Tag Archives: norway

World

Norway raises military alert in response to Ukraine war

Leave a comment

  • Hiked preparedness seen lasting a year, could be longer
  • Norway is now Europe’s largest gas supplier
  • Shares a border with Russia in the Arctic

OSLO, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Norway will put its military on a raised level of alert from Tuesday, moving more personnel on to operational duties and enhancing the role of a rapid mobilisation force in response to the war in Ukraine, the government said on Monday.

Norway will also seek to bring its new fleet of U.S.-made P-8 Poseidon submarine-hunting maritime patrol aircraft into regular operation at a faster pace than originally planned, the chief of defence, General Eirik Kristoffersen, said.

The scale of alert on which the military operates is classified, however, and the government declined to give details of the level.

There were no concrete threats against Norway now triggering the decision, Kristoffersen told Reuters, but rather the sum of “the uncertainties” was leading authorities to raise the country’s military preparedness.

“We have seen an escalation (in the war) in Ukraine, we (Norway) are training Ukrainian forces, the Ukraine war has changed with the Russian mobilisation,” he said an interview.

“And at the same time, we have had a gas explosion in the Baltic Sea and drone activity at North Sea platforms.”

The raised level is expected to last a year, “possibly more”, Kristoffersen added.

OFFSHORE PLATFORMS

Norway first deployed its military to guard offshore platforms and onshore facilities after leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines on Sept. 26 in Swedish and Danish waters and has received support from British, Dutch, French and German armed forces.

The country’s security police last week arrested a suspected Russian spy and is also involved in protecting gas exports, vital to Europe’s energy supplies this coming winter.

NATO member Norway shares a nearly 200 km (125 mile) land border with Russia in the Arctic, as well as a vast maritime border.

The Nordic nation of 5.4 million people is also now the biggest exporter of natural gas to the European Union, accounting for around a quarter of all EU imports after a drop in Russian flows.

“The continuation of the war in Ukraine, Russia’s attempts at weakening (international) support for Ukraine mean that all countries in Europe must consider that they are exposed to hybrid threats. Including Norway.” Prime Minister Jonas Garh Stoere told Reuters.

The armed forces will spend less time training and more time on operational duties. The Home Guard, a rapid mobilisation force, will play a more active role.

The air force had called off training in the United States with its F35 fighter jets, preferring to keep them in Norway, said Kristoffersen.

Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; Writing by Terje Solsvik; Editing by John Stonestreet, Alison Williams and Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Gwladys Fouche

Thomson Reuters

Oversees news coverage from Norway for Reuters and loves flying to Svalbard in the Arctic, oil platforms in the North Sea, and guessing who is going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Born in France and with Reuters since 2010, she has worked for The Guardian, Agence France-Presse and Al Jazeera English, among others, and speaks four languages.

Read original article here

World

Suspected Russian spy arrested by Norway attended conference on hybrid warfare

Leave a comment

Comment

BRUSSELS — The suspected Russian spy arrested in Norway this week attended a seminar on hybrid threats recently that included a scenario about responding to a pipeline explosion, according to Norwegian media, a coordinator for the group that hosted the event, and a photograph from the event.

Norwegian security officials this week announced they had arrested a man claiming to be a Brazilian academic conducting research on Arctic issues in the city of Tromso who they believe is, in fact, a Russian “illegal.” He has been identified in news reports as José Assis Giammaria.

The arrest comes after at least seven Russians — including the son of a close associate of President Vladimir Putin’s — were detained in recent weeks for flying drones or taking pictures near sensitive areas.

Norway on edge over drone sightings, arrest of son of Putin confidant

Norway and other countries in Europe are rushing to secure critical infrastructure after the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines. In recent months, there have been multiple drone sightings in Norway’s offshore oil and gas fields and at Norwegian airports.

The Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang first reported Thursday that the suspect attended the Sept. 29-30 seminar in Vilnius, Lithuania, on countering hybrid threats.

