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Peace Talks
| Srilanka rejects Erick Solheim’s request. |
| [Norwaynews] [03.02.2010, 09:56pm, Wed. GMT] |
| The Sri Lankan government had rejected the request made by Norway’s International Development Minister Erick Solheim to conduct investigations against the malpractices which are stated, to have occurred during the Presidential election. The government had pointed out the statement given by Erick Solheim is false other than truth. |
 | | | | International donors pledge to support a new Palestinian state |
| [Norwaynews] [12.01.2010, 10:50pm, Tue. GMT] |
| International donors are ready to support the creation of a new Palestinian state, representatives of the United States, European Union and Norway announced Tuesday in a fresh bid to facilitate the re-start of peace talks in the Middle East. 'We enter 2010 ready and able to support the Palestinian budget by Prime Minister (of the Palestinian Authority, Salam) Fayyad', said Norway's foreign minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere. |
| | | | Giving advice in Mongolia |
| [Oslocenter] [17.12.2009, 12:58pm, Thu. GMT] |
On request from the government in Mongolia, Einar Steensnæs and Øistein Mjærum from the Oslo Center, met with different partners and stakeholders in the new coalition government in Ulaan Baatar this month. “The main purpose of this second visit to Mongolia was to participate in two workshops with key politicians from the two coalition partners and share experiences on how to manage a coalition government”, says special advisor Øistein Mjærum. The Oslo Center participated in two workshops with MPRP and DP to discuss best practices in coalition governance and strategies for navigating the current transition to a new Prime Minister.
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| | | | OSCE should ask for real improvements in Kazakhstan |
| [Oslocenter] [17.12.2009, 12:53pm, Thu. GMT] |
The Oslo Center and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee recently discussed human rights with the Government of Kazakhstan, focusing on freedom of religion issues. “In spite of a few legislative reforms, Kazakhstan has yet to show its seriousness in living up to its OSCE commitments on human rights. Norway and other OSCE states should ask for real improvements during its 2010 Chairmanship of the OSCE”, says the president of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Kjell Magne Bondevik. “In bringing up human rights issues with Kazakhstan’s authorities, they should underline the responsibility of Kazakhstan to upholding the principles of the OSCE by its own example”, says Kjell Magne Bondevik.
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| | | | Mot forandring i Burma? |
| [Oslocenter] [17.12.2009, 12:46pm, Thu. GMT] |
The Burmese military junta has defied the world for 20 years and western sanctions have not had the desired effect. Now President Obama has put Burma high on the agenda. Mid December it was announced that the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will meet party colleagues in the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Rangoon. It is the first meeting of this kind in almost two years. Can change be emerging in Burma, Simon Rye asks in this article. Rye is the Executive Director of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights.
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| | | | Italians protest against Obama in Norway |
| [Norwaynews] [08.12.2009, 06:12pm, Tue. GMT] |
| Italian peace activists opposed to the construction of a US airbase in the northern city of Vicenza have travelled to Oslo to challenge the presentation of the Nobel Peace prize to US President Barack Obama. "Our goal is to protest against president Barack Obama, who will be receiving the Nobel peace prize for his war policy," said the No Dal Molin organisation on its website. "It materialised in Vicenza with the construction of a new and devastating military base." No Dal Molin says that the base, which will house the 173rd Airborne Brigade, plays a leading role in Iraq and Afghanistan. The city of Vicenza also hosts Africom the US headquarters for military operations in the African continent. |
| | | | President Obama Making New Nobel history in Norway |
| [Norwaynews] [07.12.2009, 06:07pm, Mon. GMT] |
Obama drop his own exhibition , CNN Interview and Press Conference in NorwayUS President Barack Obama has shortened his visit to Oslo this week where he is to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said Monday. Obama had been expected to arrive late Wednesday on the eve of the ceremony in Oslo City Hall, but according to his latest schedule the president was due early Thursday, Geir Lundestad, secretary of the committee, told Norwegian news agency NTB. The agenda - subject to changes - includes a visit to the Nobel Institute where Obama was to sign a check for the prize, worth 10 million Swedish kronor (1.4 million dollars) and a meeting with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. |
