Free Republic

PARIS (AFP) – Once famous for their numbers, Norwegian lemmings are disappearing, say scientists, who point an accusing finger at global warming. The hamster-like rodents burst forth in massive numbers from their sub-Arctic homes every three to five years in a frantic search for food. The mad dash sometimes causes them to race over clifftops and plummet into the sea, thus giving rise to the theory -- now discounted -- of mass suicide. Since 1994, these periodic population explosions have stopped, prompting researchers to ask why. In a study published on Thursday, investigators say the blame lies not with too...

A Norwegian cruise ship carrying some 300 people lost engine power during an electrical outage and struck an Antarctic glacier, smashing a lifeboat but causing no injuries... The MS Fram hit the ice late Friday near Browns Bluff in the Antarctic... The engine started again and the liner continued to King George Island for an inspection. "We hit a glacier. We have damage to a starboard lifeboat and a little bit forward," ... the ship apparently suffered no serious damage. Hansen said the power outage lasted 40 to 50 minutes and sent the vessel adrift against the glacier, where it...

A Norwegian team that includes the Thor Heyerdahl's grandson paddled Friday into the Pacific Ocean to repeat the famed adventurer's journey aboard the balsa raft Kon-Tiki. "My personal motivation is to have a great adventure," 28-year-old Olav Heyerdahl told The Associated Press before he and five shipmates embarked for the trip across the Pacific on the balsa raft Tangaroa _ named for the Polynesian god of the ocean. In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl and his team sailed their primitive raft 5,000 miles from Peru to Polynesia in 101 days to support Heyerdahl's theory that the South Sea Islands were settled by...

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marked the 27th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution by slamming the West for slandering Prophet Mohammad. Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, delivers his speech in front of tens of thousands of Iranians during a ceremony marking 27th anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution at the Azadi (Freedom) Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 11th, 2006. The Iranian president on Saturday rejected Western pressure to freeze the country's nuclear program and issued a veiled threat to walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) "When we protest, they object saying they have freedom. But they...

THE editors of Australia's main newspapers say they are reluctant to publish cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed because it is unnecessary and could incite unrest. Many Muslims across the world have demonstrated, some violently, since a Danish newspaper first published the cartoons, one of which depicted Mohammed wearing a turban resembling a bomb. The Daily Telegraph editor David Penberthy today said publishing the images could have nasty consequences, especially given racial tensions in Sydney. "There's a fairly longstanding sort of acknowledgment and understanding that within Islam, any depictions of the prophet Mohammed ... are precluded, in the same way...

DAMASCUS, Syria - Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam's revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday — the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags. Protesters smashed the windows of the German cultural center and threw stones at the European Commission building, police said. Iraqis rallying by the hundreds demanded an apology from the European Union, and the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas called the cartoons "an...

But in a democratic society, such as our Western World, it's unacceptable that two of those cartoonists had to go into hiding after some calls in which they were threatened by dead. Some Islamic countries, such as Saoudi-Arabia, have already declared that they would boycot Danish wares and goods because of the cartoons. The Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was asked by a number of ambassadors of Islamic countries to undertake measures against Jyllands Posten. Fortunately Rasmussen declared that Denmark is a country in which the freedom of press is a high-valued good. And in the city of Gaza...

(IsraelNN.com) Norway’s Finance Minister, Kristin Halvorsen issued an apology on Friday after calling on Norwegian citizens to boycott Israeli products. According to an Israel Radio report, the senior minister issued a formal apology after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called on Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store to clarify his country’s position. It was explained that while the finance minister and her party may support such a move, it in no way reflects the policy of the Government of Norway.

Vardø radar aided Iraq war Senior adviser Terje Wahl at the Norwegian Space Center said that the radar facility at Vardø, Finnmark in northern Norway played a key role in the US-led invasion of Iraq. Vardø's radar was used to prevent collisions between satellites over Iraq, and much of the precision bombing over Iraq was steered by satellites in fixed position over the equator. "That both commercial and military satellites could operate securely without colliding with anything was an important precondition for operations in Iraq," Wahl told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). Wahl said that the important role of Vardø has been...

