Latest news with #Norwegian
Straits Times
27 minutes ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Norway to meet 5% NATO goal on defence, security spending, prime minister says
FILE PHOTO: Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere speaks during a public discussion ahead of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) summit in Tallinn, Estonia December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo OSLO - Norway plans to raise its defence spending to 3.5% of the country's GDP, and also aims to use an additional 1.5% for broader security related purposes, its prime minister said on Friday, in line with a planned common goal among NATO states. NATO chief Mark Rutte has proposed that member nations should agree at a June 24-25 meeting in The Hague to aim for spending of a total of 5% of their gross domestic product on defence and broader security measures. "We must do more to secure our country and contribute to our common security with our allies in NATO," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a press conference on Friday. The 3.5% spending includes Norway's financial support to Ukraine's military defence, he said. Norway in 2024 spent an estimated 2.2% of GDP on defence, up from a low of 1.4% in 2022, the national statistics agency (SSB) said in April, and the government said in May it aims to spend 3.3% in 2025. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
Fourth Partner Energy Appoints Shujath Bin Ali as Chief Legal Officer to head Legal and Compliance
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Private equity major TPG and Norwegian investment fund Norfund-backed renewable energy developer Fourth Partner Energy has appointed Shujath Bin Ali as its Chief Legal Officer to lead the company's legal, compliance, and governance Hyderabad-headquartered Fourth Partner Energy also counts IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank and Germany's impact fund DEG, among its alumnus of Osmania University and also a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), Shujath Bin Ali started his career with Valtech in 2003. In March 2004, he joined Fanuc India Pvt Ltd and subsequently joined Deloitte, where he rose to become Associate Vice President, Head of Legal and Company Secretary. He has also worked with International Paper India and PAREXEL International – India as Senior Director, General Counsel, Compliance Officer & Company joining Fourth Partner Energy, Shujath Bin Ali also served as Global General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at KKR-backed company Re Sustainability.'Shujath is a subject matter expert and dynamic industry leader. He is open to innovative ideas and always thinks outside the box,' said a senior executive who has worked with him. 'He is a complete team player, and be it with his superiors, colleagues or his team members, they speak highly about him,' he development comes at a time when India is witnessing heavy expansion and investment in the sector. The country has logged a threefold growth in its renewable power capacity in the last decade, with the installed green energy capacity reaching GW, including large hydro plants, compared to 75.52 GW capacity in March 2014, according to certain media has set an ambitious target of having 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, which requires the addition of about 50 GW of green capacity per annum in the next five to six years, suggests the reports.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Chess: 'My wife is way more attracted to me now' — Magnus Carlsen after record rating in freestyle
Magnus Carlsen and his wife Ella Victoria (Image via Instagram/Magnus Carlsen) Magnus Carlsen has achieved a significant milestone by crossing the 2900 rating threshold in freestyle chess, a feat that had long evaded him in classical chess. No chess player has ever reached this mark before. Carlsen, a five-time world chess champion who has maintained the world number one position for nearly 15 years, previously peaked at 2882 in classical chess during May 2014. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! The new freestyle chess ratings, released on Thursday, are compiled by Freestyle Chess organisation rather than FIDE, the global chess governing body. "My wife (Ella Victoria) is way more attracted to me now that I've achieved 2900," Carlsen told Freestyle Chess, joking after learning about his rating. The freestyle ratings were calculated using five tournaments: Weissenhaus 2024, Singapore 2024, Weissenhaus 2025, Paris 2025, and Karlsruhe 2025. The list includes 578 players who participated in at least one freestyle chess event in the past two years. Praggnanandhaa leads Indian players at fourth place with 2773 points, following Carlsen (2909), Hikaru Nakamura (2818), and Fabiano Caruana (2804). Poll Which chess format do you prefer to watch? Classical chess Freestyle chess Rapid/blitz chess Other Indian players on the list include Arjun Erigaisi in 8th place with 2758 points, Vidit Santosh Gujarathi at 18th with 2713 points, Aravindh Chithambaram VR at 22nd with 2707 points, and classical world champion Gukesh at 26th with 2701 points. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Concentrated Siberian Ginseng Extract 2oz Superior Ginseng Undo Gukesh's lower ranking can be attributed to his recent struggles in freestyle chess tournaments. Carlsen has excelled in this format, achieving a perfect score of nine wins in nine games at the Grenke Freestyle Open. His freestyle ELO rating of 2909 surpasses his classical chess rating by 72 points. 'Cricketers Aren't Cattle... ': Harish Thawani on the IPL and Business of Indian Cricket Carlsen had previously approached the 2900 mark in classical chess in 2019. During this period, he set another record by playing 125 classical games without defeat between July 2018 and October 2020. "I have given up a bit on trying to reach 2900. It will just be very, very difficult," Carlsen had stated on the Norwegian podcast Sjakksnakk in 2023. Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
The Sun
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
‘Turkish salmon': the Black Sea's new rose-coloured gold
