A-ha wins raves in London

Fans slept outside to secure a spot inside a London record store this week, to hear the venerable Norwegian pop group "a-ha" play a free concert. They weren't disappointed, and a-ha is definitely back on top where their fame was launched two decades ago.
It was ice cold and drug addicts were lurking around us," Jennifer Blackbourn of Lincolnshire said while describing her night spent sleeping outside the record store HMV on Oxford Street. "But it was worth it."
Aftenposten

Norwegian flag burned in Gaza

Muslim activists, upset that a Norwegian magazine reprinted a caricature of the prophet Mohammed, burned a Norwegian flag outside the European Union's office in Gaza on Monday.

Norway isn't a member of the European Union, but that didn't seem to dissuade the activists. They hailed from the political group al-Yasser, according to the Associated Press on the scene.
The activists also sprayed photos of both the Norwegian and Danish flags with black paint.
Around 15 armed men were behind the demonstration against Norway and Denmark, where the caricature was first printed in the newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Any illustration of the prophet Mohammed is offensive to Muslims, and the activists won't tolerate others' beliefs in freedom of expression.
Aftenposten

Arctic summer in January

It may still be January, but the arctic region is seeing record temperatures of a level usually seen during the summer.

Norway's Meteorological Institute reported that the ice line on Svalbard is extremely far north for the season. The waters around Svalbard are nearly free of ice and there are large areas of open sea up to near 84 degrees north.
The reason is that the usual winter wind from the east or northeast has been replaced by winds from the south or southwest more usually seen in the summer. As the sea becomes freer of ice, this in turn helps warm up the air.

Svalbard

LandscapeThe name Svalbard means “cold coasts” and was first mention in Icelandic texts in the 12th century. The Svalbard Islands offer great, wild nature, old mines and polar bears. The Svalbard Islands are located between between 74° - 81° N and 10° - 35° E. They constitute 63 000 sq.km, and close to 65% of the surface of Svalbard consists of protected areas, including 3 nature reserves, 6 national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries and 1 geotopical protected area. The largest islands are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya and Prins Karls Forland.Norway is given sovereignty over Svalbard
Cities of Svalbard
Longyearbyen (Norwegian administrative centre) 1 700 inhabitants. the seat of local government and Norway’s main administrative centre on Svalbard. The small colourful community of approx. 1700 inhabitants has developed from being a typical mining company town into a modern community with different kinds of business and industry and with a wide range of cultural activities and opportunities.
Barentsburg (Russian mining community) 900 inhabitants.
Ny-Ålesund (Norw. international research centre) 40 inhabitants
Sveagruva (Norwegian mining community) 210 commuters.
Hornsund (Polish research station) 8 inhabitants
Infrastructure
There is no regular boat transportation between the mainland of Norway and Svalbard. The easiest way to get to Spitsbergen is by plane. Most of the year, there are daily flights from Oslo directly to Longyearbyen or through Tromsø. The airport is Svalbard Lufthavn, Longyear. There are no roads between the settlements.

Porn films remain censored

Despite a Supreme Court ruling that Norway's practice of covering graphic sexual activity in porn films and magazines with black bars needed modernizing, Norway's Media Authority ruled that movies would remain censored.
Aftenposten

Storm rage north to south

While residents of northern Norway were battening down the hatches in the face of hurricane-force winds, thousands at the southern tip of the country were without power after heavy snowfall.
The near-hurricane conditions in northern Norway forced the closure of numerous roads and highways, and the cancellation of ferry lines and flights. Emergency crews in Hammerfest worked through the night to help residents secure buildings, while construction ceased at most building sites in Bodø and other northern cities.
Aftenposten

Spring comes early up north

Norway's northern city of Tromsø is in the midst of its warmest January ever. The spring-like weather is causing problems for efforts to promote winter tourism.

A hotel carved out of ice in Finnmark is melting, and snowy trails for sledding have all but been destroyed during the recent spate of warm temperatures.
Last Friday was the warmest day of all, with 7.2C in Tromsø and 10C (50F) in Nordreisa.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard(almost on The North Pole) got + 7,7 degrees today! It's a new January record!

The climate of Norway

With its northern location, Norway is often regarded as a cold and wet country. In some aspects this is true, because we share the same latitude as Alaska, Greenland and Siberia. But compared to these areas we have a pleasant climate. Thanks to its location in the westerlies, on the east side of a vast ocean, with a huge, warm and steady ocean current near its shores, Norway has a much friendlier climate than the latitude indicates.
Norway's climate shows great variations. From its southernmost point, Lindesnes, to its northernmost, North Cape, there is a span of 13 degrees of latitude, or the same as from Lindesnes to the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore we have great variations in received solar energy during the year. The largest differences we find in Northern Norway, having midnight sun in the summer months and no sunshine at all during winter. The rugged topography of Norway is one of the main reasons for large local differences over short distances.

Dumping of foreign wives

Increasing numbers of foreign women are being dumped by their Norwegian husbands before they become eligible for permanent residency. That often means the women get sent out of the country, or have already left and can't return.
In Pakistan, the situation has become so dramatic that the Norwegian embassy in Islamabad has sent a warning to Norwegian authorities back home.
The warning noted that embassy officials have been contacted by more and more women who view themselves as being dumped in Pakistan, after having married an ethnic Pakistani man with Norwegian residence.
The Norwegian's men have to take care of their wifes, don't dump them!!

Car accident

Short message: Had a car accident yesterday afternoon.

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!

Little willie

"An Egyptian Cat"

From yesterdays wedding