‘Historic breakthrough’: Norway’s giant oil fund dives into renewables

Experts say even nations that got rich on fossil fuels are seeing the future is green

Norway’s $1tn oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, is to plunge billions of dollars into wind and solar power projects. The decision follows Saudi Arabia’s oil fund selling off its last oil and gas assets.

Other national funds built up from oil profits are also thought to be ramping up their investments in renewables. The moves show that countries that got rich on fossil fuels are diversifying their investments and seeking future profits in the clean energy needed to combat climate change. Analysts say the investments are likely to power faster growth of green energy.

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Norway’s Kon-Tiki museum to return thousands of Easter Island artefacts

Explorer Thor Heyerdahl collected many items in his effort to prove South American immigration theory

Norway has agreed to hand back thousands of artefacts removed from Easter Island by the explorer Thor Heyerdahl during his trans-Pacific raft expeditions in the 1950s.

An agreement was signed by representatives of Oslo’s Kon-Tiki Museum and officials of Chile’s culture ministry at a ceremony in Santiago as part of a state visit by Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja.

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Viking Sky: rescuer’s camera shows passengers being airlifted to safety – video

New footage has emerged from the Viking Sky rescue that took place on Saturday that shows passengers being airlifted to safety as huge waves toss the ship around. 

A camera mounted on a rescue worker's helmet captured the moment passengers were hoisted one by one from the cruise ship to a helicopter. The evacuations took place in extremely difficult conditions. Norwegian media reported gusts of up to 38 knots (43 mph) and waves over eight metres (26ft) in an area known for its rough, frigid waters. Twenty people were treated for injuries including broken bones, cuts and bruises, rescuers said.

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Viking Sky: stricken cruise ship in rescue drama

Vessel broke down in rough seas off Norway with 1,300 passengers and crew on board, leading to evacuations by helicopter

The Norwegian cruise ship Viking Sky was limping to safety on Sunday morning amid a continuing dramatic rescue operation that saw hundreds of people winched off by helicopters as the powerless vessel was tossed on rough seas.

The ship carrying 1,300 passengers and crew broke down off the Norwegian coast on Saturday. Video and photos from passengers showed chairs and other furniture rolling dangerously across the floor and parts of the ceiling falling down as the vessel was tossed about. Passengers were wearing orange life vests but the waves broke some of the windows and cold water poured over their feet.

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Military buildup in Arctic as melting ice reopens northern borders

As ice melts and shipping lanes open up, geopolitical tensions are growing and old cold war bases are being reopened

The climate crisis is intensifying a new military buildup in the Arctic, diplomats and analysts said this week, as regional powers attempt to secure northern borders that were until recently reinforced by a continental-sized division of ice.

That so-called unpaid sentry is now literally melting away, opening up shipping lanes and geo-security challenges, said delegates at the Arctic Frontiers conference, the polar circle’s biggest talking shop, who debated a series of recent escalations.

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‘An egregious offence’: Canada battles Norway for tallest moose statue

After Norway’s Storelgen stole Mac the Moose’s place as world’s tallest, a Canadian city hopes to ‘stick it to Oslo’ by increasing their statue’s size

For three decades, the Canadian city of Moose Jaw took pride in its status as the home of the world’s largest moose statue.

Standing at a majestic 10 meters tall, Mac the Moose has weathered brutal winters, graffiti and even the inglorious loss of his jaw. His recognition was so great that in 2013, he was named the city’s most popular celebrity.

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Norway’s favourite painting to go on display in London

Winter Night in the Mountains part of first Harald Sohlberg show outside Norway

Edvard Munch’s The Scream is a classic symbol of dread that has been hailed as the ultimate icon of contemporary politics – but a very different Norwegian painting is the country’s favourite.

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Norwegian millionaire’s wife likely to have been kidnapped, say police

£8m ransom reportedly asked for release of 68-year-old Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen

The wife of a Norwegian multimillionaire missing for 10 weeks has probably been kidnapped and a ransom has been demanded for her release, police have said.

Married to a real estate and energy magnate, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, disappeared on 31 October, police said.

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Corvus Energy Expands

Corvus Energy, manufacturer of energy storage systems for maritime applications, announced two production and R&D expansion plans underway in Canada and Norway. The new battery factories will be more modern and more automated than other similar factories, result in eight times the production capacity compared to today.

Nobel for Trump? Odds slashed after summit but awards committee may be wary

It did not take long for bookmakers to slash Donald Trump's odds of winning the Nobel Peace Prize in the wake of the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. OSLO: It did not take long for bookmakers to slash Donald Trump's odds of winning the Nobel Peace Prize in the wake of the historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Growing chatter over Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize prospects

Now, President Donald Trump's supporters are pushing for him to be the next U.S. leader to win the Nobel Peace Prize - a move that's being met by smirks and eye rolls in Europe, where Trump remains deeply unpopular. But that's not stopping a growing list of champions from pushing the Nobel committee to consider Trump for the world's most coveted diplomatic prize.

Lift preconditions for peace talks, solons tell Duterte

Leftist lawmakers are asking President Rodrigo Duterte to do away with the preconditions he has set for the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines . The Philippine Government and National Democratic Front opened the Fourth Round of Peace Talks ACT-Teachers Reps.

300 U.S. Marines land in Norway, irking Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some 300 U.S. Marines landed in Norway on Monday, January 16 for a six-month deployment, the first time since World War Two that foreign troops have been allowed to be stationed there, in a deployment which has irked Norway's Arctic neighbour Russia , Reuters reports. Officials played down any link between the operation and NATO concerns over Russia, but the deployment coincides with the U.S. sending several thousand troops to Poland to beef up its Eastern European allies worried about Moscow's assertiveness.

NATO boss in autobiography: Obama backed my candidacy

NATO's secretary-general says his bid to become the alliance's chief was supported by U.S. President Barack Obama, who worked behind the scenes to make it happen. In an autobiography published Friday, former Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg wrote that Obama sent him an acknowledgement letter in late 2013 after Stoltenberg had resigned because his Labor Party lost parliamentary elections.