Free Republic

South Korea has formally decided to purchase 40 F-35 stealth fighter jets for $6.7 billion, South Korea and Lockheed Martin officials announced Monday. The commitment by South Korea, which is boosting its air defenses amid ongoing tensions in the Pacific region, marks a "big day" for the F-35 program in Fort Worth, said Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed's vice president for F-35 business development. "This is a two-year process that Korea held, an open competition where they looked at capabilities, their defense needs, the price as well as the timing and they chose the F-35. It was another open, transparent process that...

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A giant herd of 2,000 reindeer has forced Norway's National Road Authority to shut off a major road between Oslo and Bergen to prevent them being killed by passing cars. The herd massed together on Hardangervidda, the mountain plateau in central Norway, and on Tuesday afternoon had moved within three kilometres of the country's Highway 7. "This is probably the first time the road has been closed for such reasons," the NPRA's local section head Lars Øyre said in a press statement. "Several times, the animals have got close to the road, and we've been on the point of pressing...

A car thief has been nabbed by police in Norway after he stole a Saab convertible, almost immediately ran out of petrol, and then called the owner from her own car phone to ask where the fuel card was. The owner, Anne Kristin Korsfur, promptly went looking for the man, finding him at the spot where he had broken down, and then kept him chatting until the police arrived. "He was a nice guy, but it was good that the police arrived so quickly and arrested him," Korsfur told Norway's Nordlys newspaper. "I'll never yell at my partner when he...

British soldiers are being banned by health and safety rules from training at a military base in the Arctic circle - because it's too cold. Locals at the Allied Training Centre in Porsanger in Norway said they were stunned that while Norwegian troops were out in -25C weather, the Brits were being kept in the warm because of the army rules. The base commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Trond Thomassen confirmed: 'British officers are not in a position to train with large divisions at Porsanger, where the temperature drops to 25 degrees below zero.

OSLO: Norway's intelligence agency on Monday said that it fears an increased "terrorist threat" to its country due to dozens of Norwegian nationals fighting in the Syrian conflict. At least 40 or 50 people with links to Norway have fought, or are currently fighting, with forces opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime and run the risk of returning as seasoned radical fighters, the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) wrote in its annual threat assessment report. "We conclude that the threat has already increased and will continue to increase throughout 2014," the head of NIS General Kjell Grandhagen said, adding that these...

I AM with you, my angels surround you, go behind enemy lines and take back my land ! My army is rising up to take back land now that my testimony is sure in my front line(Chosen Ones)assaults( words of declaration) removing the lies of the enemy, and all distractions now shall be dealt with in their time and season of correction or removal for My Testimony is paramount as my spirit moves across the waters of my voice for you are the many waters of my Testimony and I AM sure and true to my word that I will...

STAVANGER, Norway — Convicted Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has threatened to go on a hunger strike unless he gets access to better video games, a sofa and a larger gym. In a letter sent to The Associated Press and other media, Breivik writes that the hunger strike would continue until his demands are met or he dies. Breivik’s lawyer Tord Jordet confirmed Tuesday that the letter was authentic and said his client was waiting for a response from prison authorities on 12 demands before deciding whether to begin a hunger strike sometime during the next eight weeks.

An Alaska senator said the State Department called his office today to say that they would be creating a post for a U.S. ambassador to the Arctic. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) introduced the United States Ambassador at Large for Arctic Affairs Act a year ago, pressing Secretary of State John Kerry to make the appointment on economic and national security grounds. Six of the eight Arctic nations currently have ambassador-level diplomats representing their interests before the Arctic Council. The United States will assume the chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2015. “It’s not always easy explaining to Washington bureaucrats how...

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik threatened to go on hunger strike for better video games and other perks to alleviate his "torture"-like prison conditions, in a letter received by AFP Friday. The right-wing extremist -- who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage on July 22, 2011 -- enclosed a typed list of 12 demands sent to prison authorities in November. He also demanded the replacement of a PlayStation 2 games console for a more recent PS3 "with access to more adult games that I get to choose myself" "Other inmates have access to adult games while I...

Dating a massive undersea slide Sid Perkins From San Francisco, at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union Pieces of moss buried in debris deposits along the Norwegian coast have enabled geologists to better peg the date of an ancient tsunami and the immense underwater landslide that triggered it. Carbon dating of the newly unearthed moss suggests that the landslide occurred about 8,100 years ago. Sometime after the end of the last ice age, the largest landslide known to geologists took place off the coast of Norway. Called the Storegga slide, this slump of seafloor sediments included about 3,000 cubic...

