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Norway expelled a 36-year-old Iranian student studying space technology earlier this month amid fears his studies may be used to contribute to the Iranian missile program, according to reports Tuesday in the Norwegian media. The student studied Norwegian language and culture last year and, according to the reports, was due to begin a master's program in space technology at Narvik University College in Narvik, a town some 1,400 km north of Oslo. Jorn Preserudstuen, police inspector for the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that history has shown a connection between a space program and missile...

Norway Becomes First European Country To Raise Interest RatesNorway has become the first country in Europe to raise interest rates since the start of the financial crisis as its economy recovers from a shallow downturn. Published: 5:00PM GMT 28 Oct 2009 Norway's economy has been buoyed by its vast offshore oil and gas sector. Norges Bank, the country's central bank, increased its deposit rate by a quarter point from record lows to 1.5pc on Wednesday. The rise will offset a significant fiscal stimulus package introduced by the government at the height of the financial crisis. Norway, buoyed by its vast...

CUSTOMS officials in Norway say they had arrested a man who tried to illegally import 14 snakes and 10 lizards into the country by taping the reptiles to his body. The snakes, king pythons that are large in size but not venomous, were rolled up in socks and taped to the man's torso, while the geckos were found in small boxes taped to his legs. The unusual load was discovered during a body search after customs officials found a tarantula in the man's luggage.

The Norwegian Health authorities are today, Friday, expected to announce that they advice that all Norwegians be vaccinated against the swine flu. So far, nine persons are known to have died from the flu in Norway. It is estimated that 100,000 now have the flu, and in many schools and kindergartens 50 per cent of the children are absent, but it is not certain that all have the H1N1 flu. Already, there are daily long lineups at many vaccination centres around the country, and many GPs report that they are inundated with calls from nervous patients who either have symptoms,...

It's the moment nosy Norwegian neighbors have been waiting for — the release of official records showing the annual income and overall wealth of nearly every taxpayer in the Scandinavian country. In a move that would be unthinkable elsewhere, tax authorities in Norway have issued the "skatteliste," or "tax list," for 2008 to the media under a law designed to uphold the country's tradition of transparency. It's Norwegians' way of keeping up with the Johansens — from fishermen on the western fjords and Sami reindeer herders in the north to members of the committee that awarded President Barack Obama the...

We have suffered a week of apoplexy having endured a bombardment of reasons offered to justify a Nobel Prize awarded for expectations and promises rather than results. Our rationality has been addled as all corners of the MSM meandered through fantastic rationalizations. All appear to have missed the mark. The ideologically motivated radicals dominating the Norwegian Nobel Committee, are not seeking peace in the world, but are making a down payment on fortification for their own agenda. The United States and Canada will pay dearly if this agenda materializes. Let’s first dispel any doubt that the offered reasons for awarding...

The White House has confirmed that President Obama will personally come to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and the capital is gearing up for the visit, including the massive security arrangements which will have to be made. The presentation will be made at a ceremony at the Oslo City Hall on December 10th, and the security will be a challenge. However, Oslo Mayor Fabian Stang bids the US president heartily welcome: - Clinton has visited us earlier, and I am sure that the police and the municipal authorities will solve that problem in a good way, Stang says....

The Nobel committee becomes the pundit pinata on the Sunday morning news shows, for its decision to award President Obama the Peace Prize before the end of his first year in office.A raft of conservative pundits and even one network anchor used the Sunday morning news shows to batter the Nobel committee for awarding President Obama the Peace Prize before he had a chance to turn his lofty rhetoric into historic accomplishments. The decision, announced Friday, to award Obama the peace prize has drawn widespread astonishment. While past recipients like Al Gore praised the move, even Obama said upon learning...

Norway is a tiny country that was born lucky. It is weak and defenseless (and was quickly overrun in World War II [while neighboring, neutral Sweden sold the Third Reich 40% of its iron ore, that went for everything from Tiger tanks to kill Americans to the ovens at Auschwitz—with free shipping across the Baltic included as a favor]. In the late 1940s it would have been Finlandized during the Cold War, if not for American-led NATO. And the world’s largest military is still pledged to its defense, in case any of the nations, to whose icons it bestows awards,...

Americans were justifiably proud last week of their many Nobel Prize winners. Eight of the nine honorees in physics, chemistry and medicine were US citizens, some native-born, some naturalized, a near total American sweep. And their achievements were glorious: better understanding how DNA works, the basis for enormous medical progress; developing fiber-optic cable, revolutionizing global communications; and advances in cell biology, with enormous implications for treating cancer. In each case, these breakthroughs, some made as long as 20 years ago, have proven themselves beyond the laboratory, and already made enormous real-world differences. Next to these marvels, how to explain the...

