The four men went out to try and get straggling sheep back to the lowlands — sheep who slipped through the metaphorical net during the round-up in the autumn. They set off in a 4×4 vehicle and with snowmobiles; but had not been heard from since Saturday morning.

All east Iceland rescue teams were called into action; all the way from Vopnafjörður in the northeast to Höfn í Hornafirði in the southeast. The search area was reportedly very big, a statement from ICE-SAR (Iceland Search & Rescue) states.

Shortly into the search effort yesterday teams also started checking mountainside emergency shelters and tracing the course of known roads and trails in search of the men’s vehicles.

Their car was found yesterday evening, but there was no sign of them or their two snowmobiles. Later in the night the crew of a coastguard helicopter saw a light on at the remote Egilssel mountain hut and located the lost men there. They were flown to Egilsstaðir for medical check-ups but seemed to be in good health. Over 80 rescuers were out looking for the men who had run into difficulties in the bad weather and had done the right thing by searching for a hiking hut. Egilssel has heating and emergency food.

The man called the emergency services on the 112 telephone number at 22.20 last night, saying he was lost, cold and scared. He had been walking the south Iceland hiking route for six to eight hours and said he was located on a glacier (which, if true, would mean he had taken a serious wrong turn onto the Eyjafjallajokull or Myrdalsjokull glaciers, which the mountain path goes between).

ICE-SAR volunteer rescue workers were called out from all over South Iceland to look for the man last night. More joined them this morning and at midday it was believed as many as 300 search & rescue experts were looking for the Swede, RUV reported.

Svanur Saevar Larusson is head of the ICE-SAR division in Hella and is co-ordinating today’s mission. “We have begun to move further in to the glacier after having analysed the man’s telephone call with the emergency services more closely,” Larusson says. Tracked vehicles and snowmobiles are being used for the glacier search; but the weather is poor. “The forecast is pretty ugly but we hold out hope for a small let-up between two and four which could give us the chance to use the helicopter,” Larusson adds; saying that a Coastguard helicopter has been on the scene but needed to give up several times because of the weather.

A journalist at Skogar, where the rescuers come to rest, says that rescuers’ expectation for a successful rescue remain generally high, although they admit conditions are difficult. There is heavy rain in the search area and high winds.

Nothing has been heard of the man since his phone call last night.

The Customs Crime Prevention Unit’s head official, Hannu Sinkkonen, said on Friday that agents had discovered some 800 litres of Lakka contraband liquid hidden in a summer cottage in a rural area in the southwestern part of the country. He said it was headed for the drug market in metropolitan Helsinki.

Lakka, a solvent, is normally used as a paint and stain remover. The massive stash confiscated had an estimated street sales value of around EUR 1,000,000 and is the largest illegal quantity of the drug ever found.
“The substance was brought into Finland from China via the Vuosaari harbour, from where about 140 litres were already moved into the capital. The rest of it would probably have been transported there as well,” Mr Sinkkonen explained, according to Finland’s YLE news agency.

He added: “In previous years the authorities have confiscated just a few dozen litres annually. Now we have found 860 litres in just one operation; this is a huge find.”

Under Finnish law Lakka is not a narcotic but a medicinal substance. However it is illegal to sell, distribute, prepare, store or import it outside of medicinal regulations. Consumption of Lakka has become popular among young adults in Finland, though even a slight overdose can cause coma or can even be fatal.

Although the driver tried to break, the train rolled about 100 metres over the prankster before he scrambled out and ran off with his friend. The man appeared unharmed, but several of the stunned witnesses had to be admitted to hospital for psychiatric counselling.

Police said the risky episode is proof that an international trend for a particularly dangerous version of the game dare has arrived in Denmark. There are currently several videos on YouTube of similar stunts.

“There is very little clearance under the train, and they put themselves in an extremely life-threatening situation,” said duty officer Lars Galasz in a report by Politiken. “I know of a case in Lyngby where a young man was killed under similar circumstances,” he added. “There was a fad where they would lie under the train, but there was one whose jacket got caught, and he was dragged under the train and got killed.”

Police have warned against any copy-cat pranks and are looking for information on the two men from Roskilde Station.

A new report has recommended that educational institutions be allowed to revoke students’ study privileges in instances of drug abuse, demonstrations of violent behaviour or mental instability.

