3rd body found after landslide in Norway; 7 still missing

January 03, 2021

HELSINKI (AP) — Rescue teams searching for survivors four days after a landslide carried away homes in a Norwegian village found no signs of life Saturday amid the ruined buildings and debris. Three bodies have been recovered but searchers are still looking for seven more people believed to be missing. The landslide in the village of Ask is the worst in modern Norwegian history and has shocked citizens in the Nordic nation.

Search teams patrolled with dogs as helicopters and drones with heat-detecting cameras flew amid harsh winter conditions over the ravaged hillside in Ask, a village of 5,000 people 25 kilometers (16 miles) northeast of Oslo.

Norwegian police pledged not to scale down the search even though a rescue team from neighboring Sweden has already returned home. Local police chief Ida Melbo Oeystese said it may still be possible to find survivors in air pockets inside the destroyed buildings.

“Medically, you can survive for several days if you have air,” she told reporters at a news conference. By late Saturday, a second and third body had been found after a first one was discovered on Friday. Only a Dalmatian dog has been rescued alive from the ruins so far.

King Harald V, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon plan to visit the disaster area on Sunday to pay their respects to the victims and to meet with residents and rescue workers. The 83-year-old monarch said in his New Year’s speech that the royal family had been deeply moved by the tragedy.

Norwegian police have published the names and birth years of the 10 people initially reported missing, including a 2-year-old child. Officials haven’t yet identified the three recovered bodies. The landslide early Wednesday cut across a road through Ask, leaving a deep, crater-like ravine. Photos and videos showed buildings hanging on the edge of the ravine, which grew to be 700 meters (2,300 feet) long and 300 meters (1,000 feet) wide. At least nine buildings with over 30 apartments were destroyed.

The rescue operation is being hampered by the limited number of daylight hours in Norway at this time of year and fears of further erosion. The ground is fragile at the site and unable to hold the weight of rescue equipment, including a heavy vehicle from the Norwegian military.

Over 1,000 people have been evacuated, and officials said up to 1,500 people may be moved from the area amid fears of further landslides. The exact cause of the accident is not yet known but the Gjerdrum municipality, where Ask is located, is known for having a lot of quick clay, a material that can change from solid to liquid form. Experts said the substance of the clay combined with excessive precipitation and the damp weather typical for Norway at this time of year may have contributed to the landslide.

Norwegian authorities in 2005 warned people not to construct residential buildings in the area, but houses were eventually built there later in the decade. Spokeswoman Toril Hofshagen from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate called the landslide unique in its destruction.

“Not since 1893 has there been a quick clay landslide of this dimension in Norway,” Hofshagen told the media on Saturday.

Search continues for survivors after major Norway landslide

December 31, 2020

HELSINKI (AP) — Rescue workers in Norway on Thursday continued searching for 10 people, including children, who are missing a day after a massive landslide struck a residential area near the capital. Time was running out to find survivors in destroyed buildings amid wintry weather conditions. Authorities said it was too dangerous to send ground rescue patrols to the ravaged area in the village of Ask in the municipality of Gjerdrum, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) northeast of Oslo. Instead, the search was carried out with the help of helicopters, drones and heat cameras.

"We still have hope of finding people and saving lives,” police spokesman Dag Andre Sylju told the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. There were no reports of casualties, but some 10 people were injured, one of them seriously, in what Prime Minister Erna Solberg called “probably one of the biggest landslides we have had."

Officials said at least nine buildings with some 30 apartments were destroyed in the early Wednesday landslide. Over 1,000 people have been evacuated, and officials said up to 1,500 people may be moved from the area amid fears of further landslides.

The landslide cut across a road through Ask, home to some 5,000 people, leaving a deep, crater-like ravine that cars could not pass. Photos and video footage showed dramatic scenes of buildings on the edge of the ravine.

The area is known for having a lot of so-called quick clay, a form of clay that can change from solid to liquid form. Experts said the substance of the clay combined with excessive precipitation and damp weather conditions may have contributed to the landslide.

Norwegian media reported that authorities in 2005 warned building companies not to construct houses in the area, but houses were eventually built there later in the decade.

Nine injured, some 200 evacuated after landslide in Norway

December 30, 2020

HELSINKI (AP) — A landslide smashed into a residential area near the Norwegian capital Wednesday, injuring nine people and destroying several homes, authorities said. Some 200 people have been evacuated amid fears of further landslides.

Norwegian police were alerted at 4 a.m. to the slip in the village of Ask, in the municipality of Gjerdrum, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Oslo. Photos taken in the area showed at least eight homes destroyed. Some 40 ambulances were sent to the scene and evacuation was continuing as officials said there was a risk of further landslides.

Police spokesman Roger Pettersen told the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that there were no reports of missing, but officials could not rule out that there were people in collapsed buildings. “Clearing work is being done,” he said.

None of the injured was reported to be seriously hurt. “It hurts to see how the forces of nature have ravaged Gjerdrum. My thoughts go to all those affected by the landslide. Now it is important that the emergency services get their job done,” Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg tweeted.

The area where Ask is located is known for having a lot of so-called quick clay, a form of clay that can change from solid to liquid form. There have been previous landslides reported in the area.

Outbreak hits Norway cruise ship, could spread along coast

August 03, 2020

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Norwegian cruise ship line halted all trips and apologized Monday for procedural errors after a coronavirus outbreak on one ship infected at least 5 passengers and 36 crew. Health authorities fear the ship also could have spread the virus to dozens of towns and villages along Norway's western coast.

The confirmed virus cases from the MS Roald Amundsen raise new questions about safety on all cruise ships during a pandemic even as the devastated cruise ship industry is pressing to resume sailings after chaotically shutting down in March. In response to the outbreak, Norway on Monday closed its ports to cruise ships for two weeks.

