Oslo

100 states sign cluster-bomb ban in Oslo

Norway FlagOslo - Government leaders from more than 100 states signed a global ban on the use of cluster bombs on Wednesday.

The treaty, which was negotiated in Dublin in May, bans the production, use and trade of cluster munitions.

Cluster weapons - criticized for carrying a high risk of maiming or killing civilians - can be launched from the air or via artillery shells and can disperse hundreds of bomblets over a target area.

Children are often victims of the weapons since they sometimes mistake the so-called bomblets for toys.

Norwegian court sentences man in Balkan war crimes case

Norway FlagOslo - A Norwegian national of Bosnian descent was sentenced Tuesday to a five-year jail term for crimes against Serbian civilians during the Balkans war.

The district court in Oslo convicted Mirsad Repak on 11 counts of illegal detention of civilians, but he was cleared of a charge of rape, aggravated assault and also of crimes against humanity.

Repak, 42, was also ordered to pay damages of 400,000 kroner (57,000 dollars) to eight plaintiffs, including a woman who was tortured during interrogation.

The court deducted 294 days he spent in custody from the sentence.

Nordics condemn Mumbai attacks

Sweden flagStockholm/Oslo  - Leaders in the Nordic region Thursday condemned the terrorist attacks in the Indian financial centre of Mumbai.

The Norwegian government "condemns the brutal terrorist attacks," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt expressed sympathy "for all who have who have been affected" and said Sweden "offered its strongest support to the Indian government in its important fight against this terrorism."

American cultural theorist Fredric R Jameson accepts Holberg prize

Norway, OsloOslo - US cultural theorist Fredric R Jameson Wednesday accepted the 2008 Holberg International Memorial Prize at the University of Bergen in western Norway.

Tora Aasland, Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education, presented the award worth 4.5 million kroner (750,000 dollars) to Jameson who was cited for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of the relation between social formations and cultural forms."

Norwegian coastal express company posts weaker results

NorwayOslo- The Hurtigruten shipping company that operates the Norwegian coastal express Wednesday posted weaker third-quarter results over higher fuel costs and fewer passengers and said it would cut half its land-based staff.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of 60 million kroner (8.5 million dollars), a 81-million-kroner drop year-on-year.

The group reported 934 million kroner in sales for the quarter, compared to 978 million kroner in the corresponding business period last year.

Management said it aimed to trim costs by 35 per cent during 2009, resulting in 200 fewer land-based jobs, of which 80 in Norway.

Norwegian crown princess begins leadership studies

Oslo  - Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit on Monday began studies in leadership and management at the Norwegian School of Management.

"I am really looking forward to these studies," the 35-year-old princess told local media.

The six-month course includes studies of leadership drawn from classic works penned by the likes of Norwegian Henrik Ibsen as well as Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen.

"We focus on both modern theories and classics. We will study (Friedrich) Nietzsche, Soren Kierkegaard, Machiavelli and Joseph Conrad," said lecturer Kjetil Eikeset, an economist and philosopher.

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