Free Republic

Nuclear scientists are being urged by the former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to develop thorium as a new fuel. Mr Blix says that the radioactive element may prove much safer in reactors than uranium. His enthusiasm is shared by some in the British nuclear establishment. Scientists at the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) have been encouraged by the government to help research on an Indian thorium-based reactor, and on a test programme in Norway. China is going for a revolutionary approach, devising a next-generation reactor which its supporters say will enable thorium to be used much more safely than...

Norwegian store forced to apologise for stocking realistic human limbs in its frozen meat section as part of a Halloween joke A Norwegian shop has been forced to apologise to children and their families after it packed realistic looking severed plastic hands and feet in butchers' plastic trays and sold them as part of its Halloween collection.Furious parents were horrified when they discovered the severed limbs in the meat freezers which terrified children looking for Halloween costumes and decorations.Europris, which has stores across Norway, has now been forced to withdraw the range of fake, shrink-wrapped body parts.

A moose hunter in Norway accidentally shot a man who was using the toilet. According to News.Sky.com, the rifleman was aiming for a moose, but his bullet pierced a wooden wall of a vacation home behind the animal and struck the man. The man, in his 70s, was rushed to the hospital by helicopter and his injury was not thought to be life-threatening. The hunter was detained for questioning, News.Sky.com reported. The moose escaped unharmed.

The Norwegian government is telling couples to go on date nights in a bid to reduce the country's 40 per cent divorce rate. As the number of married couples splitting up increases, authorities have taken inspiration from the 2010 film Date Night and are urging people to make time for each other one night a week. People aged between 40 and 44 are the most likely to break up, the Telegraph reports. Solveig Horne, the new minister for children, equality and social inclusion and herself a divorcee, is behind the push. 'My sister lives in the US and she told...

Yesterday, I posted charts showing the deceleration of economic indicators in the USA, as The Fed’s Balance sheet continues to grow (white). The indicators are labor force participation (purple), M2 Money Velocity (gold) and the 10 year Treasury yield (green). charming Today, we got another deceleration warning from durable goods orders (non-airline, non-defense). Orders for U.S. equipment such as computers and machinery unexpectedly declined in September for the second time in three months, indicating business spending was weakening ahead of the partial government shutdown. Bookings for non-military capital goods excluding aircraft decreased 1.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported today in...

Norwegian police have been questioning friends and family of a Somalia-born Norwegian citizen who they suspect may be one of the gunmen behind last month's terrorist attack in Nairobi. The New York Times reports that Norwegian police are investigating whether Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a Norwegian citizen born in Somalia, was one of at least four militants involved in the September attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that left more than 60 people dead. The police have been questioning friends and family of Mr. Dhuhulow.

A Norwegian citizen of Somali origin is suspected of being one of the attackers who stormed a Kenyan shopping mall last month massacring 67 people, the BBC said. Related Stories Norwegian citizen possibly involved in Kenya mall attack: Norway Reuters Kenya Westgate probe still has many questions AFP Oslo probes if Norwegian involved in Kenya mall attack AFP Charred bodies from Kenya mall 'highly likely' to be gunmen: lawmaker Reuters Norwegian-Somali ID'd as Kenya mall attacker Associated Press The 23-year-old was named as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, who the BBC said is suspected of helping to plan and carry out the...

NAIROBI, Kenya Almost one month after gunmen attacked an upscale mall in Kenya, one of them has been identified as a Norwegian-Somali, officials told The Associated Press Friday, as charred body parts taken from a collapsed portion of the shopping center awaited forensics analysis to determine if they were the remains of the assailants. The suspect was identified as Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, the first time officials have confirmed having a real name of one of possibly four attackers from the Somali militant group al-Shabab who stormed the mall on Sept. 21. Norwegian tax records show a Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow was...

A melting patch of ancient snow in the mountains of Norway has revealed a bow and arrows likely used by hunters to kill reindeer as long ago as 5,400 years. The discovery highlights the worrying effects of climate change, said study author Martin Callanan, an archaeologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. "It's actually a little bit unnerving that they're so old and that they're coming out right now," Callanan told LiveScience. "It tells us that there's something changing." Locked in snow Callanan and his colleagues spend every summer hiking up the Trollheim and Dovre mountains a few...