The Hurtigruten cruise line was one of the first companies to resume sailing during the pandemic, starting cruises to Norway out of northern Germany in June with a single ship, then adding cruises in July to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

The 41 people on the MS Roald Amundsen who tested positive have been admitted to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsoe, north of the Arctic Circle, where the ship currently is docked. The cruise line said it suspended the ship and two others — the MS Fridtjof Nansen and the MS Spitsbergen — from operating for an indefinite period.

“A preliminary evaluation shows that there has been a failure in several of our internal procedures,” Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said in a statement. He added the company that sails along Norway's picturesque coast between Bergen in the south and Kirkenes in the north is “now in the process of a full review of all procedures."

It has contacted passengers who had been on the MS Roald Amundsen for its July 17-24 and July 25-31 trips from Bergen to Svalbard, which is known for its polar bears. The ship had 209 guests on the first voyage and 178 on the second. All other crew members tested negative.

But since the cruise line often acts like a local ferry, traveling from port to port along Norway's western coast, the virus may not have been contained onboard. Some passengers disembarked along the route and may have spread the virus to their local communities.

A total of 69 municipalities in Norway could have been affected, Norwegian news agency NTB reported. Officials in the northern city of Tromsoe are urging anyone who traveled on the ship or had any contact with it to get in touch with health authorities.

Police in Norway are opening an investigation to find out whether any laws had been broken. It's not yet clear how the MS Roald Amundsen outbreak began. NTB reported that 33 of the infected crew members came from the Philippines and the others were from Norway, France and Germany. The passengers were from all over the world.

Skjeldam said cruise ship officials did not know they should have notified passengers after the first infection was reported Friday, adding that they followed the advice of the ship’s doctors. But Line Vold of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said its advice was to inform passengers and crew as soon as possible so they could monitor their health and go into quarantine or isolation, if needed.

“We have made mistakes. On behalf of all of us in Hurtigruten, I am sorry for what has happened. We take full responsibility,” Skjeldam said. The Norwegian government announced Monday it was tightening the rules for cruise ships by banning ships with more than 100 passengers from docking in Norwegian harbors and disembarking passengers and crew for two weeks. The ban does not apply to ferries.

Health Minister Bent Hoeie said the situation on the Hurtigruten ship prompted the decision. In Italy, the Costa Crociere cruise ship line said three crew members from two ships in Civitavecchia, near Rome, have tested positive for the coronavirus. The cruise company said two assigned to the Costa Deliziosa were hospitalized and a third, assigned to the Costa Favolosa, was in isolation on the ship.

The Italian cruise company, which is part of Carnival Corp. said the crews of both ships were being screened ‘’in view of the possible relaunch of our cruises, as soon as the government gives the authorization.’’ The Cabinet was to meet on the matter Sunday.

Costa Crociere said that all crew members were tested for the virus before leaving their countries, then undergo a second test once they arrive in Italy, after which they are put under a two-week monitoring period.

In the South Pacific, some 340 passengers and crew were confined on a cruise ship in Tahiti on Monday after one traveler tested positive for the virus. The commissariat for French Polynesia said all those aboard the Paul Gauguin cruise ship are being tested and will be kept in their cabins pending the results.

The South Pacific archipelago started reopening to tourists last month, with a requirement that all visitors get tested before arriving and re-tested four days later. Cruise lines stopped sailing in mid-March after several high-profile coronavirus outbreaks at sea. More than 710 people fell ill aboard Carnival's Diamond Princess cruise ship while it was quarantined off Japan and 13 people died.

The Cruise Lines International Association, which represents more than 50 companies and 95% of global cruise capacity, said the resumption of cruises has been extremely limited so far. The voyages taking place must have approval from and follow the requirements of national governments, it said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is not allowing cruise ships in U.S. waters at least through September. The industry association said it is still developing COVID-19-control procedures based on advice from governments and medical experts and once they are finalized, member companies will be required to adopt them.

A German cruise ship last week set sail from Hamburg, testing procedures for how cruise ships can operate safely during the pandemic. The ship sailed with less than 50% capacity and only went on a four-day trip at sea with no stops at other ports.

Colleen Barry in Milan, Angela Charlton in Paris and Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.

F-35s for Turkey on hold as U.S. approves sales for Australia, Norway

By Allen Cone
APRIL 2, 2019

April 2 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin was awarded a $151.3 million contract to sell 15 F-35 Lightning II aircraft to Australia and six to Norway.

The contract for the 21 planes comes in the wake of the United States halting delivery of equipment related to the F-35 jet to Turkey because of the nation's decision to purchase the Russian-made S-400 missile system. As a NATO partner in the development of the fighter jet, Turkey makes parts of the fuselage, landing gear and cockpit displays and was expecting the first of the $90 million jets to arrive in November.

The sale to Australia and Norway, which was a modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition, was announced Monday by the Defense Department.

Work is expected to be completed in December 2022 in U.S. and foreign plants. Thirty-percent will be performed in the company's headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas; 25 percent in El Segundo, Calif.; 20 percent in Warton, United Kingdom; 10 percent in Orlando, Fla.; and 5 percent each on Nashua, N.H.; Nagoya, Japan, and Baltimore, Maryland.

Australia will pay $108.2 million and Norway $43.1 million under a cooperative agreement. The international partner funds in the full amount will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Australia received its first F-35s last December, and Norway received them in November 2017.

Australia and Norway are among six NATO countries that have received the planes, including the United States, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands. Two other nations that also participated in the aircraft's development -- Canada, Denmark and Turkey -- are scheduled to receive the F-35.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/04/02/F-35s-for-Turkey-on-hold-as-US-approves-sales-for-Australia-Norway/3891554217447/.

Beluga whale with Russian harness raises alarm in Norway

April 29, 2019

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A beluga whale found with a tight harness that appeared to be Russian made has raised the alarm of Norwegian officials and prompted speculation that the animal may have come from a Russian military facility.

