Powder keg

Norway’s reputation for peace brokering and insistence on dialogue is probably responsible for the relatively free ride it has enjoyed whenever indulging in a bit of Mohammed cartoonery, certainly by comparison with neighbor Denmark who started it all. But now a sudden urge to flex the freedom of speech muscles may change all that.

Norway’s flag was ablaze

Four more years

The latest national elections resulted in another term for Norway’s so-called ‘red-green’ coalition, a three-party alliance led by the hugely dominant Labour Party, with their partners the Socialist Left Party (SV) and the agrarian Center Party, providing the extra ballast needed to hold a parliamentary majority.

Nearly ten years ago, if memory serves, I was asked to write a special edition type of news brochure about the Norwegian political system and elections, part of a test project

Bumper edition

It has been a very eventful week for little Norway. I have spent half of it in London, and just hours after arriving I got to experience one of the big stories from outside the country, as referee Tom Henning Øvrebø gained international notoriety for