The recommendations come from a Ministry of Education working group, and consist of proposals aimed at the prevention of allowing mentally ill or violent people into fields where child safety could be compromised. Plans have also been mooted for extended such legislation into other areas such as traffic, customer and patient safety.

“The problem is that educational institutions have not had the means in these situations, in situations where a student is in a field for which they are unfit, there have not been ways to interrupt their education or intervene,” said Henna Virkkunen, the education minister. These fields would primarily be around health and education, where students with prior convictions for aggressive behaviour or drug abuse may be prohibited from study.

The prohibition would not be permanent, meaning students may re-apply once their circumstances have been addressed and appropriately improved.

The proposals are being circulated across the Finnish government with implementation forecast as early as next year.

But after three violent dog attacks in as many days, a complete ban on certain breeds will almost surely be passed by the Danish government before the end of the year. The latest incidents involved a Staffordshire terrier and an American bulldog, both of which are breeds that have become quite trendy in Denmark in recent years.

The Copenhagen Post states the ban has solid support from both the Liberal and Conservative parties within the government. In addition to the ban, the proposal would also make breeding, importing and selling violent dog breeds illegal.

Earlier in the year, the Justice Ministry committee studying the issue came up with a list of breeds that should be outlawed, as well as the rules that would pertain to cross breed dogs. Dog owners naturally feel that the ban would unfairly punish owners of well-behaved pitbulls.

The number of certain dangerous dogs in Denmark has skyrocketed in recent years. Just seven years ago, there were around 1,000 Staffordshire terriers and pitbulls in Denmark. But today, the Danish Kennel Club estimates that number stands at around 20,000.

Reykjavik will be joining this annual event this year for the first time.

If you fancy beating and being beaten with feather-filled cotton bags, make sure to get down to Austurvollur Square today at 15.00 – and bring your own pillow along too. They love to get out of the house, apparently.

If you are not in Iceland, find out where your nearest pillow fight is at pillowfightday.com.

The proposal will soon be submitted to the Danish parliament for approval. There are thousands of muscle dogs in Denmark that will need to be registered. The Copenhagen Post revealed that the Danish dog resister contains more than 6,000 canines that qualify as muscle dogs, although the Danish Kennel Club believes the actual number may be closer to 20,000. Most of the muscle dogs in Denmark are American bulldogs.

The proposal was brought forward after another mauling incident happened recently in the town of Haderslev. Peter Skaarup, chairman of the parliamentary legal committee, said, “It is a pressing problem that more and more of these dogs are emerging. It’s tempting to extend a ban on these dog breeds, but there’s no denying that it’s the owners who must be educated.”

Around 2,000 people die each year in the EU from fires ignited by forgotten or dropped cigarettes. The new cigarettes are made from a special paper that extinguishes itself when left unattended. Finland will become the first EU nation to put the law into effect when it makes the transition in April 2010.

Sweden has also strongly backed the EU initiative, and will be joining Finland and the rest of the Union later in 2010. Bjorn Albinsson, a fire engineer at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), stated: “A third of fire fatalities are caused by smoking. We hope to cut them in half.”

Albinsson also told the TT that the tobacco industry was firmly opposed to the new law simply because it is more expensive to manufacture the self-extinguishing cigarettes. The special cigarettes have been around for decades, but the tobacco industry has relentlessly fought against producing them. Instead, cigarette manufacturers suggest smokers stop lighting up in bed and install fire alarms.

Fortunately for him, a pack of Norwegian elkhounds were on hand to drive the beast away. Living up to their name, the elkhounds broke free from their pen in the yard and came to the rescue of the man, chasing the aggressive elk into the forest. Had it not been for the dogs, the man’s injuries could have been much more severe.

Norbotten police spoke to the Aftonbladet newspaper about the event, saying: “He was in an orchard when the elk attacked. He ended up with a wound on his head and was taken to hospital.” After treatment, he was able to return home shortly after.

Local authorities are still unsure why the elk turned so violent on the man and attacked him. Police spokesperson Olle Kvarneros commented: “It’s unusual for elks to be this violent.” The elk’s whereabouts is presently unknown, and local police are mulling over whether or not they should hunt it down and kill it.