Joergen Ree Wiig of the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries says "Equipment St. Petersburg" is written on the harness strap, which features a mount for an action camera. He said Monday fishermen in Arctic Norway last week reported the tame white cetacean with a tight harness swimming around. On Friday, fisherman Joar Hesten, aided by the Ree Wiig, jumped into the frigid water to remove the harness.

Ree Wiig said "people in Norway's military have shown great interest" in the harness. Audun Rikardsen, a professor at the Department of Arctic and Marine Biology at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsoe, northern Norway, believes "it is most likely that Russian Navy in Murmansk" is involved. Russia has major military facilities in and around Murmansk on the Kola Peninsula, in the far northwest of Russia.

It wasn't immediately clear what the mammal was being trained for, or whether it was supposed to be part of any Russian military activity in the region. Rikardsen said he had checked with scholars in Russia and Norway and said they have not reported any program or experiments using beluga whales.

"This is a tame animal that is used to get food served so that is why it has made contacts with the fishermen," he said. "The question is now whether it can survive by finding food by itself. We have seen cases where other whales that have been in Russian captivity doing fine."

Hesten told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that the whale began to rub itself again his boat when he first spotted it. Russia does not have a history of using whales for military purposes but the Soviet Union had a full-fledged training program for dolphins.

The Soviet Union used a base in Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula during the Cold War to train the mammals for military purposes such as searching for mines or other objects and planting explosives. The facility in Crimea was closed following the collapse of the Soviet Union, though unnamed reports shortly after the Russian annexation of Crimea indicated that it had reopened.

The Russian Defense Ministry published a public tender in 2016 to purchase five dolphins for a training program. The tender did not explain what tasks the dolphins were supposed to perform, but indicated they were supposed to have good teeth. It was taken offline shortly after publication.

Lessons for Brexit from Norway's hard border with Sweden

February 10, 2019

ORJE, Norway (AP) — With fresh snow crunching under their boots and a handful of papers to be checked and stamped, truck drivers from Latvia, Sweden and Poland make their way across Norway's Orje customs station to a small office where their goods will be cleared out of the European Union and into Norway.

While many border posts in Europe have vanished, Norway's hard border with the European Union is clearly visible, with cameras, license-plate recognition systems and barriers directing traffic to customs officers.

Norway's membership in the European Economic Area (EEA) grants it access to the EU's vast common market and most goods are exempt from paying duties. Still, everything entering the country must be declared and cleared through customs.

Technological solutions being tested in Norway to digitalize customs procedures for cargo have been seized on by some in Britain as a way to overcome border-related problems that threaten to scuttle a divorce deal with the EU. But the realities of this northern border also show the difficulties that persist.

A divorce deal between Britain and the EU has stumbled over how to guarantee an open border between the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland after Britain leaves the bloc on March 29.

The Irish border area was a flashpoint during decades of conflict in Northern Ireland that cost 3,700 lives. The free flow of people and goods across the near-invisible Irish border now underpins both the local economy and Northern Ireland's peace process.

The EU's proposed solution is for Britain to remain in a customs union with the bloc, eliminating the need for checks until another solution is found. But pro-Brexit British politicians say that would stop the U.K. from forging new trade deals around the world.

Technology may or may not be the answer, depending on who you talk to. "Everyone agrees that we have to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, and ... technology will play a big part in doing so," said Northern Ireland Minister John Penrose.

But EU deputy Brexit negotiator Sabine Weyand said on Twitter: "Can technology solve the Irish border problem? Short answer: not in the next few years." The Customs office at Orje, on the road connecting the capitals of Oslo and Stockholm, has been testing a new digital clearance system to speed goods through customs by enabling exporters to submit information online up to two hours before a truck reaches the border.

At her desk in Orje, Chief Customs officer Nina Bullock was handling traditional paper border clearance forms when her computer informed her of an incoming truck that used the Express Clearance system.

"We know the truck number, we know the driver, we know what kinds of goods, we know everything," she told The Associated Press. "It will pass by the two cameras and go on. It's doesn't need to come into the office."

That allows Customs officers to conduct risk assessments before the vehicle even reaches the border. So far, only 10 Swedish companies are in the pilot project, representing just a handful of the 400-450 trucks that cross at this border post each day. But if it's successful, the plan will be expanded.

In the six months since the trial began, Customs section chief Hakon Krogh says some problems have brought the system to a standstill, from snow blocking the camera, to Wi-Fi issues preventing the border barrier from lifting, to truck drivers who misunderstand which customs lane to use.

"It's a pilot program, so it takes time to make things work smoothly before it can be expanded," said Krogh, who still felt the program could have a long-term benefit. The program also limits flexibility for exporters. If a driver calls in sick and is replaced by another, or extra cargo is added to a shipment, then all the paperwork must be resubmitted online.

Yet a greater barrier to digitalizing the border is the complexity of international trade. The Svinesund customs office, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Orje, is Norway's major road border, with 1,300 trucks each day carrying goods into the country from all over Europe. Customs section chief Kristen Hoiberget has been following the Orje pilot program with interest but warns of systematic challenges to its expansion.

"It's very easy to deal with a digital system when the goods are uniform," said Hoiberget. "If you have one kind of goods in a lorry, it's less complicated. But if you have a lorry that picks up goods at ten different places abroad, the complexity arises rapidly."

He said most of the export information needed is available digitally but Customs, clearance houses and exporters all use different computer systems. "There are a lot of prerequisites to a digital border," he said. "A frictionless border would need development and lots of legislation."

Back in Orje, vehicles entering Norway are randomly checked, with officers mainly looking for alcohol and cigarettes, which are cheaper in Sweden. Border changes are coming, but certainly not in the tight two-month timeframe that any Brexit border changes would need.

"If you look 15 years ahead, I guess this office won't be here. I won't be sitting here stamping papers," said Bullock. "But customs officers will still be on duty, to prevent goods coming into Norway that are not supposed to."

As an AP journalist waited in the snow to watch a truck at Orje use the Express Clearance lane, a truck driver made his way across a large parking lot to the customs office. "You must be doing a Brexit story," he joked. "They'll be in the same boat soon."

