Category Archives: Norway

Norway issues rightwing terror warning for year ahead

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Heightened assessment based on extremists expressing backing for recent attacks

Norway’s domestic security agency has warned about the possibility of a terror attack from rightwing extremists “in the coming year”.

In a statement, the PST said its heightened assessment stemmed from the fact that several Norwegian rightwing extremists had recently expressed support for the perpetrators behind attacks in New Zealand, the US and the failed attack in the Norwegian capital Oslo last month.

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Norway halts Amazon fund donation in dispute with Brazil

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International concerns grow over deforestation surge since Jair Bolsonaro took power

Norway has followed Germany in suspending donations to the Brazilian government’s Amazon Fund after a surge in deforestation in the South American rainforest. The move has triggered a caustic attack from the country’s rightwing president.

Related: Bolsonaro rejects 'Captain Chainsaw' label as data shows deforestation 'exploded'

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One injured in gun attack on Norwegian mosque

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Police believe suspect may have killed relative before attack on man, 75, at al-Noor Islamic Centre near Oslo

One person has been injured in a shooting inside a mosque in Norway, Oslo police said on Saturday, adding that a man had been apprehended.

The suspect may also have killed a relative before launching the attack, police said. “A young woman was found dead at the suspect’s address,” assistant chief of police Rune Skjold told a news conference, adding that the man was suspected of murder.

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Starvation deaths of 200 reindeer in Arctic caused by climate change, say researchers

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Comparable death toll has been recorded only once before, says Norwegian Polar Institute

About 200 reindeer have been found dead from starvation in the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, an unusually high number, the Norwegian Polar Institute has said, pointing the finger at climate change.

During an annual census of the wild reindeer population on the group of islands about 1,200km (746 miles) from the north pole, three researchers from the institute identified the carcasses of about 200 deer believed to have starved to death last winter.

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Moroccan court orders death penalty for jihadists who beheaded tourists

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Three Isis supporters who killed two Scandinavian women given death sentence

Three men have been sentenced to death in Morocco for the Isis-inspired murder of two Scandinavian hikers in the Atlas mountains last December.

The two victims, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were beheaded by a group of men who wanted to impress Islamic State. The three men confessed to their murder at a court in Salé, near Rabat.

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Mother of Danish student suspected killed by jihadists demands death penalty

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Helle Petersen asks trial in Morocco for ‘just’ penalty after murder of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen in Atlas mountains

The mother of a Danish student who was beheaded, along with another Scandinavian woman, while hiking in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains has called for the suspected jihadist killers to face the death penalty as their trial neared its end.

In a letter read out by her lawyer in an anti-terrorist court in Sale, near Morocco’s capital, Rabat, Helle Petersen said: “The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve, I ask that of you. My life was destroyed the moment that two policemen came to my door on 17 December to announce my daughter’s death.”

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Fantastic arctic fox: animal walks 3,500km from Norway to Canada

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Epic journey by female fox includes fastest movement rate for species ever recorded

An arctic fox has walked more than 3,500km (2,000 miles) from Norway to Canada in just 76 days, astonishing researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute.

The animal, known as a coastal or blue fox, was fitted with a tracking device in July 2017. It left Spitsbergen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago on 26 March 2018. After 21 days and 1,512 km out on the sea ice, it landed in Greenland on 16 April 2018. Its journey continued to Ellesmere Island in Canada, where it arrived on 1 July.

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Inquiry into oil tanker attacks stops short of blaming Iran

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UN security council hears unidentified state was behind explosions in Gulf last month

An unidentified state actor has been blamed for attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf last month, according to an inconclusive inquiry that stopped short of explicitly pointing the finger at Iran.

The UAE along with Saudi Arabia and Norway presented the preliminary findings during a private briefing to members of the UN security council, which will also receive the final results of the inquiry and consider a possible response.

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CIA warns Arab activist of potential threat from Saudi Arabia

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Pro-democracy campaigner İyad el-Baghdadi has been vocal critic of Saudi crown prince

The CIA has warned Norway that a prominent Arab activist who is living in the country under asylum protection is facing a potential threat from Saudi Arabia, the Guardian has learned.

The pro-democracy activist, İyad el-Baghdadi, is a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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Whale with harness could be Russian weapon, say Norwegian experts

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Fisherman raised alarm after white whale sporting unusual strapping began harassing their boats

Marine experts in Norway believe they have stumbled upon a white whale that was trained by the Russian navy as part of a programme to use underwater mammals as a special ops force.

Fishermen in waters near the small Norwegian fishing village of Inga reported last week that a white beluga whale wearing a strange harness had begun to harass their fishing boats.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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£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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