Monday, October 5, 2026
Politics

The Holberg Prize conferred upon Professor Cass Sunstein

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

(Bergen, Norway) – The Holberg Prize was conferred upon Harvard Law Professor Cass Sunstein by HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

At a prestigious award ceremony in the University Aula in Bergen, Professor Cass Sunstein received the international research award from HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.

The Holberg Prize is worth NOK 6 million (approx. USD 740,000) and is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to research in the arts and humanities, social sciences, law or theology.

“I am more honored than I can say to receive the Holberg Prize,” said the Laureate. “Of course, the Prize is shared with terrific coauthors, colleagues, teachers, students, friends, and family. It is both an honor and a joy to pay tribute to them right now.”

Supporting human dignity through deliberation
Sunstein will receive the Holberg Prize for his wide-ranging, original, prolific and highly influential research. Not only has his research redefined several academic fields; it has also had a far-reaching impact on public policy. His scholarship spans several major areas: constitutional law and democratic theory, behavioral economics and public policy, legal theory and jurisprudence, administrative law, and the regulation of risk.  In particular, Sunstein’s academic work has reshaped our understanding of the relationship between the modern regulatory state and constitutional law.

In his acceptance speech, Sunstein recounted how he—while working on constitutional law in the early 1980s—saw a pattern with respect to legal doctrines and such considerations as equality, liberty, property, religion and freedom of speech: “There was a single foundation for each and every one of them,” said the Laureate, “Whenever burdens are to be imposed, or benefits to be given, it must be for some public-regarding reason. In other words, government must offer an intelligible justification for hurting or helping people.”

Sunstein described how this democratic principle connected with human dignity, equality, freedom, as well as “the deepest foundations of the world’s great constitutional orders.” “It is,” said the Laureate, “at the heart of the idea of deliberative democracy – a system of government that combines political accountability with an insistence on reason-giving.” “In deliberative democracies,” Sunstein continued, ”what matters is not power but what an earlier Holberg Laureate, Jürgen Habermas, calls ‘the forceless force of the better argument.’”

About the Laureate
Cass R. Sunstein (b. 1954) is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard University. He is the founder and Director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School.

From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, where he helped oversee a wide range of reforms involving safety, air quality, civil rights, open government, climate change, economic opportunity, health, and reduction of poverty.

Mr. Sunstein has been involved in constitution-making and law reform activities in many nations. His government service includes membership on President Barack Obama’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies (2013) and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Innovation Board (2016-2017).

Mr. Sunstein is author of hundreds of articles and dozens of books, including Republic.com (2001), Risk and Reason (2002), Why Societies Need Dissent (2003), The Second Bill of Rights (2004), Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle (2005), Worst-Case Scenarios (2001), Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Richard H. Thaler, 2008), Simpler: The Future of Government (2013), Conspiracy Theories and Other Dangerous Ideas (2014), The World According to Star Wars (2016), The Ethics of Influence (2016), #Republic (2017), Impeachment (2017), Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict (2d. ed. 2018), and The Cost-Benefit Revolution (forthcoming 2018). He is now working on various projects on the relationship between social norms and social change.

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Farming

Norway’s Minister Peddles Seafood in NYC while Whales Die in Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Washington, DC—As Norway’s fisheries minister, Per Sandberg, travels around New York June 7-8 to promote Norwegian seafood, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) urges the city’s retailers, consumers and restaurateurs to question the source of any Norwegian seafood due to its possible ties to the country’s barbaric whaling industry.

Sandberg is in town for the Global Compact Action Platform for Sustainable Ocean Business meeting at the United Nations on June 8 to promote the sustainable use of ocean resources. The Norwegian government is co-hosting the meeting, which coincides with World Oceans Day. Sandberg also plans to visit the well-known fish stall at Chelsea Market during his stay.

“Minister Sandberg’s New York visit to tout his country’s leadership on ocean sustainability and its protection of ocean health and resources ignores the elephant in the room,” said Susan Millward, director of marine programs for AWI. “While he touts Norwegian seafood in New York, Norwegian whalers are brutally slaying minke whales in utter disregard for the international community’s desire to stop commercial whaling.”

Since the Norwegian whaling season began in early April, 163 minke whales have been killed out of a total quota—set by Sandberg—of 1,278. Fifteen Norwegian vessels have permits to whale, and many of these boats also hold licenses to fish for commercially sought-after species such as cod, haddock, pollock and herring.

Norway kills whales in defiance of a moratorium on commercial whaling approved by the International Whaling Commission (of which Norway is a member). Since the moratorium took effect in 1986, Norway has permitted the slaughter of 13,000 minke whales and is second only to Japan in the number of whales killed during this period. Japan provoked international outrage recently after it was revealed that a hunt last summer killed 333 minke whales, including 122 who were pregnant.

Living whales, according to peer-reviewed scientific research, provide significant ecological benefits to the marine environment—including carbon sequestration, increased productivity of fish stocks and marine biodiversity.

AWI urges New York seafood buyers to demand proof that these products did not come from a registered Norwegian whaling vessel. Given low domestic demand for whale meat in Norway, a number of whaling vessels rely on income from fishing to survive. Retailers should perform an audit of their supply chain to rule out whaling links, and AWI is willing to assist in this process.

“Norway is well aware that whales are worth far more alive than dead and yet it chooses to ignore this fact by continuing to promote its cruel and unnecessary whaling industry,” Millward said. “Buyers of Norwegian seafood keep this industry afloat by rewarding whalers.”

For more information on Norwegian whaling, visit: https://awionline.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/AWI-ML-NorwayReport-2016.pdf

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Environment

Dutch ASML realizes new hydropower plant in Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

11 June 2018 Oslo – Yet another European corporation, this time ASML – the Dutch technology company, has made the construction of a new renewable power plant possible. Sandvik, a small hydropower plant on the west coast of Norway, is now generating electricity and supplying clean power to the grid. ASML provided crucial top-financing to the building of Sandvik through a high impact renewable energy product called ECOHZ GO2. GO2 combines the purchase of documented renewable power with the financing and building of new renewable power capacity.

ASML is the world’s largest supplier of photolithography systems. Chip manufacturers use ASML’s machines to produce the microchips that are at the center of electronic devices.