Lawless contributed from London.

Norway demands Israel explain seizure of boat bound for Gaza

July 31, 2018

Norway has asked Israel to explain the legal grounds for detaining a Norwegian-flagged fishing boat seized while activists tried to sail with aid to the Gaza Strip, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said its diplomats in Israel had been providing consular assistance to five Norwegians who were among the 22 passengers and crew detained onboard the vessel Kaarstein on Sunday. Two Israelis on board were quickly released.

“We have asked the Israeli authorities to clarify the circumstances around the seizure of the vessel and the legal basis for the intervention,” the spokesman for the Norwegian foreign affairs ministry in Oslo said. A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment.

Torstein Dahle, head of the group Ship to Gaza Norway which organised the shipment, said it was the first Norwegian aid vessel to attempt to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The captain had been struck on the head by Israeli soldiers who ordered him to sail for Israel, but no one was seriously hurt, Dahle said.

“This is a peaceful boat; it’s impossible that it can threaten Israel’s security,” he said.

The Gaza Strip is controlled by the Islamist militant group Hamas, which has fought three wars against Israel in the decade since taking power there.

Israel, citing security concerns that include fears of Hamas weapons smuggling, maintains a naval blockade of Gaza, and along with Egypt also restricts imports by land.

The territory is home to 2 million Palestinians, mainly the stateless descendants of people who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel at its founding in 1948. Under the blockade, Gaza has suffered an economic crisis creating what the World Bank describes as a “collapse in humanitarian conditions” including access to clean water, medicine and electricity.

Numerous activist ships have been prevented from reaching Gaza in recent years. An Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla in 2010, in which ten activists were killed, caused a serious rupture in relations between Israel and Turkey, one of Israel’s few friends in the Middle East.

Audun Lysbakken, leader of Norway’s opposition Socialist Left party, called on the foreign ministry to protest against what he described as Israel “hijacking” the Norwegian boat in international waters.

Among those detained is Mikkel Gruner, a Danish citizen who lives in Norway and is the Socialist Left representative in the municipal council of the Norwegian city of Bergen. Lysbakken said the activists had legal rights to protest against Israel’s blockade, demanding the release of Gruner and the others.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180731-norway-demands-israel-explain-seizure-of-boat-bound-for-gaza/.

Norway's king hospitalized with infection

November 19, 2017

HELSINKI (AP) — Norway's royal palace says King Harald has been hospitalized with an infection and remains in satisfactory condition with improving health. The royal palace said in a short statement Sunday that the 80-year-old monarch is being treated at an Oslo hospital where he was taken Friday but didn't disclose further details.

In January 2016, Norway celebrated Harald's 25th anniversary as monarch of the Scandinavian country. Harald became king when his father Olav died on Jan. 17, 1991. The Norwegian king has a ceremonial role and isn't part of the government.

Harald celebrated his 80th birthday in February.

Right holds onto power narrowly in Norway

September 12, 2017

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The center-right grouping that has governed Norway the past four years retained a narrow hold on power in national elections, according to near-complete results early Tuesday. With 95 percent of the votes counted, Prime Minister Erna Solberg's Conservatives, coalition partner the Progress Party and two support parties, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, looked likely to win a total of 89 seats in the 169-seat parliament, the Storting.

The election was a bitter disappointment for the leftist Labor Party. It remains the largest single party in parliament with 49 seats, but other likely coalition partners or support parties didn't add enough to put the left in power.

There was no immediate announcement about forming a new government, but the four-party center-right alliance appeared almost certain to continue. "We delivered on what we promised," Solberg said at party headquarters. "It seems that there will be a clear non-socialist majority in this election."

Labor leader Jonas Gahr Store was chastened. "As it seems now, it just did not happen," he said, according to the Norwegian news agency NTB. Although the center-right grouping had steered Norway through crises over a sharp influx of migrants and the decline in global prices for the oil and gas that are the backbone of the country's prosperity and comfort, some analysts were surprised that Labor lost significant ground. Its 49 seats were a loss of six from what it held in the previous parliament.

"Labor had a sensationally bad election. It is quite unusual for an opposition party to go back this way," NTB quoted political analyst Svein Erik Tuastad as saying. The election was a contest over national values, including how welcoming the wealthy country should be to migrants and asylum-seekers and how close it should be to the European Union.

Many Norwegians see the Britain as a model for severing ties to the 28-nation EU. Although not a member, Norway has access to the EU's single market of a half billion people, accepts the free movement of EU workers, enacts reams of EU laws and pays a membership fee to do that.

The rural Center Party, which was the election's single biggest winner with a gain of 10 seats, has called for a public inquiry into the country's relationship with the EU. But both Labor and the Conservatives are committed to the current arrangement. They also have ruled out ending oil and gas exploration — a demand of the Greens who remained static with a single seat.

Associated Press writer Jim Heintz reported this story from Moscow and AP writer David Keyton reported in Stockholm.

Norway to Brazil: Curb deforestation or we stop the money

June 23, 2017

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway's prime minister warned Brazil's president on Friday to curb deforestation in the Amazon or Norway will reduce its financial contribution to the project this year. The announcement comes as the Amazon and Atlantic rainforests are being cut down at the fastest rate in nearly a decade, according to official Brazilian figures.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Norway's more than $1 billion contribution to the so-called Amazon fund is "based on results," Norway's NTB news agency said. Since 2001, Norway has donated billions to encourage the conservation of forests.

"If preliminary figures about deforestation in 2016 are confirmed, it will lead to a reduced payout in 2017," Solberg said after meeting with Brazilian President Michel Temer in Oslo. Temer praised Norway's contribution to the fund but declined to take questions from media after he and Solberg had made their statements.

