Norway

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) has won “strong support” from lessors for its plan to convert debt to equity, the carrier said on Monday, as shareholders prepared to cast their vote on the scheme in a meeting set to begin at 0630 GMT.

With 95% of its fleet grounded amid the coronavirus pandemic, Norwegian Air could run out of cash by mid-May unless shareholders back the plan.

OSLO (Reuters) - The fate of Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) was in the balance on Friday after a deadline passed overnight for bondholders to vote on a rescue package for the transatlantic budget airline.

Bondholders were set to start a meeting at 1400 GMT on Thursday to vote on the airline’s debt-to-equity plan, the first major test of its rescue efforts amid the coronavirus outbreak.

But the airline sent a revised offer at 1359 GMT, calling it final, and pushed back the deadline to accept to 2100 GMT. Since then, Norwegian Air has sent no messages about the outcome.

OSLO (Reuters) - The millionaire husband of a Norwegian woman thought to have been abducted and held for cryptocurrency ransom in 2018 was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of killing her, police said.

Anne-Elisabeth Hagen, then 68, vanished from her home in October 2018, in a case that has fascinated the Nordic nation since police first went public with the news in January 2019.

Kidnappings and murders are rare in Norway, which prides itself on low crime rates.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) could run out of cash by mid-May unless its proposed financial rescue plan is approved by creditors and shareholders, the budget carrier warned on Monday.

If bondholders, leasing companies and shareholders give a green light, the plan may help Norwegian survive the coronavirus outbreak, which has grounded 95% of its fleet, leaving just seven aircraft in operation.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway, Western Europe’s largest oil producer, will soon decide whether to slash its output and thus aid a global effort to shore up crude prices, the energy minister said on Monday.

“The agreement among the OPEC+ producer nations is very positive,” Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tina Bru said in an emailed statement to Reuters, adding that Norway will draw its own conclusion on potential cuts “in the near future”.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has lost 1.33 trillion Norwegian crowns ($124 billion) so far this year as stock markets have plunged due to the coronavirus pandemic, it said on Thursday.

The fund is now worth $930 billion, down from more than $1 trillion at the end of last year. Its investment portfolio dropped 16.2%, all but erasing the 20% gains made last year, while its stock market portfolio - its main asset class - has lost 22.8% of its value, it added.

24 Mar 2020; MEMO: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has postponed its procedures against Israel due to the coronavirus outbreak, ICC’s chief prosecutor announced on Sunday.

According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that the procedures against Israel would be delayed for at least a month, citing the global coronavirus pandemic.

Bensouda, the Israeli newspaper said, was slated to file her responses to several issues on 30 March.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway’s $1.1 trillion wealth fund, the world’s biggest fund and a long-time advocate of companies being more transparent about their impact on the climate, on Thursday welcomed a shift among European oil and gas firms towards greener policies.

Top energy firms including BP, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell and Total - as well as Norway’s Equinor - have in recent months pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions and provide more information about their role in global warming.

OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg on Friday announced her biggest cabinet reshuffle since taking power in 2013, replacing or repositioning two-thirds of ministers in the hope of reviving the Conservative-led coalition’s prospects.

Solberg this week lost her majority in parliament following the shock exit from government by the right-wing Progress Party over a decision to bring a woman suspected of Islamic State affiliation home to Norway from Syria.

KIGALI/OSLO, Jan 10 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Norway this year will take in 600 people evacuated to Rwanda from Libyan detention centers, the Nordic country said as it sought to discourage the smuggling of refugees across the Mediterranean Sea.

Rwanda, from where more than 2 million people were displaced amid genocide in 1994, signed a deal with the United Nations in September meant to help resettle people detained in Libya while trying to reach Europe.