Norway introduces new COVID restrictions, bans serving alcohol in bid to curb Omicron outbreak

Norway will ban the serving of alcohol in bars and restaurants, impose stricter rules in schools and speed up vaccinations as part of new efforts to limit an expected surge of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Presenting the country’s fourth round of measures in two weeks, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said there was

Bird flu spreads in Europe and Asia

Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again. The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has put the poultry industry on alert after previous outbreaks led

Erdogan says Turkey is set to banish 10 Western ambassadors

Kavala has been in prison since late 2017 He denies charges of role in failed coup and mass protests Rights groups say case emblematic of crackdown in Turkey Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he had ordered the foreign ministry to declare 10 ambassadors from Western countries ‘persona non grata’ for calling for the

U.N. Security Council to discuss Ethiopia expulsion of U.N. staff

The United Nations Security Council will privately discuss on Friday a decision by Ethiopia to expel seven senior U.N. officials, diplomats said, as malnutrition rates rise and famine looms in the country’s war-torn northern region of Tigray. The United States, Britain, Ireland, Estonia, France and Norway, plan to raise the issue during a closed-door meeting

Covid 19 coronavirus: Norway dumps all Covid restrictions to ‘live as normal’

Norway has ditched all its Covid-19 measures, even social distancing, in a radical move that as yet has unclear consequences. On Friday, the Nordic nation’s government announced that it was time to “live as normal” with Covid-19 after 561 days of enduring some kind of restriction, whether that be venue capacity limits or stay-at-home orders.

Norway’s left-wing opposition wins election in a landslide

Labour expected to form coalition with other left-leaning parties as it seeks to reduce inequality and wean the economy off oil. Norway’s left-wing opposition headed by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Store has had a landslide win in a general election after a campaign dominated by the future of the country’s oil industry. Store unseated

Norway opposition expected to win election fought on oil, inequality

Final day of voting, polls close at 1900 GMT Conservatives seen losing power after 8 years Opposition Labour and allies widely expected to win Debate over oil vs climate, inequality vs tax Tough coalition talks await Norway was voting on Monday on the final day of a parliamentary election dominated by climate change and economic

EU suspends funding talks with Polish region due to anti-LGBT resolution

The European Commission has suspended talks with a Polish region on the disbursement of European Union funds until the local authorities address Brussels’ concerns over an anti-LGBT declaration that they adopted. In 2019, Małopolska Province – located in southern Poland and with Kraków as its capital – became one of many Polish local authorities to

Norway mourns 77 dead a decade after extremist attack

Church bells rang out across Norway on Thursday, marking 10 years since the country’s worst ever peacetime slaughter as leaders urged their country to fight the extremism that was behind the attack. On July 22, 2011, right-wing extremist Anders Breivik set off a bomb in the capital, Oslo, killing eight people, before heading to tiny

U.S. deploying B-1 bombers to Norway to send message to Russia

The U.S. Air Force is deploying B-1 bombers to Norway for the first time in a move that sends a clear message to Moscow that the U.S. military will operate in the strategically important Arctic region and demonstrate that it will defend allies in the area against any Russian aggression close to the country’s border.