The seminar was hosted by EU-HYBNET, a European network on hybrid threats, which include sabotage, disinformation, cyberattacks and other means of fighting outside traditional state-to-state military conflict. The organization’s website and a conference brochure say the group is funded by the European Commission. A spokesperson for the commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Paivi Mattila, a professor at Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland who coordinates EU-HYBNET program, confirmed by phone that the suspected spy attended the event. She said he did not go through a security check but declined to comment further, citing the investigation.

An image shared on Twitter by Mykolas Romeris University, shows Giammaria seated among workshop participants at the event organized with the Lithuanian Cybercrime Center for Excellence for Training, Research and Education on Sept. 29.

A brochure for the seminar in Vilnius says participants in the event would examine different scenarios, including one case of a “gas flow shutdown after a gas pipeline explosion.” In the case study, the “initial findings support the assumption that probably it is about a sabotage and not an accident.”

E.U. warns of ‘robust’ response against sabotage after Nord Stream blasts

Information about the suspect is still emerging. Norwegian domestic security officials announced the arrest this week, saying the suspect posed “a threat to fundamental national interests.”

There is concern he “may have acquired a network and information about Norwegian politics of the northern area,” Deputy Chief Hedvig Moe of the Norwegian Police Security Service told Norwegian media. Even if information the person acquired does not directly compromise Norway’s security, it could be misused by Russia, she said.

As of Oct. 21 Giammaria was listed as a researcher at the Norwegian think tank ‘The Grey Zone’ at The Arctic University of Norway. He is no longer listed on their site.”

Before moving to Norway, the suspect lived in Canada, where he attended the University of Ottawa and the University of Calgary. While in Ottawa, he volunteered to canvas for a local political campaign, according to Global News.

In 2019, he wrote an article for the Canadian Naval Review. The article, titled “Third Base: The Case for CFB Churchill,” argues in favor of establishing a naval base in Canada’s north.

The case comes months after another suspected Russian “illegal” was arrested in the Netherlands. In that case, a suspected Russian spy claimed to be a Brazilian seeking an internship at the International Criminal Court. He had previously studied in the United States.

Read original article here

World

Norway arrests Russians for flying drones near energy infrastructure

Leave a comment

Comment

BRUSSELS — Norwegian officials warned Thursday that there could be more arrests after at least seven Russians — including the son of a close associate of President Vladimir Putin — were detained in the span of weeks for flying drones or taking pictures near sensitive areas, prompting an investigation by the domestic intelligence service.

The news comes as Norway and other countries move to secure critical infrastructure in the wake of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It follows weeks of reports of drone sightings in its vast offshore oil and gas fields, as well as recent sightings at Norwegian airports.

On Wednesday, Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, blamed foreign intelligence — and indirectly pointed a finger a Russia. “It is not acceptable that foreign intelligence is flying drones over Norwegian airports. Russians are not allowed to fly drones in Norway,” he said, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

European leaders blame Russian ‘sabotage’ after Nord Stream explosions

Offshore oil and gas installations are central to Norway’s economy. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has become a critical supplier to energy-starved Europe.

Store’s remarks came hours after a drone was spotted near the airport in Bergen, the country’s second-most-populous city, temporarily shutting down air traffic.

Authorities also disclosed the arrest of a dual Russian-British national who stands accused of flying a drone over Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, allegedly violating a rule that bars Russian citizens from flying drones in the country.

The man, Andrey Yakunin, 47, is the son of Vladimir Yakunin, a former president of Russian Railways and a confidant of Putin. The elder Yakunin was sanctioned by the United States in the wake of Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea.

When the younger Yakunin was arrested, police also seized drones and electronic devices, police prosecutor Anja Mikkelsen Indbjor told the Barents Observer. “The content from the drone is of great importance for the case.”

The younger Yakunin, who was once featured in a Financial Times story about using his 88-foot sailing yacht to go skiing in Norway’s remote Arctic, reportedly asked the court to consider him a British citizen.

His lawyer, John Christian Elden, said in an email that his client is a British citizen, who studied, works and has family there.

Elden did not deny Yakunin piloted a drone but said doing so was illegal for Russian citizens, not British citizens.

