Posts Tagged ‘Norway’
Friday, March 9th, 2012
Norwegian extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who is accused of killing 77 people and injured hundreds more in dual attacks last year, has been officially charged with terrorism.
The right-wing extremist was formally presented with the charges under the country’s anti-terror laws at his prison near Oslo.
Breivik, who is claimed to have set a bomb at government offices in Oslo before going on a shooting spree at a island camp for the Labour Party youth section on 22nd July 2011, where he was eventually arrested, is expected to stand trial on 16th April. Prosecutors are currently accepting that he is mentally ill and will therefore seek to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital rather than jail.
Police spokesman Tore Jo Nielsen said Breivik showed little emotion when the charges were read.
“The whole reading-of-the-charges process was very calm and it took place in a small room where we were sitting with the accused, and I can now confirm that the charges have been read to him…” Jo Nielsen said in a BBC report.
The prosecution have confirmed that they accept that Breivik is criminally insane. They added, however, that they may alter this view if new evidence comes to light about his mental health. If found guilty, the Norwegian could face 21 years behind bars.
“The way the case appears at the time the charges are being brought, there is no basis to request a regular prison penalty,” state prosecutor Tor-Aksel Busch wrote to the prosecutors handling the case.
“But it must be clear in the charge sheet that the prosecution reserves the right, during the trial, to request a prison punishment or containment lasting 21 years, based on the complete evidence shown to the court,” he said.
Tags: Mbl, Norway
Posted in General, Iceland, Society, anders behring breivik, charges, court, featured, mental illness, terrorism | No Comments »
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
A Norwegian man has been arrested in Thailand for the murder of his former girlfriend who went missing three years ago.
Police in Phuket found the remains of human bones in the 49-year-old’s house this week when they raided it in search of illegal weapons.
Rungnapa Rachsombat went missing in July 2009, just two months after her 10-year relationship with the Norwegian ended. According to the Aftenposten newspaper, the man has admitted that he was “involved” in the woman’s death and that he hid her body in rubbish bags.
According to the Phuket News, the bones were found in bags in the man’s bathroom, along with Rachsombat’s purse, driving licence and credit cards. They also reportedly recovered a pistol and bullets.
The 49-year-old, who is originally from central Østlandet but has lived in Thailand for several years, is currently in jail in Phuket. The Norwegian Embassy in Bangkok has confirmed that staff are working with police to provide them with the information they need.
Tags: Mbl, Norway, Thailand, Travel
Posted in General, Iceland, International, crime, featured, murder | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2012
A three week Icelandic air space patrol mission by the German Luftwaffe begins today while discussion continues about a possible Nordic takeover.
Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Össur Skarphéðinsson, says that air cover has been arranged for the country for the next two years. Iceland has no military of its own. There are serious discussions in progress about whether the Nordic countries should take over Iceland’s air defence from NATO.
The US Air Force last took responsibility for Icelandic air space in August and now the Germans have taken over.
There are around 150 German air force personnel taking part in the Icelandic operation and they have brought four F4 fighters with them; as well as some 40 shipping containers and a variety of motor vehicles. Exercises will take place this week around Akureyri and Egilsstaðir.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs told RÚV that the German patrols and exercises are standard in nature and that the Americans will come in the summer and be followed by the Portuguese air force later in the year. Regular air patrols have been organised for the next two years and will be similar in nature to patrols over the Baltic nations and form part of the wider NATO preparedness mission over European airspace.
Despite the patrol of Icelandic airspace having gone very well since the permanent American military presence ended in 2006, there are now discussions under way that could see big changes. The former Norwegian foreign minister, Thorvald Stoltenberg, three years ago floated the idea of the Nordic countries co-operatively taking over the defence of Icelandic airspace. The idea is being seriously discussed, but it all hinges on decisions made in Sweden and Finland, which are not NATO countries.
Össur says he is positive about the idea, which has been discussed many times at Nordic foreign ministers’ meetings — adding that he sees building support for the idea in Sweden and Finland. Despite this, the foreign ministers have never made a joint decision or statement on the matter to date, as it would be such a big step for all nations involved.
Tags: Airspace, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Mbl, Nato, Nordic, Norway, Scandinavia, Sweden
Posted in General, Iceland, International, Politics, defence, featured, military | No Comments »
Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Edvard Munch’s famous masterpiece The Scream is set to go under the hammer at New York auction house Sotheby’s, with an estimated selling price of EUR 59 million.
The 1893 work, which is one of four versions created by the Norwegian artist, is the only one which still remains in private hands.
Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend Munch, will put the painting up for sale in May after keeping it in his family since 1958.
“The moment has come to give the world an opportunity to own and appreciate this remarkable work, which is the only version not in a Norwegian museum,” Olsen said in a press statement, “I have lived with the work all my life, and its power and energy have just increased with time,” he added.
