 acknowledging
his own few accomplishments while delivering a robust defense of war
and promising to use the prestigious award to "reach for the world
that ought to be."
2009 Dec 12, Iraq sold Russian
firm Lukoil rights to the West Qurna-2 oil field, one of the world's
biggest untapped oil fields, on the 2nd day of an auction. Lukoil
will work with junior partner StatoilHydro of Norway.
2009 Dec 25, In Norway Knut
Magne Haugland (92), the last of six crew members who crossed the
Pacific Ocean in 1947 on board the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, died in
2009 Dec 31, In Myanmar
Freelance reporter Hla Hla Win (25) was sentenced by a court in
Pakokku for an alleged violation of the country's Electronics Act.
She was arrested in September after visiting a Buddhist monastery in
the northern town of Pakokku. The jailed reporter had worked with
the Myanmar exile broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based
in Oslo, Norway. A man accompanying her was sentenced to 26 years in
2009 Karl Ove Knausgard
(b.1968), Norwegian writer, authored the first of his 6-volume
autobiographical work: “My Struggle" (Min Kamp).
2010 Jan 4, The Norwegian Chess
Federation said Magnus Carlsen (19) is the youngest person to hold
the title since ratings were introduced in 1971.
2010 Jan 6, A diplomat at the
Iranian embassy in Norway told Norwegian television that he had
resigned in protest over a crackdown on demonstrators in Iran. The
government in Tehran denied the report. In mid-February the
Norwegian Immigration Directorate gave Mohammed Reza Heydari and his
family permission to remain in Norway as political refugees after
going through "all necessary information pertaining to the case."
(AP, 1/6/10)(AP, 2/18/10)
2010 Jan 25, In Afghanistan a
Norwegian soldier died when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in
Faryab province in the north.
2010 Feb 15, Yara, a Norwegian
fertilizer maker, agreed to pay $4.1 billion for Terra, an American
company. This would extend Yara’s lead as the world’s biggest maker
of nitrogen-based fertilizer.
(Econ, 2/20/10, p.62)
2010 Mar 24, Norway announced
that John Tate, an American professor at the University of Texas,
Austin, has won the 6 million kroner ($1 million) Abel Prize for
mathematics. The prize jury praised Tate as "a prime architect" of
number theory, a branch of mathematics that has played a key role in
the development of modern computers.
2010 Mar 24, In Norway 16 empty
cargo train cars careened downhill for 3 miles (5 km) on the
outskirts of Oslo before slamming into a port and killing three dock
workers. Faulty brakes were blamed for the accident.
2010 Apr 13, Norway’s Nokia
Corp. launched three less-expensive smart phones, including its
first model expected to sell for under euro100 ($135), in a strong
move to grab new customers in emerging markets.
2010 May 2, Norsk Hydro
announced that it was acquiring the aluminium assets of Vale,
a Brazilian mining giant, in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
(Econ, 5/8/10, p.65)
2010 May 21, Norwegian browser
developer Opera Software said it is moving its data processing
capacity to a newly-built center in Iceland, one of the first
foreign investment deals for the crisis-hit island as it tries to
rebuild its economy.
2010 May 28, Indonesia said it
will impose a 2-year moratorium on large-scale clearance of
rainforests, effective as off January 2011, in return for $1 billion
grant from Norway to fund projects as part of the REDD plan (Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).
2010 Jun 27, In Afghanistan 4
Norwegian soldiers died after a roadside bomb exploded near their
vehicle in Faryab province. NATO forces killing a local leader of
the Haqqani group, a Taliban faction with close ties to al-Qaida, in
an airstrike in Khost province. The leader, known only as Satar, was
responsible for planting roadside bombs in the area. The US-led
operation, began in the region around Kunar province. 2 US troops
were killed in the operation. Pp to 150 Taliban insurgents were
killed in battles along the Kunar border.
(AP, 6/27/10)(AP, 6/28/10)(AP, 6/29/10)
2010 Jul 8, In Norway 2