Gunnulf Oterkiil tried to revive a young woman who fainted and lost consciousness after striking her head on the pavement. Later he received a NOK 6,000 (USD 955) fine.Oterkiil refuses to accept the fine that resulted from a chaotic Saturday night in Porsgrunn last September, newspaper Telemarksavisa reports."He is not fined for trying to help, but because he knocked down a man who was interfering," prosecutor and police lawyer Kjell Ove Ljosåk said in Skien and Porsgrunn municipal court on Wednesday, where the matter went after Oterkiil refused to pay."Together with a completely sober friend I was standing on the...

Canada--Famed Canadian balladeer, Gordon Lightfoot, whose epic ballad The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald chronicled the last minutes of an otherwise obscure, industrial maritime disaster, has weighed in again with another blow-by-blow account of a more recent near tragedy. "When I saw the Norwegian Dawn's harrowing story on C-Span, I had to act," said Lightfoot. “The thing practically wrote itself.” Some say that Lightfoot’s deft touch with haunting, almost ethereal lyrics makes his new ballad, The List of the Norwegian Dawn, a potentially instant hit. “I can hear the song in my head already,” said one fan of Lightfoot. “This...

Norwegian job ad seeks friendly VikingsOSLO, Norway (AP) -- Help wanted: Vikings. Must be friendly, tourist-oriented and interested in ancient Norse traditions. Crazed, bloodthirsty pillagers need not apply.In a rare employment opportunity for Vikings, whose job market peaked about 1,000 years ago when they terrorized Europe in their longboats, southern Norway's Vestfold county wants to fill slots at its local historical park.The ad, to appear in local media Saturday, will be simple: "Jobs available. Vikings in Vestfold," with a link to the center's Internet home page, said Lars Kobro, self-described chieftain of the Midgard Historical Center."More and more we see...

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A 52-year-old Norwegian citizen is being held in the high security prison Belmarsh outside of London, accused by British police of securing radioactive material for terrorist purposes. British media imply the Somalian-born Norwegian may have connections to terrorist group al-Qaida, newspaper VG reports. The 52-year-old was arrested in London last September, charged with procuring a kilo of radioactive red mercury, used in creating so-called 'dirty bombs', a combination of explosive and radioactive material.

Norwegian Red Cross workers were unable to set up their field hospital after unexpected resistance from the Indonesian military. Indonesia's health minister had allotted space in tsunami-devastated Banda Aceh for the Norwegian effort, but hundreds of soldiers refuse to decamp and make way for the humanitarian effort, NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) reports. The Norwegian Red Cross has received official permission to set up a field hospital with a few hundred beds and a surgical and isolation ward on a grassy area in front of a soccer stadium in Banda Aceh, an area currently being used by the military. According to NRK...

Spending bill includes $1 million for Norwegian foundation MINNEAPOLIS - The massive $388 billion spending bill that Congress passed last month includes $1 million for the Norwegian American Foundation, inserted by Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn.The foundation is based in Seattle, but the group has ties to Minnesotans of Norwegian descent such as former Vice President Walter Mondale.The money, which will be used to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Norway's peaceful independence from Sweden in 1905, was among several items singled out by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona as pork last month."What is the charter of the Norwegian American Foundation...

Norwegians eating more cake New statistics on Norwegian eating habits show some signs of improvement but more worrying indicators that convince experts the country is following in the sweet and heavy footsteps of diners in the USA. Nutritionists Kaare Norum (right) and Svein Olav Kolset examine the ingredients on bags of candy. PHOTO: INGAR STORFJELL New figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) hint that Norwegians have cut down on fats and eat less than a previous study from 1997-99, but that an ever-increasing national sweet tooth could spell familiar health problems. According to the SSB the average Norwegian consumes 436 kilograms...

Ancient vessel retraces voyages of the past By Stefanos Evripidou IT LOOKS like a tree house stuck on a bamboo banana. In reality it's the incarnation of a pre-Pharaonic reed boat, designed and built to unravel the mysteries of prehistoric navigation. The Abora II drifted in to Larnaca marina yesterday. Weighing in at six- tonnes, the vessel is a totra-reed boat. It is 11.5 metres long, 3.5 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep. The man responsible for building the huge boat is Dominique Goerlitz, a biology teacher at a school in Germany. As a student, Goerlitz was fascinated by the...

A monastery in the Oslo Catholic diocese is being investigated by members of the Vatican after sexual assaults were reported. Pope Johannes Paul II’s head investigator, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, is in charge of the investigation. Ratzinger was also leading the investigation of the extensive sex assaults revealed in Boston, MA. According to the Norwegian paper VG, two representatives from the congregation of faith, formerly known as the inquisition, visited in Norway. The reason for the visit was allegation of sexual assaults by men committed against men at a catholic monastery. «This is a very serious case,» said a source to...

