The King of Norway, Harald V is due in Iceland this week on an unofficial visit. He intends to use his time fishing for salmon in Vatnsdalsa river in north-western Iceland. Read the full story

The bragging of two Danish fishermen about the size of their catch can finally be confirmed, as they scoop the world record for the biggest shark hooked on a rod. Weighing in at 880 kilos and measuring four metres and 10 cm, the Somniosus microcephalus, also known as the Eqalussuaq or Greenland shark, was landed in Norway’s Bokna Fjord. The catch broke the previous record of a 775-kilo beast caught on a fishing rod. Read the full story

Norway’s women’s football (soccer) team wasted no time with the US, scoring the two fastest goals ever in a women’s Olympic football match. The Norwegians then kept the pressure on their opponents to finish 2-0 winners.

Norway and the US played their Group G opening match at the Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Centre Stadium. A communication blunder by the American defence allowed Leni Laursen Kaurin to slot one past the keeper after just two minutes. This goal set a new record for the fastest goal ever scored during a women’s Olympic game, beating the previous effort by Germany’s Pia Wunderlich, who scored after four minutes during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Things got worse for the Americans just two minutes later when a weak back pass was picked off by Norway’s Melissa Wiik. She curled a lovely shot past US keeper Hope Solo to make it 2-0. After these dramatic opening four minutes, the US regained their composure and began taking the game to the Norwegians.

The Americans had a couple of good efforts in the second half but were unable to find the back of the net. Norway looked the more dangerous going forward, however, and missed two excellent chances to put the game out of reach.

Two Estonians became the first people in recorded history to successfully swim across the Gulf of Finland. They started their effort in Finland and ended it in Estonia, taking nearly a full day to complete the swim.

Six Estonians with professional swimming experience, five men and one woman, made the attempt to cross the stretch of water between Estonia and Finland, but only two of them made it to the other side. Priit Vehm and Bruno Nopponen were successful in swimming the 55kms, Nopponen finished first with a time of 19 hours and 13 minutes, while Vehm took around 3 hours longer.

The swimmers began in the Finnish port of Porkkala and reached land in the Estonian village of Suurupi. Estonians followed the event in real time through the Internet, as each swimmer was wearing a GPS signal. Estonia is been nicknamed “E-Stonia” for its Internet knowledge.

Although there is no existing record of a successful swim across the Gulf of Finland, an Estonian named Aleksander Laas reportedly swam 40kms from an Estonian island to Porkkala in 1931. Up until 1991, the Gulf of Finland was one of the world’s most heavily-patrolled bodies of water due to the proximity of Leningrad (St Petersburg) and the Soviet Union.

Despite starting off in gloom and heavy rain, Denmark has enjoyed its sunniest month since records began in 1920.

With 322 hours of sunshine, the Copenhagen Post reports that May 2008 beat the previous record (set in 1947) by two whole hours.

The sun shone an average of 11 hours and 12 minutes every day in May, but the theoretical maximum would have been 505 hours of sunshine in the month.

Danish meteorologists are reluctant to predict an entire long, hot, sunny summer – but it is true that summer 1947 was warm and dry. Danes hope this new record breaking year will follow suit.