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Meta and Facebook logos are seen in this illustration taken February 15, 2022. The ban on such advertising, which targets users by harvesting their data, is a setback for U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms (META.O), the owner of the two social media services, which has opposed efforts to curb the practice. The Norwegian data regulator, Datatilsynet, in September said it had referred the ongoing fine to the European regulator, as its fine was valid in Norway only and due to expire on Nov. 3. Norway is not a member of the EU but is part of the European single market. The decision affects some 250 million Facebook and Instagram users in Europe, Datatilsynet said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, EDPB, Datatilsynet, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, EU, Facebook, European Union, European Economic, European Data Protection, Reuters, Economic, Big Tech, Thomson Locations: Norway, Ireland, Norwegian, Europe

[1/3] A scientist drives his snowmobile across an icefield of the arctic near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, April 10, 2023. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening of the station, in Tromsoe, northern Norway, in June, as a means for the US to have a "diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle", he said. Tromsoe is the largest city in Arctic Norway, located about 400km (250 miles) to the west of Russia. Tromsoe is also the seat of the Arctic Council, a polar body comprising the eight Arctic states of Russia, the US, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Cooperation within the Arctic Council between Moscow and the Western Arctic states was put on hold after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Persons: Lisi Niesner, Antony Blinken, Andreas Oesthagen, Washington, Tromsoe, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Deborah Kyvrikosaios Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Reuters, Arctic Council, Cooperation, Thomson Locations: Ny, Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, Rights OSLO, United States, Washington, Ukraine, Tromsoe, Oslo, Arctic Norway, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Moscow

SummaryCompanies Women's rights campaigner serving 12 years' jailPrize likely to anger Iranian governmentNorwegian Nobel committee lauds Iranian protestersIranian news agency notes 'prize from westerners'OSLO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Iran's imprisoned women's rights advocate Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a rebuke to Tehran's theocratic leaders and boost for anti-government protesters. "We want to give the prize to encourage Narges Mohammadi and the hundreds of thousands of people who have been crying for exactly 'Woman, Life, Freedom' in Iran," she added, referring to the protest movement's main slogan. She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. [1/5]Iranian human rights activist and the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) Narges Mohammadi poses in this undated handout picture. Among a stream of tributes from major global bodies, the U.N. human rights office said the Nobel award highlighted the bravery of Iranian women.

Persons: Narges Mohammadi, Berit Reiss, Andersen, Narges, Fars, Mohammadi, Shirin Ebadi, Maria Ressa, Russia's Dmitry Muratov, embolden Narges, Taghi Rahmani, Alfred Nobel, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mohammadi's, Mahsa, We've, Elizabeth Throssell, They've, Hamidreza Mohammed, Dan Smith, Gwladys Fouche, Nerijus Adomaitis, Terje Solsvik, Tom Little, John Davison, Anthony Paone, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Cecile Mantovani, Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean Organizations: Norwegian Nobel, Reuters, Defenders, of Human Rights, Philippines, REUTERS, New York Times, NRK, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, OSLO, Iran, Tehran, Evin, Paris, Oslo, Iranian, Stockholm, Parisa, Dubai, Baghdad, Brussels, Geneva

The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Meta Platforms Inc FollowOSLO, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Norway's data regulator will refer the fine it has imposed on Meta Platforms (META.O) to the European data authority, it said on Thursday, a move that could make the fine permanent and widen it to the European Union. The Norwegian regulator, Datatilsynet, is now referring its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which could make the decision permanent if it agrees with the Norwegian regulator's decision. "Datatilsynet has asked the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) for a binding decision in the Meta case," the regulator said in a statement. "In the request, we ask that the Norwegian temporary ban on behaviour-based marketing on Facebook and Instagram be made permanent and extended to the entire EU/EEA."