Two of the other Scream paintings are held in the Munch Museum, while a third is at the Norwegian National Gallery. The Ministry of Culture has however approved the fourth version for international sale and confirmed that it will not bid, as the country already has a large Munch collection.
“The Scream is a painting that we have multiple versions of, and two are in public ownership,” Gina Barstad MP of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Cultural and Family Affairs told VG. “I don’t think the [international] sale is a problem,” she added.
The piece, which depicts the familiar haunted figure against a red sunset, is said to be the most colourful of the four. It also comes with a poem penned by Munch and a hand-painted frame.
The Scream is one of the world’s most recognisable paintings and, according to Sotheby’s senior vice-president Simon Shaw, “one of very few images which transcends art history and reaches a global consciousness”.
Speaking to the BBC, he added, “For collectors and institutions, the opportunity to acquire such a singularly influential masterpiece is unprecedented in recent times.”
Tags: Auction, Mbl, Norway, United States
Posted in Art, Iceland, International, edvard much, featured, masterpiece, new york, sale, sothebys, the scream | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 29th, 2012
Property prices in Iceland increased faster last year than in any other European country surveyed. The increase in par value of houses was higher even than in Norway, where a property boom is in progress.
Of the 23 European countries surveyed by Britain’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, only Iceland broke the ten percent annual price increase mark in property prices last year.
Following next on the list was Norway, with nearly ten percent, and in third place came France on seven percent. A steep rise in property prices is worrying Norwegians who fear a property bubble burst and an overheating of the economy – as well as hardship for prospective first-time-buyers.
However in Iceland, which is recovering from a severe recession and a housing market crash, big gains in the short-term are being viewed as a positive development.
The property market in Ireland shrank in value last year, with par value of properties going down there by 17 percent. After the Irish came Spain, with price decreases of ten percent, and Cyprus third on eight percent.
The Institution’s report says it came as a great surprise that Iceland topped the list of biggest annual property price increases; especially when the country’s financial system completely collapsed just three years ago. The report concludes that real estate price hikes are another indicator of how well Iceland has pulled itself together after the crash, Vísir.is reported.
Tags: Economy, Mbl, Norway
Posted in Business, Iceland, International, Society, featured, housing, prices, property, real estate, recovery | No Comments »
Saturday, February 25th, 2012
A 116 year-old Norwegian church, which survived a bombing in WWII, has been burnt beyond repair by two boys playing with a cigarette lighter.
The Rørvik Church in Nord-Trøndelag, central Norway, went up in flames last Saturday night shortly after two young boys were seen in the area.
“It was therefore possible to find them quickly and question them with their parents present,” Lars Letnes, operations leader for the Nord-Trøndelag Police District, told news bureau NTB.
The sparky duo admitted starting the fire by accident when playing with a lighter in the church’s cellar. It is thought the blaze spread particularly quickly as the beams were insulated with sawdust.
Built in 1896, the church was refurbished after being badly damaged in a Nazi bombing in WWII. Although some treasures were saved as the flames engulfed the pews, officials say much of the structure will have to be completely rebuilt.
“It’s a sad day for the community here,” Reinert Eidshaug, mayor of the Vikna township told NTB. “A lot of history was tied to the church.”
Tags: Culture, Heritage, Mbl, Nazis, Norway
Posted in General, Iceland, accident, children, church, featured, fire | No Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2012
A Danish law student is to exhibit the ashes of an executed American murderer in an attempt to create a debate about the death penalty.
Martin Martensen-Larsen of the University of Copenhagen will display the remains of Karl Eugene Chamberlain, 38, who was given the lethal injection in 2008 for the rape and murder of his 29 year-old neighbour.
The ashes will be encased in an hourglass, a set-up designed to question the length of time it takes to forgive.
“You often hear relatives of victims say after an execution that the person executed will end in hell, or that he is a monster or beast. But the death penalty is designed to be closure for the relatives and the rest of society. When does forgiveness come?” Martensen-Larsen asked in a report by Politiken.
The student made headlines in Denmark before, when he sold tickets to the execution of American Travis Runnels in an attempt to draw attention to the issue. “I take my projects very seriously. I ask questions that I feel are essential,” he said. “The fact that I have to use some methods that may seem provocative is unavoidable. But that is not my goal,” he added.
Martensen-Larsen said he is hoping to invoke strong reactions from his exhibition but does not view it as indecent. “I don’t think it is any more absurd or objectionable than what happens on the gurney. I ask some questions about things that people don’t think about.
“There are some 50 executions each year in the United States. So if people think that this is an objectionable project, they should really be angry all year round because of the many executions,” he told Politiken.
