Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has arrived in Shetland on a visit which will see him open the new Scalloway Museum tomorrow morning and help further cement the close historical ties which bind islanders and Norwegians together.  Mr Stoltenberg flew in this afternoon and arrived in the village, where the Scalloway people are limbering up for three days of celebrations to mark the museum's opening, shortly after 4pm.

Every 17 May, we celebrate Norway's constitution. This is a day for commemorating the ideals of freedom and equality. It is also the date of the International Day Against Homophobia and transphobia, which will be marked all over the world. We want to take part in this celebration too, commented State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gry Larsen.  In a number of countries all over the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender  people are subject to violence, harassment and discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Homosexuality is criminalised in more than 76 countries, and subject to the death penalty in six. 

The Tamil National Alliance Parliamentarian Suresh Premachandran will speak on `Contemporary issues in post-war Sri Lanka at a seminar organized by the Norway's Labour party. Suresh Premachandran will address the seminar in association with Norway's former Minister and the country's special envoy to Sri Lanka, Eric Solheim on 15 May at 6:00 p.m. at the auditorium of the Norwegian Parliament. The event will be presided over by Deputy Speaker of the Norwegian Parliament Marit Nybakk.

Norway has been ranked the number one country in the world in which to be a mom for the third consecutive year, followed by Iceland and Sweden. Norway's under-five mortality rate, use of modern birth control, generous maternity leave and breastfeeding habits are just a few of the policies and attitudes that placed Norway on top of Save the Children's 13th State of the World's Mothers report. The ranking, which includes 60 countries, looked at factors such as mother's health, women's education, women's economic status, child health, and child nutrition.

Norway plans to conduct a seminar on nuclear non-proliferation in Kazakhstan, Kazakh MFA's official spokesperson Altay Abibullayev has told a briefing today. "State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Torgeir Larsen will pay a visit to Kazakhstan on May 8 to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister of the country Yerzhan Kazykhanov and representatives of ministries and agencies. The parties are thought to discuss perspectives of strengthening the bilateral cooperation," A.Abibullayev noted.

Nordic cooperation is developing rapidly. When the Nordic Foreign Ministers came together in Stavanger on 4 May, they discussed ways of strengthening Nordic cooperation and a number of important international issues. One of the platforms for deepening cooperation on foreign and security policy is the 2009 Stoltenberg Report, which outlines specific proposals for closer cooperation in 13 different areas. The Nordic countries have issued a Nordic declaration of solidarity under which they have undertaken to cooperate in a spirit of solidarity to meet challenges in the foreign and security policy area. 

The cross is trading almost unchanged on Friday after the unemployment rate in Norway came in unchanged in February at 3.2%. Analyst E.Blomgren at SEB comments that the downward trend should stabilize in the upcoming months and the employment growth would slower the pace after the a solid first quarter. At the moment, EUR/NOK is losing a meagre 0.02% at 7.5565, facing the next support at 7.5330 (low Apr.19) ahead of 7.5186 (low Apr.18) then the psychological level at 7.5000 and finally 7.3927 (low Mar.5).

The Norwegian Government has proposed to Parliament (Storting) the establishment of a new state-owned company to manage the Norwegian state-funded export credit scheme.  The name of the new company is to be Eksportkreditt Norge AS (Export Credit Norway). The company will be organized as a state-owned limited liability company and is to be established by 1 July 2012 - Export Credit Norway will be established in order to ensure a robust and competitive export financing scheme for Norwegian industry.

Norway's Telenor today decided to write down its Indian assets, worth Norwegian 3.9 billion krone (Rs 3,574 crore), and warned it would exit completely from the country if the government went ahead with the auction of spectrum in driblets as recommended by telecom regulator Trai. An empowered group of ministers, which is expected to meet on the 2G spectrum auction this week, may take on board the complaints by firms such as Telenor and Sistema who have been impacted by the cancellation of telecom licences. However, officials said the Telecom Commission which met today was yet to take a view on Trai's recommendations.

Sudan said it arrested a Briton, a Norwegian and a South African, accusing them of illegally entering a disputed oil-producing border area to spy for its enemy South Sudan. South Sudanese officials denied the allegations and said the men were working with the United Nations and aid groups clearing mines and had got lost in the remote territory close to the boundary between the two countries. Sudanese army spokesman al-Sawarmi Khaled said the three were arrested in Heglig - the scene of recent fighting between Sudan and South Sudan - travelling with a South Sudanese soldier in vehicles carrying military equipment.

The resolution adopted unanimously by the Security Council sends a positive signal that the international community is now more united in demanding an end to the violence in Syria. The Syrian authorities must halt the violence immediately and facilitate the deployment of the observers, said Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.  The Security Council 21 April voted to deploy a supervision mission comprising 300 unarmed military observers, including civilian experts, to Syria. The observers will be sent to Syria for an initial 90-day period once UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is satisfied that the Syrian authorities are complying with their obligations. The agreement builds on last week's resolution authorising an advance team of observers to be sent to Syria to prepare for the deployment of a larger supervision mission. 