Yakunin’s arrest comes nearly a week after Norwegian police arrested a Russian man for flying a drone above an airport in Tromso, in northern Norway. On Friday, the authorities seized a “large” amount of photography equipment, including the drone and memory cards. Police also discovered photos of the airport in Kirkenes, a Norwegian town near the Russian border, and of a Norwegian military helicopter.

Norway is portrayed as both hero and villain in Europe’s energy crisis

A 50-year-old Russian man was detained the same day at Norway’s border with Russia after he was found to be carrying two drones and several electronic storage devices, according to the Associated Press. Four other Russians were detained days later for taking pictures of areas that are not allowed to be photographed, according to Norwegian officials.

Norwegian authorities have said that there is a heightened, but overall low risk of an attack on critical infrastructure, and that the purpose of the drones may be to create fear.

Read original article here

Health

Frozen embryos tied to higher risk of high blood pressure-related pregnancy complications, study suggests

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Pregnancies from in vitro fertilization using frozen embryos appear to be linked to an increased risk of complications related to high blood pressure, or hypertensive disorders, compared with when fresh embryos are used or when a pregnancy is conceived naturally.

That’s according to a study published Monday in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, which included data on more than 4.5 million pregnancies, spanning almost three decades, across three European nations: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

The risk of pregnancy complications related to high blood pressure was higher after the transfer of frozen embryos compared with naturally conceived pregnancies, and the risk following fresh embryo transfers was similar to that of naturally conceived pregnancies, the data shows.

More research is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge in the United States.

The researchers – from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and other institutions in Europe – analyzed medical birth registries from Denmark that were dated between 1994 and 2014, from Norway dated 1984 to 2015, and from Sweden dated 1985 to 2015. The registries included about 4.4 million pregnancies naturally conceived, 78,300 pregnancies that used fresh embryo transfer and 18,037 pregnancies from frozen embryo transfer.

The researchers compared odds of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy across the groups and found that the unadjusted risk of such disorders was 7.4% after frozen embryo transfer, 5.9% after fresh embryo transfer and 4.3% after natural conception. The data also showed that pregnancies from frozen and fresh embryo transfer were more frequently preterm – 6.6% of the frozen and 8.1% of the fresh, respectively – compared with naturally conceived pregnancies, at 5%.

“Frozen embryo transfers are now increasingly common all over the world, and in the last few years, some doctors have begun skipping fresh embryo transfer to routinely freeze all embryos in their clinical practice, the so-called ‘freeze-all’ approach,” lead study author Dr. Sindre H. Petersen, a Ph.D. fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, said in a news release Monday.

“In summary, although most IVF pregnancies are healthy and uncomplicated,” he said, “this analysis found that the risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy was substantially higher after frozen embryo transfer compared to pregnancies from fresh embryo transfer or natural conception.”

Petersen added, “Our results highlight that careful consideration of all benefits and potential risks is needed before freezing all embryos as a routine in clinical practice.”

The findings are “in agreement with earlier population-level studies” showing a higher risk of hypertensive disorders during pregnancy after frozen embryo transfer, the researchers wrote in their study.

Last year, a large study out of France presented at the online annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology also found a higher risk of pre-eclampsia and hypertension in pregnancies derived from frozen-thawed embryos – and the risk was found to be greater when the uterus was prepared for implantation with hormone replacement therapies.

“The association between frozen embryo cycles and hypertensive disease in pregnancy has been known for a while, and there is still currently an active debate around the pros and cons of ‘Freeze all for all?’ amongst fertility doctors,” Dr. Ying Cheong, professor of reproductive medicine at the University of Southampton, said in a statement distributed by the UK-based Science Media Centre in July. She was not involved in either study.

“There are two important points to take home here, firstly, whilst frozen embryo transfer technology has transformed reproductive medicine, FET must only be performed where clinically appropriate and secondly, clinicians and scientists need to start joining the dots between what happens at early development and later at birth and beyond, a research area, in my opinion, that is still poorly supported and studied,” Cheong said.

The new study did not evaluate what could be driving this association between frozen embryo transfers and high blood pressure risks, but some IVF doctors question whether it is really fresh vs. frozen.