| | | | Norway welcomes normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey |
| [Norwaynews] [14.10.2009, 06:51am, Wed. GMT] |
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Stoere says Norway welcomes the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey, after the foreign ministers of the two countries had signed protocols to this effect. “I am pleased to note that Armenia and Turkey have agreed in principle to establish diplomatic ties and normalise their relations. These are neighboring countries that have had a long history of difficult relations. They have now taken an important step towards normalising their relations,” Minister Stoere said. |
| | | | Norway awards Barack Obama Nobel Peace Prize |
| [Norwaynews] [09.10.2009, 09:34pm, Fri. GMT] |
| It was announced earlier this afternoon in the Norwegian capital, Oslo that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to US President Barack Obama. The head of the Nobel Committee is Norwegian Thorbjorn Jagland, the newly elected head of the European Council. When asked why the award went to Obama, he told the BBC: “”It was because we would like to support what he is trying to achieve. It is a clear signal that we want to advocate the same as he has done.” The newly elected President is praised for adopting a peaceful and reconciliatory tone on the global stage and the Nobel Committee hopes the recognition will help him in bringing peace to troubled regions, including Israel, Afghanistan and Iraq. |
| | | | Srilankan Extremists engaging in character assassination against Erik Solheim? - Cheap method of campaign to Sell Newspapers in Srilanka. |
| [Norwaynews] [29.09.2009, 07:53am, Tue. GMT] |
| Norway Foreign Ministry rejects allegations that Erik Solheim will be adapted for smuggling weapons from Eritrea to Sri Lanka. Norwegian Minister Erik Solheim has several times been accused of supporting Tamil Tigers, which was crushed in a Sri Lankan military offensive earlier this year. A Sri Lankan newspaper that Norway should have contributed to the meetings between the guerrilla organization the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and the Eritrean authorities. How should Norway have helped the Tamil rebels who for decades fought a bloody battle for autonomy in the island in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lankan writing The Island. |
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| Solheim congratulates Sri Lanka’s President on his re-election |
| [Norwaynews] [01.02.2010, 05:26pm, Mon. GMT] |
| Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim has congratulated President Mahinda Rajapakse on his re-election on 26 January. “I would like to congratulate President Rajapakse. Norway and Sri Lanka enjoy close and longstanding bilateral relations. We intend to continue our cooperation with the Government and people of Sri Lanka with a view to promoting lasting peace and development,” Mr Solheim said. |
| | | | Norway to withdraw peacekeeping troops from Chad |
| [Norwaynews] [26.12.2009, 04:43pm, Sat. GMT] |
| Norway will pull out all its troops participating in a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad, when their mandate ends on May 15, 2010, Norwegian Defense Minister Grete Faremo said. "It was a clear understanding that this was a one-year project when one entered into these commitments," the Norwegian-language newspaper VG quoted Faremo as saying on Friday. As part of the UN Stabilizing Force, two Norwegian units comprising 154 soldiers are currently stationed in eastern Chad, with one operating a field hospital and the other responsible for drilling water wells. The deployment costs Norway about 500 million Norwegian kroners(85 million U.S. dollars), the report said. |
| | | | Joined mental health campaign in Ireland |
| [Oslocenter] [17.12.2009, 12:56pm, Thu. GMT] |
“Stigma is a major problem – maybe the main problem – regarding our efforts to improve the mental health situation in the world. There is a need to demystify mental health problems, and to increase public knowledge”, Kjell Magne Bondevik said in his speech in the Irish Parliament this week. He joined Amnesty International Ireland in their campaign focusing on human rights as a framework for demanding action in the mental health area. “The right to health is enshrined in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Ireland ratified in 1989. It recognizes that everyone has the right to the “enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”.