Persons: Yves Herman, Instagram, Datatilsynet, Meta, Gwladys, Terje Solsvik Organizations: REUTERS, Meta, European Union, Facebook, Big Tech, European Data Protection, Data Protection, EEA, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Norwegian, Norway

Former Wagner commander Andrei Medvedev is pictured in court with his lawyer Brynjulf Risnes (not pictured), in Oslo, Norway April 25, 2023. Andrei Medvedev, who escaped Russia in January via its Arctic border with Norway, has described running as Russian guards fired shots at him. Police said in a statement late on Friday that a man in his 20s had been taken into custody for attempting to illegally cross the Russian border, but did not name him. It was never his intention to cross the border (into Russia)," Risnes said. Risnes said Medvedev had the right to return to Russia if he wanted to, but that "a lot of changes need to happen" in order to make a safe return.

Persons: Wagner, Andrei Medvedev, Brynjulf Risnes, Gwladys, Risnes, Medvedev, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Gwladys Fouche, Nerijus, Terje Solsvik Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Police, Reuters, Russia, YouTube, Thomson Locations: Oslo, Norway, Rights OSLO, Russia, Ukraine, Russian, Finnmark, Norwegian, Moscow

Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. "That means that we cannot make sure that the increased defence spending actually leads to more security." In February, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Kyiv was burning through shells much faster than the West could produce them. Bauer pushed for more private investment in the defence sector to ramp up production capacity, urging pension funds and banks to stop labelling defence investments as unethical. As we have seen in Ukraine, war is a whole of society event," he said, adding such investment was in the private sector's strategic interest as well.

Persons: Yves Herman, Rob Bauer, Jens Stoltenberg, Bauer, Gwladys Fouche, Sabine Siebold, Jason Neely, Ros Russell Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights OSLO, Oslo, Ukraine, Kyiv, Germany, Poland, Baltic, Berlin

[1/2] Indigenous Sami activists set up a lavvo, a Sami tent, outside the Norwegian parliament in protest against two wind farms built on Sami reindeer pastures, in Oslo, Norway September 11, 2023. REUTERS/Gwladys Fouche Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - An Indigenous Sami activist set up camp outside the Norwegian parliament on Monday to protest against wind turbines built on land traditionally used by Sami reindeer herders, saying he will stay there as long as the turbines remain in place. Norway's supreme court in October 2021 ruled that two wind farms built at Fosen in central Norway, part of Europe's largest onshore wind farm, violated Sami rights under international conventions. "I believe that there is only one solution and that is to tear down the wind turbines at Fosen." About Monday's protest, Aasland said "the right to free expression is a founding democratic right I have great respect for".

Persons: Gwladys, Mihkkal Haetta, Greta Thunberg, Terje Aasland, Aasland, Gwladys Fouche, Hugh Lawson Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, and Energy, Thomson Locations: Oslo, Norway, Rights OSLO, Sami, Fosen, Norwegian

A smartphone with Meta logo is seen in front of displayed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta in this illustration taken, October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Meta Platforms Inc FollowOSLO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is breaking European data privacy rules in Norway, the country's data regulator told a court on Wednesday, in a case that could have wider European implications. The fine is valid as Meta is not respecting European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), said Hanne Inger Bjurstroem Jahren, a lawyer representing the regulator, Datatilsynet. "There is no discussion on whether the company is in violation of these rules ... Today Meta breaks GDPR rules," she told the court, speaking on the last day of a two-day hearing. Datatilsynet could make the fine permanent by referring its decision to the European Data Protection Board, which has the power to do so, if it agrees with the Norwegian regulator's decision.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Meta, Instagram, Hanne Inger Bjurstroem Jahren, Datatilsynet, Gwladys, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Big Tech, Facebook, Data Protection, Meta, European Data Protection, European, Thomson Locations: Norway, Norwegian, Europe

The fund is one of a growing number investors and policymakers pushing to put more women in company boardrooms. Its latest move comes as the fund takes stock of its ESG engagement with companies so far this year. This year for the first time the fund analysed the structure of all U.S. pay packages above $20 million to see if they aligned with long-term value creation. As a result of its analysis, the fund voted against more than half of pay packages above this level, the report showed. The fund voted against the pay of Coca-Cola's (KO.N) James Quincey, Apple's (AAPL.O) Tim Cook and PepsiCo's (PEP.O) Ramon Laguarta, the fund's voting record showed.