“ASML is committed to operating sustainably and takes responsibility for the economic, social and environmental impact of its business decision. GO2 provides a great opportunity for companies such as ASML to create new renewable energy production for the grid”, the company states.

When a business purchases GO2, they match the energy they consume with documented energy production from a renewable source with a direct contribution to the ECOHZ Renewable Energy Foundation. The Foundation identifies and lends money to renewable energy projects that are ready to be constructed, but lack the final and crucial capital needed to initiate construction.

When a company purchases GO2 for a partial or full years’ worth of electricity consumption, the company’s purchase will set into motion multiple investments in new renewable energy production.

“After the ECOHZ Foundation loan has been repaid from the income of the renewable power plant that was financed, the ECOHZ Foundation will once again lend the money ASML contributed to other renewable energy projects in need of financing. Based on the current financing models we are using, ASML’s single decision will result in the building of other renewable energy power plants in the future. We extrapolate that this system will by 2030 generate around 67 GWh.Sandvik is an example of how companies can easily contribute to renewable energy production and participate in the global energy transition,” says Tom Lindberg, Managing Director of ECOHZ.

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Science

Norway deploys world’s first wireless network at sea, to tackle oil spills

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

To improve offshore oil spill preparedness, Norway’s government and the oil industry are building an offshore broadband wireless network.

When oil spills occur, the ability to exchange information quickly between ships, planes, and other actors can greatly limit the damage caused by the spill, according to the Norwegian Coastal Administration. In order to speed up communications in such a scenario, an offshore broadband network is being rolled out in Norway.

The network is being built onboard the vessels and planes that take part in oil spill recovery operations. Norway’s Coastal Administration will install the Maritime Broadband Radio (MBR) system on all its oil recovery vessels, as well as ten additional vessels that have oil recovery equipment onboard.

The Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO) – made up of oil industry organizations – will install the MBR system on all their oil recovery vessels. The system has already been rolled-out on a surveillance plane that’s a joint initiative between the Coastal Administration, NOFO, and the Norwegian Coast Guard. Three onshore base stations have also been installed, to aid in communications with ships and planes.

The Coastal Administration says this is the world’s first national implementation of maritime broadband communication on ships and planes in public service.

“This is a significant improvement that allows us to communicate with all units participating in an oil recovery mission, and share the data without an internet connection. MBR allows us to respond faster with the right actions,” says Kjetil Aasebø, senior advisor in the Coastal Administration, in a statement.

The MBR system has been developed in cooperation with the Norwegian companies Kongsberg Seatex and Radionor. The system operates in the 5GHz frequency band, and offers speeds up to 15Mbps. Its operational range is in excess of 50km, depending on antenna placement.

This means the radios will work well beyond line-of-sight, greatly improving the practical applications of the technology compared to traditional high-performance data communication equipment used offshore.

An MRB network has a mesh network topology. This means that senders and receivers that are out of reach of each other can use other MBR stations between them as radio relay stations. Consequently, a circling airplane with an MBR station can greatly extend the coverage of the network.

MRB radio stations are hardened for offshore use, and contain no moving parts. As a result, the omnidirectional models can contain up to 60 phased-array solid state antennas. The enclosed signal processing circuitry performs real-time radio beamforming and adaptive power control, in order to provide an optimal signal to users, both those nearby and behind the horizon.

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Economics

Norway’s tax administration combats economic crime through IT

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Photo of a UK self assessment tax return with calculator and payslips.
The payslip is a mock up the names and all other information on it is fictional.

Norway boasts one of the world’s most transparent tax systems, and investments in its IT support infrastructure in recent years have helped to elevate a sense of impartial openness and harmony between the Norwegian Tax Administration (NTA) and the country’s population.

Several of the NTA’s more recent IT investments have been developed and delivered to make it easier for citizens to navigate the often perplexing bureaucratic processes of paying taxes. Taxpayers can now use online self-assessment tools to calculate their liabilities, and a recently launched digital service permits Norwegians to inspect the annual tax returns of other citizens once tax returns are posted online each October.

Now the NTA’s IT focus is about to move into a higher gear to tackle tax evasion linked to economic crime in the “black” economy. This area is proving increasingly problematic for Norway, particularly within the segment of the economy that favours cash transactions and payments.

Clouded by a lack of transparency, this area poses a serious challenge for the NTA, which has traditionally battled hard against losing revenue in an economy where the personal tax rate has averaged 42% over the 23 years to 2018. The total tax burden constitutes about 45% of the Norway’s GDP.

In its struggle to combat economic crime and tax evasion, the NTA must also clear the underlying hurdles in revenue collection that are further complicated by the country’s high corporate tax rate.

Enterprises in Norway pay 23% corporate tax on their profits, a rate that was reduced from 24% in January this year. By contrast, businesses in nearby Finland pay 20%, and the comparable rate in Sweden and Denmark is 22%.

The NTA’s direct response to tackling economic crime in the black, or shadow economy, was to scale up its IT capacity and competence to track, detect and bring more “bad actors” into the tax loop. Government estimates suggest the shadow economy equates to about 14% of Norway’s GDP, making it one of Europe’s worst affected.

This estimate is supported by a report from ATKearney, commissioned by Visa, that calculated Norway’s shadow economy to be worth €44.2bn (NOK420bn).

To bolster its arsenal of tax collection tools, the NTA has contracted Atea Group to deliver a customised analysis and information platform capable of handling and processing very large amounts of data gathered from a broad array of sources. It will focus on the activities of enterprises and private individuals.

Atea is one of Norway’s leading IT infrastructure and system integration players, recording revenues of €3.2bn in 2017.

Its three-year contract with the NTA is worth €10m and covers the design and provision of an advanced data analytical and information platform that will enhance the tax administration’s ability to detect suspicious economic crime activities. The new system, which is being delivered in partnership with IBM Norway, is designed to process large amounts of structured and unstructured data.

The contract will require Atea to operate the platform, utilising continuous real-time information streams. The platform will support ongoing NTA projects and strategy, developing increasingly sophisticated systems to detect tax evasion activities and schemes more effectively.

“The platform and new analysis tools will also make it easier for the tax administration to predict errors and provide opportunities for a better digital direction for the submission of tax returns,” said Michael Jacobs, Atea’s managing director.

Before joining Atea, former Oracle and Kodak executive Jacobs headed Microsoft Norway and Dell’s operations in Scandinavia.

