Norway's wealth fund earns 131 billion euros in first half

OSLO, Norway - Oil producer Norway's sovereign wealth fund earned 131 billion euros in the first half of the year, the country's central bank said on Tuesday.

The performance, lifted by the financial markets, represented a return of 10 percent and helped boost the fund's value to 15,299 billion kroner (1,332 billion euros) at the end of June.

In six months, the fund has almost wiped out the huge 1,637 billion kroner loss incurred last year as a result of the war in Ukraine and the global economic downturn.

Norway's wealth fund is the world's biggest, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, just ahead of two Chinese funds.

Fuelled by revenues from Norway's state-owned oil and gas companies, the fund is aimed at financing future spending in the generous welfare state.

Since the start of the year, the vast fund has also benefited from the weakening of the krone, which has increased the value of assets held in dollars, euros and other foreign currencies.

In total, the fund's value increased by 2,870 billion kroner over the first six months of the year.

Norges Bank had been set to publish the half-year results on Wednesday, but they were mistakenly sent to the media late Tuesday.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Colombia stun Germany at World Cup but New Zealand out in tears

 

SYDNEY, Australia -- Colombia scored a 97th-minute winner to stun Germany 2-1 on a night of Women's World Cup drama Sunday which also saw Norway and Switzerland into the last 16 but co-hosts New Zealand dumped out in tears.

Germany smashed Morocco 6-0 in their opener to underline why they were among the pre-tournament favorites, along with Spain and England, to snatch away the United States' crown.

But they came crashing back down to earth at the hands of a Colombia side inspired by 18-year-old Linda Caicedo and roared on by the majority of a rowdy 40,000 crowd in Sydney.

The Real Madrid attacker scored one of the best goals of the tournament so far, darting past two Germany defenders before curling the ball into the top corner to open the scoring.

Germany thought they had salvaged a point in the 89th minute when skipper Alexandra Popp defied the whistles to score from the penalty spot.

But with a pulsating game that deep into stoppage time appeared destined for a draw, Manuela Vanegas popped up to head home from close range and put Colombia on the verge of the last 16.

"Germany is a world power, that's a reality, but Colombia has been making great strides and today Colombia is a world power," said the defender Vanegas.

"I dreamed of scoring a goal in a World Cup, I knew it was going to come and I decided to do it for today's game."

Going into the last round of group matches, Colombia are top of Group H on six points, Germany and Morocco have three and South Korea have zero.

Germany's fate is still in their own hands when they face the Koreans next, with Colombia against Morocco.

Morocco won a Women's World Cup match for the first time after Ibtissam Jraidi struck early to give them a 1-0 victory over South Korea.

In the match, Moroccan defender Nouhaila Benzina became the first player to wear a hijab at the Women's World Cup.

- Norway through, New Zealand out -

Norway and Switzerland both emerged out of an excruciatingly tight Group A.

Former champions Norway thrashed the Philippines 6-0 in Auckland to squeeze into the last 16 on goal difference from New Zealand.

A full house in Dunedin saw the co-hosts held 0-0 by a stubborn Switzerland as the Football Ferns bowed out of their home tournament in tears.

The 1995 champions Norway needed a win and they did it in style against World Cup debutants the Philippines, who themselves were still in with a chance of reaching the knockouts.

Sophie Roman Haug scored a hat-trick as the Philippines' fairytale journey came to a shuddering halt.

With Norway well ahead, New Zealand now needed to beat Switzerland.

The hosts had the better of the first half with a string of chances, the pick of which saw forward Jacqui Hand rattle the post on 24 minutes.

As Norway chalked up the goals in Auckland, the New Zealanders upped the intensity, knowing only a win would be good enough to advance.

But the goal they so desperately needed never came.

"There are a lot of tears out there, but they should be so proud to finish on four points," captain Ali Riley said.

On Monday, Australia will hope to avoid the same fate as their co-hosts.

The Matildas must beat Olympic champions Canada to guarantee a place in the last 16 but are still sweating on their skipper and talismanic striker Sam Kerr.

She has declared herself available after a calf injury but it remains to be seen how much of a part she plays.

"Everyone involved in sport knows that with calf injuries it's one thing that you're available, but there's also risk when you come back from a muscle injury," said Australia's coach Tony Gustavsson.

Also in Group B, surprise-package Nigeria need just to avoid defeat against already-eliminated Ireland to progress.

