TVNorge
Launched	1988
Owned by	ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Country	Norway
Broadcast area	Norway
Website	Official website

TVNorge (originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos; i.e. "TVNorway") is a Norwegian television channel.

TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first advertising-supported Norwegian channel. The channel was started with 50 000 NOK.^[1] The first broadcast was a live variety show from Oslo Cabaret with Swedish singer Lill-Babs and Norwegian pop group Tomboy as musical guests.^[2] Originally TVNorge broadcast via satellite and cable, later they have affiliated several local television broadcasters.The local broadcasters generally were allowed the 17.30-18.30 timeslot for local programming, along with a second slot from 19.30-20.30. The rest of the time was assigned to TVNorges own schedule.

When the last Analogue Terrestrial television transmitter closed in December 2009, the agreement with the local broadcasters and TVNorge ended. TVNorge now broadcasts via private cable and satellite providers in addition to RiksTV, which is the Norwegian Digital Terrestrial television distributor.

TVNorge is wholly owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG.

In 2003 Novell sued TVNorge at The Court of Enforcement (Namsretten) and asked for a temporary injunction against TVNorge as they found the logo too similar to their own. Novell did not seem to proceed to a full court case after losing their case there.

High Definition[link]

TVNorge launched Norway's first High Definition simulcast on their main channel on 3 October 2008, and starting 2009 TVNorge will also be broadcasting own productions in HD.^[3] The first episodes shown in HD was the HBO series Rome, and the channel has included several other imported series like CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and The Big Bang Theory. The HD station has the same schedule as the SD station. Broadcasts not available in high definition will be broadcast in standard definition.

See also[link]

• List of Norwegian television channels
• List of programs broadcast by TVNorge
• TVNorge HD

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site
• TVNorge Television Schedule

Jan Egeland
UN Humanitarian Official
Born	Jan Egeland Stavanger, Norway
Known for	Humanitarian work

Jan Egeland (born 12 September 1957 in Stavanger, Norway) is the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch and the Director of Human Rights Watch Europe. Egeland took up the position as director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs on 1 September 2007. Egeland also holds a post as Professor II at the University of Stavanger.

Egeland was the United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from June 2003 to December 2006. Egeland was appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and succeeded Kenzo Oshima. He traveled extensively, drawing attention to humanitarian emergencies.

Egeland was also Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross. He served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990–1997) and was Chair of Amnesty International Norway.

Biography[link]

Egeland holds a Magister Artium in Political Science from the University of Oslo. He has been a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and a fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and The Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem.^[1]

Egeland assumed his post as the Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) in August 2003. This position is the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He was preceded in the post by Kenzo Oshima of Japan.

Prior to becoming the head of OCHA, Egeland was the Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross. From 1999 to 2002, he was the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Colombia. Egeland's career also includes service to his government as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997. In that capacity, he initiated two Norwegian Emergency Preparedness Systems, which have provided more than 2,000 experts and humanitarian workers to international organizations. He has also been Chair of Amnesty International in Norway, and Vice-Chair of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International, which he was elected on to at the age of 23, the youngest ever to hold the position. He served as Director for the International Department of the Norwegian Red Cross, Head of Development Studies at the Henry Dunant Institute in Geneva and a radio and television international news reporter for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

Egeland has actively participated in a number of peace processes. He co-initiated and co-organized the Norwegian channel between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1992, which led to the Oslo Accord (Declaration of Principles) of September 1993. He directed the Norwegian facilitation of the United Nations-led peace talks leading up to ceasefire agreement between the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) guerrillas signed in Oslo in 1996. He also led the host delegation when the Ottawa Treaty to ban landmines was successfully negotiated and adopted in Oslo in 1997.

Egeland has focused his efforts in alleviating the needs of this sector of the population in complex emergency situations like the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency in northern Uganda, the Darfur region in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of displaced persons are affected. He has also campaigned for addressing the needs of those affected by natural disasters, like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, as well as raising awareness in issues such as gender mainstreaming, sexual exploitation and violence, and internal displacement.