The NTA’s new crime detection system incorporates a risk-based analysis platform designed by IBM which will enable the tax administration to adopt a more risk-based approach in its evaluation of businesses. The platform supports deep analysis of data backed by real-time risk assessment capabilities that are an improvement on the NTA’s current arsenal of tools.

“The platform will be integrated with the NTA’s own solutions,” said Arne Norheim, IBM Norway’s managing director. “It is designed to help the tax administration gain new insights into an area of major social importance.”

The platform provided by Atea in alliance with IBM includes components supplied by two other project partners – Acando and iKnow A/S.

Acando, an IT project consulting firm headquartered in Stockholm, deepened its relationship with IBM in December 2017 when it bought cloud services company Anywhere.24, one of Microsoft Dynamics 365’s leading partners in Germany within the customer relationship management (CRM) domain.

Oslo-based iKnow also has longstanding project collaboration relationships with both Atea and IBM. The software-driven process automation firm’s offerings include the provision of functionality for operating IBM’s InfoSphere DataStage ETL platform.

The new economic crime-focused system will integrate with the NTA’s Ntax enterprise architecture, which covers Norway’s 3.7 million salaried taxpayers. The authority’s taxation loop also includes 280,000 enterprises and 351,000 self-employed individuals.

The NTA administered the collection of about €117bn in taxes in 2017. Of this total, €20bn came from the petroleum sector, €27bn via the national sales tax, €16bn in employer’s national insurance contributions and €42bn in personal income and corporate taxes.

The NTA’s strategy to “get tougher” on economic crime and the black economy is spearheaded by a special independent unit within the administration which was initially created to tackle shortfalls in tax receipts in the greater Oslo region.

Recurring problems caused by black market racketeering, as identified by the NTA, are most prevalent in cash-based payment service sectors such as medical, hairdressing, taxis, florists and food catering. The NTA is also investing more in investigating cash businesses that may have links to money-laundering networks and criminal organisations.

The advanced data processing and analytical features of the new IT platform will also make it easier, and more operationally efficient, for the NTA to track tax evasion by Norwegian citizens attempting to disguise and hide assets, undeclared to the national tax authority, in overseas tax havens.

(computerweekly)

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Defence

Norway and The United Kingdom plans co-operation in the North Atlantic

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

“In times like these, when the security landscape is complex and uncertain, we need close allies. I am especially pleased with the strong UK-Norwegian relations, says State Secretary Tone Skogen. Earlier this week Minister for Defence Procurement Guto Bebb hosted Skogen on her visit aboard a US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft – equipment which both the UK and Norway will soon own themselves.

State Secretary Tone Skogen visited London and Royal Air Force Lossiemouth, the military airfield in north-east Scotland which will be the future home of the UK’s fleet of MPA’s (Maritime Patrol Aircrafts). The Poseidons deploy sonobuoys to help them detect and hunt submarines. The UK is buying nine of the Boeing-built aircraft, whilst Norway is buying five.

“These sub-hunters will take to the skies from RAF Lossiemouth and help us combat a range of intensifying threats, not least increasing submarine activity in the North Atlantic. We’re investing £3bn in our own capability, but working alongside Norway takes this to a higher level. Not only could we cut costs by sharing training, spares and repair facilities, but we can patrol the seas together, meaning we’ve got more eyes and ears on any potential aggressors, says Guto Bebb, Minister for Defence Procurement in the UK. 

“In my discussions with Guto Bebb, I find a like-minded ally with unwavering determination to strengthen NATO and our bilateral defence cooperation. This relates to high-end capabilities such as the F-35 fighter and the P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, training and exercises in the North Atlantic and the Northern region, as well as operationalisation of the Joint Expeditionary Force. I am delighted that the United Kingdom and Norway significantly enhance our cooperation on these and other important issues”, State Secretary Tone Skogen says. 

Surveillance of the North Atlantic is important for both UK and Norwegian security. Norway and the UK will intensify cooperation in this important endeavour, also in a trilateral context with the US. As the F-35 is coming into operation in our countries, Norway welcome increased operational cooperation also in this domain – as well as the P-8’s. Norway also highly value Royal Marines’ training and exercising in Norway, and welcome the deepening relationship between the Marines and the Norwegian Armed Forces. Norway also highly appreciate the UK initiatives and European leadership in forums such as the Northern Group and the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). 

“Norway and the UK have special responsibility both to ourselves and to the Alliance to ensure stability in the High North”, concludes Tone Skogen.

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Science

Transparency in payments live in Finland, Norway and Sweden

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Transparency in Payments (TIP) has been implemented in the Finland, Norway and Sweden markets. TIP, which is being introduced in conjunction with NewGen ISS, is an industry initiative focused on providing airlines with increased transparency and control in the collection of their sales generated in the travel agency channel. At the same time, it will enable travel agents to take advantage of new forms of payment for the remittance of customer funds.

“The current landscape for payment services has changed dramatically, and new players and payment solutions are emerging, offering travel agents greater options to remit customer funds to airlines. However, up until now, airlines have lacked visibility into these newer payment methods. TIP will address this issue, creating new opportunities for airlines and travel agents,” said Aleks Popovich, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Financial and Distribution Services.

No form of remittance is barred by TIP, but travel agents can only use those forms to which an airline has previously given consent. Importantly, if an airline consents, TIP explicitly allows travel agents to use their own credit cards. IATA has worked closely with key industry stakeholders to develop TIP to ensure it provides:

  • Increased transparency and control for each player
  • An efficient framework and tools to enable agents and airlines to bilaterally agree on usage of Alternative Transfer Methods, such as agent’s own credit cards and agent’s virtual account numbers (VANs), for the direct remittance to airlines of agency Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) sales
  • A resolution framework which is better adapted to regulatory and market conditions.

Under TIP, providers of Alternative Transfer Methods wishing to participate in agency direct remittances to airlines of BSP sales will enlist with IATA, and provide relevant information about their payment products. Agents and airlines will have access to this information on a need-to-know basis. “We look forward to working with providers of Alternative Transfer Methods such as AirPlus International and Edenred Corporate Payment, who support the principles underlying TIP. We anticipate that other providers will commit to enrolling their products within the TIP framework once their technical environment is ready, to contribute to greater transparency in the airline and agency ecosystem,” said Popovich.

