Oslo - A former Norwegian top diplomat who in 1985 was given a 20-year sentence for espionage failed Monday to get a new hearing.

Arne Treholt's appeal was rejected by the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission which conducted a lengthy investigation, commission chairwoman Janne Kristiansen said. One of the five members on the panel favoured a new review, Kristiansen said.

The independent commission was created in 2004 and can order a review if "new evidence or new circumstances" come to light or if a criminal offence was committed by investigators, prosecutors, defence lawyer or others.

Oslo - House fires claimed ten lives across Norway this weekend, according to authorities.

Four bodies of people aged between 17 and 22 were found in the remains of a burned-out single-family home on the island of Hery on Sunday. The deceased had been attending a party in the house. Authorities said there might be further bodies, since 20 people had attended the party. No cause for the blaze had been established.

Oslo - Six people died in a fire in a residential building in the Norwegian capital Oslo early Saturday, possibly as a result of the fire alarm being switched off and the only emergency exit being nailed shut, according to the police.

Thirty-three residents of the building were caught unawares by the fire as most were asleep, the police said.

As the fire service arrived three minutes after the alarm was raised at 3:42 am, many of the mostly young residents were sitting dazed on window sills - some in just boxer shorts and T-shirts - waiting to be rescued by ladder.

Oslo - A Norwegian bishop who wracked up huge personal debts in an effort to help his son who lost millions on online gambling said Wednesday he was to step down next year.

Bishop Ernst Baasland of the city of Stavanger, western Norway, and his wife were declared bankrupt in September.

Press reports have suggested the son, 34, lost some 60 million kroner (10 million dollars) on online gambling sites.

Both Baasland and his wife borrowed large sums from friends, acquaintances and banks to help the son. They said the loans were intended for the son's IT business leading to questions if they deceived the creditors.

Oslo - Martti Ahtisaari, Finland's former president and winner of the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize, said Tuesday he was receiving numerous calls to mediate in various conflicts but had "no concrete project."

Before stepping in as a mediator, one must make a "feasibility study," he told reporters in Oslo the day before he was to accept the prestigious award.

Athtisaari, 71, hinted that he had been approached about Sri Lanka.

Oslo - Norwegian Parliament Speaker Thorbjorn Jagland was Wednesday named new chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee that selects the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The veteran Social Democrat has also held the posts of prime minister and foreign minister but earlier this year said he was leaving Norwegian politics.

Jagland, 58, succeeds Ole Danbolt Mjos as head of the five-member Nobel Committee as of January 2009.

The committee is elected by parliament, and each member sits for six years.

Mjos will December 10 present the Nobel Peace Prize to former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who was recognized for mediating in a number of international conflicts.