Royal orders go mostly to men

King Harald celebrated his 73rd birthday on Sunday and the canons were fired from the Akershus Fortress in Oslo, but the monarch couldn’t hear them. He and Queen Sonja had traveled to Vancouver over the weekend to spend the coming week attending events at the Winter Olympics where Norwegians were competing. Meanwhile, back home in [...]

Curling clowns’ attract attention

Norway’s men’s curling team won Olympic gold in 2002 and did fairly well at the Olympics in Torino as well, but never have they attracted as much attention as now in Vancouver. They’re performing well again, but that’s not what’s thrust normally modest men into the media glare. It is, of course, their unusual attire. [...]

Prime Minister seeks advice, while King Harald issued some warnings

Norway’s monarch and prime minister delivered their annual speeches over the New Year holiday, and both acknowledged that most Norwegians are quite fortunate. King Harald, however, worries that maybe some are too fortunate, while Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg intends to seek advice from ordinary citizens around the country on how to tackle remaining challenges. Stoltenberg [...]