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Norway

On Board The ‘Handala’: A Little Ship To Gaza

In April of this year, I joined the crew of the Handala for the first leg of her voyage as she set sail from Oslo, Norway. The Handala is an 18-meter former fishing vessel from Norway. It is part of the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) that has been sailing ships to challenge Israel’s illegal and inhuman blockade of Gaza with successive voyages since 2010. As Handala began sailing For the Children of Gaza in April 2023, this is the second year of this campaign. The aims of our present voyage were two-fold. The intended final destination was the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip – presently under near-constant bombardment as Israel continues its barbaric, genocidal atrocities against a captive civilian population.

Norwegian Fund Drops Stake In US Construction Giant

Norway’s largest private pension fund, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse Gjensidig Forsikringsselska (KLP), has dropped its stake in US construction giant Caterpillar Inc, citing “concerns” the company is contributing to the destruction of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. “Although Caterpillar has shown itself willing to engage in a dialogue with KLP, the company’s responses failed to credibly substantiate its ability to actually reduce the risk of violating the rights of individuals in situations of war or conflict, or of violating international law,” Kiran Aziz, the firm’s head of responsible investments, told Bloomberg.

For The Rich, One Nation Isn’t Rolling Out The Red Carpet

So you think the rich have life easy, do you? Just try telling that to the deep pockets who’ve spent tens of millions buying condos at 432 Park Avenue, the 11-year-old Manhattan luxury tower that once rated as our hemisphere’s tallest residence. Condo owners in the tower have had to put up with “faulty elevators, leaky plumbing, and noise issues.” They’re now suing the building’s operator. Or consider the plight of those fabulously wealthy souls who’ve had to pay millions to move their mansions off the sandy coast of Nantucket, the one-time hippie refuge that’s become a summer “holiday hot spot for billionaires.” The problem?

European Recognition Of Palestine Signals Major Shift In Discourse

If one were to argue that a top Spanish government official would someday declare that “from the river to the sea, Palestine would be free,” the suggestion would have seemed ludicrous. But this is precisely how Yolanda Diaz, Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister, concluded a statement on May 23, a few days before Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state. The Spanish, Norwegian, and Irish recognition of Palestine is the most important. Western Europe is finally catching up with the rest of the world regarding the significance of a solid international position in support of the Palestinian people and rejection of Israel’s genocidal practices in occupied Palestine.

Ireland, Spain And Norway To Formally Recognize Palestinian Statehood

Ireland, Spain and Norway will formally recognize a Palestinian state on May 28, a milestone diplomatic decision that hopes to bring resolution to the conflict in Gaza. “We must be on the right side of history,” Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said amongst the announcements with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Harris, speaking at a news conference in Dublin, said he hopes the decision would “offer hope and encouragement to the people of Palestine at one of their darkest hours.” Sánchez addressed the Spanish Parliament, stating: We hope that our recognition and our reasons contribute to other western countries following this path, because the more we are, the more strength we will have to impose a ceasefire, to achieve the release of the hostages held by Hamas, to relaunch the political process that can lead to a peace agreement.

Extinction Rebellion Protested Around The Entire North Sea

In an unprecedented act of coordinated international climate protest, Extinction Rebellion activists from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands protested in solidarity with each other against new North Sea fossil fuels extraction. Under the campaign North Sea Fossil Free acts of civil disobedience happened all around the North Sea. The governments of these six countries are permitting new fossil extraction infrastructure, harming not only the North Sea ecosystem, but also committing the whole world to dangerous levels of warming.

Norway Farmed Salmon Industry Accused Of ‘Food Colonialism’

Producers in Norway, the world’s top supplier of farmed salmon, are pushing up to four million people in West Africa into food insecurity and depriving them of critical nutrients, according to a new report. Published by food and farming campaign group Feedback Global, the research states that major farmed fish and aquafeed producers – including European transnational companies Mowi, BioMar, Cargill, and Skretting – are between them extracting nearly two million tonnes of whole, wild fish annually from the world’s oceans, according to 2020 data. The majority of these small, highly nutritious fish are being turned into fish oil, a key ingredient in salmon aquaculture feed, as well as fishmeal.

