Spanish woman 'is oldest mother'

A 67-year-old Spanish woman is reported to have given birth to twins according to hospital officials in Barcelona, becoming the world's oldest mother.
She gave birth to the twins, who have been placed in an incubator, by caesarean section early on Saturday.
The woman is one year older than Romanian Adriana Iliescu who gave birth in January 2005 to a baby girl.
It's too late to get children at that old age. She could die before the kids reach school age.
Who want to become a mother at the age of 67?

Ancient ice shelf adrift

A giant ice shelf has snapped free from an island south of the North Pole, scientists said , citing climate change as a "major" reason for the event.

The Ayles Ice Shelf - 66 square kilometers (41 square miles) of it - broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) south of the North Pole in the Canadian Arctic.
This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years.
We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead.
Hell and high water (book to read by Joe Romm)
Dagbladet

Sentenced for hundreds of rapes

An Oslo man was sentenced to eight years in prison for the systematic rapes of his stepdaughter over an eight-year period.

The man was also ordered to pay the girl NOK 200,000 (USD 32,000) in compensation.

According to Oslo City Court the 46-year-old began the rapes when the girl was 12 years old. They continued for three to four times a week when the girl was younger, and once or twice a week in recent years.

My opinion is that the sentence is too mild..

Dagbladet (norwegian)

Oil Heather is dangerous to its surroundings

This Oil Heater is dangerous
DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT!
(600W Pro Oil Heater OH-76B.)

This oil heater shot a jet of scorching oil four meters into a living room.
"If my daughter had been a few yards closer to the heater she would have received very serious burns. The oil is 200C (392F) and would have blinded her if it had hit her in the eyes," said the owner of this heater.
A series of incidents involving leaks led to the attempted banning of 17 different types of oil heaters in November.
Aftenposten( Norwegian)

Two entirely differents winter

Last winter















This winter

Rime frost

Pictures taken this morning

Rime is ice formed when a damp, icy wind blows over flowers, branches and other surfaces. Rime frost looks like icing around the edge of petals and leaves.

Tunnel avalanche aftermath

No one appears to have been injured in the massive rock fall in the southbound part of a tunnel nearby my town late on Christmas Day.
The 1765-meter (5790-foot) long tunnel opened for traffic on Oct. 30, 2001 and is on the major E-18 highway. The avalanche was reported to police at 10:55 p.m. on Christmas Day, and the drone of falling rock could still be heard coming from the tunnel three hours later.
Authorities believe that it is highly unlikely that anyone was killed in the avalanche.

Norwegians worry more

Norwegians have growing concerns about their quality of life, and it is factors closest to home that worry them the most.
A survey found that men worry more than women and that the age group 30-44 stands out as the segment most concerned about their lack of time for family matters. The results also indicated that the more money earned, the greater the concern that time for the family is in short supply.
The youngest age groups named their greatest fears as dying in traffic accidents and climate change. The older generation was most afraid of climate change, electricity prices and traffic accidents.

Twin aim to thaw Norway's figure skating freeze

Norway produced the legendary queen of the ice Sonja Henie and is famed for its winter sports, but the country hasn't fielded a figure skater in the Olympics for more than 40 years. Two twin sisters from suburban Oslo hope to change that very soon.
Anne Line and Camilla Gjersem are only 12 years old, but they're taking their figure skating seriously. Their goal is to skate in the Winter Olympics in 2010 or 2014.

View from my place on Christmas Eve

Northen Lights make unusual southern apperance

It's not common for the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis, Nordlys) to glimmer in the skies as far south as Oslo, at least not as brightly as they did late Thursday Night.

Late Thursday, though, the Northern Lights suddenly sent their characteristic waves of green right over the capital.

The Northern Lights are generated when solar particles in space, guided to the magnetic fields of the Earth's north and south poles, are stopped by the Earth's atmosphere and collide with atmospheric gases. The collision energy between the solar particle and the gas molecule is emitted as a photon, or light particle, and many of them create an aurora, the waves of lights that appear to move across the night sky.
Article from nearby my place (norwegian)

Arctic ice melting away

As Norway entered yet another December week of unseasonably warm temperatures, experts were warning that all the ice in the Arctic may melt by 2040.
The Arctic ice is melting faster than even the most pessimistic forecasts of just a few years ago. Norwegian climate experts have worried about the Arctic for years, while also noting how glaciers on the Norwegian mainland are shrinking by the year.