Over the coming weeks, TIP will be implemented in Iceland and Denmark (9 May), Canada (16 May), and Singapore (23 May), with rollout expected to be completed in all BSP markets by Q1 2020.

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Crimes

Former Syrian athlete convicted of smuggling refugees into Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The Oslo City Court has convicted a Syrian-Norwegian in his thirties to two and a half years in prison for breaking immigration laws and falsifying documents. While the court found that the life and the health of Syrian refugees was not in clear danger, it stressed the man should be punished nonetheless.

The man, a former member of the Syrian national beach football squad, has lived in the Scandinavian country for seven years, was found to have assisted about 20 people, to whom he referred to as “friends,” in getting to Europe and Norway providing them with IDs, travel tickets and route planning — an enterprise the police described as an “illegal travel agency,” the newspaper Dagbladet reported.

The investigation against the man was initially based on a tip-off from the Czech police, who found that he had acted as a middle man in a case that involved forging IDs in Eastern Europe.

The man admitted to helping several people travel to Norway through his collaboration with the group in Eastern Europe, but denied profiting off this enterprise. He specifically denied being engaged in smuggling people, insisting that he had helped “friends and family” in need of passports, IDs, tickets and information. However, the police also established that the man had dealt with people to whom he had no relation whatsoever. One of them claimed in court to having paid NOK 50,000 ($6,200) for two passports.

While the police have confirmed that the man had not personally profited from his actions, it nevertheless “found it proven” that he was not only part of an organized group with profitable intentions but actually played a central role in this enterprise. He was also found to have sent money abroad.

Police prosecutor Hans Petter Pedersen Skurdal described the Syrian-Norwegian as a “central cog” in a people smuggling operation which acted like a “travel agency” for the refugees.

The man’s defense lawyer claimed that the verdict would be appealed, stressing that his client acted “out of necessity.”

“Even though those he helped had already arrived in Europe, he believed their lives were at risk,” lawyer Heidi Ysen told Dagbladet.

Ysen also stressed that the verdict was heavily based on police work from the Czech Republic and that the evidence was “too thin.”

At present, there are about 20,000 Syrians in Norway, most of them having arrived as asylum seekers in the course of the Syrian civil war.

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Racism in Norway

Committee on the Rights of the Child closes seventy-eighth session in Geneva

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its seventy-eighth session after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Argentina, Angola, Algeria, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Lesotho and Norway under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols.

The concluding observations and recommendations on the States’ reports and other documentation will be available on the session’s webpage.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee held a minute of silence in remembrance of Wanderlino Nogueira Neto, a children’s rights defender and advocate, and former member of the Committee.

Renate Winter, Committee Chairperson, in her concluding remarks, summarized the activities of the Committee during the session, which was held from 14 May to 1 June 2018.

Ms. Winter reminded that as of 1 June, there were 196 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 167 States had ratified the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and 174 States had ratified the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.  With the ratification on 17 May by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on 25 May by Slovenia, 39 States were now parties to the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure.

The Committee had examined the reports of seven countries; reviewed four cases received in relation to the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure, one of which it had deemed a violation, one inadmissible, while two had been discontinued; and continued the revision of General Comment N°10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice.

In the context of the treaty body strengthening process and the United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/268, the Committee had continued its work to enhance its working methods, including the simplified reporting procedure.  The Committee continued preparing for the Day of General Discussion entitled “Protecting and empowering children as human rights defenders”, to be held on 28 September 2018 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Bernard Gastaud, Committee Rapporteur, presented the report on the intersessional activities of the Committee Experts, and the Committee then adopted the report of the session.

Meeting summaries of all public meetings held during the seventy-eighth session can be found here, and meeting webcasts here.

The Committee will hold its seventy-ninth session at the Palais Wilson in Geneva from 17 September to 5 October 2018 when it will review the reports of El Salvador, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mauritania and Niger.

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Killing

Norwegian citizen charged with killing in Rwanda

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Kripos has arrested a Norwegian citizen in his 50s, charged with killing during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The man was arrested in Nordland, and is being sentenced for detention in Oslo district court on Thursday.

Kripos believes there is reason to suspect the man for having participated in the killing of a larger number of people, mainly ‘Tutsi’ Rwandans. He came to Norway as a refugee via UNHCR in 2006.

“A lot of investigation still remains, including interrogation, review of seizures and further investigations. The case is being conducted with a view to further prosecution in Norway,” said police adviser,Espen Hanken of Kripos.

The case against the man is based, among other things, on information from Rwandan authorities and their own investigations to Rwanda. Since the autumn of 2017, three exploratory journeys have been conducted with a number of questions.

From April to July 1994, between 800,000 and 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu Rwandans were slaughtered in a genocide conducted by the Army and Hutu ‘Interahamwe’ and ‘Impuzamugambi’ killers.

It is believed that up to 200,000 people participated in the genocide.

‘’Investigation of such cases is complicated and time consuming.The alleged crime has usually occurred several years ago in a country that differs widely from Norway,’’ Kripos wrote in a press release.

(Norwaytoday)

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Corruption in Norway

Norway spends great amount for Facebook posts

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Newspaper Aftenposten reported the Norwegian government to have paid up to USD24.800 over the past three years for Facebook services.

Media researcher at the Institute for Social Research Kjersti Thorbjornsrud suggested “sponsored content can be problematic, because the administration should not pay for what is defined as political message.”

The majority of sponsored Facebook posts were job advertisements and campaign promotions, the ministries noted while speaking to Aftenposten.

Thorbjornsrud added “paid content should be linked to neutral information, such as job advertisements. But then there is always a question of when a message gets political overtones, for example when the ministries sell a message that the government or a minister does something good. The question is where to set the limits for payment, which we have not discussed properly yet.”

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Farming

McDonald’s Will Open 200 Restaurants In Nordic Region

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

According to Reuters, the plan is part of a turnaround drive led by McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook.

While the fast-food chain reported its highest sales growth in six years in January, U.S. same-store sales were down 1.3 percent year on year. In fact, the number of customers McDonald’s draws has reportedly been dropping every year for the past four, falling just over 2 percent in 2016. This comes to a 10.4 percent fall in foot traffic.

McDonald’s currently serves 150 million customers each year in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland from its estimated 430 restaurants in the region. And starting in May, it will begin home delivery in Sweden and Finland, followed by Denmark and Norway in the second half of 2018. McDonald’s already offers home delivery in the United States, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, among other countries.