Former champions Japan and title contenders Spain meet to decide who tops Group C with both already into the last 16.

Agence France-Presse

Philippines ready for 'monumental' last-16 bid at Women's World Cup

WELLINGTON — Philippines head coach Alen Stajcic said the Women's World Cup debutants faced a "monumental" task to beat Norway and squeeze into the tournament's knock-out stages.

Ranked 46th in the world, the Philippines blew Group A wide open with a shock 1-0 win over co-hosts New Zealand on Tuesday.

Sarina Bolden scored the winning header in Wellington to claim her country's first goal at a Women's World Cup -- which also sealed the Philippines' maiden victory at either a men's or women's finals.

The side can reach the last 16 by beating Norway on Sunday, the same day New Zealand face Switzerland.

Stajcic said his team, who bounced back after losing their opening game to the Swiss, had to quickly shift focus to their final pool game.

"The job is not done," he said. "It's very important we switch back into competition mode and think what we have to do in the last game to try and squeeze out of this group."

Stajcic said the Philippines face a tough assignment against 1995 world champions Norway, who have 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg in their squad.

"That's such a monumental task, especially when it's our third game in just over a week, so we have to recover physically and from the emotion," he said.

The Philippines have shot up the rankings since the Australian took charge in late 2021, qualifying for the World Cup for the first time by reaching the semi-finals of the Women's Asian Cup early last year.

Stajcic said this wealth of tournament experience would be an asset as they prepared to play the Norwegians, who have yet to win at this World Cup, losing to New Zealand then drawing with the Swiss.

"The players know the drill. There has been quite a lot of tournament experience in the last 18 months," he said.

"I think we have seen a lot of maturity and growth in the way they carry themselves off the field, let alone on it."

Agence France-Presse 

Co-hosts New Zealand scores first goal of Women's World Cup

New Zealand claim historic win in record-breaking World Cup opener

AUCKLAND -- Hannah Wilkinson scored the only goal as co-hosts New Zealand recorded a historic 1-0 victory over Norway in the opening game of the Women's World Cup on Thursday.

It was the country's first-ever win at the World Cup and came in front of more than 42,000 in Auckland, the biggest crowd in New Zealand football history.

It capped a day which started when New Zealand's largest city was shaken in the morning by a shooting which left two victims and the gunman dead, the incident happening in a downtown area close to where several World Cup teams, including Norway, are staying.

The country's prime minister, Chris Hipkins, attended the match alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino at Eden Park, where a moment's silence was held in memory of those killed.

The Football Ferns, who are co-hosting the first 32-team Women's World Cup along with Australia, were not overawed by the occasion as they went on to claim a deserved success thanks to Wilkinson's early second-half goal.

New Zealand had not won any of their 15 previous matches across five previous appearances at the tournament and had set ending that dreadful record as their modest objective this time.

They duly did so against the former World Cup winners, to the delight of a near sell-out crowd of 42,137 fans, a national record for any football match in the country, men's or women's.

Their margin of victory on a cold, wet and windy evening would even have been greater had Ria Percival not missed a late penalty.

Qualifying for the knockout stages from Group A may now be a realistic aim, with Switzerland and the Philippines their other opponents.

Meanwhile, Norway, whose squad was woken early by a helicopter and emergency vehicles responding to the shooting just meters away from their hotel, was disappointing.

Wearing all black at the home of the country’s all-conquering rugby union team, New Zealand had been the better side in the first half without creating anything to seriously trouble Norway goalkeeper Aurora Mikalsen.

The breakthrough came three minutes after the restart as Jacqui Hand’s low ball into the box from the right was swept into the net by Wilkinson, the striker based in Australia.

The game opened up as Norway, world champions in 1995, went looking for an equalizer, and Frida Maanum somehow missed the target from a promising position.

Indiah-Paige Riley had a fine effort turned over at the other end, while Norway's former Ballon d'Or-winning forward Ada Hegerberg remained subdued.

Tuva Hansen came closest to equalizing with a long-range strike that was tipped onto the bar by New Zealand goalkeeper Victoria Esson.

And it was Hansen’s handball that was then penalized following a VAR check late on, but Percival hit the bar from the resulting 90th-minute penalty.

Agence France-Presse

Softbank to buy $2.8-billion stake in Norway robotics firm

TOKYO - Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group will buy a 40 percent stake in Norwegian robotics company AutoStore in a deal worth $2.8 billion, the two firms said.

