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Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Find out what's going on in Norway with The Local's short roundup of important news. Pictured is a tram line running through the Torshov district of Oslo. Pictured is a tram line running through the Torshov district of Oslo. Photo by Marek Lumi on Unsplash

Election day for Norway, foreign national arrested on espionage charges, and food prices fall. This and other news on Monday.

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Election day

Municipal and county elections are being held in Norway on Monday, and polls will close at 9pm. After that, results will start trickling in. Several of Norway's biggest cities will see a tight election race and potential leadership change on the cards.

According to a poll from TV, the Conservative Party could become the largest party in Norway for the first time since 1924. A record 1.2 million people had voted in advance as of Friday evening.

Foreign nationals who have lived in Norway for at least three years are eligible to vote in local elections.

Foreign national arrested on espionage charges

A man has been arrested and is accused of espionage charges, Norway's intelligence services have said.

Intelligence service PST refused to disclose the man's identity, age or nationality. Public broadcaster reports the man is a student, but not at a Norwegian institution. 

He was arrested on Friday and is accused of "intelligence activity, more specifically signals intelligence by use of electronic devices," PST spokesman Trond Hugubakken told newswire AFP.

The man has been accused of eavesdropping on government ministries. His rental car had been caught on security cameras while signals were picked up at the government's headquarters.

PST say that one hypothesis is that the man was not operating alone.

Food prices in Norway see a marginal fall

Food prices in Norway have risen by 9.3 percent over the past twelve months. However, between July and August, food prices fell by 0.8 percent.

"We saw an unusually steady and strong increase in food prices from March to June this year, a period of the year when prices tend to fall somewhat. A price drop from July to August, on the other hand, is more in line with what we usually see this month," Espen Kristiansen from Statistics Norway said.

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He also added that food price rises were the most significant contributor to inflation overall. The food groups that have seen the biggest increases are vegetables, bread and meat. In August, the CPI in Norway was 4.8 percent higher than a year before.

Fosen activists announce new protests

To mark 700 days since the supreme court ruled that the wind farm in Fosen encroached on the human rights of the Sami reindeer herders, demonstrators have announced new action.

"For many of us, this is a battle of life and death. We cannot remove the wind turbines, but the wind turbines can remove us. It is the reality that has hung over us for 700 days," Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen, a Sami musician and activist, said.

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