Category Archives: Norway

Norway to fine Meta $98,500 a day over user privacy breach from 14 August

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Country’s data protection regulator said firm cannot harvest user information such as physical locations for showing targeted ads

Facebook owner Meta Platforms will be fined 1m crowns ($98,500) a day over privacy breaches from 14 August, Norway’s data protection authority told Reuters on Monday, a decision that could have wider European implications.

The regulator, Datatilsynet, had said on 17 July that the company would be fined if it did not address privacy breaches the regulator had identified.

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Norwegian Roxy Music model Kari-Ann Moller fights to stay in UK after Brexit

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Husband, Chris Jagger, uses 1972 album cover to support settlement application for Moller, who has lived in UK for 74 years

As a result of Brexit, Norwegians living in the UK were required to apply to the EU settlement scheme – despite Norway not being a member state – to remain living in Britain.

But after former model turned yoga teacher Kari-Ann Moller was stopped by British immigration officials earlier this year and told she was not allowed to remain because of her Norwegian passport, her husband, Chris Jagger – brother of Rolling Stone Sir Mick – got involved.

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Smoke from Canadian wildfires hits Norway and flows to southern Europe

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Researchers used a model to predict how the smoke would move through the region and said it wouldn’t pose a health risk

Smoke from Canadian wildfires that has descended upon parts of the eastern US and Canada in a thick haze has drifted over Norway and is expected to hit southern Europe, Norwegian officials said on Friday.

Using a climate forecast model, atmosphere and climate scientists with the Norwegian climate and environmental research institute (NILU) predicted how the smoke would travel through the atmosphere, flowing over the Scandinavian country before moving further south. The smoke was not expected to pose a health risk there.

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Lewis Capaldi ‘extremely sorry’ for cancelling gigs to rest for Glastonbury

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Singer said recent months had been overwhelming and he needs to spend time with friends and family to recover

The Brit award-winning singer Lewis Capaldi apologised to fans after cancelling all of his upcoming commitments to “rest and recover” ahead of Glastonbury.

Capaldi, 26, said in an Instagram post on Monday that he is “struggling” after a “full on” couple of months in which he released the chart-topping album Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.

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Commission exposes injustices against Norway’s Indigenous people

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Parliament hopes report examining historic treatment of Sámi and Kvens will raise awareness and encourage reconciliation

A Norwegian parliamentary commission has published a damning report on historic injustices against Sámi, Kvens and other Indigenous groups.

Norway’s parliament set up the truth and reconciliation commission in 2018 to examine authorities’ historic policies and activities relating to Indigenous people, including attempts to assimilate them.

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Norway under pressure to scale back fossil fuel expansion plans north sea

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Campaigners say development of huge Rosebank field in North Sea would drive climate breakdown

The Norwegian government is facing growing pressure to scale back its huge global fossil fuel expansion plans – including the development of a controversial new oilfield in the North Sea.

Climate activists from around the world descended on Stavanger in Norway last week to attend the AGM of the state-owned oil and gas giant Equinor. They warned that its plans to develop the huge Rosebank field in the North Sea, as well as other mega-projects in Canada, Brazil and Suriname, would drive climate breakdown with devastating consequences for humanity.

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Sculpture of euthanised walrus Freya unveiled in Oslo

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Campaigners commemorate mammal who drew large crowds in Norwegian capital last summer before being put down

A bronze sculpture has been unveiled in Norway of the walrus nicknamed Freya, who gained global attention last summer after basking in the Oslo fjord until officials euthanised her.

The lifesize sculpture depicts Freya lying on her side on the rocky shore of Oslo’s Kongen marina, not far from where the real 600kg mammal last summer drew large crowds as she chased ducks and swans, and rested on boats that struggled to support her bulk.

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Norway irked over Sweden’s silence on rocket that crashed on its shores

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Research rocket launched from Kiruna, northern Sweden, had plunged into mountainside in Norway’s far north

The Norwegian foreign ministry has expressed irritation with Sweden for not immediately informing it of a research rocket that crashed in Norway, in a rare spat between the two neighbours.

The rocket, which was launched early Monday from the Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden, plunged into a mountainside in the Målselv municipality in Norway’s far north, about 10km (six miles) from the closest inhabited area.

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Weather tracker: heatwave grips parts of Asia and heavy snow hits Scandinavia

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Record heat in Thailand and Laos is forecast to ease this week as snow sweeps Norway and Sweden

A prolonged heatwave that has been affecting many parts of Asia this month continued to batter the region last week. Much of the south-east, including Thailand and Laos, has been experiencing record heat: in Tak, north-west Thailand, the temperature soared to 45.4C (113.7F) on 15 April, while in Luang Prabang, Laos, it reached 42.7C.

Temperatures in Thailand continued to exceed 40C into the weekend, prompting the authorities to issue warnings for extreme heat and advise residents in many parts of the country, including the capital, Bangkok, to stay indoors.

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Russian spy network operating in North Sea, investigation claims

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Moscow using spy ships disguised as fishing vessels to monitor potential sabotage targets, say broadcasters

A joint investigation by the public broadcasters of several Nordic countries alleges that Russia has established a state-run programme using spy ships disguised as fishing vessels aimed at giving it the capability to attack windfarms and communications cables in the North Sea.

The investigation quotes a Danish counter-intelligence officer who claims the sabotage strategy is designed to be implemented in the event that Russia and the west enter a full-blown conflict.

