Sri Lanka upset over asylum cases

Norway’s ambassador to Sri Lanka has been called in for an apparent scolding by Sri Lankan authorities in Colombo, after Norwegian officials helped 12 persons leave the country and start new lives in Norway. Opposition politicians in Norway are upset as well. The latest diplomatic conflict between Norway and Sri Lanka arose after newspaper Aftenposten [...]

US Embassy resumes its surveillance

The US Embassy in Oslo, which has been at the center of several controversies in recent years, plans to resume its surveillance activities but promises to abide by Norwegian laws this time. The embassy got into trouble with local officials and politicians last fall after TV2 reported that it had a secret surveillance unit that [...]

Chinese want Norwegian apology

Remarks made by the Chinese ambassador to Norway at a meeting in Bergen have been reported by participants as some of the strongest since diplomatic tension between Norway and China set in, following the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. They suggest that the Chinese want an apology from the [...]

NRK ‘not biased against Israel’

The Norwegian Broadcasting Council has rejected complaints from the Israeli embassy in Norway that Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) has been biased against Israel in their news reporting. The council, which is made up of eight members appointed by parliament and six appointed by the government, “reviews programme complaints from the audience,” and issues raised by council’s [...]

Journalist finally released in Libya

UPDATED: Ammar Al-Hamdan, a Norwegian cameraman who works for worldwide news service Al-Jazeera, has been released in Libya, with the help of the Palestinian authorities and President Mahmoud Abbas, after being captured by government authorities six weeks ago. Norwegian officials, meanwhile, are maintaining their support for Norway’s involvement in the NATO-led military intervention in Libya. [...]

Several still trapped in Ivory Coast

13 Norwegians remain in the Ivory Coast as the conflict there intensifies, with Norwegian foreign ministry officials working to bring them home. All 13 are currently in different places within the country’s largest city, Abidjan, awaiting transport out of the conflict-ridden area. Norwegian authorities have been in contact with their French counterparts in order to [...]

Ambassador accused of beating wife

Norwegian authorities are caught in a difficult diplomatic dilemma, after an ambassador stationed in Oslo was reported to the local police for beating his wife. She has sought shelter in a local crisis center, and may be allowed to stay in Norway if and when the abusive ambassador is recalled. In the meantime, however, police [...]

Police can finally question US embassy staff

Norwegian civilians who have conducted surveillance for the US Embassy in Oslo must finally submit to questioning by Norwegian police. The surveillance itself is under investigation because of concerns it was illegal. Police have been stymied for months in their attempts to probe the surveillance that was carried out for many years by the embassy. [...]

Police lose patience with Americans

UPDATED: Norwegian police and some local politicians have lost patience with US officials at both the embassy in Oslo and in Washington DC. The Norwegians believe the Americans are hindering a police investigation of the US Embassy’s suspected illegal surveillance of Norwegian citizens. The police investigation of the highly controversial surveillance, revealed by TV2 last fall, [...]

Ambassador breaks WikiLeaks silence

US Ambassador Barry White has been complaining about Oslo-based newspaper Aftenposten for months and finally went public with his criticism of Norway’s largest daily on Monday, in Aftenposten itself. He thinks the paper’s use of WikiLeaks documents is inappropriate. White has been unhappy over coverage in Aftenposten and a vast array of other Norwegian media [...]

Police director quits as embassy probe remains stalled

She’d recently signed on for another term, but the head of Norway’s state police directorate, Ingelin Killengreen, is quitting after all. Her resignation comes in the midst of a probe into controversial surveillance by the US Embassy that Killengreen has said she knew nothing about. The probe, meanwhile, remains stalled because the US Embassy still [...]

Embassies must clear security plans

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Wednesday that embassies located in Oslo have been told to inform local authorities about any extraordinary security measures they intend to install. Neither Støre nor Justice Minister Knut Storberget nor his predecessor, Odd Einar Dørum, were aware of a surveillance program at the US Embassy that has upset politicians [...]

Fighter jet price seems to soar

UPDATED: The Norwegian government’s controversial but arguably predictable decision to buy new fighter jets from its most important ally, the US, has been hit with another major cost issue. Documents leaked to WikiLeaks and reported in newspaper Aftenposten indicate the price tag has jumped by 66 percent and may cost Norwegian taxpayers another NOK 12 [...]

WikiLeaks blockade under probe

Government officials in both Norway and Iceland are questioning the grounds for what’s become a credit card blockade against WikiLeaks that has disrupted the non-profit whistle-blowing organization’s ability to raise funds. Norwegian-Danish finance firm Teller is also the target of a government inquiry. Norway’s leading business newspaper, Dagens Næringsliv (DN), has reported in a series [...]

WikiLeaks documents leaked again

An Oslo-based newspaper reportedly has become the only medium in the world that’s secured unlimited access to more than 250,000 documents initially leaked to the non-profit organization WikiLeaks. Newspaper Aftenposten’s access seems to have spoiled WikiLeaks’ strategy to retain control over the vast array of classified material mostly originating from US embassies around the globe. [...]

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