Free Republic

Some nights, sitting at a table in a hotel restaurant 17 stories above the Bodø quay, you may see what looks like a spark rise from the Norwegian coast and fly off into the night. Another follows, then both wink out in the distance. They are F-16s from the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) stationed here in Bodø [pronounced “BO-deh”], either on a training flight or scrambled to intercept an aerial visitor, probably a Russian one, skirting Norwegian airspace. Though the conversation around the restaurant is mostly in Norwegian, you also hear diners chatting in English, a good deal of...

A new report from the Norwegian Police Security Service (Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste — PST) has found that nearly every fifth radicalized Muslim is a convert to the religion. The PST study attempted to investigate the backgrounds of people in extreme Islamist groups. Everyone in the representative sample study by the security service had been radicalized in Norway and all were under the age of 40. A full 88 percent of the radicalized individuals have an ethnic background other than Norwegian and over 30 different nationalities are represented amongst the radicalized individuals. Some 76 percent of the extremists have Norwegian citizenship. The...

They sweat together, they sleep together: in the name of gender equality, Norway has introduced compulsory military service for women, even bunking them in mixed dorms with their brothers-in-arms. The military's gender balance is not entirely equal yet, but almost a third of the Norwegian army conscripts born in 1997 were women this summer. At the Setermoen army base just above the Arctic Circle, new recruits in an armoured battalion are learning to handle assault rifles for use on combat missions. Here and there, long ponytails stick out behind the recruits' caps. "It gives me a bigger recruitment pool to...

Norway is accepting far fewer Iraqi and Afghan asylum seekers than other countries in Europe, a new report from Klassekampen shows. The newspaper looked at 2016 statistics from the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and found major differences in asylum approval rates. While EASO showed that an average of 60 percent of Iraqis and 47 percent of Afghans who sought asylum between January and July were approved, those numbers are at just ten percent and 25 percent respectively in Norway. UDI said in June that asylum numbers had plummeted by 95 percent in...

A hairdresser went on trial in Norway on Thursday for refusing a Muslim client wearing a hijab, in the first case in the country to go to court over the Islamic head covering. Merete Hodne risks up to six months in prison for religious discrimination for turning Malika Bayan away from her hair salon in Bryne, a small town in southwestern Norway, in October last year. […] The 47-year-old hairdresser told the court she saw the hijab as a political symbol representing an ideology that frightens her, rather than as a religious symbol. “I see it as a totalitarian symbol....

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Norway's state church has seen a record fall in membership after making it possible to join and leave the church electronically. The Church of Norway says almost 25,000 members left in August by using a new function on the church's website. Meanwhile, about 1,200 new members joined online. Even though the church has seen a steady decline in membership in recent decades, that's by far the biggest monthly loss in recorded history. By comparison, the church lost 8,588 members in the first seven months of 2016, before the online option was introduced. Still, church officials appear to...

My opinion of you is righteousness for I have loved you through all eternity . So catch up with my love for you just drink it in and fall into the pool of my complete acceptance for you have already been washed in my forgiveness so don't challenge my love just receive it for you are mine and I am yours woven through all eternity together as one. Come to me and the sound of my voice both through others gestures of my love through them and by my Spirit speaking to your heart for I have already given you...

A 38-year-old man with an Eritrean background was charged with four counts of rape in Oslo District Court on Monday, Nettavisen wrote. The man, who is registered as living in Vest-Agder county, is accused of having raped three different women whom he met in the capital. “There is nothing that points to these being attack rapes, but rather as I understand it attacks on women that he met in the city,” the man’s defense lawyer, Arne Gunnar Aas told Nettavisen. …

For the first time since the mid 1990s, Norway’s expenditures have exceeded state revenues. Figures released by Statistics Norway (SSB) on Tuesday show that the state’s total revenues in the second quarter of this year totaled 328 billion kroner, which is 2.3 percent less than in the same quarter of last year. […] “Reduced income from petroleum taxes and reduced surplus from the State’s Direct Financial Interest in petroleum activities (SDFI) account largely for the continued decrease in total revenue in Q2 2016,” SSB wrote. …

Earlier this year, Carlsen admitted in an interview with Norwegian TV-channel TV2 that he was "a huge fan" of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, something seldom uttered in Norway, where the mainstream media are strictly pro-Clinton and where Donald Trump is a standing subject of ridicule. Last week-end, however, the controversy flared up anew, as Carlsen's supposed sympathies with Trump were addressed again in his interview with Spain's second largest newspaper El Mundo. Carlsen expressed displeasure with how his words had been "twisted and turned," while at the same time snubbing Norwegian political correctness. "A few months ago I...

