Oslo - Suspected Somali pirates arrested by Norwegian naval forces would be sent to Kenya to stand trial, the Norway's Defence Minister Grete Faremo said Wednesday.

Faremo told the Bergens Tidende newspaper that even if conditions in Kenyan detention centres were not comparable with those of Norwegian prisons, trials would not be held in Norway.

The move was in line with that of the European Union, although Norway is not a member of the 27-nation bloc.

Monday, U.S.-based Cisco Systems, Inc, along with postponing the offer period for Norway's Tandberg ASA, also increased its cash offer for the same to 170 Norwegian kroner a share from NOK153.50 a share offered earlier.  

Cisco explained that the new offer represents the final price for this transaction. However, the company, if fails to get the wanted 90% level of acceptances; may also withdraw the offer.  

Tandberg's shares are valued at around NOK19 billion ($3.41 billion) by the raised offer.

Oslo  - A lithography by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was stolen late Thursday in a break-in at an art dealer in Oslo, police and media said Friday.

"It is a unique hand-coloured print," Pascal Nyborg who runs the art dealership told broadcaster NRK. He declined to state its value.

According to Nyborg the thief or thieves apparently did not touch any other works, and smashed one of the front windows opening on to the street.

A van used in the break-in was found a few blocks away from the art dealership and is being investigated by police.

Oslo - A Norwegian journalist and his Afghan interpreter who were kidnapped a week ago in eastern Afghanistan have been freed, the Norwegian foreign ministry said Thursday.

The November 5 abduction took place near the Pakistan border, the ministry statement said, saying the reporter himself had initially contacted the Norwegian embassy in Kabul about the kidnapping.

There were no details if ransom had been paid.

Oslo - Norwegian King Harald and Queen Sonja are not expected to meet with the increasingly frail former South African president Nelson Mandela during a state visit to South Africa later this month, reports said Thursday.

The royals had hoped to pay a courtesy call on Mandela, 91, during their November 24-27 visit, the Oslo daily Aftenposten said.

The Norwegian embassy was however informed it was "not possible" when it approached the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Marie Borgyad of the Norwegian foreign ministry told the newspaper.

Oslo - Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store arrived Wednesday in Afghanistan for an unannounced two-day visit including talks with President Hamid Karzai, the Foreign Ministry in Oslo said.

"Afghanistan needs an effective, legitimate and inclusive leadership," Store said in a statement, adding there was also need for better coordination of international efforts.

Karzai was recently declared the winner of the August presidential election.

Oslo - Norway's government pension fund has seen a third-quarter gain of 13.5 per cent to 325 billion kroner (57 billion dollars) on the back of rising share prices, fund managers Norges Bank said Tuesday.

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund - Global, was worth some 2.54 trillion kroner at the end of the quarter, the central bank said.

The fund invests income from the country's petroleum and gas riches with entities outside of Norway for the country's future health and pension expenditure.

The popular saying, extreme of everything is bad, is applicable in case of physical workout also. It is a known fact that physical workout is necessary to keep body fit, but exercising daily to the point of exhaustion can also create problems.

Recent study has shown that extreme workout can create problem in starting a family. Excess of physical exercise drains the energy, from a woman’s body energy, needed for a successful pregnancy. Extreme exercising can also amplify the risk of fertility problems by three-fold.

Oslo - Helping Afghans claim their future was the main theme of a meeting between NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo Friday.

"The way forward is that the Afghan people and government take responsibility for security in Afghanistan," Rasmussen said. "Our mission in Afghanistan ends when Afghanistan is capable to take charge of its security. That is what we will help with."

Oslo  - Norwegian energy giant Statoil's net income increased by 6 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 despite lower oil and gas prices, the state-owned group said Wednesday.

Net income for the quarter was 6.6 billion kroner (1.1 billion dollars) compared to 6.3 billion kroner for the corresponding quarter 2008.

Net operating income declined 40 per cent to 28.3 billion kroner, while year-on-year revenues fell 30 per cent to 122 billion kroner, Statoil said.

Oslo/Belgrade - Cooperation between authorities in Serbia and Norway has resulted in the recent arrest of several suspects in the Scandinavian country, Norwegian police said Tuesday.

Norwegian police have cooperated "extremely well" with Serbian police on the matter, Norwegian police prosecutor Havard Kampen said in a statement to the German Press Agency, dpa.