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Super-rich abandoning Norway at record rate as wealth tax rises slightly

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Flood moving abroad has come as a shock and is costing tens of millions in lost tax receipts

A record number of super-rich Norwegians are abandoning Norway for low-tax countries after the centre-left government increased wealth taxes to 1.1%.

More than 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left Norway in 2022, according to research by the newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv. This was more than the total number of super-rich people who left the country during the previous 13 years, it added. Even more super-rich individuals are expected to leave this year because of the increase in wealth tax in November, costing the government tens of millions lost tax receipts.

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Norwegian company says TikTok data centre is limiting energy for manufacturing Ukraine ammunition

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Head of Norwegian manufacturer Nammo says plans to increase production at its largest factory are affected by demands of nearby data centre

One of Europe’s largest ammunition manufacturers has said efforts to meet surging demand from the war in Ukraine have been stymied by a new TikTok data centre that is monopolising electricity in the region close to its biggest factory.

The chief executive of Nammo, which is co-owned by the Norwegian government, said a planned expansion of its largest factory in central Norway hit a roadblock due to a lack of surplus energy, with the construction of TikTok’s new data centre using up electricity in the local area.

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Alarming levels of PFAS in Norwegian Arctic ice pose new risk to wildlife

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Oxford University-led study detects 26 types of PFAS compounds in ice around Svalbard, threatening downstream ecosystems

Norwegian Arctic ice is contaminated with alarming levels of toxic PFAS, and the chemicals may represent a major environmental stressor to the region’s wildlife, new research finds.

The Oxford University-led study’s measurements of ice around Svalbard, Norway, detected 26 types of PFAS compounds, and found when ice melts, the chemicals can move from glaciers into downstream ecosystems like Arctic fjords and tundra.

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Britain’s biggest gas supplier accused of ‘profiteering’ from energy crisis

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Climate campaigners hit out at Norwegian state-owned Equinor’s record £62bn profits as household bills rise

Britain’s biggest gas supplier, the Norwegian state-owned oil company Equinor, has been accused of “profiteering” from the energy crisis and higher household bills after posting record annual earnings of £62bn.

The oil and gas producer said on Wednesday that adjusted profits hit $15.1bn (£12.5bn) in the final three months of last year, bringing total annual profits to $74.9bn, the highest in its 51-year history.

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World’s biggest investment fund warns directors to tackle climate crisis or face sack

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Norway’s sovereign wealth titan threatens to vote against boards on firms it holds investments with over lax climate and social targets

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s single largest investor, has warned company directors it will vote against their re-election to the board if they don’t up their game on tackling the climate crisis, human rights abuses and boardroom diversity.

Carine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance and compliance officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages more than 13tn Norwegian kroner (£1tn) on behalf of the Norwegian people, said the fund was preparing to vote against the re-election of at least 80 company boards for failing to set or hit environmental or social targets.

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Higher UK energy bills here to stay, warns oil company boss

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Equinor chief says bills won’t return to levels seen before Ukraine invasion given windfall taxes and move to greener energy

The boss of one of Europe’s biggest energy companies has warned that higher gas and electricity prices are here to stay and consumers should not expect them to return to levels seen before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Anders Opedal, the chief executive of Norway’s state oil company Equinor, said factors including windfall taxes and the large sums energy firms must invest to move from fossil fuels to greener alternatives mean bills are likely to remain elevated.

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Hunters go home empty-handed on first day of Sweden’s biggest wolf cull

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Hunters allowed to kill 75 wolves from an already endangered population of 460 amid ‘political pressure’ from hunting lobby

The biggest wolf cull in modern times has begun in Sweden as nature organisations warn it could drastically harm the population.

On Monday, the Guardian accompanied 200 hunters as they went to kill wolves in the frost-covered forests between Gävleborg and Dalarna, hunting from midnight until the sun set at 3pm. Groups will be going out across Sweden all month as they attempt to take down the large predators.

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Svalbard reindeer thrive as they shift diet towards ‘popsicle-like’ grasses

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Increased plant growth due to warmer climate appears to be prompting change in eating habits

As the Arctic warms, concern for the plight of Santa’s favourite sleigh pullers is mounting. But in one small corner of the far flung north – Svalbard – Rudolph and his friends are thriving.

Warmer temperatures are boosting plant growth and giving Svalbard reindeer more time to build up fat reserves; they also appear to be shifting their diets towards “popsicle-like” grasses that poke up through the ice and snow, data suggests.

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Suspected Russian spy arrested in Norway spent years studying in Canada

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Man posing as Brazilian academic José Assis Giammaria thought to have used his time in the country to build up a deep-cover identity

A suspected Russian spy who posed as a Brazilian academic before his arrest this week by Norway’s domestic security agency spent years studying at Canadian universities with a focus on Arctic security issues.

The man, who called himself José Assis Giammaria, worked as researcher at the University of Tromsø and was arrested on suspicion he had entered Norway under false pretences. On Friday, prosecutor Thomas Blom named the man as Mikhail Mikushin, adding that Norway’s domestic security agency was “not positively sure of his identity, but we are quite certain that he is not Brazilian”.

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Norway arrests ‘Brazilian researcher’ accused of spying for Russia

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Investigators believe man posing as academic at University of Tromsø, in sensitive far north, was using false identity

Norway’s domestic security agency has arrested a man claiming to be a Brazilian academic whom it suspects of being a Russian spy.

“We have requested that a Brazilian researcher at the University of Tromsø be expelled from Norway because we believe he represents a threat to fundamental national interests,” the police security service (PST) deputy chief, Hedvig Moe, told the public broadcaster NRK.

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