MIA HUNDVIN: «I was never a lesbian» Av Liv Ekeberg og Carin Pettersson 28.01.04 11:59, ny 28.01.04 13:12 During the last year, Norwegian handball star Mia Hundvin broke off her marriage with her lesbian team mate and now she and her boyfriend, snowboard star Terje Håkonsen, are expecting their first child in April. “I have been sure all the time; I’m not lesbian,” stated Hundvin to the women’s magazine KK. In the next issue of KK, Hundvin tells her story about the break-up with Camilla Andersen and her pregnancy. “Generally speaking, I don’t think I could be with a girl...

The Norwegian manufacturer Aasnes Ski has signed a contract to supply the US defence forces with a military version of the traditional Norwegian ski, named Combi Combat Cap. The contract was secured in tough competition with ski producers abroad, NRK reports. In addition, the Aasnes factory is also negotiating for a new contract wwith the US forces. Aasnes has also started production of a delivery of new skis for the Norwegian defence forces. Altogether, the US and Norwegian contracts are worth NOK 10-15 million, securing full production at the factory until the end of 2004. In addition to the military...

A Norwegian man has annihilated the world record for eating oysters by downing a stomach-churning 187 of the slippery molluscs in three minutes before polishing off a few pints of Guinness. Rune Naeri said he felt "fine, wonderful" after shattering the previous official record of 97 at the annual Hillsborough oyster festival in Northern Ireland. Local favourite Jim Glackin of Belfast, who beat the previous world record by eating 100 oysters during an unofficial practice run earlier this week, failed to keep up with the impressive Norwegian. Despite managing to scoff 168 oysters, he trailed in fourth against the international...

The Norwegian Defence Command has decided to send six staff officers to join the Polish-led military stabilizing force in Iraq, according to Nettavisen. The Norwegian officers are first leaving for Poland towards the end of July, to become acquainted with the Polish military system, before going on to Iraq in August. In addition, an engineering company numbering 150 men will be stationed in the British sector, near the harbour city of Basra. The first shipment of equipment for the engineers left by ship on Friday. Altogether, 70 vehicles, as well as supplies of ammunition, oil, gasoline and clothing will be...

THE United States closed its embassy in the Norwegian capital today in response to purported threats from the al-Qaeda terror network, as Norway reviewed the risk to the country. The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired an audio tape yesterday purportedly by Ayman al-Zawahri, the top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, urging attacks on the United States, Britain, Australia and, surprisingly, Norway. NATO-member Norway, a Scandinavian country of 4.5 million, is noted for its global peacemaking efforts and is the home of the Nobel Peace Prize. It did not participate in the US-led war in Iraq. The US Embassy said it...

Tired of what he calls "anti-Americanism," a student at the Norwegian School of Management outside Oslo is trying to drum up moral support for the US. His aim is to bolster Norway's longtime alliance with America. Read the full article...Address of the campaign: http://www.venneravamerika.no/English summary: http://www.venneravamerika.no/english.htmlRelated FR post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/860989/postsE-mailaddress: fredrik@fredriknorman.com

A new website by the name "Norwegian Friends of America" has been started as an ad-hoc campaign against increasing anti-american sentiments in the Norwegian public debate. We wish to support the good bi-lateral relationship between Norway and the USA by highlighting the political and historical kinship between our two nations. Address: http://www.venneravamerika.no/English summary: http://www.venneravamerika.no/english.htmlE-mailaddress: fredrik@fredriknorman.comMore information available upon request.

Controversial Norwegian humorist Otto Jespersen may have topped his already incendiary career exploits when his closing monologue on a popular comedy discussion show Torsdagsklubben (The Thursday Club) ended with the US flag in flames.

A power plant built by the Norwegian People's Aid (NFH) in Northern Iraq is now supplying electricity to one of Mullah Krekar's training camps. The plant was built to provide electric power to around 200 families in two villages in the area. The plant was completed in 2000. -When the plant was completed, the peopele of the villages wanted to celebrate. However, armed men from Krekar's group put a stop to the festivities, says former head of NFH's projects in Northern Iraq, Ragnar Hansen to NRK Radio. US authorities are in the possession of pictures from Krekar's camp. These will...