eNewsWire

Press Release – Reykjavik 05.01.201: The President of Iceland has declined to sign a law authorising a state guarantee for repayment of loans provided by the UK and the Netherlands to the Depositors‘ and Investors‘ Guarantee Fund, intended to cover payment of the minimum deposit guarantees to depositors in the UK and Netherlands branches of the failed Landsbanki Íslands hf. The law was approved by Althing, the Icelandic Parliament, on 30 December 2009. According to the constitution, the President’s decision not to sign the law requires it to be put to general referendum as soon as possible where it needs to be supported by a simple majority of voters in order to remain in force. In the interim, the law enters into force as passed by the Althingi. The Government will now reflect on the decision of the President and review the situation. Read more…

Oslo, 31. oktober 2009 – FIRST HOUSE, et nytt norskeid og kompetansetungt rådgivningsselskap innen finansiell og politisk kommunikasjon, styrker laget med ytterligere ressurser og seniorkompetanse. Fra årsskiftet blir kommunikasjonsfirmaet MonsenHejna, som har spisskompetanse på finansiell og corporate kommunikasjon, en viktig del av FIRST HOUSE.

Etter MonsenHejnas inntreden, vil FIRST HOUSE sitt team på finansiell kommunikasjon telle åtte personer. FIRST HOUSE vil etter dette omfatte 12 rådgivere og prosjektledere. Trolltind og MonsenHejna hadde i 2008 en samlet byråinntekt på 16 millioner kroner. Ingen av virksomhetene har tilbudt rådgivning innen politikk, samfunn og næringsutvikling til sine kunder. FIRST HOUSE vil således bidra til å utvide begge virksomhetenes kompetanse og tilbud. Read more…

First House Norway

Oslo, Norway, 24th October 2009 – FIRST HOUSE is a focused strategic advisory firm with Norway and the Nordic countries as its home markets. The firm is founded on the belief that the strategic importance of excellent, insightful and honest advisory within financial communication and public and governmental affairs is a crucial value creator for clients within the public and the private sector.

The two pillars of FIRST HOUSE services are governmental affairs and financial communication:

Governmental affairs: • Strategic advisory and governmental advisory consulting • Research, analysis and advisory related to strategic challenges • Issues management • Confederation, trade council, associations and labour union communication • Public affairs and issues management

Financial & corporate communication: • Strategic advisory and business consulting • Financial communication and investor relations • Equity story development • Restructuring and recapitalisation communication • Strategic communication services related to M&A and capital market communication – in close cooperation with the leading investment banks, brokerage houses, the private equity industry, and first class legal expertise Read more…

Electricity and biofuels are quickly changing the way people power their cars while also having a positive effect on people’s finances and the environment. The leadership role of the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland in this field are highlighted at the upcoming Driving Sustainability conference in Reykjavík in September.

In Norway, over three thousand electric cars are on the road. Government policy dictates that charging their batteries is free of charge, zero emissions EVs get free parking, can drive on bus lanes in the city, get free rides on state run ferries (there are a lot of them in Norway) and there is no VAT on electric cars in Norway, so they’re reasonably priced. ‘Think’ is the leading producer of competitive electric city cars in the world. In addition, Norway produces the tiny Buddy EV electric car. Read more…

Reykjavik’s eleventh Gay Pride event is now a mere memory, and there are a whole twelve months to wait until it happens all over again. But although Pride is over, Iceland does not forget about it.

Around 80,000 people converged on central Reykjavik on Saturday to enjoy the eleventh annual Reykjavik Gay Pride parade and the following outdoor concert with Pall Oskar, probably Iceland’s biggest pop star. Read more…

A London Met alumnus visiting professor has become the first ever Muslim to join the cabinet. Tooting MP Sadiq Khan was appointed Minister for Transport in the recent government reshuffle. The promotion makes him the most senior Muslim politician in the country and the first Muslim to join the Privy Council or attend Cabinet.

Mr Khan, whose father was a bus driver in Wandsworth said he wanted to be an inspiration to all people from humble backgrounds: ‘This is the land of hope and glory. This is a country where the sky is the limit.’ Read more…

It’s that time of year again in Iceland when Reykjavik gets just a little bit more fabulous than it always is. Yes, that’s right; Gay Pride is underway and more dazzling than ever!

Gay Pride in Reykjavik is unlike almost anywhere else – often called ‘the biggest little Pride in the world’, it attracts as many as one-in-three of Iceland’s entire population out onto the streets to support LGBT rights specifically, and equality in society more generally. Read more…

Constance Briscoe, author of Ugly, Beyond Ugly and one of the first black women to sit as a judge in the UK, visited the graduating class of the Level 3 Diploma in Pre-School Practice at Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) on Thursday 9^th July 2009.

Briscoe attended the event after graduating student Elizabeth-Ann Murphy and her tutor Angela Gordon-Wright made contact with her via her website www.constancebriscoe.com. Read more…

From September 2009 the University of Brighton is offering a range of Applied Ethics MA degrees designed for professionals wishing to gain a qualification in ethical aspects of their field.

Ethical standards and practices are often part of the regulatory framework in ‘traditional’ professions such as law and medicine. More recently questions of ethics have come to the fore in a broad range of professions, and the academic fields of philosophy and ethics are increasingly concerned with application and practice.

Run through the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE) at the University of Brighton, these seven distinct degrees explore applied ethics or ethics in relation to art and design, education, healthcare, media, medicine or politics. One year full-time and two year part-time options are available. No previous familiarity with philosophy is assumed. Read more…

Kent already benefits from fast rail services to the continent, contributing to high levels of interest from foreign investors. With the introduction of the high speed service, operated by Southeastern, in December, and the limited preview services starting on 29 June, the county will be even better connected for business. Ebbsfleet International will be just 17 minutes away from St Pancras International, while the journey to Ashford will take just 37 minutes.

According to Locate in Kent, the investment promotion agency for Kent and Medway, the county, as the closest UK location to the continent and now only minutes away from London, is in a prime position to attract significant interest from businesses looking to invest. Towns and cities in East Kent, including Canterbury, Folkestone and Ramsgate, previously well over an hour and 30 minutes away by train, will now be far more accessible via the high speed service – Canterbury will be 59 minutes away, Folkestone 57 minutes and Ramsgate, 80. Read more…