His impartiality in the Lebanon conflict as an honest broker is being questioned by Hezbollah and various other groups in Lebanon. He has been accused by the Lebanese government and media of not focusing sufficiently on the humanitarian crises on Lebanon (^{[citation needed]}), while being critical about rocket attacks on Israel. In a United Kingdom Channel 4 interview Egeland laid the blame on the crisis in Lebanon on Hezbollah who he said "Hide amongst the civilian population and which gives the Israeli air force no choice but to attack civilian structures,"^[2] though he also has referred to the Israeli strikes as "a violation of humanitarian law,".^[3]

On 28 July 2006 he proposed a 72-hour cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah in order for emergency relief to move the wounded and get food and medical supplies into the war zone. Israel rejected the proposal, claiming that the humanitarian corridor it opened to and from Lebanon was sufficient for the purpose. Egeland responded that "Hizbollah is not necessarily the biggest obstacle to an agreement".^[4] Israel later agreed to a 48-hour halt of bombing, while reserving the right to take action against targets preparing attacks.^[5]

He is married, and has two daughters. In 2006, Time magazine named him one of the 100 "people who shape our world".^[6]

In 2008 Egeland published a memoir A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity about his time at the UN from 2003-2006.

He has published a number of reports, studies and articles on conflict resolution, humanitarian affairs and human rights.^{[citation needed]}

Tsunami relief[link]

On 27 December 2004, during the initial phase of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake relief effort, Egeland said that "Christmastime should remind many Western countries how rich we have become, and if actually the foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 or 0.2 percent of their gross national income, I think that is stingy, really."^[7] According to Egeland, in his memoir A Billion Lives (2008), this "stingy" quote was taken out of context by the press as directed at tsunami relief, when in fact Egeland was addressing the long and ongoing drive by the UN for all OECD nations to contribute 0.7% of GNP to humanitarian efforts.^[8] Initial response by the White House to Egeland's quote, taken out of context by the press as a direct attack on the United States (which at the time had only donated $15 million), was very negative. However, Egeland subsequently clarified his remarks, and all was forgiven, although Egeland became the focus of a negative campaign online.^[8] However the "stingy" quote did in fact help increase the number of donations. Egeland was later quoted as saying that the donations were so large and were coming in so fast that "We really have to confirm that we heard right, that the number of zeroes was right." When reviewing the tangible, if non-monetary, assistance of the militaries of the United States, Australia, and other nations in providing disaster relief, Egeland remarked, "Those helicopters are worth their weight in gold now." Time magazine would later call Egeland "the world's conscience."

Lebanese aid[link]

In July 2006, Egeland launched a US$150m aid appeal for Lebanon, following the destruction of parts of Lebanon by Israeli forces and subsequent displacement of many thousands of refugees.

Egeland, though critical of Israel, lashed out against Hezbollah in terms that no UN official had dared yet, saying:

Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children. I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men. We need a cessation of hostilities because this is a war where civilians are paying the price.^[9]

Gaza violence[link]

During a visit to Gaza to survey the damage, Egeland was quoted as saying that the bombing of a power plant would affect schools and hospitals more than the militants. "This is very clear, a disproportionate use [of power]," Egeland told reporters. "Civilian infrastructure is protected. The law is very clear. You cannot have any interpretation in any other way."^[10]

Criticism[link]

Egeland has been criticized for the way he handles relief programs.

In 2007, the Norwegian TV channel TV2 aired a documentary entitled De hvite hjelperne (The white helpers) with footage and research from Malawi concerning the Norwegian Red Cross's donation of hundreds of Norwegian army surplus M621 trucks. The documentary highlighted the trucks' primitive construction and poor condition, and general uselessness to the Malawi community. Although Egeland and the Red Cross declared this operation a success, the trucks were little more than scrap metal.^[11]

In March 2008, TV2 aired another documentary entitled Sultbløffen (The famine scam) about the 2005–06 Niger food crisis. Then-UN relief coordinator Egeland and several others were accused of bluffing and of blowing the situation out of proportion.^[12]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Secretary-General Appoints Jan Egeland of Norway New Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, UN press release in 2003
• United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
• The white saviors and the white trucks
• Egeland accused of bluffing about starvation

Thomas Giertsen (born 4 July 1971) is a Norwegian producer, stand-up comedian and actor from Oslo.

He runs a production company named Feelgood Scene, Film & TV. He played "Jacob Sand" in the Norwegian movie Kvinnen i mitt liv Other than this one movie part he has hosted or co-hosted several TV-shows like "Mandagsklubben", "ikveld med Thomas Giertsen" and "Torsdagsklubben". But he is probably most known for his skills as a stand-up comedian and for getting his arm broken while arm-wrestling a woman during a stand up show.

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