"This contribution has enabled us to make a more effective impact to avoiding deforestation," Temer said, according to NTB. Temer said Monday he had vetoed legislation to reduce the size of protected environmental reserves. However, the apparent victory for environmental groups most likely will be short-lived, as Brazilian Environment Minister Jose Sarney Filho is working on similar legislation.

The legislation passed by Brazil's Congress last month would have converted around 1.4 million acres (566,000 hectares) of protected land into areas open to logging, mining and agricultural use. However, last week, Filho announced plans to create a new expedited bill that would convert 1.1 million acres of protected land to other uses.

Last year, deforestation in the Amazon jumped 29 percent over the previous year, according to the Brazilian government's satellite monitoring. That was the highest rate since 2008. Before his meeting with Solberg, Temer was met by protesters holding posters reading "Stop rainforest destruction" and "Respect indigenous peoples' rights" as he arrived at the prime minister's office in Oslo.

Purged from Turkish army, NATO officers get asylum in Norway

April 08, 2017

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Norway and Turkey — NATO's northern and southern frontiers in Europe — have been pillars of the Western military alliance for more than 60 years. But the diplomatic temperature between the two has fallen steadily since Turkey recalled dozens of military officers as suspects in an aborted coup — and Norway became the first nation to grant some of them asylum.

The government in Oslo agreed last month to protect four Turkish officers who had been assigned to NATO and, like colleagues in Germany and Brussels, fear they could be imprisoned as terrorists if they go back to their country. Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned the Norwegian ambassador for an explanation while the officers remain in Stavanger, a city on Norway's west coast that lies 3,800 kilometers (2,360 miles) from Ankara.

"We see that this is a difficult decision for Norway because of the alliance, and it can cause big problems for NATO, so we appreciate that they have put human rights over political decisions," one of the officers given asylum said. "Norway still says you are innocent until proven guilty ... in Turkey, you have to prove your innocence."

The men trying to forge new lives in Stavanger are among a cadre of commissioned Turkish officers who were working at NATO facilities around Europe during Turkey's July 15 thwarted coup. The Turkish government suspects of playing a role in the failed coup, and the men have asked not to be named for fear of reprisals against their families in Turkey.

"Some of my colleagues in other NATO headquarters did return to Turkey. They were detained at the airport in front of their families, their children. It would be very difficult to go back to Turkey now," one senior officer said. "We have small kids, and we have to save their lives."

The former officers bristle at being branded "traitors." Each man was on leave when the plot unfolded and claims he has a firm alibi. With their bank accounts frozen, their successful military careers suddenly cut short and hopes for fair trials in Turkey shattered, they say they had no choice but to seek asylum in Norway, where they filed for protection between August 13 and October 19.

One of the men was fired by telephone. Another received a call ordering him to leave Norway within three days. Two watched in horror as their names appeared on "blacklists" of soldiers commanded back to Turkey.

"When I saw the list and my name in the list, I tried to understand the reason ... but there was nothing about this on the paper. There were just one or two or three sentences calling us back," one said. "It was a terrible period. I knew I would lose my rights, my past, my family, everything."

The men say they have seen social media videos of other Turkish officers being tortured in jail and have desperately tried to reach military friends back home. They say some have disappeared, while others were forced into giving confessions.

"After the coup, 160 generals and 7,000 military officers have been arrested," one of the officers said bitterly. "If these persons were involved in this coup, the result must have been different." The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleges that the coup was carried out by followers of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who denies orchestrating a takeover. More than 150,000 people have been taken into custody, fired or forced to retire from Turkey's armed forces, judiciary, education system and other public institutions since the coup attempt.

Even Gulenists who did not take part in the coup attempt are considered a serious security threat now and are being purged from Turkey's military. The four former officers in Norway deny being Gulen supporters and think the government is using the coup as an excuse to crush its critics.

"We are hearing that people's wives are accused of being plotters and traitors. If one of your relatives has money in a certain bank, or you were using certain social media on the day of the coup, you are accused of being involved," one said.

Turkey responded angrily to Norway granting the officers asylum, protesting that a NATO ally offered the men "support to abuse the country's political, social and economic opportunities" instead of ensuring their return to Turkey.

The men's lawyer, Kjell Brygfjeld, thinks the four cases were fast-tracked through the sometimes clogged Norwegian asylum system. One of the former officers said his asylum petition was approved without his needing to provide documents proving he was in danger.

"Norway can see what is going on," he said. As political refugees, they face the possibility of never returning to Turkey and uncertain futures in NATO's northern outpost. Dressed in the casual cold-weather wear of Norwegian civilians during an early spring evening on the Stavanger fjord, the four officers joked that they've already embraced a Nordic lifestyle.

And even though the winter nights seem long in Norway, they know that their situations could have been much darker. "It's impossible for me to disconnect from Turkey," one of the officers said. "All of my friends — most of the friends are now in jail. And their families suffer because of this. And there is just one voice in Turkey, so no one hears their screams."

David Keyton contributed to this report in Stavanger.

US to deploy 330 troops in Norway

Oslo (AFP)
Oct 24, 2016

The United States will deploy over 300 troops in Norway, the Norwegian government announced Monday, in a move set to upset neighboring Russia.

The 330 Marines, to be stationed on rotation around 1.000 kilometers (600 miles) from the Russian border, will be engaged in training and maneuvers in almost Arctic conditions, the Norwegian defense ministry said.

The announcement comes against a backdrop of increasing tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine and the conflict in Syria, although Norway itself enjoys good relations with its giant neighbor.

The US already has vast amounts of military equipment positioned in NATO ally Norway -- notably in tunnels dug into mountains -- but no troops.

"This US-initiative is welcome and also fits well within ongoing processes in NATO to increase exercises, training and interoperability within the Alliance," Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said in the statement.

"The defense of Norway is dependent on allied reinforcements, and it is crucial for Norwegian security that our allies come here to gain knowledge of how to operate in Norway and with Norwegian forces," she added.