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| | | | Yet another gross abuse directed against Ebadi |
| [Oslocenter] [17.12.2009, 12:49pm, Thu. GMT] |
Today it was known that the iranian authorities have confiscated the Nobel Peace Prize that Shirin Ebadi received in 2003. "This is another gross abuse directed against an internationally recognized human rights advocate by Iranian authorities. The entire international community has to give a strong signal to the iranians stating that this is totally unacceptable", says president of the Oslo Center, Kjell Magne Bondevik. Shirin Ebadi will be the main speaker at the Oslo Center's annual seminar in Oslo in February.
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| | | | Text of Obama's Nobel acceptance speech |
| [Norwaynews] [11.12.2009, 07:37am, Fri. GMT] |
| The text of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, delivered Thursday in Oslo, Norway, as provided by the White House: Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world: I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations _ that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice. |
| | | | Obama to address Afghan war in Nobel Prize speech -- White House |
| [Norwaynews] [08.12.2009, 08:59am, Tue. GMT] |
| US President Barack Obama will discuss his new Afghanistan strategy and the decision to build-up the troop numbers in the region during his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Norway, the White House said Monday. The President will address directly "the notion of the juxtaposition of the timing for the Nobel Peace Prize and his commitment to add more troops into Afghanistan," White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at a press briefing. |
| | | | Norway and UNDP stepping up to stop armed violence |
| [Norwaynews] [21.10.2009, 10:51pm, Wed. GMT] |
| Every day, armed violence kills more than 2000 people. The vast majority are civilians. Backed by Norway, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) is stepping up to support affected governments in their efforts to reduce the demand for arms by developing comprehensive Armed Violence Prevention Programmes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today. “The international fight against armed violence has not received the attention such a huge humanitarian challenge deserves. We succeeded in our fight against landmines and cluster munitions. Now our next target is armed violence,” says Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre. Globally, the economic losses caused by non-conflict and criminal violence have been estimated to be as high as USD 163 billion per year. This is no less than a global crisis, which is affecting the lives and security of hundreds of thousands of people and threatening international peace and security. |
| | | | Oslo prepares for Obama's visit |
| [Norwaynews] [11.10.2009, 09:11am, Sun. GMT] |
| The White House has confirmed that President Obama will personally come to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and the capital is gearing up for the visit, including the massive security arrangements which will have to be made. The presentation will be made at a ceremony at the Oslo City Hall on December 10th, and the security will be a challenge. However, Oslo Mayor Fabian Stang bids the US president heartily welcome: |
| | | | Indian gets 02 Nobel Prize in 03 years - Winning Diplomacy! |
| [Norwaynews] [08.10.2009, 08:09am, Thu. GMT] |
| Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, an Indian-born scientist, was on Wednesday awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry along with two others, for showing the world exactly how information contained in the DNA is translated into life -- a process that has benefited the fight against infectious diseases. Ramakrishnan, who is now a US citizen, was named for the $1.42-million award along with American Thomas A Steitz and Israeli Ada E Yonath for their "studies of the structure and function of the ribosome", which is found in cells with nuclei and translates the DNA code into life. "An understanding of the ribosome's innermost workings is important for a scientific understanding of life. This knowledge can be put to a practical and immediate use; many of today's antibiotics cure various diseases by blocking the function of bacterial ribosomes," the Nobel committee said. |
| | | | The Rafto Prize to Malahat Nasibova |
| [Norwaynews] [25.09.2009, 06:41am, Fri. GMT] |
| The Rafto Prize 2009 has been awarded to Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender Malahat Nasibova from Naxçivan in Azerbaijan, for her courageous and unwavering struggle for a free and independent press. The Committee writes: Risking her own safety, Malahat Nasibova, reports on abuse of power, human rights violations and corruption in the isolated autonomous republic Nakhchivan, which is part of Azerbaijan. |
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Special Interest
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Akershus
The world's larges tobacco company Phillip Morris International (PMI) is taking the Norwegian state to court. PMI wants the Norwegian ban on displaying tobacco products in stores lifted, Dagens Næringsliv reports. There is no scientific evidence that the ban has any health effect, says PMI communication director Anne Edwards to the newspaper. She points to Iceland, which introduced the ban against the display of tobacco in stores in 2001.