The deal is the latest bet by SoftBank, which has spent heavily on some of the tech world's hottest start-ups and biggest names, ranging from artificial intelligence to biotech companies.

The deal values AutoStore, which develops warehouse automation technology, at $7.7 billion, according to a statement released by the pair on Monday.

Known for its cuboid systems that reduce the space needed to store goods, AutoStore says it has deployed 20,000 robots across 35 countries and that its clients include Puma and Siemens.

"We view AutoStore as a foundational technology that enables rapid and cost-effective logistics for companies around the globe," said SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.

The companies will work together to "aggressively expand across end markets and geographies," he added.

Son has in the past battled critics of his commitment to sometimes troubled start-ups, and brushed aside doubts over a massive asset-sale program.

Karl Johan Lier, Autostore's president and CEO, said his company hoped to grow in the Asia-Pacific market with Softbank's support.

US investment firm Thomas H. Lee Partners will remain the majority shareholder in Autostore even after the Softbank deal, which is expected to be finalized in April.

Agence France-Presse

YouTube sensation Auntie B reveals real face

MANILA – The original creator of the Youtube sensation Auntie B has finally revealed his face.

Addo Selga did this by letting off the face filter which he usually uses in his videos during his interview on “Magandang Buhay” which aired on Wednesday.

Selga’s clips made the rounds online because of his witty quarantine tips in the Ilocono dialect while using an undetectable face filter.

In real life, he is based in Norway working at a nursing home.

“Sobrang hirap [malayo sa pamilya]. Sila naman ang inspiration ko kung bakit ako nandito sa Norway. Kaya ako pumunta dito para sa kanila. Kung hindi naman para sa family ko, hindi naman talaga ako lalayo ng Pilipinas. Pero sa hirap nga ng buhay, napilitan ako na lumayo,” he said.

Although they are miles apart, Selga is thankful for technology because he gets to keep in touch with them all the time.

Selga also shared the COVID-19 situation in his area in Norway.

“Nagwo-work po ako sa nursing home dito. Sa town namin mismo, may positive na rin kami ng COVID, hindi lang po namin alam kung saan. Naka-quarantine naman po sila. Dirediretso pa rin po kasi hindi naman po pwedeng walang mag-alaga sa mga alaga namin. 'Yung mga alaga ko matatanda,” he said.

Amid this crisis, he only has this to say to his family and fellow Filipinos.

“Kagaya ng mga videos na ginagawa ko, ang daming pwedeng pagkaabalahan. Huwag tayong malungkot. Tayong mga Pilipino, malilikot ang isip kaya madaming pwedeng gawin,” he said.

“Sa family ko naman, sabi ko sa kanila na importante pa rin 'yung social distancing. Kahit maliit 'yung bahay namin, hiwa-hiwalay talaga sila,” he added.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Virus to cut forecast oil demand growth by a quarter this year - Rystad Energy

OSLO - The coronavirus outbreak will cut growth in global oil demand by a quarter this year compared to earlier forecasts, Norway's biggest independent energy consultancy Rystad Energy predicted on Tuesday.

Oslo-based Rystad now predicts global oil demand will grow by 820,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, down from a December forecast of 1.1 million bpd.

Crude prices have fallen sharply since news of the virus outbreak first emerged in mid-January.

The outbreak will primarily affect demand in the early part of the year, with the first quarter now expected to see growth of just 100,000 bpd, before consumption recovers later in the year, Rystad argued in a research note.

"Our current assessment implies that the impact of coronavirus will persist throughout all of February and March and will then gradually subside towards June," it added.

In a worst-case scenario however, if travel restrictions last longer, the overall impact for the year could be to lower 2020 demand growth to 650,000 bpd, the consultancy said. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Gwladys Fouche and Jan Harvey)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Norwegian author and former spouse of princess dead at 47

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Norwegian author Ari Behn, who was previously married to the country's Princess Maertha Louise, died on Wednesday aged 47, his manager told AFP, saying he had committed suicide.

"It is with great sadness in our hearts that I on behalf of the very closest relatives of Ari Behn must announce that he took his own life today," Behn's manager Geir Hakonsund said in an email to AFP.

Behn published his first book in 1999, a collection of short stories whose English translation is "Sad as hell".

He rose to public prominence in 2002 after marrying the Norwegian royal Maertha Louise, and they wrote a book about their wedding with the title "From heart to heart".