McDonald’s Nordic Group CEO Christer Aberg said, “I think it’s about being where consumers want to meet us.”

The expansion will create 5,000 jobs in the region. Last year, McDonald’s sales in the Nordic region grew 5 percent to €1.2 billion ($1.5 billion).

The expansion into the Nordic region is just one part of the fast-food chain’s plans to boost sales and build brand loyalty. In addition to adding ordering features onto its mobile app and experimenting with delivery, McDonald’s has started adding self-service kiosk-ordering, digital smart-menu boards, custom-order options and even table service.

The company has also tried some interesting promotions, such as last year’s “Big Mac ATM” in Boston, which dispensed two new sizes of burger — the Mac Jr. and the Grand Mac — free of charge between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. In lieu of payment, hungry customers “paid” with their Twitter handles and got a free lunch.

(pymnts)

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Svalbard

Arctic satellite ground station caught up in bureaucratic delays

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

More than a year and a half ago, Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) built five new satellite receivers in Inuvik, in northwest Canada, as part of a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA). The ground station has remained untouched since 2016.

Norway’s Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) and American satellite company Planet Lab spent millions to build the Inuvik installations, that include one large antenna installation costing $6.0 million and four smaller installations costing around $8.0 million in total.

KSAT has now been waiting for almost 18 months for Ottawa to grant a license the company expected would take around 180 days. “We’re quite frustrated with the pace of the Canadian bureaucracy,” said Rolf Skatteboe, president of KSAT, reports CTV News.

Inuvik is on the northern tip of N.W.T. and is considered a prime location for receiving stations for Earth observation satellites (EOS). As a matter of fact, the federal government built the first receiving station in Inuvik in the mid-2000s for its own EOS, RADARSAT.

However, since that time, these satellites have become privatized. According to PixAlytics, there were 1 738 operational satellites in orbit around the Earth at the end of August 2017, and 620 have a main purpose of either EO or Earth Science.

PixAlytics’ data shows that 44.6 percent of the satellites belonged to commercial users, up from 21 percent in 2016. It is estimated global revenues from earth observation satellites is close to $100 billion a year, growing at 11 percent.

KSAT came to town in 2015

Skatteboe said his company built its installations in Inuvik before receiving a license because the short building season in the North doesn’t allow for flexible time lines. Plus, they really didn’t expect any licensing delays. KSAT also has a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The ESA contract would use the Inuvik ground station for the agency’s environmental Earth monitoring project called the Copernicus program. “[Kongsberg Satellite] has 21 ground stations around the world and they have all been licensed without any problems,” Skatteboe said.

“So [Kongsberg] did not expect any problems related to approval to receive … data from an ESA satellite, an organization where Canada also is an associated member.” The Canadian Space Agency has a co-operation agreement with the European Space Agency.

Licensing red tape in Canada

For a number of reasons, including national security, satellite receiving stations must be federally licensed under the Remote Sensing Space Systems Act. However, in a report from the McGill Institute of Air and Space Law says that legislation, written when only governments launched satellites, has become outdated.

“This industry is really evolving very quickly,” said Aram Kerkonian, who helped write the report. “The commercialization of space is the direction we’re headed now.”

What’s interesting about the report is that it recommends the licensing process be streamlined, yet it says Global Affairs Canada staff on the file are severely under-resourced. “We spoke with the regulators and it was their position that the resources just weren’t there,” Kerkonian said.

In the meantime, KSAT is still frustrated and ESA is still waiting on a receiving station that was supposed to be operational by January 2017. “If Canada decided what we’re doing is a threat to national security, fine, I accept that,” Skatteboe said. “The frustrating part is that we haven’t gotten any feedback on the timescale for them to rule on this one.”

In an email statement from Global Affairs Canada, department spokesperson Brittany Venhola-Fletcher said “Global Affairs Canada continues to work closely” with Kongsberg and Planet Labs to finalize their licensing application.

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Environment

India Sets Pace in Global Race to Beat Plastic Pollution

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

India went big in their commitment to Beat Plastic Pollution today, with an announcement to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022. This unprecedented ambitious move against disposable plastic will drastically stem the flow of plastics from 1.3 billion people and business in the fasted growing economy in the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed World Environment Day as the start of a global movement to defeat single-use plastics, highlighting India’s rapid economic development can be done in a way that is sustainable and green.

“It is the duty of each one of us, to ensure that the quest for material prosperity does not compromise our environment,” Modi said. “The choices that we make today, will define our collective future. The choices may not be easy. But through awareness, technology, and a genuine global partnership, I am sure we can make the right choices. Let us all join together to beat plastic pollution and make this planet a better place to live.”

Solidifying India’s leadership of global sustainability, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change pledged to “achieve the India of our dreams,” announcing that single-use plastics would be banned in all Indian states by 2022.

“This has been the biggest, most resonant World Environment Day ever, thanks to the leadership of our global host India,” Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, said. “India has made a phenomenal commitment and displayed clear, decisive and global environmental leadership. This will inspire the world and ignite real change.”

The announcement was a powerful finale after weeks of activities around the country, seeing millions of Indians – policymakers, celebrities, business Moghuls and small entrepreneurs, innovators, environmentalist, and activists – come together to collectively take action on plastic pollution.

Among the highlights from the national celebrations was Modi’s commitment to join UN Environment’s Clean Seas campaign, which seeks to turn the tide on marine litter. India has 7,500 km of coastline – the 7th longest in Asia. As part of this commitment, the government will establish a national and regional marine litter action campaign as well as a program to measure the total marine plastic footprint in India’s coastal waters.

Other notable steps towards a pollution-free India included a partnership between UN Environment and the Indian Board of Control to ‘green cricket’ across the country, and a pledge to make 100 national monuments litter-free.

The country further showcased innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The western state of Maharashtra introduced an urban e-mobility program to scale back emissions. Meanwhile, the state of Andhra Pradesh in India’s southeast launched a scale-out plan to transition 6 million farms from conventional synthetic chemical agriculture to Zero-Budget Natural Farming.

As part of the official ceremony in Delhi, the Indian government, in collaboration with UN Environment also launched a joint World Environment Day Report: “Single-use Plastics: A roadmap for Sustainability”. Presenting case studies from more than 60 countries, the report analyzes the complex relationships in our plastics economy and offers an approach to rethink how the world produces, uses and manages single-use plastics.