Reader Alan Macomber writes: Got curious about how the media in Norway is playing the Nobel Peace Prize decision (I read/write Norwegian fluently), so I check out the Aftenposten (largest daily) this morning.Found one of those opinion poll widgets on their site- vote on if you think the prize to Obama was correct.62% of Aftenposten's own Norwegian readers voted not vs 37% who voted yes. Just thought you'd be interested in how it plays out over there.Swedish dailies are pretty much skewing this as a stupid joke the Norwegians have created (to be expected...Swedes love to laugh at dumb stuff...

Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Friday shocked the world. But a peek at the backgrounds of the five people who made the selection gives a clue why the prize panel would be so favorably disposed to Obama – three of them would be considered hard-left liberals in American politics. One of those belongs to Norway’s Socialist Left party. And all five people on the committee are politicians selected by the Norwegian parliament, and generally hew to a Norwegian view of foreign affairs — internationalist in outlook and with a broad affinity for Obama’s posture on the world stage. “Obama’s speech...

Every one was surprised that the President who has only served 9 months was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Even more surprising was that he must have been nominated less than 12 days after his inauguration, since the closing date for this year's nominees was 1 February. Strangely enough no one seems to have wondered who actually did suggest Obama as a nominee. Let's have a look at the possible nominators. Here is the list of people and organizations that are allowed to nominate from the Norwegian Nobel site:: 1. Members of national assemblies and governments of states; 2. Members...

How the Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded The Norwegian Nobel Committee's deadline for nominations was February 1, just 11 days after Obama's inauguration. Up to 200 nominations are received annually by the committee, a number that has risen steadily as the award has become increasingly global. FOXNews.com Friday, October 09, 2009 President Obama, the third sitting American president to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was selected from a so-called "short list" of 5 to 20 finalist candidates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's deadline for nominations was February 1, just 11 days after Obama's inauguration. Up to 200 nominations are received annually...

Below is the e-mail address of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Let those folks up there know what a joke their awarding the Peace Prize to Obama really is. postmaster@nobel.no

President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, in a surprise pick from the Norwegian Nobel Committee that cited the president's creation of a "new climate in international politics."

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 to US President Barak Obama. The Nobel Peace Prize is an international prize which is awarded annually by the Norwegian Nobel Committee according to guidelines laid down in Alfred Nobel's will. The Peace Prize is one of five prizes that have been awarded annually since 1901 under the auspices of the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm for outstanding contributions in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Starting in 1969, a Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has also been...

Did somebody say lunch?             By RICHARD MORIARTY Published: Today     THIS hungry polar bear didn't need a second invitation to pop in for lunch after smelling it being prepared on a tourist ship in the Arctic. The beast stuck its head through the porthole after smelling cauliflower soup being heated up as the boat stopped at an ice flow close to the island of Svalbard, midway between Norway and the North Pole.   Close encounter ... tourists get a rare close-up with a polar bear  Luckily wildlife photographer Andy Rouse was one of 12...

Norway is the best place in the world to live while Niger is the least desirable, according to an annual report by the United Nations. The 182 countries were ranked according to the quality of life their citizens experienced. Criteria examined included life expectancy, literacy rates, school enrolment and country economies. However the UN human development index used data collected in 2007 - before the global economic crisis. The UN Development Programme said the index highlighted the grave disparities between rich and poor countries.

Mon Oct 5, 7:53 am ET PARIS (AFP) – Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens. The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan. -snip- The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland,...

Norway takes the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index released Monday but China has made the biggest strides in improving the well-being of its citizens. The index compiled by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) ranks 182 countries based on such criteria as life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Norway, Australia and Iceland took the first three spots while Niger ranks at the very bottom, just below Afghanistan.

ORIGINAL TITLE: "Obama-Støttegruppe Felt Av Falsk Hore Og Hhallik"Norwegian news outlet Dabgladet carries a HUGE, above the fold story on the ACORN STING including a link to the video.Here is the English quick automatic translation from the Norwegian:(TRANSLATION): "Obama-Support Group Helps Fake Whore and Pimp Tips: Tip: Send tips til Dagbladet.no MMS/SMS: 2400 Tlf: 2400 0000 e-post: 2400@db.no Send tips to Dagbladet.no MMS / SMS: 2400 Tel: 2400 0000 e-mail: 2400@db.no ACORN activists working to improve conditions for low-and mellominnteksamerikanere. The two pictured here demonstrating against what they perceive as the financial industry's gambling with the housing market, and is...