The couple had three daughters together before announcing their divorce in August 2016.

Friends and public figures expressed their condolences on Wednesday, including Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and the royal family.

"Ari was an important part of our family for many years, and we carry warm and good memories of him with us," the Royal House of Norway said in a statement.

Behn also wrote several novels and plays, and in 2018 published his last book, "Inferno," in which he detailed his struggle with mental health issues.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

In the deserts of Dubai, salmon farming thrives

DUBAI -- From a control room in the middle of Dubai's desert, Norway's sunrises and sunsets and the cool currents of the Atlantic are recreated for the benefit of thousands of salmon raised in tanks despite searing conditions outside.

Dubai is no stranger to ambitious projects, with a no-limits approach that has seen a palm-shaped island built off its coast, and a full-scale ski slope created inside a shopping mall.

But the farming of salmon in the desert is "something that no one could have imagined", said Bader bin Mubarak, chief executive of Fish Farm. "This is exactly what we're doing in Dubai."

Inside the facility, waters flow and temperatures fluctuate to create the most desirable conditions for the salmon living in four vast tanks.

"We provide for them a sunrise, sunset, tide, a strong current or a simple river current -- and we have deep waters and shallow waters," Mubarak told AFP.

Even for a country known for its extravagant ventures, building Fish Farm, located along the southern border of the emirate, was a challenging endeavor.

Salmon usually live in cold waters such as those in and off Iceland, Norway, Scotland and Alaska -- which is why the farming of Atlantic salmon in a country where temperatures can reach up to 45C (113 degrees F) is a stretch to say the least.

"Creating the (right) environment for the salmon was the hardest thing we faced," Mubarak told AFP.

"But we came up with the idea of dark water that resembles deep water, a strong current like the ocean with the same salinity and temperature of the Atlantic."

'GREATEST PRODUCTION'

Fish Farm bought some 40,000 fingerlings -- or juvenile fish -- from a hatchery in Scotland and thousands more eggs from Iceland to raise in open tanks in Dubai's southern district of Jebel Ali.

Salmon are born in freshwater but live in salt water for much of their lives before returning to freshwater to spawn.

At their home in the United Arab Emirates, the tanks are filled with sea water that is cleaned and filtered.

Fish Farm produces 10,000 to 15,000 kilos of salmon every month.

It was established in 2013 with the support of Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, to farm salmon and other fish including Japanese amberjack, which is used to prepare sushi.

Mubarak said that because of the technical challenge, salmon-raising remains the "greatest production" of the farm, which supplies to Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates, where the population includes millions of expatriates.

"The UAE imports around 92 percent of its fish from abroad, and the goal today is to be able to fulfill (that demand) for imports internally, so that we have food security," Mubarak said.

"In case there is an interruption, cyclone or floods, the UAE will be able to supply itself. This is the main objective."

PROS AND CONS

Another goal is to be environmentally friendly and, in a move also motivated by the high cost of electricity, Fish Farm has plans to go solar-powered.

The ecological pros and cons of farming fish on land, compared to raising them in rivers and seas, are hotly debated, as is the alternative of harvesting wild fish.

"There are animal welfare concerns about keeping fish whose natural behavior is to swim freely in seas and rivers in closed tanks," said Jessica Sinclair Taylor, from Feedback Global, a London-based environmental group.

"There are also concerns about the energy requirements and therefore carbon emissions."

But she said that on the plus side, land-based farming prevents water pollution in lakes or seas where salmon farms are sometimes sited, and where waste and run-off can damage marine ecosystems.

According to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the UAE imported 2.3 billion dirhams ($630 million, 570 million euros) of fish products, crustaceans and mollusks in 2017 and exported 280 million dirhams' worth.

Fish Farm, the UAE's only fish farm, hopes to meet at least 50 percent of the country's needs within two years, said Mubarak.

In April, Fish Farm began selling its products in supermarkets. Despite its decidedly unnatural origins, the salmon is marked "100 percent organic" because of the fish feed and the absence of antibiotics in a closed environment.

"It is (more expensive), but I also think about the quality -- I've tried different salmon before and this is less greasy and my family prefers this one," said Katja, a German residing in Dubai.

She said that UAE is "making really great efforts to produce not only fish but vegetables and other foods locally, and I think I should really support that".

source: news.abs-cbn.com

One hurt in Norway mosque shooting, suspect arrested

OSLO - A gunman armed with multiple weapons opened fire in a mosque near Oslo on Saturday, injuring one person before being overpowered by an elderly worshipper and arrested, Norwegian police and witnesses said.

