Society & Policy

A 19-year-old chess Grandmaster from Norway competes against the whole world, and the northern city of Tromsø makes a bid to host the World Chess Olympiad in 2014. Can Norway become a key player in international chess? Read more

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will 13 September host a high-level conference on the international situation in the labour market, where millions of people are unemployed as a result of the global economic crisis. Read more

More than 60 countries agreed to concrete measures to address armed violence in Geneva on 12 May. Read more

Although there are those who have warned that increased activity and unresolved boundaries in the Arctic would raise tensions, developments in the region are bearing witness to just the opposite. Read more

The world’s largest wind turbine is to be built in Norway. Innovative technology will make the production of renewable energy far more efficient. Read more

At 8:30 pm 27 March 2010 Norway will plunge into darkness, joining in the world’s largest visual climate change campaign. Read more

The people of Norway chose Anette Sagen, Norway’s top woman ski jumper, to inaugurate the new Holmenkollen ski jump facility. Read more

“American Steven Holl’s latest project is a breath of fresh architectural air set just above the Arctic Circle,” wrote the journal Wallpaper about the new Hamsun Centre. Read more

Have you seen them madly sweeping the ice dressed in their clown pants? The Norwegian men’s curling team has attracted widespread attention at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver thanks to its conspicuous attire. Read more

Norwegians like to think they are born with skis on their feet. But will their country’s illustrious history of polar expeditions and skiing innovations actually help Norwegian skiers to compete against the crème-de-la-crème at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver? And will Norway be rewarded once again for fair play? Read more

Sincere and very originally expressed appreciation - from the Macedonian textile workers to Norway, for improving their work conditions. Read more

On 29 September, President of the Norwegian parliament Thorbjørn Jagland was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Now he intends to modernise what he describes as the world’s most important human rights organisation, and make it more effective. Read more

The world’s first full-scale floating wind turbine – known as Hywind – was officially opened on 8 September off the southwest coast of Norway. “This is an important step towards creating a new Norwegian energy industry at sea,” declared Norway’s Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Riis-Johansen. Read more

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the polar ice UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to Svalbard in Norway’s Arctic region to view firsthand the impacts of climate change. Some hectic weeks are in store before the climate summit convenes in Copenhagen. Read more

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will be hosting the High-Level Conference on Climate Change and Technology in Bergen on 27-28 May 2009. The agenda will focus on carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technology that could prove crucial if the world is to achieve necessary cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions. Read more

Norway is working with major international health organisations in a new initiative in the fight against malaria. USD 225 million is to be invested in providing better and cheaper medicines  to the world’s poor. Read more

Norway has assumed chairmanship of the Holocaust Task Force, and is approaching the task with humility: “We all have a duty to prevent anti-Semitism from ever regaining a foothold, either here or in any other country,” commented Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Read more

Peace mediators from all over the world gathered in Norway at the Oslo Forum in the last week of June, to share experiences on ongoing mediation in peace processes in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Somalia. Read more

Sustainable development has been on the global agenda for more than two decades and is reaching new levels of urgency in this era of unprecedented economic growth. As the global economy continues to expand at a rapid pace, how can we ensure the needs of future generations are taken into account? As business and technology make creative and technological advances, how can we best utilise these a... Read more

After 6 years the Norwegian military camp Banski Rid was handed back to Macedonian authorities. Camp Commander Egil Holstad thanked Macedonia for their generous hospitality and stated that serving in Macedonia had been one of the best experiences of his life. Read more