A local ornithologist noted that birds have started singing again because of the warm temperatures, thinking it's time to establish their territory on the eve of a new nesting season.

The unseasonably warm temperatures have also led to sightings of insects normally dormant at this time of year, while lawns are green and some plants are starting to blossom again. There's even been a pollen report already, something that normally isn't necessary until March at the earliest.


Aftenposten, Norwegian

Security around Royal family

At least 14 persons are believed to be obsessed with Norway's Princess Martha Louise and police are beefing up security around all members of the royal family, especially the women.
The family's female members appear to be the main targets, and that the royal escorts even fear an assassination attempt.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Queen Sonja are also believed to be targets of possible attacks, while an alleged plot to kidnap Crown Prince Haakon several years ago was reported in late October.

Mystery "princess"

Police in Bergen(Norway) have asked for help to identify a mystery woman who claims to be the Princess of Jerusalem, and has remained unidentified for months.
The woman, who calls herself Anastasia Jerusalem, speaks Spanish and English and was first arrested in Oslo on July 15 this year. She was released on condition that she report in regularly and has since been in Bergen.
Authorities have been unable to identify her, and do not even know what country she is from.
She looks sad.....
Somebody knows this woman, just get in touch with me...
Updated 09.12.06: This woman is possible spanish, lives i Alcudia and have two children.Her name is Mari Carmen Arocas (45). Why on earth does she mess around in Norway?
Updated 11.12.06: Mystery ‘princess’ identified. It was Mari Carmen Arocas.
The 45-year-old woman was recognized by the mayor of L'Alcudia after he saw a local newspaper account of the homeless, unidentified woman in Norway who spoke Spanish.
Her brother told that his family was grateful the missing woman had been found in Norway. Arrangements were being made for her return.

Lack of snow

December snow hasn't been so difficult to find in Norway for at least 60 years. From Finnmark in the far north to the mountains of southern Norway, there's a decisive lack of the white stuff, and that's posing some economic concerns along with local disappointment.

And there's no snow in sight (hip hip hurrah! hurrah!)
For that matter, the snow can stay away the whole winter...

Neo-nazi clothing 'abuses' Norway's flag

The Norwegian flag

Norwegian authorities are trying to stop the improper use of the Norwegian flag by a German clothing company that caters to neo-Nazis.
The clothing line is called "Thor Steinar," and it features the Norwegian flag, runic lettering and Norwegian names. The clothing is popular within neo-Nazi circles, and opponents say that's because Norwegian symbols are viewed as being "Aryan and Germanic."

Symbol of friendship

The 60th annual Christmas gift of a massive Norwegian spruce for London's Trafalgar Square is on the way, and this year's ceremony aims to guarantee the tradition endures.
Schoolchildren attending the felling ceremony rush to count the rings and check the age of this year's tree.
The three is one hundred years old and 26 meters (85.3 feet) high.
The annual Christmas tree for downtown London is Oslo's tribute to the help extended to Norway by the English during the Second World War. This is the 60th time a Norwegian spruce will grace the city.

(Indian) "Summer" in November

Norway is having its warmest autumn ever, with the past three months seen as a block setting a record high.
Norway's temperature records are over 100 years old, and with November predicted to go out as mildly as it has been so far, the new record seems safe.

On the mainland the temperature has been 1.5C-4C higher than normal, with the greatest deviation seen in southern and eastern Norway.

In fact the greatest deviation from the norm has been seen on Arctic Svalbard, which has had temperatures fully 6C above the norm.

Indian summer
Indian summer is a name given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn, not long before winter. This time can be in late October or early November (Northern hemisphere) / late April or early May (Southern hemisphere), usually sometime after the first frost. It can persist for just a few days or weeks.

Global warming
An issue of major concern is the possible effect of the burning of fossil fuels and other contributers to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The action of carbon dioxide in trapping infrared radiation is called the greenhouse effect. It may measurably increase the overall average temperature of the Earth, which could have disastrous consequences. Sometimes the effects of the greenhouse effect are stated in terms of the albedo of the Earth, the overall average reflection coefficient.

McDonald's in Norway is dirty!

Norwegian health authorities are cracking down on the McDonald's hamburger chain's local outlets, after claiming that more than a third of them fail to maintain adequate hygiene standards.


25 of McDonald's 67 outlets in Norway have been cited for being dirty and violating rules governing food handling.Several McDonald's outlets were immediately shut down, or were ordered to undergo a thorough cleaning.