After months of preparations and thousands of events, the culmination of commitments and action have made this World Environment Day the most successful to date, setting the bar for governments, public and private sector, and individuals around the world to step up and Beat Plastic Pollution, once and for all.

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Crimes

Police uncovers money-laundering fraud scheme led by Norwegian citizens in Albania

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The Prosecution of Tirana has revealed a money-laundering scheme led by two Norwegian citizens, who were trying to recycle 800,000 EUR which they have earned in fraud schemes. Ove Johanson and Joo Borgen Nilsen tried attempted to clean hundreds of thousands of Euros through ghost firms in our country, through transactions of shares. Investigations showed […]

The Prosecution of Tirana has revealed a money-laundering scheme led by two Norwegian citizens, who were trying to recycle 800,000 EUR which they have earned in fraud schemes.

Ove Johanson and Joo Borgen Nilsen tried attempted to clean hundreds of thousands of Euros through ghost firms in our country, through transactions of shares.

Investigations showed that Norwegian Golf Development AS, registered in Norway, had sold its shares in Albania. The main buyer was Ove Johanson. Two months later, Johanson sold the shares to his collaborator, the other defendant Joo Borgen Nilsen with a price 500 times higher than the original one, although no investment was made in the company.

Nilsen then established the Asia Capital Group, focusing on construction, projection and implementation of engineering projects.

Johanson has also been sentenced to Kosovo for a 300,000 EUR graud. Nilsen, on the other hand, is known to Norwegian authorities for a ponzi scheme known as Unacio.

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Science

Norway’s rail network goes digital

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Bane Nor, the state-owned agency responsible for Norway’s national railway infrastructure, has contracted Siemens to install the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the country’s entire rail network. Commissioning of the rollout lines is scheduled to be completed by 2034.

The new ETCS technology will digitalise the Norwegian rail system’s signalling system. ETCS is a key component in the integration of rail transport in Europe and is intended to replace more than 20 national railway control and safety systems currently being used on the European continent.

The goal behind ETCS is to enable an interoperable and thus competitive rail transport system throughout Europe. (ben)

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Science

Future of Fjords electric catamaran launched in Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The all-electric catamaran called the Future of Fjords has been launched just as planned. Its carbon fibre hull has space for 400 passengers and the electric ferry will sail between Norway’s UNESCO heritage sites and opportunity charge at sea.

Whilst the fjords of Norway have been declared a cultural heritage by the UNESCO, the electric catamaran appears to be the future of fjords indeed.

With its extra light hull made from carbon fibre, the battery pack of 1,800 kWh delivers enough power for the electric motor. Each of the two propels the electric boat forward with 450 kW. They reach 16 knots (almost 30 kph) during operation for a range of 55 km.

But that is not enough. So for charging the Future of Fjords, Norwegian maker Brødrene Aa (BRAA) came up with a waterborne opportunity charging solution called PowerDock. Says the press release: “This 40m long, 5m wide floating glass fibre dock will sit in the water at Gudvangen, housing a 2.4 MWh battery pack. This charges steadily throughout the day via connection to the local grid network, which does not have the capacity to charge the Future of The Fjords directly. The innovative solution allows the vessel to stably, efficiently and cost effectively ‘refill’ in just 20 minutes.”

Moreover, the dock also stores consumables, fuel for sister vessels, and allows black water to be offloaded for treatment on land so that the Future of The Fjords will not discharge sewage directly into the fjords.

The Future of the Fjords is to run all year long and will do 700 journeys annually, that is two trips a day. Its first route is between Norway’s Flåm and Gudvangen.

And the electric catamaran won’t stay alone there long as indeed the future of the fjords is electric. Norway is planning to create the first zero-emissions zone on water as the parliament in Oslo has accepted a resolution which would see emissions banned in the world heritage fjords “as soon as technically possible and no later than 2026.”

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Environment

Facebook strikes 294-MW wind PPA in Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

US social networking major Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has inked a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) in Norway for the output of the 294-MW Bjerkreim cluster of wind farms.

Under the terms of the deal, each year Facebook will be buying 1,000 GWh of electricity from the three wind parks near Stavanger so it could power its Nordic data centres in Odense, Denmark, and Lulea, Sweden.

The three wind farms will consist of 70 pieces of 4.2-MW Siemens Gamesa wind turbines in total. The projects are being developed by Norsk Vind Energi, while the operational plants will be owned by German renewables investor and asset manager Luxcara GmbH. They should be completed next year, according to information on the website of Norsk Vind Energi.

Meanwhile, Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall AB said it has won long-term supply and service agreements from Facebook tied to that cluster. Vattenfall will be providing wind integration and balancing services for the wind trio.

“The balancing services agreement is Vattenfall’s largest agreement with an external partner in the Nordics,” noted Branislav Slavic, vice president of business sales nordic at Vattenfall.

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Politics

Nordic ministers address #metoo in the cultural sector

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

Since the autumn of 2017, the #metoo movement has had a huge impact around the globe. During their meeting in Malmö on 9 May, the Nordic ministers for culture issued a joint statement regarding their continued efforts to tackle sexual harassment and promote safe workplaces in the Nordic cultural sector.

The ministers’ statement opens with a clear acknowledgement of the several different #metoo movements that have started up in the Nordic countries.

“The #MeToo movement has turned the Nordic Region on its head, uncovering systematic failures, a lack of leadership, and ignorance in many parts of our society in a somewhat dramatic fashion. Several different movements gained traction in the Nordic countries, with the cultural sector often in the spotlight.”

We, the Nordic ministers for culture, are determined to do everything we can to bring this change to pass. We have so much to learn from each other’s experiences.

Several areas of the cultural sector have been put in the spotlight, and the ministers stress that continued discussion is of equal importance for all their areas of responsibility.

“We, the Nordic ministers for culture, are determined to do everything we can to bring this change to pass. We have so much to learn from each other’s experiences, which is why going forwards our emphasis will continue to be on discussion, be this at a national, Nordic, or international level. And these discussions will command equal importance in all our areas of responsibility – culture, media, and sport.”

Gender equality is key to the success of the Nordic Model, and so it’s obvious that a gender equality perspective must shape everything we do within the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture.