Nordic Countries Surrender Their Historic Neutrality

Most of the Scandinavian countries especially Sweden and Finland had pursued a policy of neutrality towards the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union, and later Russia, since the onset of the Cold War. Despite significant pressure from centrist and center-right sections to join NATO, Finland and Sweden had been committed to formal neutrality for a long time. However the ongoing war in Ukraine has led to a rise in militarism and Russophobia in the region, and sections within the social democratic parties called for NATO membership and an enhanced defense cooperation with the US. NATO has already increased its military footprint in the Baltic region in the garb of aiding Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Norway: Youth Demonstrated Against ‘Green Colonialism’

On March 3, the largest civil disobedience action in recent Norwegian history came to an end. 16 Sami activists occupied the lobby of the Oil and Energy Department, and over 1,500 demonstrators attended in Oslo, including around 100 activists partaking in the occupations. Beginning as a single day occupation to spread awareness about the illegal construction of wind turbines on Indigenous land, the demonstration ended as a burgeoning, semi-mass movement. Although the movement forced the current government to meet with movement’s leaders, unfortunately nothing was won; the demonstration ended without the government agreeing to a single demand or concession.

The Arctic Is The Next Frontier In The New Cold War

The Arctic had once been a largely peaceful zone, harboring cooperative international scientific research. But today, it is swiftly becoming one of militarized power politics. Heavily armed nations surround the melting Arctic Ocean, with its unstable environment of eroding shorelines, accessible natural resources, and contested maritime passages. This February, the U.S. launched little publicized, month-long military exercises in the Arctic, hosted by Finland and Norway. The Pentagon’s European Command described the exercises – named Arctic Forge 23, Defense Exercise North, and Joint Viking – as a way “to demonstrate readiness by deploying a combat-credible force to enhance power in NATO’s northern flank”.

Norway’s Workers Insisted They Shouldn’t Pay For Coronavirus — And They Won

At the start of the coronavirus epidemic, Norway’s government said it would help businesses by making it easier for them to get rid of workers. But trade unions and left-wing parties fiercely denied that these measures were “inevitable” — and they won a bailout to serve working people, not just their employers. Like most of Europe, Norway has been hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic. After several weeks of dragging its feet, on March 13, the government moved into action, following its neighbor Denmark in closing schools, kindergartens, and then the border. It made a list of those exercising “critical functions in society,” like nurses, transit workers, cleaners, and people working in grocery stores, who can still work and have daycare for their kids. Like most of Europe, Norway has been hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic. After several weeks of dragging its feet, on March 13, the government moved into action, following its neighbor Denmark in closing schools, kindergartens, and then the border. It made a list of those exercising “critical functions in society,” like nurses, transit workers, cleaners, and people working in grocery stores, who can still work and have daycare for their kids.

Norway Now Kills More Whales Than Japan And Iceland Combined

Norway is now the world’s leading whaling nation, killing more whales in the past two years than Japan and Iceland combined. A new report released today calls on the international community to respond to Norway’s systematic efforts to weaken management rules and improve market conditions for its whalers. Frozen in Time: How Modern Norway Clings to Its Whaling Past, produced by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)...

Norway Is Far More Socialist Than Venezuela

As the United States begins its effort to depose Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro, the discourse is plagued by the perennial question: what is socialism? Venezuela helps illuminate this question because many pundits commit to the claim that Venezuela is socialist before committing to a specific definition of socialism. This unfortunate order of events then requires them to retroactively identify specific things that they say make Venezuela socialist, but then those things exist in other countries that they refuse to call socialist.

Crisis Of Social Democracy: From Norway To Europe

The crisis of social democracy is being debated throughout Europe. Several of the historically strong labour parties have almost been wiped out in elections while others seem unable to recover from defeat. In the last few years, a number of social democratic parties have ended up with only one-digit election results (Greece, Ireland, Iceland, The Netherlands, France), while others have experienced major setbacks. The Norwegian Labour Party, for example, has experienced two of its worst elections – 2001 and 2017 – since the 1920s. Significant parts of the trade union movement believe that the party made serious blunders in what should have been an easy victory during last year’s parliamentary elections. There is no doubt that social democracy is in a deep international crisis, although conditions vary widely between different countries.

Norway Takes First Steps From Extreme Drug War To Sensible Policy

This was definitely a result of a bottom-up movement. It has had a few strong voices for quite some time, like Arild Knutsen and Thorvald Stoltenberg. Since the beginning of 2016 The Association for Safer Drug Policies has become a strong voice in Norwegian drug policy, and together with the other organisations working for drug policy reform we have been able to shift the centreline of the Norwegian public debate and influence the programs of almost all major political parties, including the party of government. Even though we were certain  changes would come at some point, we didn’t expect our Health Minister from the Conservative party to change his view on decriminalisation as fast as he did. It really takes courage to front new drug policies and to take a new stand in a heated debate like this, like he did.
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