Even though the installation will only be shown in Denmark, where there is no death penalty, Martensen-Larsen claims the issue is still relevant to locals.
“When for example Anders Breivik appears, there is suddenly a debate about whether the death penalty should be reintroduced. There was also a debate about it when Peter Lundin [who killed four people] was sentenced. I want to show the Danes that when you are tempted to reintroduce it, there are some questions that haven’t been thought through,” he said. “As a law student, I find it interesting to see how the extreme consequences of punishment and guilt have been transferred to the elimination of a person,” he added.
It has not yet been decided where the exhibition will be shown, but Chamberlain’s family have given their permission for the ashes to be used.
Tags: Culture, Denmark, Execution, Mbl, Norway, United States
Posted in Art, Iceland, International, Politics, Society, ashes, death penalty, featured, murder | No Comments »
Friday, February 24th, 2012
A former Norwegian politician has been acquitted of sexually assaulting under-age boys, but convicted of secretly filming naked young men in his bathroom and using a false online identity to obtain naked pictures of boys.
Trond Birkedal, previously of the Progress Party and a candidate for the post of Mayor of Stavanger, was sentenced to 60 days behinds bars, 40 of which have been suspended.
He will, however, not serve any more jail time due to credit from the time he spent in custody after his arrest last year. “He had 13 days remand in custody, so then sentence is viewed as having been served in its entirety,” Judge Bjørn Enoksen-Ristesund said in court, according to NRK.
Birkedal, who was previously the head of the party’s youth wing, was accused of sexually assaulting two boys under the age of 16, but the court could find no evidence to prove the claims. He confessed, however, to rigging up hidden cameras in the bathroom and inviting young men to use his facilities, as well as assuming a false identity and encouraging young boys to send him naked pictures online.
In defence of the 31 year-old politician, a sexologist testified that Birkedal had been driven to such actions as he was finding it difficult to accept that he is gay. “Suppression of his [homosexuality] was probably the reason that he communicated under a false identity,” Judge Enoksen-Ristesund said when giving his ruling.
After the ruling, Birkedal said he was relieved to have escaped the nine-month jail term called for by the prosecution and that he hopes to move on with his life.
“It’s very serious to be convicted, but I hope this can end this case, that it makes up for what I’ve done and that I can move forward,” he told reporters. He added that his relief over his acquittal “was dampened, since I know that I have done something wrong to someone”.
Speaking to NRK, Birkedal refused to confirm whether he will return to his former job. “Today is not the day to talk about any political comeback,” he said.
Tags: Mbl, Norway, Sex
Posted in Iceland, Politics, Society, crime, featured | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 21st, 2012
An inspector from Lloyd’s Register, who has technical oversight on coastguard patrol ships, says that one of the main engines aboard the Icelandic Coastguard’s newest cruiser, Þór was broken when the ship was handed over last autumn.
Rolls Royce is paying the cost of installing a new engine to replace the one which vibrated strangely and which engineers have tried unsuccessfully for months to repair. The engine swap will cost Rolls Royce around a billion krónur (EUR 6.1 million).
Rolls Royce, the manufacturer of all engines on Þór, has decided to replace one of the ship’s two main enigines because no solution has been found to the unusual vibration first discovered when the ship was inspected in Iceland last November. Crankshafts inside the engine were changed in Chile before Þór even left its port of manufacture last year, RÚV reports.
Páll Kristinson, engineer and Lloyd’s Register inspector, says he noticed early on that things were not quite as they should have been when it came to vibration measurements aboard ship.
The portside engine was also not in acceptable condition when it arrived in Iceland – although changes to the oil piping system solved the problem in part.
Páll says it was very important to act decisively and insist that the engine be in perfect working order while it is still under manufacturer’s warranty – if the Icelandic Coastguard had waited to see whether the problem got any worse the cost of fixing it could have fallen on the tax payer.
Tags: Coast Guard, Coastguard, Mbl, Norway, Technology, Thor, Travel
Posted in Business, General, Iceland, International, engineering, featured, rolls royce | No Comments »
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Iceland places third on Save the Children’s list of countries where it is easiest being a mother in 2010, up by one place since last year. Iceland is topped by Norway and Australia and followed by Sweden and Denmark.
Tags: Australia, Denmark, Iceland, List Of Countries, Norway, Sweden
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
A cloud of volcanic ash is seen spreading from the southern side of Iceland in this handout satellite photograph taken at 0915GMT on Thursday and received from Norway's Met Office in London April 15, 2010.
Tags: Ash Plume, London, Norway, Satellite Photograph, Volcanic Ash, Volcano
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Most UK aeroplanes will remain grounded until 01.00 on Saturday and the ash from Iceland is reaching the ground in some parts of the UK. The plume is thought to be harmless but people are warned to monitor symptoms.