Before joining NATO in 1949, Norway allayed Russian fears by pledging not to open its territory to foreign combat troops so long as Norway was not attacked or threatened with attack.

This pledge was later amended to allow foreign troops to conduct maneuvers in Norway.

The deployment, which will begin in January, is a US initiative which Oslo is presenting as a trial to be evaluated during 2017.

Last week the Russian embassy in Oslo expressed surprise as the idea of stationing US troops in Norway was mooted.

"Taking into account multiple statements made by Norwegian officials about the absence of threat from Russia to Norway, we would like to understand why Norway is so much willing to increase its military potential, in particular through the stationing of American forces in Vaernes," embassy spokesman Maxime Gourov said in an email sent to AFP on Friday.

Former senior Norwegian army officer Jacob Borresen said the planned deployment "sends negative signals eastwards".

The big risk, he told broadcaster NRK, is that the move creates a Cold War-style "confrontation zone".

In July, NATO announced it would deploy, also on a rotational basis, four multinational battalions to Poland and to Baltic states to deter any Russian incursion.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/US_to_deploy_330_troops_in_Norway_999.html.

Lithuania signs missile agreement with Norway

by Geoff Ziezulewicz
Vilnius, Lithuania (UPI)
Oct 24, 2016

Lithuania has signed an agreement worth $108 million with Norway for the procurement of the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS.

The deal, signed last week by the ministries of defense for each country, covers the sale as well as future support Norway would render to Lithuania in developing midrange air defense capabilities, the Lithuanian ministry said in a statement.

This acquisition and others will combine into an air defense system that offers Lithuania aerial surveillance and control, early warning for ground units and the ability to destroy targets if needed.

Two defense batteries will be acquired under the deal.

The midrange NASAMS equipment is scheduled to be delivered to Lithuania by 2020.

NASAMS was co-developed by Norwegian company Kongsberg and Raytheon...

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Lithuania_signs_missile_agreement_with_Norway_999.html.

Norwegian returns home after yearlong captivity Philippines

September 23, 2016

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A Norwegian man who was freed by militants in the Philippines has returned home after a year of jungle captivity. Kjartan Sekkingstad arrived in Oslo on Friday, six days after being released by Abu Sayyaf extremists who had kidnapped him along with two Canadians who were later beheaded and a Filipino woman.

The 57-year-old Norwegian told reporters he had experienced "a year of terror," with little food, long jungle treks and a constant fear of being killed. He recalled feeling "helpless" seeing his captors take away the first Canadian hostage to be executed "but there was nothing you could do."

Abu Sayyaf released Sekkingstad last Saturday to a rebel group, which handed him over to Philippine authorities. Sekkingstad was kidnapped from a yacht club he helped manage in September 2015.

Norway's Tande sets ski jump record, leads team to win

February 22, 2016

KUOPIO, Finland (AP) — Daniel Andre Tande eclipsed the 1998 record for a ski jump on Puijo hill in eastern Finland and spearheaded Norway to only its second World Cup team victory in 11 years on Monday.

Tande landed after 136 meters as the second jumper of four. He maintained the high standard with 132 meters in the second jump. The previous record, 135.5 meters, was set by Japan's Masahiko Harada in 1998.

Norway amassed 1,057.2 points with the team of Kenneth Gangnes, Tande, Anders Fannemel, and Johann Andre Forfang. Germany was second at 1,002.8 points, and Japan third on 935.4. All eight of Norway's jumps were high class. Tande's 136-meter record jump was scored low in style, but the second of 132 meters was rewarded for its style. After his first jump, the starting gates were lowered and the chances of another record were diminished.

Tande scored 276.4, Forfang 267.1, Fannemel 262.7, and Gangnes 251.0. Gangnes was third overall in the ski jumping, Forfang fifth, Tande seventh, and Fannemel 10th. Germany, which won the first two of the season's team events, was second with Andreas Wank, Richard Freitag, Andreas Wellinger and Severin Freund.

Japan clinched its podium finish when 43-year-old Noriaki Kasai jumped 125 meters on the team's last attempts to hold off Austria by 3.3 points. Japan's starting man, Taku Takeuchi, led in the second round with 132.5 meters. He has lived for long spells in Finland, and in Kuopio, and speaks Finnish fluently. Unlike most jumpers, who dislike the Puijo hill for the shape of its takeoff zone, Takeuchi speaks well of it.

"I like this hill very much, and it is my home hill," he said. The event on Monday was moved on short notice from Lahti, where it was cancelled on Saturday. On Tuesday, Puijo hosts an individual competition, where the favorite will be World Cup leader Peter Prevc of Slovenia. He jumped 133.5 and 129.5 meters, and his 139.5 and 139.4 points were the best among all last jumpers on the nine teams.

Nordic countries in annual contest to claim real Santa

December 23, 2015

HELSINKI (AP) — Most kids learn that Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, but children in Scandinavia are taught he lives a bit further south. Where exactly is a matter of much debate, with businesses in Finland, Sweden and Norway competing to cash in on the cachet that comes with claiming Santa's hometown.

Finnish children know his home to be in the mythological Korvatunturi (Ear mountain) in the northern wilderness of the Finnish part of Lapland while Swedes say he hails from the small town of Mora. Norwegians claim he was born hundreds of years ago under a stone in Drobak on the Oslo fjord.

Danes, who enjoy milder and mostly snowless winters, teach their children that Santa's home is on the distant Arctic island of Greenland, a sparsely populated semiautonomous Danish territory. In the battle to beat their Scandinavian neighbors, Finland's public broadcaster YLE every year sends out a video of a red-cloaked Santa leaving his log cabin on a sleigh drawn by a white reindeer in the frozen snowy landscape that reaches millions of viewers worldwide. A regular feature for the past 30 years, it was first broadcast in 1960.

The biggest town in Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, has been dubbed the official hometown of Santa Claus and depends on the myth for a large part of its yearly tourism turnover of some 210 million euros ($230 million). Situated just south of the Arctic Circle, it attracts more than 300,000 visitors annually — five times the town's population.

