NEWS ANALYSIS: It’s almost eerie how Norway has had to mark significant anniversaries of three major crises just in the past two weeks, and right in the middle of the current Corona virus crisis. Valuable lessons can be learned from them all. The sun was shining brilliantly over Oslo’s historic Akerhus Fortress on Thursday, the […]
Norway eyes major boost in Corona testing
April 9, 2020
Norwegian health authorities hope to be testing as many as 100,000 people a week by the end of the month, aided by what they think will be easier access to the chemicals needed and new methods of testing. “We’re working on finding out the most optimal measures,” Svein Lie, acting head of the state health […]
Latest Corona-related news in brief:
April 9, 2020
NORWAY’S DEATH TOLL FROM THE CORONA VIRUS hit 108 on Thursday, after three more patients diagnosed with Covid-19 died in Asker, Drammen and Lillehammer. The number of people testing positive to the virus, meanwhile, passed 6,000 as Norway headed into the country’s five-day Easter holidays. The number of people hospitalized with Covid-19, meanwhile, declined again, […]
Scores go defiantly shopping in Sweden
April 8, 2020
Police and customs agents at Norway’s biggest border crossing point say they were surprised and disgusted that so many Norwegians defied government advice and drove into Sweden on Wednesday to go shopping. “They just didn’t care, and that’s very disappointing to see,” Wenche Fredriksen, chief of the border crossing at Svinesund, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). […]
Market slides amid oil price drama
April 8, 2020
The last day of trading prior to Norway’s five-day Easter holidays ended with the Oslo Stock Exchange’s main index falling 1.34 percent, to 734.38. The Norwegian market once again was influenced by an oil price drama that wasn’t resolved by closing time, and also involved controversial calls for tax breaks from the country’s biggest and […]
Speeding zooms in the Corona crisis
April 8, 2020
There’s been an alarming acceleration in the numbers of Norwegian motorists caught driving at high rates of speed in recent weeks. Oslo police point to a marked decline in traffic during the Corona crisis that has opened up the roads, tempting speedsters to step far too heavily on the gas pedal. Most of the offenders […]
Norway cleared to gradually reopen
April 7, 2020
Prime Minister Erna Solberg held another press conference on Tuesday, and had some welcome news: Norway can gradually begin to reopen from April 20, even though most Corona virus containment measures will remain in effect. Solberg gamely admitted at the outset that the measures her government put in force on March 12 “have demanded a […]
Empty urban spaces illustrate the crisis
April 7, 2020
PHOTO FEATURE: Spring has arrived in the Norwegian capital, where sidewalks, outdoor cafés and other public spaces would normally be packed with people out enjoying the sunny weather. Oslo is instead experiencing an urban emptiness that shows how the Corona virus crisis has created an economic crisis as well. Karl Johans Gate is Oslo’s main […]
Cash support wins Parliament’s nod
April 7, 2020
Business owners all over Norway heaved a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday, after Parliament approved its largest package of expenditures ever. They involve emergency measures aimed at warding off bankruptcies during the Corona crisis, including cash support to businesses forced to close. “It’s the largest commitment the Parliament has ever made,” Tryvge Slagsvold Vedum, […]
Hurtigruten extends its halt in cruise operations
April 6, 2020
Norway’s famed coastal voyage firm Hurtigruten announced Monday that it’s extending its cruise operation shutdown to six weeks. “The consequences of the Corona virus are affecting everyone, and hitting us in Hurtigruten hard,” stated the shipping line’s CEO Daniel Skjeldam. It’s current pared-down ferry and passenger transport operation between Bergen and Kirkenes will continue, but with […]
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