Norwegian TV To Air Drama About Fictional Russian Invasion
A Norwegian TV channel says it will air a fictional drama series depicting a Russian invasion of Norway, a move that has annoyed Moscow.
In the program, called Occupy, Russia partly occupies Norway after radical environmentalists seize power and freeze the Scandinavian nation's oil and gas industry, according to TV2 drama chief Christopher Hauge.
Hauge told AP on August 29 that he was surprised by the reaction to the series, saying it is "foremost about Norway and Norwegians, not Russia or Russians."
Vyacheslav Pavlovsky, the Russian ambassador in Oslo, told Russia's TASS new agency that "Russia, regrettably, has the role of the aggressor."
"In the worst traditions of the Cold War, [this show] decided to scare Norwegian viewers with a nonexistent threat from the East," he said on August 27.
Norway's Foreign Ministry had no comment on the TV show.
The series is the most expensive drama in Norwegian television history, costing 90 million Norwegian kroner ($11 million), according to TV2.
Based on reporting by AP
KLM Drops Inflight Recording By Controversial, Ukrainian-Born Pianist
By RFE/RL
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has dropped a recording from its inflight playlist by a controversial Ukrainian-born classical pianist.
Valentina Lisitsa has gained notoriety in recent months mainly for her comments on social media in support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
She has also labeled as "Nazi" the government of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, among other comments deemed offensive.
KLM took the action after receiving complaints from passengers.
In a posting on its website on August 28, the Dutch airline wrote: "KLM gets requests from passengers to alter aspects of its product that they consider to be sensitive, unclear or incorrect. KLM has therefore decided to remove the recordings of the pianist in question from its Inflight Entertainment System."
Lisitsa's controversial comments prompted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to cancel two of her concerts planned for April.
Canada has over 1 million people claiming Ukrainian ancestry.
Lisitsa, who was born in Kyiv in 1973, emigrated to the United States in 1991. She says her ethnic background is Russian and Polish.
Lisitsa maintains her remarks have been misconstrued and are intended as satire.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
