Oslo  - The Norwegian central bank on Wednesday lowered its lead rate a further 0.50 percentage points to 2.00 per cent, as part of attempts to reduce the impact of the weakened global economy on Norway.

The new cut takes effect Thursday, the central bank said.

Norges Bank deputy governor Jan F Qvigstad said in a statement that "the outlook for the global economy has deteriorated."

Trondheim, Norway  - Ole Einar Bjoernd

Trondheim, Norway  - Record winner Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won the men's 12.5-km pursuit race before home fans in Trondheim Saturday to increase his overall biathlon World Cup lead.

The 35-year-old veteran missed the target twice on his way to victory in 33 minutes 36.3 seconds, finishing 25.1 seconds ahead of Austria's Simon Eder and 25.3 seconds up on Poland's Tomasz Sikora.

With four events left, Bjoerndalen has 864 points, with Sikora on 828 and Russia's Maxim Tchoudov on 709.

Norway-based Telenor Group has made the payment of the first installment of Rs 1,250 crore in Unitech Wireless that gave it a stake of 33.5 per cent in the telecom JV.

With this investment, the Norwegian company has made a formal entry into the world’s fastest growing telecom sector.

Speaking on this, Telenor Group President and CEO, Jon Fredrik Baksaas said, “This marks the formal entry of Telenor into the world’s fastest growing mobile market and we are now embarking on an operational phase, and the preparations for the launch of our services.”

Oslo - Climate change poses the main threat to the world's polar bear population, the world's five biggest polar bear nations said Thursday.

Norway, Denmark/Greenland, Russia, the US and Canada all agreed in 1973 to sign an agreement protecting polar bears and their habitat.

But back then, hunting was regarded as the biggest threat to the bears.

Trondheim, Norway - Michael Greis enjoyed his second win of the biathlon World Cup season and the 11th of his career Thursday when the German claimed victory in a men's 10-kilometre sprint in Trondheim.

The three-time Olympic champion produced perfect shooting in the range to win in a time of 26 minutes 11.3 seconds.