The incidents of Kona EV battery fire continue to mar the reputation of South Korea-headquartered Hyundai Motor Company as the latest fire incident took place in the Norwegian city of Olso on 21st

Oslo - Interest in the Arctic region has increased as the melting of the Arctic polar cap continues, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said Wednesday in summing up Norway's chairmanship of the eight-country Arctic Council.

The melting sea ice allows for new potential shipping routes, and also opens up new areas for exploration of oil and gas and other minerals, but also poses a threat to sensitive ecosystems.

Oslo - Nobel Peace laureate Al Gore called for more action to tackle global warming Tuesday on the eve of a gathering in northern Norway of eight countries grouped in the Arctic Council. The former US president who won the 2007 prize for his efforts to highlight climate change was co-host of a meeting in the city of Tromso with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

"Climate change is happening faster and in a dramatically more visible way in the Arctic and Antarctic than anywhere else on earth," Store said in his opening remarks.

Oslo  - Eleven mainly African countries are to be offered cheaper, more effective malaria drugs as part of a partnership between international agencies and governments, officials said Friday.

Benin, Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda are the first countries to take part of the programme - launched in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

Oslo - A Norwegian officer was killed Friday by a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, Norway's defence forces, in a disclosure some hours after Afghan officials had reported a suicide attack but had spoken only of two wounded soldiers.

The Norwegian military in Olso said the officer was flown by helicopter to the German field hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif where he was pronounced dead.

Another Norwegian was in the same vehicle. A second vehicle with two Norwegians was also part of the patrol.

Oslo - A Norwegian man lost his driver's license after police had to pursue him at speeds of over 120 kilometres per hour while he was driving and engaged in sex with a female companion at the same time, reports said Monday. The daily Drammens Tidende cited a police report which said police had seen a car zig-zagging on the highway on Easter Sunday, speeding along at 123 kilometres per hour, well over the 100 kilometres limit.