At a time when it often feels like we are more and more being split up into “us” and “them”, King Harald of Norway is being hailed for a speech that highlights our commonalities and embraces diversity and acceptance. […] “Norwegians come from the north of the country, from the middle, from the south and all the other regions. Norwegians are also immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Poland, Sweden, Somalia and Syria,” the king said. “Norwegians are girls who love girls. Boys who love boys. And boys and girls who love each other,” King Harald said. “Norwegians believe in God, Allah,...

"My living creatures surround you for you have arrived " I AM The Guardian of your life , Nothing exists or is unseen, For I AM The eyes of those that believe, In and through all things I created to be, I AM The Author of all that you see, And of the invisible I make myself known, I AM The Author of existence That turns over every stone, So nothing I say nothing surprises Me, As far as the east is from the west and beyond I see, So rest your wholeness in My fullness for this is where...

Norway is planning to build a steel fence at its only border crossing point with Russia, citing the necessity to deter refugees, after thousands for asylum seekers entered the Nordic country through the “Arctic route.” The new fence will be 200 meters long and 3.5 meters high and will stretch from the Storskog-Borisoglebsk border crossing that will also be equipped with new gates, Reuters reports, citing sources in the Norwegian government. The construction of the fence will be finished in the coming weeks before winter frosts set in to make it harder for illegal migrants to cross into Norway via...

There is no compromise in My Kingdom for I AM THE WORD ETERNAL therefore I AM both Provider and the lover of your soul. I know the plans I have for you and there is no need for you to compromise with the evil one for he has already been judged by me as un-righteous therefore remain in My will and in My WORD for it is your rudder and key to open each door I have set before you and it is My Spirit that moves these doors as you declare My will in your life. So come and...

Norway’s foreign minister and the head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee have taken the unusual step of speaking out against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Foreign Minister Børge Brende told broadcaster NRK on Monday that he has serious concerns about what Trump’s possible election could mean for Norway and the rest of the world. Brende condemned the brash businessman for making statements that “do not belong in the 21st century” and said he is continually flabbergasted by the controversial statements made by the Republican presidential candidate. …

Have you prayed for your intercessors today, For you see they need breakthrough in the very same way, They pour out their heart and time for you, Yes they are in this battle to, so as you awake let the Spirit guide your way, For as you pray for another your blessing arrives today, Your WellSpring "awakens" to the sound of Joy, Flooding your well and Living Water is deployed ~ ~ ~ For joy comes in the morning as you pray, Not just for yourself but for another each day . . . Psalm 30:5A For His anger is...

An American woman was killed and five other people injured in a stabbing attack in London’s Russell Square by a Norwegian man of Somali origin who was arrested after the incident, authorities said. "So far we have found no evidence of radicalization or anything that would suggest the man in our custody was motivated by terrorism," Rowley said. He said the woman who died was a 60-year-old American, and the five injured people are British, American, Israeli and Australian. None had life-threatening injuries. Two remain in a hospital, while three others have been discharged.

Here is what we know so far: A man targeted six people with a knife in Russell Square, central London, at around 10.30pm on Wednesday night. A woman, believed to have been in her 60s, was fatally stabbed and pronounced dead at the scene. A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. Two women and three men suffered "various injuries" in the attack, with two remaining in hospital and the other three discharged. *snip* Counter-terrorism officers are supporting the investigation into the incident, while Scotland Yard said early indications suggest mental health "was a factor". In an earlier...

A woman in her 60s has been killed and five other people injured in a knife attack in central London. Police were called to reports of an armed man attacking people in Russell Square at 10.33pm on Wednesday. A 19-year-old was arrested six minutes later at 10.39pm after a Taser was fired by one of the officers. He is now under police guard in hospital.

You "ARE" forgiven forever whether others forgive you or hold onto their guile "I" have forever set you free for I AM GOD and not man . So now walk in my forgiveness and take hold of this freedom and just fly for the Heavenlies "ARE REAL" and Zion is yours "Today" for you "ARE" seated with Me in Heavenly places even NOW ! Galatians 5:1 Walk by the Spirit 5 It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which...