"Santa Claus is a very important and known person globally ... and that's a good basis for us to build up this kind of business," Mayor Esko Lotvonen said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The origins of Santa Claus — widely known elsewhere in Europe also as St. Nicholas — are shrouded in the mists of mythology, but the benevolent figure is believed to be based on St. Nicholas of Myra, a 4th century Greek Christian bishop who lived in a province of the Byzantine Empire that now is Turkey.

Danes, Swedes and Norwegians base their Santa on a mythological figure — a gnome known as a "tomte" or "nisse" in the Scandinavian languages — whereas Finns, who are ethnically and linguistically a different people, know Santa as "joulupukki," a Christmas buck or goat, derived from old pagan Norse mythology.

In the Nordic region, Santa doesn't clamber down chimneys but visits homes on Dec. 24, meeting the children, or if he's too busy leaving behind a bag or basket of presents. Mora in central Sweden has claimed itself as Santa's home since 1984, with some 50,000 visiting Santaworld annually.

Nicklas Lind, director of Santaworld, which includes Santa's house, a troll safari, moose park and restaurants, says the town, known for its knives and an annual 90-kilometer cross-country skiing race, welcomes the extra money brought in by Santa but was unable to give figures.

"It's very important for the region and the town, for hotels and skiing," he said. "We get some millions; that's all I can say." The message that Santa's home is somewhere in the Nordic region has spread far and wide. Santaworld's post office has received 400,000 letters this year addressed to Santa, his post office in Rovaniemi claims more than 500,000 letters with 100,000 more expected before the year-end.

The Norwegian Santa in Drobak is too busy to talk as Christmas approaches. Instead, his cousin Tom picks up the phone but doesn't want to discuss business. "It's time for Christmas cheer not for competition, but we can't be angry if our good colleagues in Sweden, Finland and Greenland think otherwise," he says. "All Norwegian children know the real Santa lives here."

A group of schoolboys enjoying their Christmas break at a shopping mall in Helsinki are just as confident Santa is from Finland. Six-year-old Matias, who doesn't want to give his family name, looks puzzled when asked the question, before blurting out: "He lives in Korvatunturi (Ear mountain), of course."

"And he's coming to see us again, he did last year," Matias says.

Associated Press reporter James Brooks contributed to this report from Rovaniemi.

Norway accused of unfairly taking away immigrant children

August 26, 2015

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — One August day, Airida Pettersen received the news many immigrant mothers have come to dread: School representatives told the Lithuanian that child welfare officials removed her two children from the classroom and placed them in a foster home.

She pleaded to know why — but she said nobody would give her a straight answer. Pettersen, who moved to Norway in 2008 after marrying a Norwegian, is one of hundreds of immigrant parents whose children were taken away by Norway's Child Protection Service, or Barnevernet, ostensibly to protect them from mistreatment.

After a series of highly charged custody disputes, the oil-rich Scandinavian country now faces accusations of cultural insensitivity at best and child theft at worst, as increasing numbers of immigrant children are being seized by officials and handed over to Norwegian foster families. Of 6,737 children taken in 2012 — the latest available data — some 1,049 were immigrants or born to immigrant parents. That compares to 744 children of immigrants taken away, of a total of 5,846, in 2009.

The authorities insist they're acting in the best interests of the children. But their perceived heavy-handedness has stirred diplomatic disputes with several eastern European countries and India. All Western European countries assert the right to place children, both of nationals and foreigners, in foster care when there is evidence of abuse. And complaints of unfair seizures, allegedly for cultural reasons, are known to arise. But Norway is the only country where it has become as major issue — both due to the scale of the phenomenon and the fierce criticism of the government.

A relative managed to spirit Pettersen's children away from their foster family while they were at school and reunite them with their mother in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius — where they remain today.

Morten Moerkved, head of the agency in the small town of Malvik where the Pettersens lived, said he could not comment on any specific case but insisted that the sudden removal of children happens only in "acute" circumstances, including cases of abuse or "serious deficiencies" in the daily care of a child, citing persistent drunkenness or drug use by the parents or evidence of malnourishment.

Official guidelines also make a point of ensuring that the special needs of a sick or handicapped child are adequately met and that parents have to be able to take sufficient responsibility so that a child's health or development is in no way "seriously injured."

Pettersen believes officials took her children partly because of her 10-year-old daughter's clothes, which she alleges authorities found too provocative for a pre-teen. "I dress my daughter in a pretty dress and make her comb her hair," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Lithuania. "They look at me like I'm from a Third World country. In my country if you don't take care of yourself you don't get a husband."

The child welfare agency insists children would never be removed from their families unless they were considered to be in danger, but Moerkved said that if children were attending class badly dressed or in smelly clothes it would be a factor in considering a child's welfare.

"There are some culture differences between families coming to Norway," said Solveig Horne, Norwegian Minister for Children and Families. "All children who come to Norway have the same rights as Norwegian children ... If they are neglected or abused or if there is violence in the family the (child protection) agency should protect the children first of all."

Statistics show that children born abroad are more than three times as likely to be removed from their homes as native Norwegians, with nearly 3 percent of foreign-born children in foster care. In May, hundreds of people marched in the capital Oslo to protest alleged human rights abuses by child welfare officials. The demonstration was organized by Norwegian human rights campaigner Marius Reikeras, who has denounced his country's child protection agency in television interviews in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Turkey.

Reikeras accuses the agency of depriving children and their biological parents of "their fundamental human rights." "The aim should be to reunite children with their families as soon as possible," he said. "But Barnevernet too often does the opposite and seeks to break biological bonds."

Brushes with the authorities have led to several cases of foreign nationals escaping across borders with their children. Norwegian authorities estimate that almost 500 children have been illegally removed from the country in the last 10 years, usually by their parents.

