Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre will be eagerly heading for a hotel north of Oslo on Thursday with the Center- and Socialist Left (SV) party leaders. Both accepted his invitation to “exploratory talks” about forming a new left-center government, and Støre seems convinced “we share much more than that which divides us.” Together they’d […]
Bergen now has the most el-scooters
September 20, 2021
Pedestrians in Oslo could breathe a sigh of relief this week, after thousands of electric scooters were forcibly removed from the city streets, leaving 8,000 available for rental. The reduction ended up giving Bergen the dubious distinction of having the largest density of el-scooters per capita in Europe. Oslo officials, backed by a court ruling, […]
Nine juveniles suspected of robberies
September 20, 2021
Police in Oslo reported a rash of robberies and attempted robberies over the weekend, mostly at metro stations on the city’s affluent west side. A group of teenage boys threatened and even assaulted other teenagers, before making off with expensive clothing and mobile phones. It’s the latest surge of so-called barneran, often involving minority youth […]
NAV worker killed, another injured
September 20, 2021
Two women working for Norwegian state welfare agency NAV in Bergen were stabbed by a NAV client on Monday. One later died of her wounds, while the other remains hospitalized. Government minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen called the attacks “deeply tragic,” and sought an evaluation of employee security at NAV offices all over the country. It’s […]
Oil industry expects a new energy crisis
September 20, 2021
Recently soaring electricity rates in Norway and high gasoline prices at the pump are just a taste of what may lay ahead, warn various oil industry players. They have their own vested interests and can profit on such booms, but several meeting in Oslo last week think consumers need to brace for a new energy […]
Politicians caught exploiting benefits
September 20, 2021
Norwegian voters’ longstanding confidence in their elected officials is being put to the test, just a week after the parliamentary election. Several Members of Parliament have been caught exploiting generous state benefits, none moreso than Kjell Ingolf Ropstad, who felt compelled to resign over the weekend as both a government minister and leader of the […]
Smooth transfer of power looms
September 17, 2021
Prime Minister Erna Solberg, leader of Norway’s Conservatives, was winning kudos this week for quickly congratulating Jonas Gahr Støre after his Labour Party won the most votes of any other party in Monday’s national election. He in turn thanked her publicly for leading the country for the past eight years, and then praised her leadership. […]
‘No PR people in government’
September 17, 2021
Prime Minister-elect Jonas Gahr Støre has promised a government free of people hired away from the public relations and communications sector. “I can’t see any transitions (from PR) to a Labour-led government,” Støre told newspaper VG. “We have so many clever people who are engaged around the country, and that’s where I’ll be looking.” His […]
Warnings against more airline aid
September 17, 2021
Norway’s competition authority is warning against more financial aid to the country’s three established airlines: SAS, Norwegian Air and Widerøe. The warning comes despite looming cutbacks at SAS and Norwegian and the risk of monopolies on some routes. The three established carriers have already received more than NOK 6 billion (around USD 700 million) in […]
China critic’s email hacked and stolen
September 17, 2021
Norway’s police intelligence unit PST and national security officials have been quietly investigating the theft of all email belonging to the deputy leader of the Parliament’s foreign relations and defense committee, veteran Member of Parliament Michael Tetzschner. He’s been among Norway’s most outspoken critics of China, from which another attack on the entire Parliament’s email […]
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