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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

☆ Smart ways to save money in Europe this crazy, crowded summer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Terry Ward | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“Last-minute flight prices, especially international ones, are expensive,” says Katy Nastro of Going.com (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) about airfares from North American to Europe. “Their best value comes when cash prices are high, and there’s no time more expensive than last-minute summer travel,” Nastro says. CNN Travel talked to travel agents, experts and expert travelers, too, for their tips on saving money on European travels this unprecedented summer. “Most travelers going to Europe have a few destinations in mind, “ says Henley Vazquez, co-founder of luxury travel advisor group Fora. These places he calls “the Chicagos of Europe” include Marseille in France, Hamburg in Germany and Liverpool in England.

Persons: CNN —, “, Katy Nastro, you’ll, Nastro, you’ve, ” Nastro, Hevelyn Villar Silva, Hevelyn Villar, ”, Colleen McDaniel, Henley Vazquez, Fora, ” Eurail, Eurail, Ethan Williams, Austria’s, Georgia Bird, Rome Ciampino, Rome Fiumicino, snagging, Ignacio Eguren, ” Eguren, Eguren, Booking.com, aren’t, Rick Steves, ” Steves, Steves, … Organizations: CNN, Cruise, Magnifica, MSC Cruises, MSC Magnifica, Caribbean’s Symphony, Palma de Mallorca, Milan Central Station, Getty, Czech Railways, Saint, Alamy, “, Smart, Library, Rembrandt, Best, Premier Faubourg, CNN Travel, Liverpool, Scala, Scala Santa Holy, Scotsman Locations: Europe, North American, ”, Tampa , Florida, Genoa, Valencia, Spain, Pisa, Portofino, Italy, France, Palma de, Athens, Svalbard, Bergen, Norway, “, Germany, Czech, Czech Republic, Rome, Saint Martin, Paris, mauritius, Checkin Cantabria, Cantabria, Paris ’, Copenhagen, you’ll, Oslo, Marseille, Hamburg, England, Scala Santa

☆ Rapidly retreating Arctic glaciers are triggering the release of ancient methane. Here's why scientists are worried.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The springs were exposed by retreating glaciers in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists think the methane in the Svalbard springs comes from somewhere else. The researchers estimate springs across the archipelago alone could represent about 2,000 tonnes of methane emissions a year. Scientists have found springs full of methane bubbling near retreating glaciers in Svalbard. Kleber suspects these methane emissions are only one of several "invisible feedback loops that we're just not aware of."

Persons: —, hasn't, Gabrielle Kleber, Kleber, Andy Hodson, ", Rick Spinrad Organizations: Service, University of Cambridge, Nature Geoscience, International Energy Agency, NOAA Locations: Svalbard, Norwegian, Alaska, Norway

☆ Are You Up For a ‘Soft’ Adventure? 3 Vacation Ideas for the Mildly Outdoorsy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Nina Molina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EASY DOES IT A trek to Haida Gwaii includes a hike to old-growth forests. Photo: Entrée CanadaWREN HUDGINS has “always been an outdoorsy person”—but while still drawn to the planet’s wilder locales, the retired psychologist from Issaquah, Wash., has been taking fewer risks since entering his 70s. In recent years, Hudgins and his wife, Leigh, have embarked on a handful of trips with Aurora Expeditions, a travel company based in Surry Hills, Australia, specializing in cruises and tours to places like Svalbard, Norway, where the couple experienced “adventure in small doses.”

Persons: WREN HUDGINS, Hudgins, Leigh Organizations: Aurora Expeditions Locations: Issaquah, Wash, Surry Hills, Australia, Svalbard, Norway

☆ Smoke from Canada’s wildfires has reached as far as Norway
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Over the last few days, plumes of smoke have stretched from Canada across Greenland, Iceland and made their way to Norway. It’s not unusual for wildfire smoke to travel long distances. “Smoke from wildfires such as those in Canada is injected at high altitudes thus staying in the atmosphere longer and able to travel over far distances,” he said. In 2020, smoke from California’s record-breaking wildfires was detected in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located deep inside the Arctic Circle. Wildfire smoke moving over the Arctic deposits soot on the snow and ice, darkening the white surface, which allows it to absorb more heat.