Persons: Carine Smith Ihenacho, Smith, Smith Ihenacho, James Quincey, Apple's, Tim Cook, Ramon Laguarta, Gwladys, Jane Merriman Organizations: ARENDAL, Reuters, Coca, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: Norway, boardrooms, United States, Europe, Japan, Arendal

Norway wealth fund CEO Nicolai Tangen poses for a picture before a news conference held at the Norwegian central bank in Oslo, Norway January 31, 2023. The fund invests in 9,200 firms worldwide, for which it sets expectations on a range of issues, from children's rights to climate change. When talking to firms about responsible AI, the fund will concentrate particularly on the healthcare, finance and large tech sectors, because their use of the technology will have an especially strong impact on consumers. "They have to take responsibility for their development and use of AI," said Smith Ihenacho, adding the fund had already discussed AI with the large U.S. tech companies in its portfolio. In July, U.S. AI companies made voluntary commitments to the White House to implement measures such as watermarking AI-generated content to make the technology safer.

Persons: Nicolai Tangen, Will, Tangen, Carine Smith Ihenacho, Smith, Smith Ihenacho, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, financials, Reuters, Companies, Microsoft, Nvidia, Tech, Thomson Locations: Norway, Norwegian, Oslo, Victoria, financials OSLO

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File PhotoOSLO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is asking a court in Norway to stop a fine the Nordic country's data regulator imposed on the owner of Facebook and Instagram for breaching users' privacy, according to a court filing. Meta Platforms will be fined 1 million crowns ($97,700) per day from Aug. 14 over privacy breaches, Norway's data protection authority told Reuters on Monday, in a decision that could have wider European implications. Meta Platforms is asking for a temporary injunction against the order, according to a court filing. Meta Platforms did not reply to a request for comment. The Norwegian data regulator, Datatilsynet, said Meta Platforms was seeking to stop the imposition of the fine.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Tobias Judin, Datatilsynet, Gwladys Fouche, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Facebook, Reuters, Big Tech, European Data Protection, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, OSLO, Norway, Norwegian, Europe, Oslo

The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo/File PhotoOSLO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms (META.O) will be fined 1 million Norwegian crowns ($98,500) per day over privacy breaches from Aug. 14, Norway's data protection authority told Reuters on Monday. The regulator, Datatilsynet, had said on July 17 that the company would be fined if it did not address privacy breaches the regulator had identified. Meta Platforms did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Norway is not a member of the European Union but is part of the European single market.

Persons: Yves Herman, Datatilsynet, Tobias Judin, Meta, Meta's, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, David Gregorio Our Organizations: REUTERS, Meta, Reuters, Big Tech, European Data Protection, European Union, Facebook, Ireland's Data, European, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, OSLO, Norway, Norwegian, Europe, Oslo

OSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he would soon travel to Turkey to discuss Sweden's NATO membership, in a bid to close a process that has been delayed due to objections from member countries Turkey and Hungary. Speaking during a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo, Stoltenberg said he had spoken to Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week, who at the weekend won re-election as Turkey's president. "I will also travel to Ankara in the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden," Stoltenberg told reporters. "It is time for Turkey and Hungary to start the ratification of Swedish membership to NATO." Several NATO foreign ministers expressed confidence Sweden could become a member before, or at, a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden, Tobias Billstrom, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Gwladys Fouche, Sabine Siebold, Terje Solsvik Organizations: NATO, Lithuanian, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Turkey, Hungary, Oslo, Ankara, Sweden, Swedish, Vilnius, Lithuania

OSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. will open its northernmost diplomatic station in the Norwegian Arctic town of Tromsoe, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday, at a time when cooperation among the Arctic nations has been hit by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "For us, the presence post in Tromsoe is really an ability to have a diplomatic footprint above the Arctic Circle," he said. It comprises the eight Arctic states of Russia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Cooperation between the Western Arctic states and Moscow on the Arctic body is frozen since the invasion of Ukraine. "Our entire approach is to make sure that the Arctic remains an area of peaceful cooperation," he said.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Blinken, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Sriraj Kalluvila, Mark Potter Organizations: Arctic Council, Cooperation, Thomson Locations: OSLO, U.S, Norwegian, Tromsoe, Ukraine, United States, American, Oslo, Norway, Russia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Moscow

"All allies agree that Moscow does not have a veto against NATO enlargement," Stoltenberg told reporters as NATO foreign ministers gathered in Oslo, seeking to dispel any signs of discord ahead of the summit. At the Vilnius summit, NATO leaders aim to send a strong message of support to Kyiv. But with only six weeks to go, pressure is building for allies to find common ground on what exactly to offer Ukraine. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said Kyiv had suffered two invasions while waiting for an answer from NATO for 14 years. "Ukraine needs to get a clear path, and the next steps, on how to enter NATO," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Margus Tsahkna, Annalena Baerbock, Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn, Sabine Siebold, Gwladys Fouche, Terje Solsvik, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Alezander, Boldizsar, Bart H, Meijer, Ros Russell Organizations: NATO, Kyiv, Ukraine, Lithuania's, Estonian, Thomson Locations: OSLO, Moscow, Ukraine, Vilnius, Oslo, Moldova, Kyiv, Europe, United States, Germany, Russia, Estonian, Luxembourg, Hungary, NATO, Brussels, Alezander Tanas, Chisinau, Olena, Budapest

Norway has become Europe's largest supplier of gas, following a drop in Russian gas flows, which it supplies via a network of pipelines stretching some 9,000 kms (5,590 miles). "The state wants complete state ownership of the central parts of the Norwegian gas transport system," it said, without giving reasons. The gas pipeline network is owned by Gassled, a partnership set up in 2003 by the oil companies that were producing gas offshore Norway at the time. Gassled owns the Kaarstoe and Kollsnes processing plants as well as the majority of the pipelines delivering Norwegian gas to the European Union and Britain. Over time, the oil companies have reduced, or sold entirely their stakes, often selling to investment companies.

NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, April 25 (Reuters) - A former commander in Russia's Wagner mercenary group seeking asylum in Norway pleaded guilty on Tuesday to being involved in a fight outside an Oslo bar and carrying an air gun in public and said he felt "very ashamed." Medvedev pleaded guilty to fighting outside the Oslo bar on Feb. 22 and preventing a police officer from doing his or her duty. He also pleaded guilty to carrying an air gun in public on a separate occasion on March 14. He also said he had bought an air gun from a shop in Oslo for self-defence, because he feared somebody might attack him. Medvedev told Reuters in February he had fought in Ukraine, including in the region around Bakhmut, at the centre of months of fierce battles between Russian and Ukrainian forces that have all but destroyed the city.

[1/4] Sudanese cartoonist Khalid Albaih works at his home as a TV news broadcast shows images from Sudan, in Oslo, Norway April 20, 2023. "Art is needed in times like this because it is important to show people art is about hope, art is about showing there is a different way to talk about things," Albaih told Reuters. "Art is continuous resistance. Art is our way to continue fighting." Reporting by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

OSLO, April 12 (Reuters) - A court in Oslo on Wednesday began hearing a gender discrimination case brought by an employee at Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund against her employer. Elisabeth Bull Daae, head of trading analytics at Norges Bank Investment Management, is suing the unit of the central bank managing the fund for 16 million crowns ($1.54 million) in compensation and damages. The central bank, which pushes the firms it invests in to have more women on their boards and to combat all forms of discrimination, denies the allegations. Or are we in front of a clear, systematic case of pay discrimination based on gender?" The lawyer representing the fund said the relationship between employee and employer had broken down despite its efforts to improve it.

