The finance committee of the Norwegian parliament has voted to loan funds to Iceland regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute. It was the representatives of the Christian Democratic Party who pushed for the resolution.
The committee declared that Norway should loan Iceland money regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute with Iceland on one side and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on the other, ABC Nyheter reported.
The Norwegian Storting parliament will discuss the committee report tomorrow and it is thought highly likely that parliament will vote to approve the committee’s recommendation. The committee also stated its opinion that Iceland has the right to bring the Icesave dispute to an impartial international court; a move the Netherlands and the UK have opposed.
Representatives of all parties in the committee, except the Christian Democrats, made the qualification that Norwegian funds should be made available to Iceland only when the IMF review is compete and Iceland is seen to stand by its debts according to EU law.
Hans Olav Syversen of the Christian Democrats said it is clear that Norway is ready to lend to Iceland regardless of Icesave but that it is unclear what effect this will have on the IMF programme.
This news effectively means that Norway is exerting political pressure on the IMF to complete its held-up review of its Iceland recovery package – but it does not mean that Norway is about to break ranks with the IMF and loan funds unilaterally.
Copyright holders have abandoned their legal battle to force the Norwegian Internet service provider Telenor into blocking the well-know file sharing website The Pirate Bay, according to one of the involved parties.
The Norwegian performing rights society, TONO, led the copyright holder bid along with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Norway. The bid has now failed on two occasions in the Norwegian courts and has resulted in abandoned plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The stated goal of the copyright holders was to determine if, under Norwegian law, it would be possible to implement a block of an ISP address such as The Pirate Bay. The lack of progress in the first two court hearings has clearly signalled that this will not be the case, says TONO. The IFPI has also suggested that pursuing the matter further would be a waste of resources, reports PC World.
The court verdict has been interpreted by copyright holders as signifying that while illegal acts by Pirate Bay are being contributed towards by Telenor, the action inside Norway itself was not illegal. The decision has raised questions that the European Union Copyright
Directive is not implemented adequately in Norway, notwithstanding that the country is not a member of the EU.
The debate has been ongoing since February 2009, when copyright holders led by TONO and IFPI, send a letter to Telenor demanding The Pirate Bay website be blocked.
An Icelandic mother-of-five was arrested for attempting to smuggle two kilos of cocaine from Peru and is currently in custody in Lima. Her brother suspects she was working as a drug mule for a man in Norway who she met over the internet.
The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has announced that his government will limit spending of oil revenue beginning in 2011 as a safeguard against overheating the economy and forcing interest rates up.
Norway has traditionally kept the majority of oil and gas revenue in a wealth fund offshore to avoid over-stimulation of the local economy. However, in reaction to the global economic crisis, the government has been forced to spend record amounts of petrodollars in order to keep the economy afloat.
The centre-left government led by Stoltenberg has not as yet revealed when a return to the oil-spending policy that limits the country to a 4 percent spend of oil wealth in a normal year may come about. Norway’s central bank, along with market analysts and the OECD have all criticised the 2009 and 2010 spending levels which are well over the limit according to an Interactive Investor report.
“We will start the work today, and it will be a budget which will contribute to keeping interest rates low and secure Norwegian jobs,” said Stoltenberg ahead of a three-day conference to discuss the fiscal plan for 2011.”We have said that we need to reduce the spending of oil money next year… How quick and how much we will (cut) each year, is what we will decide through this work,” he claimed.
A new, less expansive fiscal policy has been deemed necessary to avoid hampering an economic recovery and to ensure stability of the local currency–which is trading at its highest level since the start of the recession in August 2008.
Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, looks set to break ranks with the other Nordic countries by recommending that Norway grant loans to Iceland before the Icesave issue is finally resolved with the Netherlands and the UK.
Aftenposten reports that not only are the Norwegians potentially interested in granting Iceland the promised loan through the IMF right away, but that Store’s government may also be willing to offer another separate loan to Iceland in co-operation with the EU.
Store’s timing seems to be deliberate, with his comments coming just a day before today’s meeting of the Nordic finance ministers in Denmark. So far all the other Nordic nations have said their support for Iceland will not be paid out before Icesave is completely off the agenda. Icesave will be on the agenda in Copenhagen today.
“Norwegian assistance is tied to the IMF package and in our opinion the IMF package is not tied to a solution to the Icesave issue as the conditions of the package stand,” Store told Aftenposten.
Store emphasised that the Nordic nations should not do anything to hinder Iceland’s IMF package—his comments a direct response to a Nordic neighbour’s opinion that the Icesave issue must be out of the way before any loan can come from that country to Iceland through the IMF. Store said the issue will be discussed today.