I suggest an another place to eat!

Mild,wet weather frustrates skiers

It's almost December, but weeks of rain and relatively warm temperatures are washing away the start of the skiing season in southern Norway.


Several ski resorts in the mountains opened for the season a few weeks ago, but even there, the weather has simply been too warm for good skiing conditions.
I don't like snow, for that matter the snow can stay away the entire winter..

Munch pricier than Picasso

Works by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch continue to attract record prices, but a print auctioned off in Oslo Monday evening created nothing short of a sensation.

Experts had expected that a five-colour print of Munch's To mennesker. De ensomme (Two people. The lonely) woodcut would set a new record, but auction officials were overwhelmed by the NOK 8.1 million (USD 1.26 million at the current exchange rate) paid after just a few minutes .
For what it is worth, it's too expensive. I have to work a little bit more to buy this painting...

I'm looking unhappy today

Norway still "best in world"

The latest list from the UNDP (United Nations Development Program) rates Norway as the best country in the world to live in for the sixth year running, after toppling Canada from the top spot in 2001.

The list is based on statistics on life expectancy, education levels and gross national product per inhabitant.
The Nordic countries all made it into the top 15 and the bottom of the list was dominated by African nations, with Niger finishing 177th and bottom.
The UNDP list has been published annually since 1990.

Is that so? I don't think so.

Police crack down on urination

Norwegian men have taken to publicly relieving themselves with abandon lately after a night on the town, but some are learning that their indiscretion can be expensive.
A 20-year-old man in Kristiansand was fined heavily over the weekend after he was caught urinating on the city's main drag twice in one evening.
First he was caught urinating on the popular downtown street called Markens. Police hauled him in and fined him NOK 6,000 (nearly USD 1,000).
He was quickly released, only to find himself in need of relief once again. He used Markens as public urinal one more time, was caught and fined NOK 8,000.
The conclusion is: Don't urinate on the street, it's expensive , the smell is no good and the street looks like hell.

Snow trouble

Traffic chaos has resulted in southern Norway as the first real snowfall of winter arrived, and travelers are warned of icy roads.

Cats that look likes Hitler

More look likes Hitler cats on this site.

Stolen cars fom Norway found in Iraq

More and more cars stolen in Norway are turning up in Iraq, with some of These three cars stolen in Norway were found in northern Iraq. They were photographed at the Turkish border, waiting to get sent back to Norway.

The car thefts in Norway are thus being linked to terrorist activity and the financing of terrorism.
Many of the cars carry large loans, meaning their theft amounts to a swindle against the lender financing them or the car's insurance company. Nearly 60 stolen cars worth as much as NOK 20 million are believed to have been sent to northern Iraq via Syria and Turkey as early as 2004.
Around 10,000 cars are stolen in Norway every year, but only about one in five are ever recovered. The rest of the cases are left unresolved, meaning huge payouts for the insurance companies.

Autumn

Teen questioned for online Bush threats

Upset by the war in Iraq , Julia Wilson vented her frustrations with
President Bush last spring on her Web page on MySpace.com. She posted a picture of the president, scrawled "Kill Bush" across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page on the social-networking site after learning in her eighth-grade history class that such threats are a federal offense.
It was too late.
Federal authorities had found the page and placed Wilson on their checklist. They finally reached her this week in her molecular biology class.
The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two
Secret Service' agents. The incident has upset her parents, who said the agents should have included them when they questioned their daughter.
Julia Wilson said the agents threatened her by saying she could be sent to juvenile hall for making the threat.
The conclusion is: Don't make a mess with President Bush..he....he... HE IS THE WOLRLD'S LEADER!!!

Katie Melua's deep sea gig sets record

Singer Katie Melua has entered the record books by playing the world's deepest underwater concert.

Melua and her band performed for workers 303 metres below sea level on the Statoil Troll A gas rig in the North Sea.

The 22-year-old singer underwent extensive medical tests and survival training in Norway before flying by helicopter to the rig.

The concert was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of gas production on Troll A and was filmed for Norwegian TV channel NRK.

Warmest September on record

It's official: Oslo residents just experienced their warmest September in recorded history. Meteorologists confirmed over the weekend that average temperatures last month were fully 4.2 degrees centigrade higher than normal.
Locals are calling it the "endless summer." Not only did areas all over southern Norway have a long and unusually warm summer, now it seems like autumn has been postponed indefinitely.
My hope is that the summer last to Christmas.....