Hours after the attack, the body of a young woman related to the suspect was found in a home in the suburb of Baerum where the shooting took place earlier in the day, police said Saturday evening.

Investigators are treating her death as suspicious and have opened a murder probe.

The head of the mosque described the assailant as a young white man dressed in black and said he was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest.

He said only three people had been inside the al-Noor Islamic center at the time of the attack.

Police were alerted to the shooting shortly after 4 pm (1400 GMT).

Officers first reported that a victim had been shot, but later clarified one person had sustained "minor injuries" and that it was unclear if they were gunshot wounds.

Police said the suspect appeared to have acted on his own.

"It is a Norwegian young man, with a Norwegian background. He lives in the vicinity," Oslo police spokesman Rune Skjold had told a press conference earlier Saturday. 

Skjold added that the suspect had been known to police before the incident but could not be described as someone with a "criminal background".

Norway was the scene of one of the worst-ever attacks by a right-wing extremist in July 2011, when 77 people were killed by Anders Behring Breivik. 

'Blood on the carpets'

"One of our members has been shot by a white man with a helmet and uniform," Irfan Mushtaq, head of the mosque, told local media.

Mushtaq said that the man had carried multiple weapons, but that he had been subdued by a member of the mosque.

Mushtaq himself had arrived at the scene shortly after being alerted about the gunman, and had gone to the back of the building while waiting for police to arrive.

"Then I see that there are cartridges scattered and blood on the carpets, and I see one of our members is sitting on the perpetrator, covered in blood," Mushtaq told Norwegian newspaper VG. 

He said the man who apparently overpowered the shooter was 75 years old and had been reading the Koran after a prayer session.

According to Mushtaq, the mosque had not received any threats ahead of the shooting.

The attack took place on the eve of the Muslim celebration of Eid Al-Adha, marking the end of the Muslim pilgrimage Hajj. 

Police said Saturday they would be sending out more officers so that those celebrating would "be as safe as possible".

New Zealand connection?

There has been a recent spate of white nationalist attacks in the West, including in the United States and in New Zealand where 51 Muslim worshippers were killed in March in shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch.

The al-Noor Islamic center in Norway shares its name with the worst affected mosque in the New Zealand attacks.

Local Norwegian paper Budstikka said it had contacted the mosque in March after the Christchurch massacre and that officials there had said security would be tightened.

The suspect in the Christchurch killings wrote a hate-filled manifesto in which he said he was influenced by far-right ideologues including the Norwegian mass murderer Breivik.

Breivik detonated a massive bomb in Oslo that killed eight people and then opened fire on a gathering of the Labour Party's youth wing on the island of Utoya, killing another 69 people, most of them teenagers. 

Norwegian police said they were aware that Saturday's suspect had been active online prior to the shooting.

Broadcaster TV2 reported they had learned the identity of the man and located a post to an online forum from someone using the same name, posted only hours before the attack.

The post seemingly praising the New Zealand attacker and ended with the words "Valhall awaits".

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fox crosses Arctic to reach Canada from Norway in record time

OSLO, Norway—Covering some 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) over the polar ice sheets in only 76 days, an arctic fox has reached Canada after setting off from Norway in an unprecedented feat of endurance. 

The journey is not only a testament to the fox's stamina but also highlights the important role ice sheets serve for the migration of Arctic wildlife and the threat global warming poses to the ecological balance.

Arnaud Tarroux, one of the researchers behind the study recording the fox's trek published by the Norwegian Polar Institute, warned that "less ice... will mean less opportunities for this type of migration." 

The arctic fox was equipped with a satellite tracker in July 2017 and set off from the island of Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, about 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole, on March 26 2018.

On June 10, 76 days after leaving Norway, the fox reached Ellesmere Island, one of Canada's northernmost communities, completing a journey of 3,506 kilometers.

"This species is even more enduring and faster than what has been observed in the past," Arnaud Tarroux told AFP Wednesday.

"It's a young female, less than a year old, therefore relatively inexperienced, literally going out to discover the world and surviving an Arctic crossing on her first attempt," he continued.

Adding to the impressive feat is that the young vixen covered the first 1,512 kilometers to reach Greenland in just 21 days.