The Hsieh Nien Fan (literally thank-the-year banquet) of The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, is an opportunity to show it's appreciation to governmental officials, civic groups, experts and scholars for the assistance they provided to the International Business Community throughout the previous year. In a longstanding tradition, the ROC President and the director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) are invited to address attendees. Taiwan government officials and members of the American Chambers (AmChams) may congregate in a casual atmosphere as a way of starting the year, on the right foot.

Towards the commemoration of the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, there will be three events held in Norway this year. As a tradition, the Aremnians of Oslo and surrounding areas will gather at the Institute of Fridtjof Nansen, the place which once used to be Nansen's residence. This place embraces the tomb of Nansen, the great humanist and committed friend of Armenians, which became a unique sanctuary and memorial for the Genocide.  On the same day, April 24, the Armenians of Bergen, the second biggest city of Norway, will commemorate the Genocide victims at the cross-stone dedicated to their memory. 

The right-wing fanatic on trial for massacring 77 people in Norway says he wants either freedom or death, calling the country's prison terms "pathetic" and arguing for the return of capital punishment, which was last used here to execute Nazi collaborators after World War II. In the third day of his terror trial, Anders Behring Breivik was grilled by prosecutors about the anti-Muslim militant group he claims to belong to. He rejected their suggestions that the "Knights Templar" doesn't exist, but admitted he had embellished when describing the network in a 1,500-page manifesto he published online before the bomb-and-shooting rampage on July 22.

Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik says he was planning to capture and decapitate former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland during his shooting massacre on Utoya island. Breivik told a court that he planned to film the beheading and post the video on the Internet. Brundtland had already left the Labor Party's youth camp on Utoya when Breivik arrived on July 22. The far-right fanatic said he also planned to kill many more than the people who died on the island. There were nearly 600 people there. Breivik said, "the goal was to kill them all." Breivik's original plans for a terror attack was to bomb Oslo's government district, the Labor Party's office and a third target, possibly the royal palace, he told the court Thursday.

If there is a further dramatic cost increase on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), Norway will reconsider its participation in the programme. "If there should happen to be something that would really affect the cost curves in the next months, in the next years, all nations including Norway will, of course, reconsider the whole project," says Norway's state secretary for Defence, Roger Ingebrigtsen. "I have no reasons to believe that. I was more nervous two years ago than I am today." Should something go horribly wrong, however, Norway would be forced to reconsider the programme, he says. But Norway needs the F-35.

In a move that has taken many by surprise, the Norwegian Parliament is set to separate church and state when it carries a constitutional amendment to abolish the Church of Norway. The nation will become secular, with no official religion, and the government will not participate in the appointment of church deans and bishops. Svein Harberg, the spokesman for the Church, Education, and Research Committee stated that the decision is historic both for the Norwegian Church and for the politicians in Parliament.

An unidentified man was seriously injured in a self-immolation Tuesday outside the courthouse where right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik is being tried on terror charges for a bombing and shooting massacre that killed 77 people on July 22. Police said the man didn't appear to have any connections to the trial, which has been under way since mid-April in the Oslo District Court.

Gunnar Soensteby, a Second World War resistance fighter who earned Norway's highest military decoration for daring raids against the Nazis, died yesterday at a hospital in Oslo. He was 94. Soensteby was a member of Kompani Linge, a group trained in Britain for secret missions during the 1940 to 1945 Nazi occupation of Norway, which carried out sabotage raids to hamper the German war effort. 

The Norwegian ambassador to Angola, Jon Vea, Thursday in Luanda considered the relations between the two countries excellent, with good perspectives for the future. Speaking to Angop, the European country's diplomat said that in the political and economic fields, the relations have never been as strong as they are today, being very difficult to report problems between the two states. According to him, there are some challenges in visa granting, but he assured that the parties are working hard to overcome the situation.

A young Norwegian told the court trying self-confessed mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik on Thursday that he looked into the eyes of the killer before fleeing into the water around the island where 69 people, mostly teenagers, were gunned down last July. I stand right in front of him and look straight at him. I can see he has blue eyes, high school student Lars Henrik Oeberg said calmly. Then the shots came.

The agreements were signed by Foreign Minister Stare and Polish Regional Minister Bienkowska Relations between Norway and Poland continue to grow in both breadth and depth. Our cooperation with Poland has developed more rapidly over the last few years than that with almost any other European country, commented Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stare.  Mr Stare is taking part in the state visit to Poland, which started on Wednesday in Warsaw with the signing of three new cooperation programmes on research, education grants and culture.

"Kazakhstan plans to raise its diplomatic mission to Oslo to the rank of the embassy  to the Kingdom of Norway," Secretary of State of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry Torgeir Larsen told journalists after the talk with his Kazakh counterpart in Astana. "This fact symbolizes expansion of bilateral partnership between Kazakhstan and Norway, as well as energy cooperation for Kazakhstan and Norway are energy-producing countries and have similar interests in this sphere," T. Larsen said.