Norwegians To Vote In Tight Poll Norwegians are to vote in what is expected to be a closely fought poll between the prime minister's Labour Party and the centre-right opposition. Jens Stoltenberg, in power since 2005, has emphasised his success in guiding Norway through the economic crisis. The world's fifth biggest exporter of crude oil experienced only a brief recession and has Europe's lowest unemployment rate. His main challenger is Siv Jensen who leads the right-wing Progress Party. She has campaigned on a platform of lower taxes and tightening immigration. Currently, more than 10% of Norway's population is of foreign...

Norway’s left-leaning prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, wants his nation to renew its commitment to one of the world’s most advanced social welfare models, which has weathered the global financial crisis with nary a wobble because of the country’s carefully managed oil riches. But as Norwegians voted in parliamentary elections on Monday, Mr. Stoltenberg, 50, appeared to be on the defensive. Many voters had already told pollsters that they were weary of the high taxes and open-door asylum policies they have associated with Mr. Stoltenberg’s so-called red-green government of laborites, socialists and agrarians. The polling booths opened Sunday and close Monday...

The weekend edition of Norway's largest newspaper contained a very interesting interview with a female IFV-gunner this week. The CV-9030 gunner, witch has the somewhat fitting name of Tone Gunnes, was just 20 years old when she went to Afghanistan in the fall of 2007. She took part in the active fighting in operation Herekate Yolo II, where she (wo)manned the 30mm gun of the CV9030 IFV. She was credited with 20-25 confirmed kills during the battle of November 5. In the interview she tells her story about the battle and how she experienced it.

The Oslo Police have over the past three years investigated 41 cases of aggravated sexual assault, which resulted in rape. All of them were carried out by non-western immigrants to Norway. The police now urge that more efforts be put into preventive measures among men with immigrant background. The police have investigated all reported cases of aggravated sexual assault over the past three years, and have gained a clear imprssion of the offenders: Most of the rapists have a Kurdish or African background, NRK reports. The cases of aggravated sexual assults all have one thing in common, namely the use...

Congo is demanding 3038 billion norwegian kroner (500 billion US dollars) in compensation for an alleged Norwegian plot involving the Norwegian king and the Ugandans against the state of Congo.

A Norwegian team is set to embark on an expedition to find the submerged wreck of a plane which carried Norway's great polar explorer Roald Amundsen.Amundsen was aboard a Latham 47 sea plane when the aircraft disappeared over the sea on its way to the Arctic island of Spitsbergen in 1928. Two ships will set sail from the Norwegian city of Tromso on Monday to begin the two-week expedition. The team will use an underwater robot to scan for the plane using sonar. Between 1910 and 1912, Amundsen led the first expedition to reach the South Pole, reaching the target...

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of weak, ineffective and at times counterproductive leadership during recent crises, the daily Aftenposten reported on Wednesday. Aftenposten published what it said was a letter from Ambassador Mona Juul to Norway's Foreign Ministry, where she said Ban was late in handling challenges and that his abrasive style irked even seasoned diplomats. "At a time when the need for the United Nations and for multilateral solutions to global crises is greater than ever, Ban and the United Nations are conspicuous in their absence," Aftenposten quoted the letter...

A retired Norwegian linguistics professor has described Swedes as "stupid" for not being able to understand Norwegian. Norwegians have no problem with Swedish, the professor points out. Finn-Erik Vinje has caused an escalation in what is promising to become an all out language war, by publishing a post on his blog last week asking, "Why are Swedes so stupid?". The citation, Vinje writes, is taken from a publication written 60 years ago but, he claims, remains a relevant question today. The basis of Vinje's assertion is that Swedish viewers of Himmelbå, a Norwegian television series based on the British production...

Tributes are left for those killed in the hotel attacks Indonesian officials say there are "strong indications" a key wanted fugitive was behind Friday's deadly attacks on two hotels in Jakarta. Noordin Mohamed Top is wanted for plotting the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005 and other Indonesian attacks. Nine people, including two suicide bombers, died in the attacks on the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott. At least four of Friday's victims are said to be foreigners but have not all been formally identified. See map of area Police in the Indonesian capital are studying DNA and other evidence to...