The Arctic Council was created in 1996 to discuss issues affecting the polar region, ranging from pollution to local economic development to search-and-rescue missions. The Arctic Council comprises the eight Arctic states of Russia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Russia's possible degree of involvement with the Council once Norway takes over is still unclear. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier extended an invitation to Arctic officials to attend a transition ceremony in Salekhard, Siberia. Russian Arctic Ambassador Nikolay Korchunov, chair of the Senior Arctic Officials on the council, told Reuters the transition would "presuppose active and responsible participation of all Arctic Council member states in this preparatory process."

Summary Ruling has implications for oil, mineralsNon-EU Norway has sovereignty over Svalbard Arctic islandsState can sue Norway -expertOSLO, March 20 (Reuters) - Norway's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that EU ships cannot fish for snow crab off the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic in a case also deciding who has the right to explore for oil and minerals in the region. At stake was whether EU vessels had the right to catch snow crab, whose meat is considered a delicacy by gourmets in Japan and South Korea, in the same way as Norwegian vessels did. But what is valid for the snow crab, a sedentary species living on the seabed, is also valid for oil, minerals and other resources, the Supreme Court ruled in a 2019 case. "The company does not have the right to catch snow crab on the continental shelf outside Svalbard," the Supreme Court said in its verdict, which was unanimous. "It is a domestic court decision, (so) an international court can also hear this question at a later stage."

[1/3] Greta Thunberg is carried away as activits demonstrate outside the Ministry of Finance entrance and several other ministries in protest that the wind turbines at Fosen, which the Supreme Court has said are illegal, have not been demolished. Alf Simensen/NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, March 1 (Reuters) - Norwegian police on Wednesday briefly detained environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg during a demonstration in Oslo, removing her and other activists from the finance ministry. The campaigners are demanding the removal of wind turbines from reindeer pastures on Sami Indigenous land in central Norway. Thunberg, holding a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was lifted and carried away by police officers while hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans. Activists on Tuesday said they had raised close to $100,000 in recent days to help individual demonstrators pay police fines.

The fund has long engaged on climate change with the companies it invests in. Last year, it voted against the re-election of 61 directors at 18 companies due to failures in adequately managing climate risk. In 2022, the fund discussed climate change at 810 meetings it held with companies that represent 33% of the value of the its equity portfolio. One of them was oil major Shell (SHEL.L), with whom the fund discussed the company's energy transition plan and climate change, it said. In a sign of its focus on climate, the fund no longer prints the report, making it available online only.

"We will now vote against board members if a company has experienced material failures in the oversight, management or disclosure of climate risk," the fund said in its annual report on responsible investments, published on Thursday. The fund has long engaged on climate change with the companies it invests in. In 2022, the fund discussed climate change at 810 meetings it held with companies that represent 33% of the value of the fund's equity portfolio. One of them was oil major Shell (SHEL.L), with whom the fund discussed the company's energy transition plan and climate change, it said. Climate change was the second-most important issue discussed by the fund with companies after "human capital management", or how companies invests in their workers.

[1/3] Andrei Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group poses for a picture during an interview in Oslo, Norway February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Janis LaizansOSLO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Norwegian police said on Friday they intend to continue to interrogate former Wagner mercenary group commander Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia to Norway last month after fighting in the war in Ukraine. "Medvedev gives the impression that he wants to continue to say more" about his time with Wagner, police said. Wagner forces have been locked in a bloody battle of attrition against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Wagner has said Medvedev had worked in a "Norwegian unit" of Wagner and had "mistreated prisoners".

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