A Norwegian ambassador who was involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the 1990s and most recently served in Jordan has resigned as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry announced Mona Juul’s resignation on Sunday evening, days after she was suspended as Norway’s ambassador to Jordan. That followed reports that Epstein left the children of Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, $10 million in a will drawn up shortly before his death by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.
Revelations from the Epstein files have reverberated across several countries — most prominently the U.K., where the former Prince Andrew has long been under pressure. Prime Minister Keir Starmer now faces calls to resign as he contends with fallout from the relationship between Epstein and former British ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson. Starmer appointed Mandelson in 2024 despite knowing he had ties to Epstein.
Federal authorities have denied attempting to expedite an end to asylum claims by the family of a 5-year-old boy who was detained with his father during the immigration crackdown that has shaken the Minneapolis area.
Images of Liam Conejo Ramos wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack surrounded by immigration officers stirred outrage over the crackdown.
Danielle Molliver, a lawyer for the boy and his father, told the New York Times that the government was attempting to speed up the deportation proceedings, calling the actions “extraordinary” and possibly “retaliatory.”
The government denied that.
“These are regular removal proceedings. They are not in expedited removal,” Department of Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, adding “there is nothing retaliatory about enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.”
Authorities investigating the apparent kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie returned to her Arizona neighborhood several times over the weekend, ahead of a Monday evening deadline set by her purported abductors who sent ransom notes demanding money for her return.
The investigation into what happened to the mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie entered a second week with still no word on whether the 84-year-old is still alive.
Savannah Guthrie said over the weekend that family was prepared to pay for her mother’s return.
“We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” she said in a video posted Saturday. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”
Grace Woelfel can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