I was just reading RAM's recent post about Gov. Palin inspiring female leaders in the African nation of Malawi, and it actually reminded me of something I read a while ago that I wanted to share. You see, there is actually a bit of a theme developing here, as Gov. Palin is becoming a role model for a new generation of female leaders - even in the unlikeliest of places. And if there is one place more unlikely than Malawi for a Palinite leader to spring up, it's probably the place I'm about to describe to you. The person you're...

Miami plastic surgeon has bragging rights to remaking a Maxim beauty's breasts, but it could cost him more than a half-million dollars. Former Miss Norway and Maxim, Esquire and Stuff magazines topless model Monica Hansen has won a default judgment for $564,555 in her lawsuit against Dr. Leonard Hochstein for using pictures of her on his Web site, allegedly without her permission. He flatly denied the charge.

At midnight on May 14, 1948 the Provisional Government Proclaimed a new State of Israel. On that same date the United States, in the person of President Harry Truman (against the state department's advice) recognized the provisional Jewish Government as de facto authority of the Jewish State. Six months later Norway did the same. When Hamas and Fatah had their short truce and the two terrorist organizations united to form a Government in the Palestinian Territories. Each of the terror groups has a platform which says that armed resistance will continue until Israel no longer exists as a Jewish state....

Koenigsegg, the Swedish luxury sports carmaker set to buy Saab Automobile from US firm General Motors, is confident that the company can be rescued, the firm's co-owner said on Saturday. GM, which has now filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States, placed Saab on the market in February as part of its attempts to slim down its brand range and return to profitability. A Sveriges Television (SVT) report on Thursday said Koenigsegg and a group of Norwegian investors had signed a letter of intent to buy Saab. Bård Eker, whose holding company Eker Group holds a 49 percent stake...

FRANKFURT — General Motors is close to a deal to sell Saab, the Swedish carmaker, to Koenigsegg, a manufacturer of high-end sports cars that is also from Sweden, a person close to the negotiations said Thursday. “We are still working on the deal,” the person said, requesting anonymity because the agreement is not final. “It is not the done deal that some people in Sweden seem to think it is.” Swedish television reported that a group of Norwegian investors are also part of the deal.

Sporty Swedish car maker Koenigsegg has teamed up with a group of Norwegian investors to buy Saab from General Motors, according to state broadcaster Sveriges Television's news show Rapport. Koenigsegg has signed a declaration of intent with regard to the purchase, with more detailed negotiations set to continue over the coming months. The sports car maker, based in Ängelholm in southwest Sweden, has secured the backing of Norwegian investors, according to Rapport. Koenigsegg has long been named as one of the parties interested in snapping up the ailing Swedish auto giant. Earlier on Thursday, the Swedish trade ministry indicated that...

Gripen revives war of words over Norwegian fighter assessment By Craig Hoyle Saab-led Gripen International has revived its war of words linked to the Norwegian defence ministry's selection of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and rejection of its Gripen NG offering last November. The move comes as the next-generation version of the Swedish fighter is in the final phase of competitions in Brazil and Switzerland, and as Saab attempts to revive stalled procurement efforts in three eastern European states. Oslo prompted a furious response from Saab chief executive Åke Svensson last year after eliminating the Gripen from its fighter...

When capitalism seemed on the verge of collapse last fall, Kristin Halvorsen, Norway’s Socialist finance minister and a longtime free market skeptic,did more than crow. As investors the world over sold in a panic,she bucked the tide, authorizing Norway’s $300 billion sovereign wealth fund to ramp up its stock buying program by $60 billion —or about 23 percent of Norway ’s economic output. “The timing was not that bad,” Ms. Halvorsen said, smiling with satisfaction over the broad worldwide market rally that began in early March. The global financial crisis has brought low the economies of just about every country...

Russia raised the prospect of war in the Arctic yesterday as nations struggle for control of the world’s dwindling energy reserves. The country’s new national security strategy identified the intensifying battle for ownership of vast untapped oil and gas fields around its borders as a source of potential military conflict within a decade. Graphic: the very cold war “The presence and potential escalation of armed conflicts near Russia’s national borders, pending border agreements between Russia and several neighbouring nations, are the major threats to Russia’s interests and border security,” stated the document, which analysed security threats up to 2020. “In...

