Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
The government aims to keep wind turbines despite Supreme Court ruling, a new fee on Norway's most popular payment app, plus other news on Thursday.
Changes to Vipps
Popular payment service Vipps will introduce a new charge from August. The app will charge a one percent fee for transfers totalling more than 5,000 kroner to the same account in 24 hours.
Previously charges only applied when a single transfer was over 5,000 kroner, but people would often just split payments to avoid paying any charges.
Under the new system, you will be required to pay a charge if, for example, you make two split payments totalling more than 5,000 kroner to the same person over a 24-hour period.
"Friend payment with Vipps is primarily a service to simplify everyday payments between people. At the same time, it is the case that Vipps has costs every time someone pays with the app. To cover these costs, we charge a fee of one percent for amounts over 5,000," press contact Even Westerveld told online news publication Nettavisen.
Government to keep wind turbines despite Supreme Court ruling
The government will try and keep its wind turbines in the reindeer herding area of Fosen, despite a Supreme Court verdict, newspaper Klassekampen reports.
Last autumn, the Supreme Court ruled that the wind turbines at Fosen violated Sami's human rights.
Norway's government has sent a letter to the Sami parliament to outline why it wants the wind farm to stay.
Inge Even Danielsen, leader of the organisation representing reindeer herders, has said the ruling was crystal clear.
"In my view, the case is starting to look like a farce, because you have a judgment in the Supreme Court that says that the decision is invalid and that it is a violation of international law. Ergo, there must be a violation of international law at Fosen every day the turbines are in operation," Danielsen said.
Unemployment down
Unemployment in Norway fell to 3.2 percent in May, down 0.2 percentage points from February, figures from Statistics Norway show.
From February to May this year, there were 5,000 fewer unemployed. In the same period, there were 0.37 per cent more jobs.
Less than 15 percent offered dedicated student housing
The Norwegian Student Organisation (NSO) has said that the student housing market hasn't been able to keep pace with the rising number of admissions as only 14.6 of the country's students have access to halls.
"We are now short of over 15,000 student homes in order to achieve the goal that 1 in 5 students should have the opportunity to live outside the private rental market. We have seen a historic investment in student housing construction from the governments in recent years. Nevertheless, less than 15% of students get access to student housing," Maika Marie Godal from the organisation said in a press release.
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Changes to Vipps
Popular payment service Vipps will introduce a new charge from August. The app will charge a one percent fee for transfers totalling more than 5,000 kroner to the same account in 24 hours.
Previously charges only applied when a single transfer was over 5,000 kroner, but people would often just split payments to avoid paying any charges.
Under the new system, you will be required to pay a charge if, for example, you make two split payments totalling more than 5,000 kroner to the same person over a 24-hour period.
"Friend payment with Vipps is primarily a service to simplify everyday payments between people. At the same time, it is the case that Vipps has costs every time someone pays with the app. To cover these costs, we charge a fee of one percent for amounts over 5,000," press contact Even Westerveld told online news publication Nettavisen.
Government to keep wind turbines despite Supreme Court ruling
The government will try and keep its wind turbines in the reindeer herding area of Fosen, despite a Supreme Court verdict, newspaper Klassekampen reports.
Last autumn, the Supreme Court ruled that the wind turbines at Fosen violated Sami's human rights.
Norway's government has sent a letter to the Sami parliament to outline why it wants the wind farm to stay.
Inge Even Danielsen, leader of the organisation representing reindeer herders, has said the ruling was crystal clear.
"In my view, the case is starting to look like a farce, because you have a judgment in the Supreme Court that says that the decision is invalid and that it is a violation of international law. Ergo, there must be a violation of international law at Fosen every day the turbines are in operation," Danielsen said.
Unemployment down
Unemployment in Norway fell to 3.2 percent in May, down 0.2 percentage points from February, figures from Statistics Norway show.
From February to May this year, there were 5,000 fewer unemployed. In the same period, there were 0.37 per cent more jobs.
Less than 15 percent offered dedicated student housing
The Norwegian Student Organisation (NSO) has said that the student housing market hasn't been able to keep pace with the rising number of admissions as only 14.6 of the country's students have access to halls.
"We are now short of over 15,000 student homes in order to achieve the goal that 1 in 5 students should have the opportunity to live outside the private rental market. We have seen a historic investment in student housing construction from the governments in recent years. Nevertheless, less than 15% of students get access to student housing," Maika Marie Godal from the organisation said in a press release.
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