Some flights have been allowed in and out of Glasgow and Belfast until 19.00 and there is news of some flights into and out of Norway.
Tags: Aeroplanes, Ash, Belfast, Flights, Glasgow, Iceland Uk, Norway, Plume
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
UK airspace will essentially close between 12.00 and 18.00 BST today due to the ash cloud coming from a volcano erupting in South Iceland. No civilian aircraft will be allowed to enter or leave UK airspace and there is a similar story in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Britain’s aviation authorities hope to restart scheduled services this evening; but safety comes first and volcanic ash is particularly dangerous to aeroplane engines and can cause them to stop working altogether.
Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport remains open as it is not in the path of the dust cloud – but services to northern Europe are not running.
The RAF will maintain full search and rescue capability over the whole UK.
Photo: Árni Sæbergg / mbl.is
Tags: Ash Cloud, Aviation Authorities, Civilian Aircraft, Denmark, Dust Cloud, Finland, Flights Uk, Iceland Volcano, Keflavik, Mbl, Northern Europe, Norway, Raf, Rescue Capability, Search And Rescue, South Iceland, Sweden, Uk Airspace, Uk Flights, Volcanic Ash
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
According to media in Azerbaijan, the country’s Eurovision Song Contest entry this year intends to visit and perform in both Iceland and Denmark before the contest in Norway next month.
According to News.az, the music video for Drip Drop, the song to be performed by Azerbaijani representative Safura Alizade is being shot in Ukraine by a Ukrainian director. The video will be presented on 25th April.
After the video is released, Safura Alizade will perform concerts in a number of countries. “The singer is expected to give concerts in Denmark and Iceland after the video clip presentation. She is also planning to perform her songs in other countries too,” the head of the Azerbaijani Eurovision delegation explained.
“It is important that her performance becomes memorable for the audience. The preparation process will be finished on May 15,” he said – adding that Safura is also working hard on her English.
Tags: Audience, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani, Concerts, Contest Entry, Delegation, Denmark, Drip Drop, Eurovision Contest, Eurovision Song Contest, Iceland, Music Video, Norway, Number Of Countries, Safura, Ukraine, Video Clip
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Monday, April 5th, 2010
One of the things that makes Iceland unique in Europe is the fact that Icelanders know the year the first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, came to Iceland from Norway. The Icelandic script, Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders), written by Ari the wise, tells of the first men coming to Iceland on explorations.
Tags: Archeology, Europe, Explorations, Iceland, Norway, Settler, Settlers, Wise Men
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Today is Good Friday and all the Nordic countries celebrate today as a public holiday.
Shops and services across the region close their doors today and it may even be hard to find a bar or restaurant open in some places.
Today’s Nordic Easter Fact comes from Norway:
Norwegians like nothing more at Easter than to engross themselves in murder mysteries. The murder craze is so pervasive that even milk cartons change over Easter to feature little murder mystery puzzles and television is full of Agatha Christie and any number of other such movies and shows.
Tags: Agatha Christie, Doors, Good Friday, Holiday Shops, Milk Cartons, Murder Mysteries, Murder Mystery, Mystery Puzzles, Nordic Countries, Norway, Norwegians, Public Holiday, Television
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Today is Maundy Thursday, the first day of a five-day Easter weekend in most of the Nordic region.
Finns and Swedes may be at work today, but people in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway are mostly off already, although many shops are open at least part of the day.
The Nordic region celebrates Easter in a similar way to other Western nations, but there are certain quirks associated with each country.
Look out for snippets of each country’s Easter celebrations all weekend on IceNews.
Today we start with Denmark:
In Denmark it is a unique tradition to cut out letters and arrange them into special poems around the time of Valentine’s Day. One then sends the poems anonymously and if the recipient guesses who it is from, they are rewarded with an Easter egg!
Tags: Denmark, Easter Celebrations, Easter Egg, Easter Weekend, Faroe Islands, Finns, Greenland, Maundy Thursday, Nordic Region, Norway, Poems, Quirks, Snippets, Swedes, Tradition, Valentine S Day
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Icelandic book publisher Saga forlag received ISK 43 million in a grant from the Norwegian culture council last week for a universal translation of the Icelandic sagas to Norwegian. Their publication is scheduled for 2012.
Tags: Book Publisher, Culture Council, Icelandic Saga, Icelandic Sagas, Norway, Norwegian Culture, Translation
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
In the frigid North Atlantic Ocean between Norway and Greenland lies Iceland, an island nation of only about 300,000 souls.
Tags: Frigid North, Greenland, Iceland, Island Nation, North Atlantic Ocean, Norway, Nursery Rhymes, Olof
Posted in Iceland | No Comments »