“There is one thing that is not clear: is it from the actual procedure of freezing the embryo or is it from the protocol used? Most IVF doctors believe from recent studies and evidence that it’s actually the medication protocol, not the IVF procedure,” Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, a San Francisco-based reproductive endocrinologist, who was not involved in the new study, wrote in an email to CNN on Monday.

“There are different ways to prepare a uterus for transfer,” she said. One protocol involves a corpus luteum cyst, a fluid-filled mass that forms in the ovaries and plays an important role during pregnancy, as the corpus luteum produces the hormone progesterone that is needed during pregnancy. Another protocol relies on medications to mimic ovulation.

“Studies show that it’s the lack of corpus luteum that increases the risk and this is potentially why a frozen transfer may have a higher risk of pre-eclampsia,” Eyvazzadeh wrote.

Overall, the new study is “very important” for “anyone taking care of pregnant people after IVF,” she wrote. “Everyone taking care of pregnant people after IVF should pay extremely close attention to this study. More and more studies are showing what IVF doctors already know and that is that IVF after frozen embryo transfer can increase risk of pre-eclampsia.”

Read original article here

Business

The U.S. looks to rival Europe and Asia with massive floating offshore wind plan

Leave a comment

The Block Island Wind Farm, photographed in 2016, is located in waters off the east coast of the United States.

DON EMMERT | AFP | Getty Images

The White House said Thursday it was targeting 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by the year 2035, as it looks to compete with Europe and Asia in the nascent sector.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is launching coordinated actions to develop new floating offshore wind platforms, an emerging clean energy technology that will help the United States lead on offshore wind,” a statement, which was also published by U.S. Department of the Interior, said.

The announcement said the 15 GW goal would provide sufficient clean energy to power more than 5 million homes. It builds on the administration’s aim of hitting 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, an existing ambition which will mostly be met by fixed-bottom installations.

Alongside the 15 GW ambition, a “Floating Offshore Wind Shot” would “aim to reduce the costs of floating technologies by more than 70% by 2035, to $45 per megawatt-hour,” the statement added.

“Bringing floating offshore wind technology to scale will unlock new opportunities for offshore wind power off the coasts of California and Oregon, in the Gulf of Maine, and beyond,” it said.

Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

Floating offshore wind turbines are different to fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines, which are rooted to the seabed. One advantage of floating turbines is that they can be installed in far deeper waters compared to fixed-bottom ones.

In a fact sheet outlining its plans, the U.S. Department of Energy said around two thirds of America’s offshore wind potential existed “over bodies of water too deep for ‘fixed-bottom’ wind turbine foundations that are secured to the sea floor.”

“Harnessing power over waters hundreds to thousands of feet deep requires floating offshore wind technology — turbines mounted to a floating foundation or platform that is anchored to the seabed with mooring lines,” it said. “These installations are among the largest rotating machines ever constructed.”

In recent years, a number of large companies have made plays in the floating offshore wind sector.

Back in 2017, Norwegian energy firm Equinor — a major player in oil and gas — opened Hywind Scotland, a five turbine, 30 megawatt facility it calls the “world’s first floating wind farm.”

Last year also saw a number of major developments in the emerging industry.

In Aug. 2021, RWE Renewables and Kansai Electric Power signed an agreement that would see the two businesses “jointly study the feasibility of a large-scale floating offshore wind project” in waters off Japan’s coast.

Norwegian company Statkraft also announced that a long-term purchasing agreement related to a large floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, had started. And a few months later, in Dec. 2021, plans for three major offshore wind developments in Australia — two of which are slated to incorporate floating wind tech — were announced.

When it comes to offshore wind more broadly, the U.S. has a long way to go to catch up with Europe.

The country’s first offshore wind facility, the 30 MW Block Island Wind Farm, only started commercial operations in late 2016.

In comparison, Europe installed 17.4 GW of wind power capacity in 2021, according to figures from industry body WindEurope.

Change is coming, however, and in Nov. 2021 ground was broken on a project dubbed the United States’ first commercial scale offshore wind farm.