Urination will go to commitee

A local decision that schoolboys must sit on toilet seats when urinating has provoked political debate.
The boys at a primary school have to sit to and pee.
"It is a human right not to have to sit down like a girl," said The head of The Democrats Party
The young boys are simply not good enough at aiming, and the point was to have a pleasant toilet that could be used by both boys and girls, said the schools princepal.
I suppose that the politician have something more important issue to solve..

Stave Church

Part of this church was built around the year 1100.

10th-century missionaries to Norway concerned themselves with establishing chapels, churches and other ecclesiastical centers. Thus far, archaeological exploration has revealed traces of thirty-odd post churches built no later than 1200. Some of these early wooden churches disappeared due to neglect as well as fire and other natural disasters, but the rest were replaced by new constructions. Nevertheless, 28 of the stave churches built after the year 1100 still survive.

The reindeer man.

The bizarre mystery of the so-called "reindeer man" widened as a sixth person reported receiving a Polaroid picture of the strange figure.
The Norwegian media has been fascinated by the story after the news broke of a series of deliveries of photographs in the area - of a mystery figure dressed as a reindeer.
"I was reasonably surprised when I saw what was in my mailbox. A person sitting dressed like a reindeer was sitting in the picture. He or she sat in a wooden camping chair reading a book in my garden," said a man who got a picture in his mailbox.
Somebody said it was me, but they was wrong..ha...ha...
"The reindeer man" was a women, an art student.

Thieves felled by moose

A moose lost its life while accidentally helping police officers in the line of duty.
Police in Salten in northern Norway could thank an unlucky moose for helping them stop three men they believe were behind a major burglary.
The Medical Emergency Communication (AMK) Central reported three men needing assistance in a car that had collided with a moose. One of the men was injured and the car was no longer roadworthy. It was the three men from the burglary.
An easy job for the police this time.

Munch masterpieces damaged

Both of the recovered Munch masterpieces have suffered damage, and it will take time before work on the paintings is finally finished.
Munch's Madonna has taken the hardest beating during the two years the paintings have been missing.
Both The Scream and Madonna were found Thursday afternoon in what police described as a "successful action" by the Oslo Police District.
Police wouldn't say where the famed artworks were found, but said they think the paintings have been in Norway all along.
"The Scream" has been valued at NOK 500 million (USD 81 million) and "Madonna" at NOK 100 million, but both artworks were also considered priceless in many ways and difficult if not impossible to sell.

German tourist lands big fish

(This picture is not related to this story.)
A German doctor on holiday in Norway caught the fish of his dreams this week -- a halibut weighing an astonishing 138 kilos (303 lbs).

Dr Andy Borsch has been taking fishing trips to Norway since 1979. The fish he reeled out of Monday was the biggest ever.
Most of the halibut caught in the Langfjord weigh between 15 and 20 kilos, so Borsch's catch was historic.

Wettest August in 43 years

After one of the warmest and dryest summers in years, residents of southern Norway have had to wade through the wettest month of August since 1963.

With just a few days left in August, meteorologists feel they already can report that large portions of the southeastern districts are setting precipitation records.
Heavy rains are expected over the next few days as well.
Flood warnings remain, but there's some good news: The sudden deluge has raised water levels in several reservoirs, in turn raising hopes that skyrocketing electricity prices may ease.

Visit by a strange cat

This is a cat who visit us almost every afternoon.

A foggy morning

An enormous head

The head is huge. How big was the fish?

Lake in the mountain

This is a dead calm lake who I visit in the mountain this summer. The water was very cold.

Warm and dry summer

After a warm and dry summer, my lawn looks like a desert and most of the leaves of the trees are brown.

Glaciers melting at record rate

It's been a warm summer in Norway, and that's sped up the shrinking process that already had hit the country's glaciers. Experts say the glaciers are breaking up and literally running away at a record tempo this summer.

The melting of the glaciers will make them more dangerous, experts warn, adding that some may even disappear entirely within the next 50 years.
This summer marks the third time in the last six years that scientists are registering a considerable reduction in the glaciers. Measurements taken in Jotunheimen, in the mountains of western Norway, at Svartisen and in West Finnmark show that the snows that fell last winter have disappeared quickly. Only at Svartisen were larges areas of the glacier still covered with the past winter's snow.

Summer holiday

The summer holiday is over for this year. It's been a great vacation with a lot of walking in the mountain.
Moore photos