"This is the first observation that shows in detail that an arctic fox has migrated between different continents and ecosystems in the Arctic, and one of the longest migrations ever recorded for an arctic fox in such a short period of time," the Norwegian Polar Institute noted in a statement. 

The fox withstood the arid polar environments and moved at an average daily rate of 46.3 kilometers, with a daily record of 155 recorded while crossing Greenland.

Why the fox opted to leave for Canada is unclear.

"It is quite possible that it is simply a series of coincidences that led her to find herself in an area of the Canadian arctic at the right time to find enough resources to be able to settle there," Tarroux said.

The fox's current whereabouts are unknown since the tracking system stopped working in Feb. 2019.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Battery of complaints against Tesla in Norway

OSLO - "I've had the car for eight months and it ran fine for four days," says Yngve Solberg, who like many Norwegians is fed up with the slew of problems his Tesla X has given him.

Tesla has sold more cars per capita in Norway than any other country in the world thanks to the government's generous measures in favour of electric cars including tax exemptions, free city tolls and public parking.

More than 26,000 Tesla S and X models are registered in Norway, according to the website www.teslastats.no.

But Tesla has struggled to provide after-sales support that matches the soaring demand for its high-end electric cars.

As a result, Tesla owners in Norway face long waits for repairs, a shortage of spare parts, difficulty reaching customer services, leading -- unsurprisingly -- to oodles of complaints.

In the first half of the year, Tesla became the company with the fourth-highest number of complaints registered with the Norwegian Consumer Council. In 2017, it held the 24th spot.

A car enthusiast, Solberg has had a long series of woes with his new Tesla X.

Among the problems he has faced were malfunctioning rear doors and a faulty suspension system. And each time he has faced trouble, it has taken him several months to get an appointment for repairs.

"Because of the doors, I couldn't park next to other cars for three months, neither at my work garage nor in my parking spot outside my home. All this with a car that costs 1.1 million kroner (115,000 euros, $133,000)," he bristled.

On an online forum for the Norwegian Association of Electric Cars, another Tesla owner said he was so frustrated he ended up taking his car to Danish capital Copenhagen to replace a faulty suspension arm. He has also been waiting for new seats for 13 months.

MUSK SAYS NORWEGIANS ARE RIGHT

These are not isolated cases. A survey conducted by the Tesla Owners Club Norway indicates that 38 percent are dissatisfied with the company's after-sales support, compared with 57 percent who are satisfied.

"Norwegians are right to be upset with Tesla," admitted Tesla chief executive Elon Musk.

"We are having trouble expanding our service facilities in Oslo especially," he tweeted on July 5.

He said the problems could be resolved "quickly" if Norway would give the green light for mobile service vans able to provide repairs at clients' homes.

Tesla is in talks with authorities with a view to adapting this service to national regulations, which strictly define car repair shops.

The problems are particularly troublesome for Tesla, as Norway is a seen as a global testing ground for electric cars.

The Scandinavian country, whose electricity is almost exclusively from hydro, aims to stop selling cars running on fossil fuels in seven years -- by 2025.

Tesla is therefore doubling its efforts to meet Norway's needs.

The company's spokesman in the Nordic region, Even Sandvold Roland, said after-sales support staff has already been augmented by 30 percent this year, additional shifts have been set up in some places, and a new repair center is due to open shortly in Oslo.

'GROWING PAINS'

"Things are improving," said Satheesh Varadharajan, the head of the Association of Tesla Owners. "It's positive, though we're still a little concerned about whether it's going quickly enough."

Recruiting and training new employees is time-consuming.

Keen to participate in the technological breakthrough the Californian company is offering, many motor enthusiasts are affording Tesla a patience they would not normally grant a conventional carmaker.

"Early adopters show a lot of understanding and accept that things take a little time, that there are growing pains. No other group has grown as much as quickly," stressed Varadharajan.

Despite the many frustrations, Yngve Solberg still has faith in Tesla and has reserved a Model 3, the company's first car targeting the mass market.

But Solberg said his faith had limits.

Tesla has had trouble ramping up production of the Model 3, and "if it's the same chaos that I've experienced these past eight months, then, no."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Coral reefs at risk of dissolving as oceans get more acidic: study

OSLO - Coral reefs could start to dissolve before 2100 as man-made climate change drives acidification of the oceans, scientists said on Thursday.

Acidification will threaten sediments that are building blocks for reefs. Corals already face risks from ocean temperatures, pollution and overfishing.

