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TODAY IN NORWAY

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Strong winds in parts of western and southern Norway, Stavanger Airport evacuated due to security breach, and other news from Norway on Thursday.

Rogaland
Residents in western and southern Norway are on high alert due to a yellow warning for strong winds expected on Thursday. Photo by Polina Kuzovkova on Unsplash

Yellow warning for strong gusts of wind

Residents and authorities in parts of Norway’s western and southern regions are on high alert as a yellow warning has been issued for strong gusts of wind were expected to hit on Thursday.

The warning covers the inner regions of Rogaland, Hordaland, and Agder in western and southern Norway and comes into effect on Thursday morning.

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute predicts that locally strong gusts ranging from 28 to 35 meters per second (m/s) will sweep through these areas from an easterly direction.

This weather event is expected to bring windy conditions for residents and travellers in the affected regions.

The warning is initially set to remain in place until Friday evening, but there is a possibility of an extension if weather conditions persist or worsen.

You can stay informed about updates at the yr.no website.

Stavanger Airport reopens after evacuation

Stavanger Airport was briefly evacuated on Wednesday afternoon due to a security breach that allowed a person to pass through security without proper clearance. The incident was initially reported by the newspaper Stavanger Aftenblad.

After the unauthorized person managed to bypass security checks, the terminal was evacuated, and a thorough search was conducted to ensure the safety of the area.

Authorities are currently investigating the individual who breached security, and passengers have been allowed to re-enter the airport a few hours later.

Nordea reports strong growth in lending

On Thursday, Nordea reported a significant growth in lending despite the challenging economic landscape in Norway.

In the third quarter, Nordea’s lending in Norway surged to 814 billion kroner, marking a 4 percent increase over the past year. According to a Nordea press release, this growth is attributed to both businesses and households.

Nordea’s lending to companies saw a 9 percent rise compared to the third quarter of the previous year, reaching 266 billion kroner. This growth comes at a time when many people and businesses are navigating a changing economic landscape.

“Many people now notice that we have a new economy, which affects the vast majority of us. Parts of the business world are experiencing a drop in demand, while others are still operating very well. Norwegian households have started to curb consumption, and we notice that more people are contacting us for advice on their own finances,” Snorre Storset, managing director of Nordea Norge, said.

SAS pays for private flight from Svalbard to Poland

SAS, the Scandinavian airline, has reached a resolution in a case involving a Polish family who had to take a private flight from Svalbard to Poland during an SAS strike last summer.

The family, consisting of ten members, found themselves in a challenging situation, needing to return home swiftly following the death of a family member.

Due to the strike, there were no other viable options available, leaving them with the only choice of a private flight. The cost of this private flight amounted to 90,000 euros, slightly over 1 million kroner, according to the Norwegian news agency NTB.

In their pursuit to have these expenses covered, the family took their case to the Solna District Court in Sweden. In March of this year, SAS initially reimbursed 1 million kroner to the family. However, it was later revealed that this payment was made in error, and SAS clarified their intention to only cover 400 euros per passenger.

Initially, SAS sought a full refund of the entire sum, but a recent agreement has now been reached between the airline and the family. As a result of this settlement, the family is required to repay only 200,000 kroner. Their legal representative, Michael Forvass, has expressed the family’s satisfaction with this outcome.

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TODAY IN NORWAY

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

Norwegian government strikes deal to stockpile grain, parliament votes through medicine rationing law, and more news from Norway on Wednesday.

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

The government establishes emergency storage for grain

The Norwegian government has signed contracts with four companies in the grain industry to build up and store a national emergency grain stockpile corresponding to three months of national consumption. 

Under the deal, the state aims to build up the 82,500 tonne stockpile by 2029, with the four companies — Norgesmøllene, Fiskå Mølle, Strand Unikorn and Lantmännen Cerealia — responsible for buying and storing some 15,000 tonnes a year into storage.  

“Contingency storage of grain has been an important matter for the government. The Center Party and the Labor Party, both in opposition and in government, have worked to get emergency stocks in place,” Agriculture and Food Minister Geir Pollestad (Sp) said in a press release. 

The Norwegian government liquidated its stategic grain stockpile in 2004, judging that there was no longer a need for it. 

Norwegian vocabulary: beredskapslager — emergency storage site

Norway’s parliament votes through law rationing medicines

Norway’s parliament on Tuesday passed a new law which will allow the government to ration medicines that are in critically short supply in the country. 

The law, which comes into force on July 1st, will allow the government to ration medicines in high demand, such as ADHD medicines, anti-obesity medicines such as Wegovy and Ozempic, and antibiotics for children. 

The law will give the government the opportunity to ration medicines of which there is a critical shortage in Norway, says health policy spokesman in the Labor Party, Truls Vasvik.

“Today we have no legal basis for doing that, and that is what we have to put in place. And it is important to have also for future critical situations,” the health policy spokesman for the Labour Party, Truls Vasvik, told NRK

“For patients, the new law means that pharmacies will limit the amount of medication that can be dispensed at a time,” Ingrid Aas, senior physician at the Norwegian Medical Products Agency, said. 

Norwegian vocabulary: at begrense – to limit

Swedish 19-year-old charged with arson in Aurskog

A Swedish 19-year-old has been charged with arson after a fire broke out in a detached house in Aurskog in Romerike, east of Oslo, on Tuesday night.

“In questioning, he admitted to being involved in the action and to have been on the site at the time,” the prosecutor in the case, Marit Aurdal, told the VG newspaper. 

According to the police the man doused a house in petrol and then set fire to it, causing some damage to the structure but not destroying it. 

The man’s defence lawyer, Hilde Mo, told VG that while his client had explained what had happened and his role in it, he had not decided whether or not to admit to the charge of arson.

“We cannot rule out that there may be others involved, and we want to get an overview of any helpers,” Aurdal said.

Norwegian vocabulary: mordbrann – arson

SAS accuses pilots of ‘illegal action’ after 30 flights cancelled at weekend 

Scandinavia’s SAS airline has accused its Norwegian pilots of mounting an illegal strike action after 30 flights were cancelled over the weekend due to pilots not being available. 

According to NRK, SAS has sent a letter to pilots’ unions accusing them of using sick leave, refusal sales of their holiday days, and claiming not to be in a physical or mental state to fly in a coordinated way, which it argued constituted an illegal strike action. 

The airline is claiming that the pilots engineered a staff shortage to protest the fact that their collective agreement was worse than what competing airlines received in their wage settlements. 

The airline has said it plans to hold both individual pilots and their unions responsible, and will levy financial penalties to offset the financial damage from the cancelled flights. 

Roger Klokset from the Norwegian SAS pilots’ association (NSF) told the national broadcaster NRK that the union “absolutely refutes” these claims. 

“We are not aware that there has been a strike at all. We have asked SAS to explain what is the root cause of this weekend’s cancellations,” he said. 

Knut Morten Johansen, the airline’s public relations director, confirmed to NRK that the airline had sent a letter to unions demanding that pilots stop “what we believe is an illegal collective bargaining action”.

Norwegian vocabulary: en aksjon — a strike action 

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