Store added that there is no sign that the British and Dutch have tried to stall the IMF’s work in Iceland; and a week ago the Fund’s chief, Dominique Strauss Kahn told the press he is ready and willing to continue with the Iceland package without a final agreement in the Icesave issue.
Foreign Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Stoere has loosened his demands towards Iceland and is considering the possibility of disbursing a loan to the Icelandic state through the International Monetary Fund without a solution to the Icesave dispute.
With a smug grin he revealed last night and today what he had wanted all along. It wasn’t a national referendum on IceSave. It was for the government he opposes to resign.
Steingrimur J. Sigfusson asked the nation how it thought an agreement could be made with a saboteur on our very own negotiating team.
Of course Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, chairman of the Progressive Party and founder of the InDefence pressure group would never have dreamt up a more favorable situation. Half of the nation had bought his spin and handed him the spin necessary to demand a clear path to the power tables. Preferably before the congressional report on the economic crash due out soon.
I hate to say I told you so, but I did and Icelanders were played by a snake oil salesman and too many of them bought it. He has divided the nation and now humbly offers to lead it from distress.
The enemy does not have Iceland’s interests at heart. It is all about the money (did we mention how he became a billionaire through an unholy alliance of politics and business) and the mandate to lead Iceland during these turmoilous times when the wealth and debts of the nation are distributed.
Iceland’s enemy number one has revealed himself and his name is Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.
A new report released yesterday ranks Iceland as the world’s innovation hotspot, stealing the crown from the USA.
The annual report released yesterday by INSEAD and the Confederation of Indian Industry sees the US fall from top to 11th and Iceland rise from last year’s 20th place up to first. All five Nordic nations feature in the top ten.
According to Soumitra Dutta, an INSEAD professor of business and technology, who oversaw the survey, the rankings show that size matters – although in this case the smaller the better, Business Week reports.
Dutta theorises that the internet is making a large domestic market less of a deciding factor for innovators to succeed, as the whole world is becoming one marketplace for new ideas. This combined with smaller nations’ ability to unite in supporting policies, institutions, and infrastructure that promote innovation is giving them the leading edge; at least in the West.
All of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are in the top ten and the biggest country at the top of the list is the Netherlands (8th) with its 16 million people.
This year’s report, financed by Canon India and released on March 3, evaluates 132 countries. Researchers used data from a number of sources, including the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and the UN, to gauge innovation inputs—things such as education and business climate—as well as outputs to quantify scientific and creative advances.
Here is the Top 10, with 2009’s rankings in brackets:
1. Iceland (20)
2. Sweden (3)
3. Hong Kong (12)
4. Switzerland (7)
5. Denmark (8)
6. Finland (13)
7. Singapore (5)
8. Netherlands (10)
9. New Zealand (27)
10. Norway (14)
The leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Norway Leif Ivar Kristiansen has filed a lawsuit against the Icelandic state to the Icelandic Ministry for Justice and Human Rights for what he calls unfounded deportation on February 8.
“Would you like the EU to take the credit for our victories?”
Does this video imply that we can claim victory if Germany, France or Spain wins the World Cup in July? Or that we can claim victory no matter who wins Eurovision? And does this mean that people in Spain take great pride in Norway’s gold medals at the Winter Olympics?
Well…although I am dumbfounded that someone could be so incredibly stupid to think that EU membership would lead to this, I am sure that this is just the beginning of the most ridiculous national debate in history. And I would not bet against the standard being lowered even further.
Of course the people responsible for this wish to remain anonymous. Iceland’s worst enemies are truly not outside the borders, they are hiding within.
…oh, and the Independence Party has added ten MP’s in the latest polls.
The British ambassador to Iceland told an American colleague over a month ago that the British government was considering taking action to stop Iceland’s Icesave referendum.
This comes from a confidential document from the American embassy in Reykjavik which has been leaked on the Wikileaks website. The document to Washington also contains details of the Icelandic government’s request for American support on the Icesave issue.
The document also details efforts by the British ambassador to persuade Norway to take responsibility for Icesave, the details of which were discussed with the American embassy.
The confidential memo was written by Sam Watson, who is heading up the American embassy while the long wait for a new ambassador continues. The memo is marked confidential and not for public release and is dated 13th January – a week after the Icelandic president sent the Icesave Bill to a national referendum.
Sam Watson writes about meetings he had with Icelandic government representatives and with the British ambassador, Ian Whiting. Whiting is reported to have said that the British government was, even at that time, looking into courses of action which would negate the referendum, which is widely expected to result in a ‘no’ vote if allowed to go ahead.