Nordic co-operation and the sharing of experiences is vital in this issue. The Secretariat to the Nordic Council of Ministers has now been tasked with preparing ways in which discussions and the sharing of knowledge can be further developed.

“Gender equality is key to the success of the Nordic Model, and so it’s obvious that a gender equality perspective must shape everything we do within the Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture. What is also obvious is that there is much more to be achieved from Nordic co-operation, which is why we are instructing our Secretariat to explore ways in which the discussion can evolve with regard to efforts to prevent sexual harassment and to ensure safe workplaces within our areas of responsibility.”

“And even if momentum wanes, we will see this issue through to the end.”

The ministerial meeting in Malmö on 9 May was held within the framework of the cultural-political summit in Malmö on 8 and 9 May 2018.

Contacts

Linn Mårtens
Phone +45 29 69 29 26
Email linm@norden.org

Elisabet Skylare
Phone +45 2171 7127
Email elisky@norden.org

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Norwegian American

USA Embassy achieves LEED Gold for its green elements!

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The new U.S. embassy at Makrellbekken in Oslo has achieved LEED Gold certification for its numerous green elements. The embassy’s environmental features includes the restoration of a seasonal stream that runs through the site, green roofs, preservation of existing landscape, maximized use of natural light and a ground-source heat exchange.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the leading benchmark in green building.

The restored stream and ground source heat exchange system enable the building to meet 90% of peak heating load and 100% of peak cooling load with energy stored in bedrock by the heat pump, a renewable resource.

To encourage the use of environmentally friendly transportation, the building is located within 300 meters of public transportation (Makrellbekken T-bane station) and includes more than 45 bicycle parking spaces

Reduced dependence on artificial lighting saves energy, reduces operating costs, and provides health benefits. In the new embassy, windows nearly three meters tall maximises the brief hours of winter daylight and take advantage of mid-summer’s long days.

The design complements Norwegian architectural tradition, including horizontal roofs that are typical of a traditional Norwegian longhouse. The design also includes natural stone, weathered copper facades and extensive natural landscaping.

Read more about LEED certification here: usgbc.org/leed

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Crimes

Norway adopts new gambling regulations

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

The supreme legislature adopted a number of measures to strengthen gambling rules.

Norway.- Norway’s gambling market is expected to suffer some modifications after the supreme legislature adopted measures to strengthen gambling rules this week. The measures aim to prevent foreign operators from targetting local players.

The measures adopted on Monday grant Norwegian Gaming Authority (Lotteri- og Stiftelsestilsynet) more power to investigate companies that promote unauthorised gambling products and impose penalties on companies that violate the rules.

However, gaming companies believe that these regulations are only symbolic, as – for Norwegian customers – the difference is minimal. Stian Røsvik Bjørstad, the spokesman for ComeOn, said: “For our customers and for our business in Norway, this proposal has little or no impact. We perceive it all as pure symbolism.” ComeOn is one of the companies that Norwegian authorities want to stop from offering its services in the country to protect the game monopoly of Norsk Tipping and Rikstoto.

“This is another attempt to postpone the inevitable, which will be a Norwegian rule when our politicians are also ripe for it. Large portions of the proposal are already permitted by Norwegian law, and other parts are in violation of the EEA agreement,” said Bjørstad.

Kindred Group spokesman Peter Alling also said that the company supports a new Norwegian gaming policy but believes that the right way to do go is a solution that is legally unproblematic, “which safeguards revenue for state, sport and culture that takes care of people with problematic gaming behaviour, which takes into account the actual technological development.” He believes that this new regulation doesn’t mean that new rules will apply, as compliance is complicated.

Norwegian politician for the Labour Party, one of the four that were part of the coalition to craft the new measures, Kari Kenriksen, rejects the idea that they’re only symbolic. “It’s strange that they use the words ‘symbolic policy’. These measures will be effective.” She also said that they want to protect the monopoly so the revenue ends up benefiting the community. Other politicians also believe that measures need to be taken to prevent Norwegian players from leaving their money with foreign companies.

In Norway, only Norsk Tipping and Rikstoto are allowed to offer and market money games. The monopoly has for years been challenged by foreign gaming companies, which are pushing more and more advertising at Norwegian customers via TV stations broadcast from abroad. The new regulations allow the Norwegian Gaming Authority to have more opportunities to intervene and impose penalties.

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Media Freedom

BBC World Service and NRK are collaborating on an investigative podcast series

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

BBC World Service and Norwegian state broadcaster NRK are partnering to produce a podcast that investigates the mysterious death of a woman in Norway in the 1970s.

Premiering on 16 April, ‘Death in Ice Valley’ will look into the story of the ‘Isdal Woman’, whose body was discovered in November 1970 in a remote spot in Norway’s Isdalen Valley but whose identity remains unknown almost half a century later.

NRK has been investigating the topic and publishing stories about it over the last two years. Last year, the World Service published an article summarising the broadcaster’s findings, which gathered a lot of interest from readers, so the BBC thought about joining forces with NRK to explore the case as a podcast.

The presenters of the series, NRK investigative reporter Marit Higraffand BBC radio documentary producer Neil McCarthy, have spent the last six months recording in the field in Norway and producing the episodes in a studio in London.

They have been interviewing eyewitnesses Higraff had previously spoken to in her reporting, as well as specialists who can apply a new range of scientific methods to material evidence in order to uncover details that didn’t come to light in 1970.

Higraff and McCarthy are encouraging listeners to contribute through a dedicated Facebook group, which has so far gathered some 396 members who are discussing the investigation and sharing relevant material that could help shape the podcast, such as pictures of the spot in Norway where the woman’s body was found.

“It’s sort of a ‘then and now’ story,” McCarthy told journalism.co.uk. “We are about halfway through producing a series of 10 episodes and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves because when the series starts going out, we’re hoping listeners will pitch in with suggestions and plausible leads that might lead to new doors opening for the investigation that we didn’t expect.”

The collaborative podcast is an exciting way to dig deeper into the story, Higraff and McCarthy said, as each broadcaster brings their own skills and knowledge to the table: having extensively reported on the topic, NRK brings the background research on the case, while the BBC is contributing audio production skills and the extensive reach the World Service has.

The two presenters also have backgrounds that “complement each other”, McCarthy added, as he is more experienced in working with sound while Higraff approaches the story from an investigative journalism angle.