Citing the ongoing investigation, the Norwegian Criminal Investigation Service declined to go into details about the suspects or what crime they were suspected of planning.

Oslo/Belgrade - Cooperation between authorities in Serbia and Norway has resulted in the recent arrest of several suspects in the Scandinavian country, Norwegian police said Tuesday.

Norwegian police have cooperated "extremely well" with Serbian police on the matter, Norwegian police prosecutor Havard Kampen said in a statement to the German Press Agency, dpa.

Citing the ongoing investigation, the Norwegian Criminal Investigation Service declined to go into details about the suspects or what crime they were suspected of planning.

Oslo - Norway had as of Thursday registered a higher number of swine flu cases and fatalities than its Nordic neighbours, sparking speculation of a possible mutation of the A(H1N1) virus.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health reported Norway has registered 13 deaths, neighbouring Sweden has to date had two, and Denmark none.

The institute however said that tests so far have shown that the virus was the same as in neighbouring countries.

Oslo  - Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor reported higher third-quarter net profits Thursday and said it has added 4 million mobile phone subscribers to its business.

Net profit from continuing operations was 4.1 billion kroner (722 million dollars), compared to 3.49 billion kroner in the corresponding business period 2008.

Sales in the quarter were 24.3 billion kroner, compared to 23.4 billion kroner in third quarter of 2008.

The group has some 172 million mobile subscribers worldwide.

Oslo - A random spot check by Norwegian customs officials resulted in the find of 14 baby pythons and 10 albino gecko lizzards strapped to the would-be smuggler's body, reports said Monday.

The incident took place Sunday when a man arriving with a passenger ferry from Denmark was stopped for a spot check. When customs officials found a box containing a tarantula in his luggage, they decided to search him more thoroughly.

The man then admitted that he was carrying other reptiles, a customs official told the regional Faedrelandsvennen newspaper.

Oslo - All citizens of Norway were urged Friday to vaccinate themselves against the A(H1N1) virus, or swine flu.

The Nordic country of 4.8 million people has registered 10 deaths among more than 2,000 cases reported.

"Norway is well prepared for this pandemic," Health Minister Anne-Grete Strom-Erichsen said at a news conference, saying enough vaccines had been ordered for the whole population.

Oslo  - The Norwegian King Harald V is to offer US President Barack Obama board and lodging if need be when the US leader visits Oslo to collect his Nobel Peace Prize in December.

Palace spokesman Sven Gj Gjeruldsen told the Friday edition of the Aftenposten newspaper that the king had invited the president to stay at the royal palace in connection with the Nobel ceremony.

The president was to be offered the Haakon VII Suite, first used in 1907, the report said.

Should US First Lady Michelle Obama accompany the president to the December 10 ceremony, the Norwegian monarch can offer the Queen Maud Suite, the daily reported.

Las Vegas/San Francisco  - A 19-year-old Norwegian won the world Monopoly championship Thursday after his main opponent from New Zealand went bankrupt by landing on two expensive properties, game maker Hasbro announced.

Bjorn Halvard Knappskog won 20,580 dollars in real money for his victory - the equivalent of the bank in the standard Monopoly game.

Knappskog was seeded 16th in the competition and had to overcome three former world champions for his win. In the final game, he played against competitors from the United States, Russia and New Zealand and beat them by building heavily on his properties, allowing him to charge high rent when the other players landed on them.

Moscow - Russian president Dmitry Medvedev welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize going to US President Barack Obama, according to a Kremlin statement reported by Interfax news agency Saturday.

The award was "a realistic assessment of world political developments," Medvedev was quoted as saying, adding: "I hope this decision serves as a further impulse for our joint efforts to create a new climate in international politics."

Medvedev said he was ready to develop constructively relations between Russia and the US, which had to show mutual respect for the sake of world peace and stability. (dpa)

Brasilia  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the Nobel Peace Prize is in good hands with his US counterpart, Barack Obama.

Obama deserved the award because of his push for nuclear disarmament, Lula said Friday.

"I hope that we really will have peace in the world and no more atomic bombs," Lula said.

In Colombia, Senator Piedad Cordoba, who had also been nominated for the 2009 prize, called for Obama to help solve the decades-old conflict in Colombia.