Two of the largest banks in northern Europe have announced they will boycott Israeli banks because they operate in “occupied territories”, the Walla! Hebrew-language news website reported on Saturday. The two banks in question are the Swedish Nordea Bank, which is the largest bank in Scandinavia, and the Norwegian Danske Bank, which is the largest bank in Denmark. […] The Walla! report comes on the same day that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened Israel that a failure in the peace talks would lead to global boycotts and delegitimization of the Jewish state. …

Two of the largest banks in northern Europe have announced they will boycott Israeli banks because they operate in “occupied territories”, the Walla! Hebrew-language news website reported on Saturday. The two banks in question are the Swedish Nordea Bank, which is the largest bank in Scandinavia, and the Norwegian Danske Bank, which is the largest bank in Denmark. Danske Bank, which serves five ​​million customers in Denmark and Northern Europe , publishes on its website a list of companies which are boycotted for legal and ethical reasons. Two weeks ago the list was updated and, according to Walla!, for the...

Norwegians are not happy about the next U.S. ambassador to their country—and for good reason; he’s a top Obama bundler that knows absolutely nothing about Norway, a country he admitted he's never even visited. Asked by Senator John McCain what he thought it was about the "anti-immigration" Progress Party that appealed to Norwegian voters, Greek American businessman George Tsunis seemed unaware of the party's role in the ruling coalition. "You get some fringe elements that have a microphone and spew their hatred," he said in the pre-appointment hearing. "And I will tell you Norway has been very quick to denounce...

Obama Donor Picked for Ambassador to Norway Fumbles Basic Questions About Norway Obama bundler raised $500,000 for the 2012 cycle. Obama's presidency has been built on lies, apparently his followers are good at it also.The next US ambassador to Norway, George Tsunis bundled $500,000 for President Obama in 2012, apparently knows nothing about Norway. Questioned by Senator John McCain about the anti-immigration Progress Party, which has now joined the ruling coalition, Tsunis had no idea what McCain was talking about. McCain asked for his thoughts; Tsunis replied, “You get some fringe elements that have a a microphone and spew their...

Hope & Change means that at last we are free from the chains of merit. For example, in the past if you wanted to be US Ambassador to Norway, you would have been expected to know at least a little bit about Norway. Not anymore. Now all that is required is a large donation to the Hopey Changer in Chief: The next US ambassador to Norway, George Tsunis [who] bundled $500,000 for President Obama in 2012, apparently knows nothing about Norway. Questioned by Senator John McCain about the anti-immigration Progress Party, which has now joined the ruling coalition, Tsunis had...

This is why a future president might finally do away with the practice of nominating a top political donor to be an ambassador. Here’s how the White House described wealthy executive George Tsunis when President Barack Obama nominated him to be the top U.S. diplomat in Norway in September 2013: “George J. Tsunis is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chartwell Hotels, LLC. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Tsunis was of counsel at Rivkin Radler, LLP and served as partner since 2005. Mr. Tsunis was Special Counsel to the Town of Huntington Committee on Open Space Preservation as...

The next US ambassador to Norway, George Tsunis bundled $500,000 for President Obama in 2012, apparently knows nothing about Norway. Questioned by Senator John McCain about the anti-immigration Progress Party, which has now joined the ruling coalition, Tsunis had no idea what McCain was talking about. McCain asked for his thoughts; Tsunis replied, “You get some fringe elements that have a a microphone and spew their hatred. And I will tell you Norway has been very quick to denounce them.” That is untrue. They are part of the ruling coalition, as McCain quickly pointed out. Tsunis then replied, “I stand...

Scientists from around the world have tried to understand how the Egyptians erected their giant pyramids. Now, an architect and researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) says he has the answer to this ancient, unsolved puzzle. Researchers have been so preoccupied by the weight of the stones that they tend to overlook two major problems: How did the Egyptians know exactly where to put the enormously heavy building blocks? And how was the master architect able to communicate detailed, highly precise plans to a workforce of 10,000 illiterate men? A 7-million-ton structure These were among the...

Everyone in Norway became a theoretical millionaire on Wednesday in a milestone for the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund that has ballooned thanks to high oil and gas prices. A preliminary counter on the website of the central bank, which manages the fund, rose to 5.11 trillion crowns ($828.66 billion), fractionally more than a million times Norway's most recent official population estimate of 5,096,300. It was the first time it reached the equivalent of a million crowns each, central bank spokesman Thomas Sevang said. Set up in 1990, the fund owns around 1 percent of the world's stocks, as well...