TURKEY: Sitting in his spacious office with a view of the Black Sea, Tayfun Denizer smiles: his rainbow trout, raised in submerged cages, have made him a wealthy man. 'Our exports surged from $500,000 in 2017 to $86 million last year, and this is just the beginning,' said Denizer, general manager of Polifish, one of the Black Sea's main producers of what is marketed as 'Turkish salmon'. In its infancy just a decade ago, production of trout -- which in Turkey is almost exclusively farmed for export -- has exploded in line with the global demand for salmon, despite criticism of the intensive aquaculture required to farm it. Last year, the country exported more than 78,000 tonnes of trout raised in its cooler northern Black Sea waters, a figure 16 times higher than in 2018. And it brought in almost $498 million for Turkish producers, a number set to increase but is still far from the $12.8 billion netted by Norwegian salmon and trout giants in the same year. Russia, which banned Norwegian salmon in 2014 after the West imposed sanctions over its annexation of Crimea, accounts for 74.1 percent of 'Turkish salmon' exports, followed by Vietnam with 6.0 percent, and then Belarus, Germany and Japan. - 'Spectacular success' - Stale Knudsen, an anthropologist at Norway's Bergen University and a specialist on Black Sea fishing, said Russia offered 'an available market that was easy to access, near Turkey'. For him, the 'spectacular success' of trout is also down to Turkey's experience and the technology used in farming sea bass and sea bream, a field in which it leads Europe. Turkish producers have also benefitted from the country's large number of reservoirs where the fish are a raised for several months before being transferred to the Black Sea. There, the water temperature -- which stays below 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 Fahrenheit) between October and June -- allows the fish to reach 2.5 to 3.0 kilogrammes (5.5-6.6 pounds) by the time they are harvested. Last, but not least, is the price. 'Our 'salmon' is about 15 to 20 percent cheaper than Norwegian salmon,' said Ismail Kobya, deputy general manager of Akerko, a sector heavyweight that mainly exports to Japan and Russia. 'The species may be different but in terms of taste, colour and flesh quality, our fish is superior to Norwegian salmon, according to our Japanese clients,' Kobya told AFP at Akerko's headquarters near the northeastern town of Trabzon, where a Turkish flag flies alongside those of Russia and Japan. Inside, a hundred or so employees in long blue waterproofs, green head coverings and rubber boots behead, gut, clean and debone trout that has an Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for responsible farming practises. - Disease risks - 'Over the last two years, many Turkish producers have moved to get those certifications,' said Knudsen, though he does not believe such labels are always a guarantee of sustainability. 'I think the rationale behind that is not only to become more sustainable, but is more importantly a strategy to try to enter the European markets... where the Norwegians have some kind of control,' he said. In a 2024 study, researchers from a Turkish public institute raised concerns that 'the rapid growth of the trout farming sector... led to an uncontrolled decline in the survival rate' of the fish. Pointing to the 'spread of diseases' and 'improper breeding management', the researchers found that nearly 70 percent of the trout were dying prematurely. Polifish, which also has an ASC certification, acknowledged a mortality rate of around 50 percent of their fish stocks, predominantly in the reservoirs. 'When the fish are small, their immune systems aren't fully working,' said its deputy general manager Talha Altun. Akerko for its part claims to have 'reached a stage where we have almost no disease'. 'In our Black Sea cages, the mortality rate is lower than five percent, but these are farming operations and anything can happen,' Kobya said. - 'Fake fish' - Visible from the shore, the fish farms have attracted the wrath of local fishermen worried about the cages, which have a 50-metre (165-foot) diameter, being set up where they cast their nets to catch anchovy, mackerel and bonito. Mustafa Kuru, head of a local fishermen's union, is a vocal opponent of a farming project that has been set up in his fishing zone just 70 kilometres (45 miles) from the Georgian border. 'The cages block the movement of the fish and what happens then? The fish start leaving the area,' he said, accusing the trout farmers of pumping chemicals into their 'fake fish'. He said a lack of fish stocks in the area had already forced two boats from his port to cast their nets much further afield -- off the western coast of Africa. 'If the fish leave, our boats will end up going to rack and ruin in our ports,' he warned.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Port guide: Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
This article is part of Traveller's ultimate guide to cruise ports. See all stories. Cool Britannia's northern capital has transformed itself from a gritty industrial city into a trendy cultural and gourmet getaway. Who goes there Fred Olsen, Holland America, Norwegian, Oceania, Princess, Regent Seven Seas and Silversea are among lines that visit Newcastle, while small British company Ambassador Cruise Line, launched in 2021, uses it as a home port. Most ships are on cruises around the British Isles, but some are sailing Norway itineraries, and some link Britain with other destinations on the continent. Sail on in If you'd rather be tucking into your breakfast omelette then you could probably get away with ignoring the arrival, since Newcastle city is well inland and out of sight. You do though sail through large breakwaters and into a short section of the Tyne; sailing a river in an ocean ship is always exciting because high decks give you a great view over the riverbank action. Berth rites Port of Tyne International Passenger Terminal is at North Shields 15 kilometres from the city centre. You'll find tourist information and a seating area but not much else, as most passengers are hurrying into the city. Royal Quays mall nearby will supply you with shops and restaurants if needs must. You'll have to rely on a cruise-line shuttle or taxi to get into town; the nearest metro station (Percy Main) is a 20-minute walk away. Going ashore Start off on the trendy downtown riverfront, where the tilting-span Millennium Bridge competes for attention with Sage Gateshead concert hall and BALTIC Centre, housed in a former flour mill and one of the country's best modern art galleries. The 1928 Tyne Bridge upstream is a scaled-down version of Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the city centre, discover revamped Georgian architecture and the busy shopping drags that radiate from elegant Grey Street. Check out the impressive Laing Art Gallery, then plunder the Biscuit Factory, a gargantuan commercial art space with shops selling glassware, furniture, paintings and more.