Read original article here

World

Fundraiser for statue of Freya, walrus euthanized by Norway, launches

Leave a comment

Placeholder while article actions load

A fundraising campaign has been launched to build a statue in memory of Freya, a 1,300-pound walrus euthanized this week by Norwegian authorities, who said she was a threat to human safety.

Freya the walrus, who charmed crowds in Norway, is killed by authorities

The young female walrus — nicknamed after the Norse goddess of beauty and love — had been making a splash in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, since mid-July, napping on boats and sunbathing on piers.

Officials decided to euthanize the walrus in the early hours of Sunday local time after the public ignored repeated warnings to keep their distance from her. Authorities had considered relocating the walrus but ultimately decided the operation was too risky. Marine experts say there’s a chance a sedated marine mammal could drown.

Many people denounced the decision as a national shame. Some raised questions about why authorities didn’t attempt to move the walrus to a safer area or wait for her to leave on her own once summer crowds dispersed.

Freya’s death “has a strong negative signal effect that we in Norway, and especially Oslo, are not able to provide living space for wild animals,” the organizers of the fundraiser wrote in their appeal.

“By erecting a statue of the symbol Freya quickly became, we will always remind ourselves (and future generations) that we cannot or should not always kill and remove nature when it is ‘in the way,’ ” they added.

The campaign had raised close to $20,000 as of Wednesday, and the organizers said several sculptors had expressed interest in creating the statue. In the event that the project does not move ahead, any donations will go to the Norwegian branch of the World Wildlife Fund, they said.

Officials in Oslo did not immediately respond to a query on whether they had been asked about placing a statue in the city.

Walruses normally live in the ice-covered waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. There are approximately 25,000 Atlantic walruses and 200,000 Pacific walruses in the wild. They typically rest on sea ice between feeding bouts.

However, climate change is increasingly driving animals far from their natural habitats. A beluga whale trapped in a river northwest of Paris, far from its home in the Arctic, died this month as rescuers attempted to get the 13-foot mammal back to the coast.

Beluga whale dies after French rescuers lift 13-foot mammal from Seine

Freya had also been seen along the coasts of several European countries in recent months, including Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands.

“Sadly, it’s going to get worse as we get more of these polar species starting to come to different waters,” said Karen Stockin, a marine ecologist at New Zealand’s Massey University. New Zealand is experiencing similar challenges in managing marine mammals, including sea lions and leopard seals, which venture to the Pacific nation from the Antarctic.

‘Cheeky’ sea lions are returning to New Zealand’s shores — and locals are learning to share the coast

“Our days of having more clear, definite boundaries between some of these animals and our own existence — with climate change — is going to get less. We’re going to have more overlap in our communities and our coastal environment. And therefore, people will need to plan for it,” said Stockin, who spent the past few days rescuing a pod of wild dolphins stranded on an island off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand.

The frenzy of attention Freya garnered during her time in Oslo — crowds swarming within feet of the walrus — showed that more needs to be done to educate the public on how to stay safe, marine experts say. Officials published a photo Sunday of scores of people crowded on a pier near the animal.

“You wouldn’t be on the Serengeti and thinking it is okay to be up close and personal with a lion,” Stockin said. She said that in cases such as Freya’s, authorities should focus on “people management, not animal management.”

“Something weird happens when it comes to marine mammals. People will get far closer than they ever would with any typically sized terrestrial wild animal. It’s nuts,” Stockin said. “And if it’s not adequately managed by authorities … it’s the animal that suffers.”



Read original article here

World

Freya the walrus euthanized after drawing crowds to Norway fjord

Leave a comment

Placeholder while article actions load

Freya, a 1,300-pound walrus who spent the summer lolling about on boats and basking on piers in Oslo fjord, delighting many locals, has been killed by Norwegian authorities, who say she was a threat to human safety.

Norway’s fisheries directorate said the decision to euthanize the walrus in the early hours of Sunday local time came after the public ignored repeated warnings to keep their distance from Freya.

“I am firm that this was the right call. We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence,” the head of Norway’s fisheries directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said in a statement.