"Coral reefs will transition to net dissolving before end of century," the Australian-led team of scientists wrote in the U.S. journal Science. "Net dissolving" means reefs would lose more material than they gain from the growth of corals.

Carbon dioxide, the main man-made greenhouse gas, forms a weak acid in water and threatens to dissolve the reef sediments, made from broken down bits of corals and other carbonate organisms that accumulate over thousands of years, it said.

The sediments are 10 times more vulnerable to acidification than the tiny coral animals that also extract chemicals directly from the sea water to build stony skeletons that form reefs, the study said.

Coral animals will be able to keep growing and replenish reefs long after sandy sediments start to dissolve, lead author Bradley Eyre, of Southern Cross University, told Reuters.

"This probably reflects the corals' ability to modify their environment and partially adapt to ocean acidification whereas the dissolution of sands is a geo-chemical process that cannot adapt," he wrote in an e-mail.

The report said it was "unknown if the whole reef will erode once the sediments become net dissolving" and whether reefs "will experience catastrophic destruction" or merely a slow erosion.

Some reef sediments were already starting to dissolve, such as at Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii, where other pollutants were contributing.

Eyre said it was unclear if the dissolution of sediments could be a long-term threat to entire islands, from the Pacific to the Caribbean. Other studies say that deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions can limit acidification.

Most studies show that acidification will be overwhelmingly bad for ocean life, also threatening creatures such as oysters, lobsters and crabs. Another study on Thursday, however, found that it might help the growth of some plants.

"An increase of carbon dioxide in the ocean theoretically could stimulate higher growth of kelp and seaweeds," Kasper Hancke, a biologist at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, wrote in a statement.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Thanks, but no thanks': Norwegians reject Trump's immigration offer

OSLO - Many Norwegians rejected on Friday a suggestion by U.S. President Donald Trump that they would be more welcome to move to the United States than immigrants from "s***hole countries" such as Haiti or African nations.

The Nordic country, one of the richest in the world by GDP per capita, was last year named the happiest nation on the planet and is known for a cradle-to-grave welfare state funded in part by large reserves of oil and natural gas.

Trump mentioned Norway in derogatory comments about other countries of migration as U.S. senators briefed him on Thursday on a newly drafted bipartisan immigration bill, according to two sources who asked not to be identified.

One of the sources who was briefed on the conversation quoted him as saying: "Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They're s***hole countries ... We should have more people from Norway."

In one of several Twitter posts on Friday, Trump defended his stance on a bipartisan Senate immigration deal, but denied using the vulgar language ascribed to him.

"The language used by me at the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) meeting was tough, but this was not the language used," he said. He also later denied using derogatory language about Haitians.

"On behalf of Norway: Thanks, but no thanks," tweeted Torbjoern Saetre, a politician representing Norway's Conservative Party in a municipality near Oslo.

Others condemned the U.S. president's comments as inappropriate or racist.

"We are not coming. Cheers from Norway," one woman wrote.

While hundreds of thousands of Norwegians emigrated to the U.S. in the 19th century, just 502 out of a population of 5.3 million people moved there in 2016, down 59 from the previous year, according to Statistics Norway.

"Will there be more now?" the statistics agency asked in a tweet.

Government officials, seeking to deflect attention, turned down a chance to comment. "We respectfully decline the opportunity," one government official said when contacted by Reuters.

The reference to Norway may have been prompted by Prime Minister Erna Solberg who visited the White House on Wednesday when the president praised Norway for running a trade deficit with the United States and for buying U.S. military equipment.

Christian Christensen, an American professor of journalism at Stockholm University in neighboring Sweden, tweeted:

"Of course people from #Norway would love to move to a country where people are far more likely to be shot, live in poverty, get no healthcare because they're poor, get no paid parental leave or subsidized daycare and see fewer women in political power."

Before the "s***hole" controversy, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted that, judging by Solberg's visit, "keys to success with Trump is personal charm, a solid trade deficit with the U.S. and buying tons of U.S. military hardware."

Solberg, whose office also declined to comment on Trump's remarks, is expected to announce soon an expansion of her cabinet to include Norway's Liberal Party, a centrist group that favors strong environmental policies and more immigration.

"The first point of order in the new government declaration: Norway will still not be a s***hole country," tweeted Kjetil Alstadheim, the political editor of financial daily Dagens Naeringsliv.

source: news.abs-cbn.com