However, neither of them have produced a podcast before, so working with the format has been one of the common challenges they’ve faced.

“One of the challenges, for me, is that we’ve got a historical thread and we’ve got a current thread which is slowly unfolding, but we really don’t know how it’s going to end up. So it’s both a challenge and an exciting aspect of it, and I’m looking forward to seeing whether the listeners can shape that final destination,” McCarthy said.

“When we started this investigation at NRK, we didn’t know if we would ever be able to solve it and we still don’t know,” Higraff added, “so that’s of course a challenge.”

“We started publishing more or less at the same time as we started investigating, because we wanted to take the viewers, listeners and readers along the way.

“That has been an important part of the project for us, to try something new, as normally when we do investigations, we only start publishing once we have done all the interviews and gathered all the materials.”

After experimenting with the length, the team decided the episodes of ‘Death in Ice Valley’ will be about 30 minutes long, the optimal length for people who listen to podcasts on their commute. A half-hour podcast episode also offers enough flexibility to tell the story and play with music, sounds and transitions, which “feels less hurried” than a radio programme would, added McCarthy.

Higraff and McCarthy will continue to speak to key witnesses involved in the case to get to the bottom of the story. They are also looking outside of Norway and into Europe to investigate where the ‘Isdal Woman’ came from and where she grew up.

Alongside the podcast, which will be available on iPlayer, the NRK website and iTunes, the team will also publish stories, documents, images and other material relevant to the case.

“People are generally very interested in true crime stories and this is an exciting story. I hope they will want to follow along with us in this project and help reveal new clues to see if we can solve this mystery,” Higraff said.

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Taiwan and Norway

Taiwanese citizens aim to challenge Norway

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

A group of Taiwanese nationals studying in Norway, labeled as “Chinese nationals” on visa and entry documents are taking their case to the Norway court system to redress the mistake.

The case is being led by a law student, referred to only as Joseph, who has worked as a solicitor in Taiwan. He alleges that Norway’s classification of Taiwanese citizens as Chinese citizens infringes upon the rights of the individual as stipulated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Norway is a signatory country of the covenant, and if the court rules in favor of the students, then Norway would be legally bound to rectify the practice of mislabeling Taiwanese citizens, and forcing an illegitimate legal identity upon them as “Chinese.”

Upon investigation, it does appear that Norway’s mislabeling of Taiwanese citizens is in direct contradiction to Article I and Article II of the Covenant. The document also further stipulates that states found to be in violation of the covenant must rectify the contravention to the best of their ability.

Article I of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states:

Sec. 1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Sec. 3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article II also contains the following resolutions:

Sec. 1: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Sec. 3: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:
(a) To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity;

If the declaration in Article I is intended to be interpreted as directly as it was written, then Norway is clearly in violation of the Covenant.

The Norwegian media outlet Aftenposten, quoted a member of the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board as saying that altering the nationality of the students for the duration of their stay in Norway, in accordance with Norway’s “One China” policy, would not affect the rights or freedoms of Taiwanese nationals.

However, the students and many in Taiwan disagree. If there is ever a legal issue involving a Taiwanese person in the country, they have been legally relegated to the unwelcome status of “Chinese citizen” and would be subject to the authority of the Chinese embassy in the country.

As Joseph and others argue, this would contravene the international standards of political rights, as China is neither their home nor is the PRC their representative government.

Joseph is quoted by Afterposten as saying “It’s illogical. I am from Taiwan. I have a Taiwanese passport which I used to enter Norway.”

The students are preparing to establish a Go-Fund me account to finish raising the funds necessary to appeal the case in the Norway courts (NT$900,00 / US$30,000). If arbitration in Norway fails to reach a just ruling, then the students are prepared to take the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board to the European Court of Human Rights.

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Norwegian Aid

Launch of the “Født Fri” foundation

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan
On Friday the first of June 150 invited guests will be participating in the historic launch of the foundation “Født Fri” in the city centre of Oslo, Norway.
The name “Født Fri” translates to “Born Free” and embodies the core belief of the organisation, that we are all born free and equal, and that our human rights, and value should be honoured from birth.
– Finally, Født Fri has the chance to present what we’ve been working on over the past few months, says the director of the foundation, Shabana Rehman.
– The foundation will work against the honour- and shame-culture, and its launch marks an important event in the history of Norway’s struggle towards equality and freedom for all.
The launch will take place in the offices of the foundation in the Oslo Media House, Skippergata 26, as well as in the Oslo House of Innovation in Skippergata 22, between 14:50 and 16:30.
During the launch, we will present our visions for the foundation as we move ahead. A number of concrete projects have already been initiated and will be presented at the launch.
– The guests will get to meet the activists who stand united with us. We will also see that the fight for the rights of minorities is no longer as lonely as it has been.
Født Fri offers a broad educational and cultural program with strong speakers, among them the vice president of the Labour Party Hadia Tajik, author Azra Gilani, head of Seema As Loveleen Brenna, member of parliament Abid Raja (Venstre), secretary general of LIM, Dana Æsel Manouchehri, the Libyan activist Asma Khalifa, the Danish writer Geeti Amiri, project manager with Født Fri Maria Khan, and Nuray Gullestad from the Norwegian PEN.
– Artists will deliver political speeches, while some famous politicians will offer artistic content and entertainment, says Shabana Rehman.
Friday, at 14:00, the minister of culture Trine Skei Grande will officially open the doors to the new offices of Født Fri at Skippergata 26. After the opening there will be a short press conference in Skippergata 26 with the minister, member of parliament Abid Raja and Sabana Rehman.
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Crimes

KLM pilot arrested in Oslo after failing alcohol test

by Nadarajah Sethurupan
written by Nadarajah Sethurupan

A KLM pilot has been arrested in Oslo after failing a breath test shortly before a flight to Schiphol, according to Norwegian media.

The man, said to be a co-pilot, was caught in a routine check at the airport on Friday morning, local media said. He was reportedly remanded in custody for two weeks pending an investigation.

Airlines, including KLM, have tough rules for the use of alcohol by crew – who are banned from drinking anything for 10 hours before a flight. KLM has confirmed the arrest in a short statement.

‘KLM would like to reassert its firm conviction that alcohol and flying do not go together. Safety is always our chief priority,’ the statement said.

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