The young female walrus — nicknamed after the Norse goddess of beauty and love — has been making a splash in the Norwegian capital since mid-July, apparently lapping up the attention in what some media reports described as her “hot girl summer.” Verdens Gang, a Norwegian tabloid, set up a 24-hour live camera to film her exploits.

The decision to euthanize Freya caused an immediate backlash on social media, with many people denouncing the decision as a national shame. Some raised questions about why authorities didn’t attempt to move the walrus to a safer area.

‘Cheeky’ sea lions are returning to New Zealand’s shores — and locals are learning to share the coast

Bakke-Jensen said moving the marine mammal was thoroughly considered with the help of experts at the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Authorities concluded that the complexity of the operation meant that “this was not a viable option,” he said.

He added that there were “several animal welfare concerns associated with a possible relocation.” He did not detail those concerns.

Transporting animals carries big risks. A beluga whale trapped in a river northwest of Paris died this month as rescuers were attempting to get the 13-foot mammal back to the coast, despite a huge operation that involved 80 people — divers, scientists, police and firefighters.

After realizing it was too weak to survive, authorities decided to euthanize the suffering animal, they said. It was not clear how the whale, which weighed more than 1,700 pounds, had strayed so far from the Arctic waters that make up its natural habitat.

Beluga whale dies after French rescuers lift 13-foot mammal from Seine

Freya had also been sighted along the coasts of several European countries in recent months, including Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands. (The young walrus once hitched a lift on a Dutch submarine. Appropriately, it belonged to the Walrus class of vessels.)

Walruses normally live in the ice-covered waters of Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and Alaska. There are approximately 25,000 Atlantic walruses and 200,000 Pacific walruses in the wild. They typically rest on sea ice between feeding bouts.

The marine mammals are protected in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit last year ruled that the Trump administration acted improperly in its decision to deny listing the Pacific walrus as threatened or endangered in 2017.

As the climate warms, wildlife advocates worry melting sea ice is causing walruses to rest more often on land — and driving them farther from their traditional fishing habitats.

Antarctica’s ‘sleeping giant’ risks melting, threatens spike in sea levels

Walruses are also being exposed to more shipping, tourism, industry and noise, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The animals are easily spooked and can stampede in an attempt to reach the safety of the water.

In one recent video from Oslo, a trio on a Jet Ski pulled up within feet of a boat where Freya was napping, while several onlookers watched from the jetty. Officials on Sunday published a photo of scores of people crowded on a pier within feet of the animal, their faces blurred for privacy.

“Through on-site observations the past week it was made clear that the public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus,” Bakke-Jensen said. “The possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained,” he added.

Rune Aae, a researcher at the University of South-Eastern Norway, who had been tracking the walrus via the Facebook group “Freya the walrus — where is she now?,” criticized Norway’s decision to euthanize Freya as “hasty” and “completely unnecessary.”

School holidays are almost over for the summer, and the curious onlookers who have gathered to observe the walrus in the waters of Norway’s capital will soon disperse, Aae wrote Sunday.

Another walrus, nicknamed Wally, was spotted off the coast of Britain last year and made it as far as northern Spain before apparently heading back to the Arctic.

Ellen Francis contributed to this report



Read original article here

World

Freya the walrus euthanised after crowds at Oslo fjord refuse to stay away | Norway

Leave a comment

A walrus nicknamed Freya that attracted crowds while basking in the sun in the Oslo fjord has been euthanised.

“The decision to euthanise was taken on the basis of a global evaluation of the persistent threat to human security,” the head of Norway’s fisheries directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said in a statement.

“We carefully examined all the possible solutions. We concluded that we could not guarantee the wellbeing of the animal by any of the means available,” he said.

Officials had previously said they were considering euthanasia because repeated appeals to the public to keep their distance from the young female weighing 600kg (1,300lb) had been in vain.

Freya, whose name was a reference to the Norse goddess of beauty and love, had been making headlines since 17 July when she was first spotted in the waters of the Norwegian capital.

Walruses normally live in the even more northerly latitudes of the Arctic.