Lime Petroleum Plc (Lime) has signed transaction agreements to secure 50 per cent of North Energy's interest in Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) of Norway for US$5.5 million (RM16.8 million). Lime is the jointly controlled company of Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Schroder & Co Banque S.A and Rex Oil and Gas Limited. In a statement, Hibiscus Petroleum said the transaction agreements were executed following a letter of intent signed by both parties on April 9, 2012.

When Norwegian ferry captain Jon Olsen asked the young policeman to cover his gun so as not to upset children on an island summer camp last July, he could hardly have expected that within minutes the officer would turn into a mass murderer who would shock the world Olsen told Anders Behring Breivik's trial yesterday how Breivik, wearing a police uniform, had obliged and covered the gun in a plastic bag, saying he was just there to protect the camp after a terrorist attack on Oslo hours earlier.

The Norwegian ambassador to Khartoum confirms that he will meet with officials from the Sudanese Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday to discuss the situation for the Norwegian de-mining expert who was detained Saturday. The man, John Sorbo (53), working for the Norwegian People's Aid, is one of four foreigners detained by Sudanese forces in the sensitive Heglig oilfield area, scene of recent fighting with South Sudanese forces.

A veteran peacekeeper flew in Sunday to take command of U.N. observers in Syria who urged all sides to respect a more than two-week-old ceasefire that has been violated with bloodshed each day. Major General Robert Mood, a 54-year-old Norwegian who negotiated with Syrian authorities the conditions for the deployment of an advance team,arrived to Damascus airport in the afternoon. The general brings to his new position extensive command experience and knowledge of peacekeeping attained through service at the national and international levels, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said when announcing the appointment.

Singapore and Norway have just signed two MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) in a bid to further clean technology application in the maritime sector. The signing of the MoUs come on the back of the 7th Singapore Maritime Week, which has recently concluded. Singapore company registration specialist, Rikvin, recognizes the MoUs as a testament to Singapore's commitment to building a stronger maritime sector through R&D and cleantech application.

The governments of India and Norway will work together to develop a think-tank to help their governments frame policies and laws related to biodiversity and environment. The 'Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law' will be formally launched in Chennai on Tuesday by Heidi Sorensen, state secretary of ministry of environment, the government of Norway, and her Indian counterpart at the central level, Tishyarakshit Chatterjee. The mandate of the centre is to work at the national level and fill gaps in the existing infrastructure on specialized knowledge in biodiversity and environment.

Norwegian killer Anders Breivik has told a court in Oslo that he picked up strategies from the Al Qaeda and said it could serve as inspiration to European far-right militants. Breivik said he had been closely following Al Qaeda since 2006 and studied each of their actions. "(Al Qaeda is) the most successful revolutionary movement in the world," he said. The 33-year-old said he had read more than 600 internet bomb-making guides. When prosecutors Friday asked Breivik whether he felt empathy for others, the killer said he taught himself to dull all emotions - "from happiness to sorrow, despair, hopelessness, anxiety, fear" through meditation.

Norway, which meets most of its electricity needs from hydro sources, is keen to increase co-operation with India in the hydro power sector. The Norwegian Embassy had organised a meeting of about 80 experts from 35 companies to discuss hydro power here on Friday. The meeting was also attended by G Sai Prasad, Joint Secretary at the Power Ministry, according to a statement issued by the Norwegian Embassy. "For more than 100 years, Norway's electricity has come from clean hydro power. 97 percent of our national electricity now comes from hydro.

After 24 years of stubborn campaigning for democracy in Myanmar and a steely determination to stay inside the country despite official admonishments to leave, Aung San Suu Kyi will make her first foreign trip since 1988, visiting Norway and Britain, the spokesman for her political party said Wednesday. Nyan Win, the spokesman, said the trip was a sign of confidence in the country's political reforms. "It's a statement about political freedom -- it's a sign of freedom," Nyan Win said. During her campaign against military rule, in which she spent 15 years under house arrest, Suu Kyi was free to leave Myanmar. The generals ruling the country at the time would have liked nothing more.

When Jens Breivik watched the news about the Utoya island shooting, he had no idea his son was responsible. Hit by shock and guilt, he still wonders how far he is to blame. It is an unassuming bungalow in a nondescript village on the edge of a small town in southern France. An unmade driveway runs from the road between similarly recent modest villas to the bars of a large electric gate. The house beyond is spare but comfortable; three plump cats roam the terraced gardens, by some margin the house's most attractive feature. The floors are tiled, the sofas shiny, the television new but not flashy. That's where he saw the news.

The gunman behind the Norway massacres said Tuesday he was inspired by Al-Qaeda and would repeat the carnage if he could as he took the stand on the second day of the trial. Rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik said his twin attacks last year that killed 77 people were aimed at defending ethnic Norwegians from rising multiculturalism and that he would have done it again. Insisting that universal human rights gave him the mandate to carry out his acts, he described himself as a militant nationalist and, using the pronoun we to suggest he was part of a larger group, added: We have drawn from al-Qaeda and militant Islamists.