Former Norwegian government minister Per Sandberg shared front-row seats at an Iranian embassy event earlier this year with a Norwegian-Iranian who was ordered held in custody in Denmark on Thursday, charged with espionage and an attempted assassination. Sandberg, who was forced to resign his government posts after violating regulations regarding travel to Iran, remains unrepentant […]
Bestseller bound to break boundaries
November 7, 2018
Zeshan Shakar grew up in Oslo’s Stovner district and wrote a book about it that’s been winning rave reviews. Now his revealing story about two boys caught between their immigrant parents’ hopes and limitations, compounded by their own choices in the Norwegian capital, is about to be translated into English and just may strike a […]
Tax lists released, but can mislead
November 7, 2018
Norwegian authorities made the country’s tax lists publicly available and searchable once again on Wednesday. The lists reveal taxable income and net worth for everyone obligated to file tax returns in Norway, and show how much tax each individual actually paid for calendar year 2017, but the figures don’t necessarily reflect actual wealth or annual […]
‘Pre-plan’ emerges for National Gallery
November 6, 2018
After years of facing an uncertain future, state officials finally have a plan of sorts for Norway’s popular National Gallery in downtown Oslo. It will still be closed on January 13, when its art will start being packed up and moved to the new National Museum now under construction, but now it’s due to reopen […]
Government still caught in drama
November 5, 2018
Prime Minister Erna Solberg isn’t celebrating yet. New political posturing during the weekend suggests the future of her conservative government coalition remains insecure, even though the Christian Democrats voted to launch negotiations to join her government and give it a majority in Parliament. The Christian Democrats’ 98-90 vote on Friday shows that the small centrist […]
Christian Democrats stick with Solberg
November 2, 2018
Christian Democrats leader Knut Arild Hareide needed a miracle at his party’s national meeting on Friday, and he didn’t get it. After setting off weeks of political drama, his flock voted against his call to team up with the Labour and Center parties, and opted to join Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Conservatives-led government coalition instead. […]
Political ‘D-Day’ tests democracy
November 2, 2018
NEWS ANALYSIS: “Is Norway still a democracy?” read the headline on a letter to the editor of the country’s biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, this week. It reflected the indignation of Norwegian voters who don’t understand how a small party like the Christian Democrats, voting on their political direction on Friday, could actually threaten to bring down […]
Lavrov likely to re-visit Finnmark next year
November 2, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t expected to take part in next year’s 75th anniversary of the Soviet liberation of Finnmark from Nazi German forces in 1944. His foreign minister Sergej Lavrov, however, is likely to attend, just like he did on the 70th anniversary in 2014. Northern Norway remains grateful to the Soviet Army for […]
Thousands of farmers apply for compensation
November 2, 2018
More than 14,000 farmers are seeking state taxpayer-funded compensation for crop losses following last summer’s drought. The number compares to 890 last year, reports newspaper Nationen. Most of the farmers seeking financial aid over and above the subsidy and tariff protection they also receive are located in the counties of Oppland, Østfold and Akershus, according […]
Norway calls in Iran’s ambassador
November 1, 2018
UPDATED: As Nordic prime ministers presented a collective front in Oslo this week, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide summoned Iran’s ambassador in Oslo to her office on Thursday. She wanted to let him know just how seriously the Norwegian government is taking charges that Iranian intelligence was plotting to assassinate critics of Iran in […]
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