OSLO -- Twenty-one production shutdowns are planned by StatoilHydro on the Norwegian continental shelf during this year. This extensive work program aims to achieve safer and more efficient facilities, the company says. In addition to required maintenance and inspection, many installations will be upgraded to expand capacity, implement technical improvements, and extend their economic life. The turnarounds will be completed by Oct. 1, because of gas delivery commitments and weather. The first shutdown began on Statfjord B on April 2, and is a major program which will be the last on the platform in connection with work to extend the...

NAIROBI, Kenya — A NATO spokesman says alliance warships and helicopters have foiled an attack on a Norwegian tanker by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Portuguese Lt. Cmdr. Alexandre Santos Fernandes says NATO interrogated, disarmed and released the pirates after a dramatic overnight chase involving Canadian and American forces. The pirates attacked the MV Front Ardenne late on Saturday but fled after crew alerted warships in the area. The pirates fled in their small skiff and were pursued by ship and helicopter for hours but only stopped after repeated warning shots were fired.

A Norwegian church used lemon-flavoured cola instead of water in a baptism ceremony after its taps were temporarily turned off because of freezing temperatures. Priest Paal Dale from the town of Stord, about 150 miles west of the capital Oslo, improvised during a recent cold-spell by dabbing the lemon fizzy water on a baby during a baptism ceremony, it said. "It had gone flat," Dale was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "Only the lemon smell made this unusual." Dale said the child's family were informed about the switch only after the ceremony because the priest "had a need to...

The Oslo Police have over the past three years investigated 41 cases of aggravated sexual assault, which resulted in rape. All of them were carried out by non-western immigrants to Norway. The police now urge that more efforts be put into preventive measures among men with immigrant background. The police have investigated all reported cases of aggravated sexual assault over the past three years, and have gained a clear imprssion of the offenders: Most of the rapists have a Kurdish or African background, NRK reports. The cases of aggravated sexual assults all have one thing in common, namely the use...

A man faces a hefty fine and a driving ban after being caught having sex with his girlfriend while speeding on a motorway in Norway, police have said.

Over past decades Norway has build a reputation of Israel hatred and Antisemitism that is unparalleled even when compared to other Scandinavian countries (themselves no fans of Israel) Author Yoram Kaniuk, who has been hosted in Oslo several times in recent years, said that when talk turns to politics, "you discover bottomless hatred. The impression is that suddenly it is permissible to say anything - against Israel and against Jews ... Have you ever heard them talk like that about what the Russians are doing in Chechnya, or about the oppression of 40 million Kurds?"...Things got so bad this past...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2009 – Two ship seizures in the Indian Ocean in recent days appear to indicate that pirates have broadened their focus beyond the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden. Pirates hijacked two chemical tankers: the Bahamian-flagged, Norwegian-owned vessel Bowasir on March 25 and the Panamanian-flagged, Greek-owned Nipayia yesterday, a Navy spokesman confirmed. Bowasir and its 23-member crew were operating more than 380 nautical miles southeast of Kismayo, Somalia. Nipayia and its 19 merchant mariners were pirated 490 nautical miles east of Mogadishu, the official said. The seizures were the farthest yet from the Gulf of Aden, where the...

NORWAY plans to resume the search for South Pole conqueror Roald Amundsen's plane 81 years after it vanished during an Arctic rescue mission, the Royal Norwegian Navy has announced. Amundsen was on board a French Latham 47 flying boat that disappeared in the Barents Sea on 18 June, 1928. The plane was searching for the airship Italia, which crashed while returning from a North Pole expedition led by Umberto Nobile, an Italian aeronautical engineer. "We want to find the plane and help solve the mystery," said Commander Frode Loeseth of the Norwegian navy. In 1926, Amundsen and a crew that...

Eugenics … death of the defenceless The legacy of Darwin’s cousin Galton By Russell Grigg Few ideas have done more harm to the human race in the last 120 years than those of Sir Francis Galton. He founded the evolutionary pseudo-science of eugenics. Today, ethnic cleansing, the use of abortion to eliminate ‘defective’ unborn babies, infanticide, euthanasia, and the harvesting of unborn babies for research purposes all have a common foundation in the survival-of-the-fittest theory of eugenics. So who was Galton, what is eugenics, and how has it harmed humanity?...

Those of you, who love Lanvin, surely will like the house’s S/S ’09 ad campaign. It was shot by our favorite fashion photographer Steven Meisel and features model Iselin Steiro in breathtaking Lanvin dresses. Ahhh tres chic, our fashion appetite peaked, by Lanvin’s glamorous visual epoch and myriad usage of sensual stylings.