-
Fire on a Norwegian passenger ferry
(Social) On the night of April 7, two fiers broke out in the passenger section of the ferry. It accured around two o'clock am. When the fires were investigated they discovered the second fire was purposly made. There is speculation that the first fire was started on purpose too. The first fire was estimated to have started ten minutes before the second fire. There were also flammable objects that fed to the fire. As a result of the fire 159 people died. -
Death of King Olav V
(Social) King Olav V was the son of Prince Carl of Denmark, and Princess Maud of the UK. He died on January 17, 1991. In WW II he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence (1944). In the time of hi rule he was popular amoung the peole in his country, and his death was mourned by many people. -
Harald V of Norway
(Political) Harald has been the first Norwegian-born prince since Olav IV. He is the son of Olav V. He became king after his father died on January 17, 1991. Harald V is the formal head of the Church of Norway. And is also in charge of the Norwegian Armed Forces. -
Norwegian Government decision on ESSO Rig
(Political)The Norwegian Government was applauded by GREENPEACE (A environmental organization) on March 8, 1996. The Norwegian Government's decided to reject the oil company Esso's proposal to dump the 7000 tonne steel jacket of its Odin rig into the North Sea.The Norwegian government then called on the Government to legislate. They wanted to ban this type of sea dumping altogether. Esso was against the company's own environmental advice by wanting to dump the was into the North Sea. -
Comercial Whaling
(Global) Twentythree members of Congress sent a letter to President Clinton expressing their concers about Norway's comercial whaling. Enviromentalists all over the world were outraged about Norway allowing comercial whaling. In Norway, they hunt Minke whales. Norway has a hunt quota of 425, which would not affect the number of Minke whales enough to make them endangered. It has been an on going struggle to find a solution to make everyone happy. -
Large oil spill near North Sea oil platform
(Social)On December 12 2007, there was a large oil spill off of the The North Sea shelf oil Platform. Norwegian authorities rushed to the spill. Estimates from the Petroleum Safety Authority say that about 24,150 barrels or 3,220 tonnes of oil, had spilled into the sea. The Norwegian company StatoilHydro said the accident had happened when oil was being pumped to the tanker Navion Britannica. After the spill Norwegian environmentalists were concerned about the possibility of another oil spill. -
Norway lowers whale quota for 2009
(Economic)Norway’s Fisheries Ministry announced that it has lowered the annual quota of minke whales allowed to be caught by commercial fishing companies . The new quota will take effect in 2009, allowing whalers to catch 885 minke whales next year. Before the new 2009 quota it would have been 1,052 minke whales this year. This will effect Norway's economy, the price of whale meat will change depending on the whale quota. -
Norway mandates government use of ODF
(Political) The Norwegian Government has mandated that all Norwegian websites must use Open Document Format (ODF). This format will be used for all files used by the public. This allows everyone in Norway equal access to information. From 2009 onward, citizens will be able how they will want to access the information. This means information on governmental websites should be available in the open formats HTML, PDF or ODF. Before information was mainly aquired on Microsoft Word documents. -
Norway's Energy Resources
(Economic) Crude oil is one of the biggest exports in Norway. The normal production rate for crude oil in one day is 2.6 million barrels. But in the 1960's hydrocarbon deposits were discovered. This will benifit Norway's economy because the production of crude oil is getting smaller with each year. After all the oil is gone, Norway will still have another alternative source for energy. -
Sate Petroleum Fund
(Economic) Near the end of December the Norwegian government established a state Petroleum Fund. It has gone over $457 billion dollars. This is for when allnatural gases and oil have been used up. Norway has been benifiting from foreign trade due to high oil prices. One of their biggest exports is oil.