In January, 7-year-old Gabrielius Bumbulus, a Lithuanian, was returned to his foster family after being caught fleeing through Sweden with his uncle. Three months later, a Turkish mother says she narrowly avoided having her small children removed from home after a tipoff. Instead of showing up at a meeting with officials, Sedef Mustafaoglu made a dash through Denmark to Germany with her two youngest children, aged 6 and 8, and boarded a plane to Turkey.

Speaking by phone from the Turkish capital, Mustafaoglu said an earlier visit from the agency, when her daughters were toddlers, left her terrified. "They came into my home and filmed how I woke up and how I woke my children, how I fed my children, how I gave them a shower and how I played with them," she said. "Having a child in Norway is like being in a scary movie."

Her husband, Feridun Mustafaoglu, who stayed behind in Stavanger, Norway's rich oil center on the west coast, said their problems started in 2011 when their son started having severe epileptic fits, which he believes officials mistook for signs that the parents weren't caring for the child.

Gunnar Toresen, head of the Child Protection Service in Stavanger, insists there was no plan to remove Mustafaoglu's children but declined to discuss the case, citing confidentiality rules. He did recognize the fear many foreign families feel in dealing with officials: "Very many people come from other cultures with no government intervening in their domestic affairs. Then they come to Norway and the government intervenes in the family and they have no experience with this," he said. "So I understand that this is a very emotional situation."

In 2012, Toresen was briefly involved in a diplomatic spat between Norway and India when two Indian children were removed from their parents. After diplomatic and media pressure from India, they were returned to their uncle in India.

"The media said the reason for our intervention was that the parents were hand-feeding their children, and the child was in the bed with the parents, which of course had nothing to do with why they were taken away," Toresen said.

He acknowledged that there had been a reference in an earlier case file about hand feeding and sleeping arrangements. However, he stressed the case revolved around much more and complicated family circumstances, thought he provided no details, in line with the privacy policies.

The child welfare service aims to provide in-home help for struggling parents before removing a child. But in the three years to 2013, the proportion of in-home measures decreased while the number of foster cases grew.

Campaigners and lawyers for parents say the decisions too often are rooted in cultural misunderstandings. "I have a lot of foreign cases. Often the lunchbox ... is not good enough for school or there is problem with schoolwork," said Ieva Rise, an Oslo lawyer representing several Latvian families in disputes with officials. "In Latvia and Russia, children help more in the home when they are quite small. This can be a problem as well."

Gro Hillestad Thune, a human rights lawyer, says Norway's strict attitudes against slapping — acceptable in some other countries — can also be a reason taking away children. "This zero tolerance (to violence) is a basic problem. Parents should be given a chance to learn through dialogue, not through having their children removed," Thune said. "But the child protection officials take the children instantly ... in too many cases."

Norway's Nobel Peace Prize committee replaces chairman

March 03, 2015

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize awarding Norwegian Nobel Committee on Tuesday elected a new chairman to replace Thorbjoern Jagland, whose six-year tenure has been lined with controversies.

Jagland will remain a member of the voting panel but was a contentious leader, attracting criticism for his dual role as committee chairman and head of the European Council when the prize was awarded to the European Union in 2012. His leadership also was clouded by the decision to give the prize to Barack Obama in 2009 after he had just been elected president, and the 2010 prize to the jailed dissident Liu Xiabo drew fury from China.

The former labor politician was replaced by the panel's deputy chairman, Kaci Kullmann Five, a former conservative party leader. She denied that Jagland's ousting had anything to do with pressure from China, which froze diplomatic ties to Norway after the 2010 award.

The composition of the committee reflects the power structure in Norway's Parliament which appoints the members. The leadership change follows 2013 parliamentary elections that brought the Conservatives into power after years of Labor Party rule.

Tuesday's panel meeting also reviewed the candidates for this year's prize after nominations closed at the beginning of February. The committee said they numbered 276 — two less than last year's record — with 49 nominations for organizations and 227 for people.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute keeps the names of nominees locked up for 50 years, but lawmakers and members of peace organizations who are qualified to name candidates can reveal their choices independently.

Nominees mentioned include Saudi blogger Raif Bedawi, jailed for 10 years and sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam and Flemming Rose, an editor at Danish broadsheet daily Jyllands-Posten, which published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005-2006.

Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor turned fugitive, Edward Snowden, and Pope Francis have been nominated for the second year in a row. Other candidates include the often-nominated Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, a group committed to Japan retaining its pacifist constitution and Egypt's Maggie Gobran, a Coptic Christian who works in the slums of Cairo.

Norway signs up to EU greenhouse gas targets

Oslo (AFP)
Feb 4, 2015

Norway announced Wednesday plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 as the oil-rich country aligns itself with targets set by the European Union.

"Norway should become a low-emission society," conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg told reporters.

In addition to slashing emissions, the Nordic country -- which is not an EU member -- intends to join forces and coordinate climate policies with the bloc ahead of global talks hosted by the United Nations in December.

Details of the new approach were not disclosed but Norway will reduce emissions through a mix of domestic cuts and by purchasing emissions credits on the European carbon-trading market.

Half of Norwegian emissions already fall under the current European quota system while reductions in sectors that do not -- such as agriculture and transport -- will have to be agreed with Brussels, the government said.

The Scandinavian country -- whose riches come from oil exploration in the North Sea -- will give up emissions trading with developing countries outside of Europe. Critics say it is a cheap but ineffective way of mitigating climate change.

Norway said it would continue to help those countries' climate efforts through development aid, funding for the preservation of tropical forests and contributions to the UN's Green Climate Fund.

Several environmental groups welcomed the commitments -- including the closer ties with the EU -- while others lamented the lack of details on how emissions will be cut.

"Norway has not met its objectives for a long time," the organisation Future in our Hands (FIVH) said in a statement.

"The EU has a better record with its (emissions) cuts. Perhaps this could set a good framework for Norway?"

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Norway_signs_up_to_EU_greenhouse_gas_targets_999.html.