Luis E. Arreaga, the new Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Iceland, presented his credentials to Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson yesterday. Read the full story

Workers at the Danish embassy in Moscow may be put on rotating shifts, as fires continue to ravage the heat wave-struck city. Those living and working in and around the Russian capital are being warned about the dangers of smoke inhalation. Danish embassy workers have so far been allowed to stay at home, while their families have been advised to leave for areas such as St Petersburg and Smolensk. Read the full story

Germany’s ambassador to Reykjavik, Dr. Karl-Ulrich Muller, has been found dead in his car near Skagafjordur in northern Iceland yesterday. Read the full story

The European Union is preparing to open an embassy in the Icelandic capital city of Reykjavik, according to MBL. They will be looking to employ their staff sometime in the beginning of next year. Housing, buildings, and an ambassador to Iceland from the European Union will be looked into in the near future. Read the full story

A difficult child custody case involving the kidnapping of two children by their father has created major problems for the staff at Morocco’s Norwegian Embassy. The man has been charged with kidnapping and taking his 13 and 16 year-old kids from Norway to Rabat in Morocco. Read the full story

The recent terrorist bombings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta prompted the Norwegian government to relocate its embassy staff to a safer location. One of the two bombs, which killed at least 11 people, was detonated at the Marriott Hotel right next to the Norwegian embassy. Read the full story

There has been no reply from the Chinese Embassy in Reykjavik on whether or not Ambassador Zhang Keyuan has been recalled to Beijing, Mbl.is reports.

Meanwhile, Frettabladid reported this morning that the ambassador has been called home in protest at the Dalai Lama’s visit to Iceland this week. Read the full story

Malta’s only embassy in Scandinavia, located in Copenhagen, is scheduled to close down. A Foreign Ministry spokesman for Malta confirmed the closure, stating “rationalisation and prioritisation” as the reasons for pulling its only embassy out of Scandinavia.

The Times of Malta reports that according to the Malta Foreign Ministry, “the Ministry can confirm that the process has already started to close down our diplomatic presence in Copenhagen”.

The spokesman added, however, that Malta would not be cutting off its diplomatic relations with the Nordic nations. “These relations will be covered through a new Maltese embassy to be opened shortly in Warsaw, Poland. Embassies cost taxpayers a lot of money and we are trying to rationalise the ministry’s expenses and prioritise our diplomatic presence,” the Ministry stated in defence of its decision. Read the full story

The ruling labour party has erupted into a bitter row over the re-zoning of a downtown site on which the new US embassy was to be relocated.

The party’s members within the city government want to rescind an earlier agreement to re-zone an unused site at Huseby for the construction of the new embassy, while members within the state government insist they stick to the original plan.

The Foreign Ministry waded into the argument this week to support the US Embassy, and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called in on Oslo Labour officials on Friday, asking for an explanation.

The City Government might be reacting to strong opposition from local residents who feel it will destroy the last bit of open space in the area and create traffic jams and possible terrorist targets in the area.

The active group, known as Huseby Skogen, have been urging the Americans to accept another site less than a kilometre away, located on a former military command centre just behind the royal guards’ compound. But embassy officials have rejected that and other suggested sites.

Politicians at the national level have been getting involved apparently under pressure from the Americans who are eager to press on and avoid a lengthy court decision.

“This wouldn’t have been an issue now, without the Americans,” said Ivar Christians, deputy leader of Oslo Labour.

Monday’s bombing of the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan may have been a reaction to the Mohammed cartoons published in Danish newspapers.

Last year’s cartoons depicted the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb for a turban. It is expressly forbidden in Islam to draw pictures of the Prophet at all. The cartoons were reprinted in February this year.

The reason behind the attack will not be known before the completion of investigations, but it is widely believed to be linked to Muslim distaste for the cartoons, and the Danish government’s continued refusal to apologise for them.

In a recent interview, Pakistan’s ambassador to Denmark enquired whether the newspaper “is satisfied with what it has done and what it has unleashed?” She continued that the matter of the cartoons is something Danes need to reflect on.

Most people agree the cartoons were in poor taste, but debate rages on as to whether the guarantee of free speech justifies their publication.