Persons: Nikolaos Evangeliou, Evangeliou, It’s Organizations: CNN, Environmental Research Locations: Canada, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Svalbard, Norwegian

☆ The Arctic may be sea ice-free in summer by the 2030s, new study warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Rachel Ramirez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A new study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found Arctic sea ice could disappear completely during the month of September as early as the 2030s. The researchers analyzed changes from 1979 to 2019, comparing different satellite data and climate models to assess how Arctic sea ice was changing. They found that declining sea ice was largely the result of human-caused, planet-heating pollution, and previous models had underestimated Arctic sea ice melting trends. Arctic sea ice close the coast of Svalbard, Norway, April 5, 2023. There has already been a rapid loss of sea ice in the region, with September sea ice shrinking at a rate of 12.6% per decade, according to NASA.

Persons: –, ” Seung, Min, Lisi Niesner, ” Min, Mika Rantanen, ”, Rantanen, “ Organizations: CNN, Nature Communications, Pohang University of Science, Technology, UN, NASA, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Finnish Meteorological Institute Locations: South Korea, Svalbard, Norway

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

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

☆ Norway faces backlash from campaigners for 'reckless' pursuit of Arctic oil and gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Norway oil and gas giant Equinor and Vår Energi, one of the country's largest exploration and production companies, confirmed to CNBC that the minister recently issued this call. Frode Pleym Head of Greenpeace NorwayIt is estimated that roughly two-thirds of the country's undiscovered oil resources lies off the country's northern coast in the Arctic's Barents Sea. The alternative to oil and gas is not more oil and gas, it is more energy efficiency and renewable energy." A spokesperson for Equinor told CNBC that the company hoped to see "new attractive acreage in the Barents Sea." Separately, a mid-April study from gas infrastructure operator Gassco said building a pipeline to transport gas produced in the Arctic Barents Sea could be worth re-examining due to the country stepping up its gas exports to Europe.

☆ A Journey Into Norway’s Endless Night
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Taymour Soomro | Scott Conarroe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

The endless night conceals the passage of time, as though we were remote from time’s effects, too, without Emily Dickinson’s slant of light that heralds death. Where better than this frozen earth, far from the ravages of human conflict and heat, for an international seed vault and the Arctic World Archive, both of which are just outside of Longyearbyen. The former, sometimes described as a doomsday vault, contains 1.2 million seed samples deposited by seed banks around the world for safekeeping. Withdrawals from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault — by a gene bank formerly in Aleppo, Syria — have already been conducted. Climate change is likely to be particularly hazardous to bears — lack of sea ice means less access to seals.

The discord between Russia and the other Arctic Council members means that an effective response to these changes is far less likely. Recently, it has taken steps to expand cooperation in the Arctic with non-Arctic states. On April 24, Russia and China signed a memorandum establishing cooperation between the countries' coast guards in the Arctic. "We need to safeguard the Arctic Council as the most important international forum for Arctic cooperation and make sure it survives," Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Eivind Vad Petersson told Reuters. "I don't see an Arctic Council without Russia in the future," said Larsen, a Greenland lawmaker at the Danish Parliament and the Chair of Arctic Parliamentarians, a body including MPs from across the Arctic countries.

☆ The US Navy is putting its submarines on rare public display in a message to Russia's growing undersea force
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The US Navy has announced several visits by its subs to North Atlantic ports in recent years. Since 2020, when Norway allowed NATO subs to use a port near Tromsø, announcements of such visits appear to have increased. 'We're in your backyard'British Royal Navy attack submarine HMS Astute sails to the base at Faslane in November 2009. Russian Navy Yasen-class submarine Kazan at its base in Severomorsk on Russia's Arctic coast in June 2021. During the Cold War, US attack subs operated in the high north to get the Soviets to keep their attack subs close by to protect their ballistic-missile subs.

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.

☆ Climate change thaws world's northernmost research station
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Lisi Niesner | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Researchers have been studying the polar region for decades — with Ny-Aalesund’s weather records going back more than 40 years. But their work has become vitally important as climate change ramps up. That’s because what happens in the Arctic can impact global sea levels, storms in North America and Europe, and other factors far beyond the frozen region. August temperatures in Ny-Aalesund were on average 5.1C degrees, about 0.5C warmer than normal for the month. I’ve never seen that,” Gallet said in his office this month, as rain drizzled from a gray sky.

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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