A nasty Norwegian diplomat at the UN frequently badmouths the Holy See. He wonders why Holy See diplomats are allowed into the room during negotiations. He says outright that the Holy See ought to leave. This has happened more than once.It’s amusing a Norwegian would say such a thing. The development of Norway is rather murky and it is hard to figure when Norway really became Norway. Norwegians might claim it was when Harald Fairhair unified disparate tribes and clans in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Even so, it is questionable when the people living there began to...

Largely uncommented on in the US press, Europe’s long-standing social democratic tilt has changed. During recent years, almost all Western European nations have seen a dramatic fall in support for the traditional Social Democratic parties, which for so long have dominated the political landscapes. In response, the centre-left parties have morphed, moving towards greater emphasis on the benefits of free markets and individual responsibility. In several countries the former communist parties now claim that they fill the role of traditional Social Democrats. A new breed of modernized centre-left parties is likely to replace several centre‑right governments during coming years. The...

Truth is, Norway has never won the 'Miss World' crown- while fellow Nordics in Sweden can boast of three winners, as can Iceland. Along with Denmark, Norway has not fared too well at Miss World... so could perhaps Miss Backstrom change that a bit? More at Reaganite Republican...

Abstract: Ten Viking Age individuals from the northern Norwegian site at Flakstad were analysed for δ13C, δ15N and ancient mitochondrial DNA fragments. The material derives from both single and multiple burials with individuals treated in different ways. The genetic analyses show that the individuals buried together were unlikely to be maternally related, and stable isotope analyses suggest different strata of society. It is, therefore, suggested that slaves may have been offered as grave gifts at Flakstad. A comparison with the remaining population from single graves shows that the presumed slaves had a diet similar to that of the common population,...

The outgoing government in Norway has buried much-vaunted plans to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground amid mounting costs and delays. The oil and energy ministry said the development of full-scale carbon dioxide capture had been discontinued. "At both the national and international level, the development of technologies to capture and store CO2 has taken longer, been more difficult and more costly than expected," Oil and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe told reporters.

Three elections in the last week have challenged long-held liberal premises about how elections are fought and what the public wants. It’s worth examining those results in such widely separated places as Australia, Norway, and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. In Colorado, liberals are already in denial about the fact that two Democratic state senators were recalled from office in districts Barack Obama carried by some 20 percentage points only ten months ago. The recalls were organized by citizens upset with the lawmakers’ votes in favor of a gun-control measure. The two senators also helped pass bills perceived as being...

Norwegian centre-right leader Erna Solberg is set to form a new government after Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg admitted election defeat. Ms Solberg described her win as "a historic election victory for the right-wing parties". Her Conservative Party is widely expected to form a government with the anti-immigration Progress Party. It is oil-rich Norway's first general election since attacks by a far-right extremist left 77 people dead in 2011.

Norway's opposition Conservatives, promising tax cuts and better healthcare, won elections in a landslide on Monday but faced tough coalition talks with a populist party that wants to spend more of the accumulated oil riches and curb immigration. Led by Erna Solberg, a former girl scout leader who has overcome dyslexia, the Conservatives promise to diversify the economy away from oil, privatize state firms, and reduce some of the world's highest taxes rates to give the private sector more breathing room.

Preliminary results from the Norwegian general election put the Conservative led centre-right coalition in the box seat to take power in the country for the first time since 2005. Erna Solberg now looks set to head a coalition and must choose between, the anti-immigration Progress Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats, or all three. Solberg ran a campaign promising more available private health care and tax cuts. Despite a strong economy and low unemployment the country chose not to endorse the centre-left coalition led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Political commentators in Norway believe Stoltenberg is a victim...

United States residents have an extra reason to smile according to a recent report released by Columbia University's Earth Institute. According to their findings, northern Europe received the highest satisfaction and happiness ranking in life, while Egypt and a few others hit the lowest since the Eurozone crisis via background information from the 2013 World Happiness Report released Monday. When looking at a survey of over 156 countries, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden were ranked as the happiest places, and regions in Sub-Saharan Africa were noted as being the least likely places for overall life satisfaction, according to...

Tonight we have the first parliamentary elections since the Breivik murder rampage two years ago. The last polls have indicated that the socialistic government will fall, and that a coalition of conservative parties will take over. This coalition - if it happens - will include the Progress Party which is almost something unique in a Scandinavian setting. Here are some quotes from the National Review: "By the way, there are two items of particular interest in Jensen’s office: a little Israeli flag and a bust of Reagan. It would be hard to convey how extraordinary these symbols are in the...