Whiting told Watson that one option was for the Norwegians to take on Icesave, thereby pleasing everybody involved: the British and Dutch would get their money right away, Norway would be able to prove its professed willingness to lend to Iceland and Iceland could pay Norway back under terms it was happy with.
Watson also documents his meetings with Icelandic authorities who asked for American support. He responded that America is neutral on the issue and has no official position – an argument the Icelandic side saw as simply standing back and allowing the bullying to continue.
Norwegian lawyer Morten Furuholmen is preparing a lawsuit against Icelandic authorities for what he calls an unfounded arrest of Leif Ivar Kristiansen, the leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Norway, at Keflavík International Airport yesterday.
The song “Je Ne Sais Quoi” by Örygur Smári and Hera Björk Thórhallsdóttir received the most votes in the Icelandic Eurovision song contest final on Saturday and will be Iceland’s entry in the main contest in Norway in May.
Norwegian Minister of Finance Sigbjoern Johnsen does not oppose the idea that Norway would pay Iceland’s Icesave debt and then grant the Icelandic state a loan at a much lower interest rate than Iceland can receive from the UK and the Netherlands.
Following Thursday’s 27-23 defeat at the hands of Croatia, Denmark’s men’s handball team will now play Spain today to fight for overall 5th and 6th position in the EHF European Handball Championships.
Norway are out of the competition at the hands of Iceland who will play world champions France today in the semi final.
The final and the bronze medal match will be played tomorrow.
The Icelandic national team in men’s handball beat Norway by one goal in the European Handball Championship in Vienna yesterday. With the 35-34 victory, Iceland secured its spot in the semi-final.
The Icelandic handball team go through to the semi-finals of the EHF European Handball Championships after battling it out with the Norwegian team in Austria this afternoon.
Iceland dominated the game leading all the way until Norway finally took the lead for the first time during the last 10 minutes. However, the Icelandic team showed true sportsmanship and fought it out until the end, providing an exciting and impressive finale to an overall great performance of handball.
The goal difference was marginal with the final score being 35-34 to Iceland. Nevertheless, Iceland now go through to the semi-finals and will be playing again this Saturday in hope of going on to the final which takes place on Sunday.
The finance committee of the Norwegian parliament has voted to loan funds to Iceland regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute. It was the representatives of the Christian Democratic Party who pushed for the resolution.
Copyright holders have abandoned their legal battle to force the Norwegian Internet service provider Telenor into blocking the well-know file sharing website The Pirate Bay, according to one of the involved parties.
The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has announced that his government will limit spending of oil revenue beginning in 2011 as a safeguard against overheating the economy and forcing interest rates up.
Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, looks set to break ranks with the other Nordic countries by recommending that Norway grant loans to Iceland before the Icesave issue is finally resolved with the Netherlands and the UK.
Foreign Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Stoere has loosened his demands towards Iceland and is considering the possibility of disbursing a loan to the Icelandic state through the International Monetary Fund without a solution to the Icesave dispute. 
The foreign ministers of Holland and Norway were seen to talk down to Icelanders, even threatening them, on the eve of the Icesave-election. 
A new report released yesterday ranks Iceland as the world’s innovation hotspot, stealing the crown from the USA. 
The leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Norway Leif Ivar Kristiansen has filed a lawsuit against the Icelandic state to the Icelandic Ministry for Justice and Human Rights for what he calls unfounded deportation on February 8. 
The British ambassador to Iceland told an American colleague over a month ago that the British government was considering taking action to stop Iceland’s Icesave referendum.
Norwegian lawyer Morten Furuholmen is preparing a lawsuit against Icelandic authorities for what he calls an unfounded arrest of Leif Ivar Kristiansen, the leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Norway, at Keflavík International Airport yesterday. 
The song “Je Ne Sais Quoi” by Örygur Smári and Hera Björk Thórhallsdóttir received the most votes in the Icelandic Eurovision song contest final on Saturday and will be Iceland’s entry in the main contest in Norway in May. 
Norwegian Minister of Finance Sigbjoern Johnsen does not oppose the idea that Norway would pay Iceland’s Icesave debt and then grant the Icelandic state a loan at a much lower interest rate than Iceland can receive from the UK and the Netherlands. 
Following Thursday’s 27-23 defeat at the hands of Croatia, Denmark’s men’s handball team will now play Spain today to fight for overall 5th and 6th position in the EHF European Handball Championships.
The Icelandic national team in men’s handball beat Norway by one goal in the European Handball Championship in Vienna yesterday. With the 35-34 victory, Iceland secured its spot in the semi-final. 
The Icelandic handball team go through to the semi-finals of the EHF European Handball Championships after battling it out with the Norwegian team in Austria this afternoon.