas overnight were moving toward the central part of the state on Saturday, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said.
“Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills are spreading into the area and will remain in place into Monday,” the agency said on X.
Low temperatures will be mostly in the single digits for the next few nights, with wind chills as low as minus 24 Celsius.
About 68,000 power outages were reported across the country at 8 a.m. ET, about 27,600 of them in Texas. Snow and sleet continued to fall in Oklahoma.
After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted.
Temperatures reached minus 34 C just before dawn in rural Lewis County and other parts of upstate New York after days of heavy snow.
Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.