Between long naps – a walrus can sleep up to 20 hours a day – Freya was filmed chasing a duck, attacking a swan and, more often than not, dozing on boats struggling to support her bulk.

Despite repeated appeals, curious onlookers continued to approach her, sometimes with children in tow, to take photographs.

Freya had already been sighted in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden and chose to spend part of the summer in Norway.

Freya first gained notoriety in Norway by climbing on to pleasure boats in Kragerø, an idyllic southern coastal village.

The walrus is a protected species that feeds mainly on invertebrates such as molluscs, shrimps, crabs and small fish.

Read original article here

World

Freya, the 1,300-pound walrus sinking boats in Norway, euthanized

Leave a comment

Freya became a social media sensation this summer, Rune Aae, who teaches biology at the University of South-Eastern Norway and manages a Google map of Freya sightings, told CNN. The young female walrus had been spending time at the Oslo Fjord, an inlet on the country’s southeastern coast, and was seemingly unafraid of humans, unlike most walruses. Several popular videos show the walrus clambering onto small boats to sunbathe.

In the past week, the directorate warned the public to stay away from Freya, saying that they had observed visitors swimming with Freya, throwing objects at her, and getting dangerously close to her to take photos. “The public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus,” Nadia Jdaini, spokesperson for the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, told CNN in an email.

Previously, the directorate told CNN that it was considering multiple solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord. But “the extensive complexity of such an operation made us conclude that this was not a viable option,” Bakke-Jensen said in the news release.

“We have sympathies for the fact that the decision can cause reactions with the public, but I am firm that this was the right call,” Bakke-Jensen continued. “We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.” The directorate included a photo of a large crowd seemingly just feet away from Freya in its release.

Female walruses weigh between 600 and 900 kilograms, or around 1,300 to 2,000 pounds, said Jdaini. There are over 25,000 Atlantic walruses making their homes in the icy waters around Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The marine mammals migrate along the coast to feed on mollusks and other invertebrates in shallow waters.

Usually, the marine mammals are wary of humans and stay on the outer edges of Norway’s coast. Aae, the biology professor tracking Freya sightings, said that the last time a walrus was documented this far south in the North Sea was 2013. “It’s not common at all,” he said — which led crowds of Norwegians flocking to see Freya.

“Normally, walruses will show up on some islands, but they will leave quite soon, because they’re afraid of people,” said Aae.

But Freya “is not afraid of people,” he said. “Actually, I think she likes people. So that’s why she’s not leaving.”

In a Facebook post after Freya’s death was announced, Aae condemned the directorate’s decision to euthanize her as “too hasty.” He said that fisheries staff were monitoring her with a patrol boat to ensure the public’s safety and that she would likely leave the fjord soon, as she had on her previous visits in the spring.

Freya would have “sooner or later gotten out of the Oslofjord, which all previous experience has shown, so euthanasia was, in my view, completely unnecessary,” he wrote.

“What a shame!”

Read original article here

World

Ukraine fires ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway, Hungary

Leave a comment

Ukraine dismissed five ambassadors in a diplomatic shakeup Saturday.

Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary were given the boot, Ukraine’s presidential website revealed. The decree offered no explanation for the move.

It was not immediately clear if the envoys would be assigned new positions, but the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported Andriy Melnyk, who had served in Germany for more than 7 years, will be reassigned to another posting in Kyiv,

Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and military aid for Ukraine.

Kyiv’s relations with Germany, which relies heavily on Russian oil and natural gas to fuel Europe’s biggest economy, are particularly sensitive.

Melnyk, 46, won praise for his aggressive efforts to push for more German backing for the war — he once accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of behaving like an “offended liver sausage.”

Diplomat Andriy Melnyk, who had served in Germany for more than 7 years, will be reassigned to another posting in Kyiv.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

But controversial comments last week from the outspoken ambassador, who was appointed by Zelensky’s predecessor, about Stepan Bandera, a Ukranian nationalist leader implicated in collaboration Nazi Germany during World War II, put him in the spotlight in a negative way.

With Post Wires

Read original article here

The Ultimate News Site