A new monitoring and information system for Northern coastal areas will be set up by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs in Norway. Known as BarentsWatch, the full-spectrum project will be managed by the Norwegian Coastal Administration and will involve many specialist bodies, such as the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian Mapping Authority. Read the full story

Confusion reigned in Norway and indeed across the globe as an eerie spiralling blue light behind a mountain in Tromso led to alien enthusiasts heralding a new arrival. Read the full story

In the end it was the price tag that sank Tromso’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. In these uncertain economic times, nearly every organisation in Norway and most Norwegians themselves could not justify the costs over the possible benefits of hosting an Olympics. As a result, the head of Norway’s Olympic governing body, Tove Paule, made the announcement that Norway was withdrawing its application. Read the full story

Adding further pressure to Tromso’s 2018 Winter Olympics bid, which has proven unpopular among Norwegian citizens and politicians alike, a new report puts the price tag to host the games at double the initial estimated sum. The government asked three accounting firms to give a revised estimate of the original USD 2 billion cost for the project, and they all came back with figures around USD 4 billion. Read the full story

A cross country skier in Norway was killed in an avalanche on Monday, according to reports in the Associated Press. Police say the avalanche buried the skier under three metres of snow. The accident occurred on the island of Uloeya.

Officer Tor Einar Eilersen, of the Troms district police said that the name, age and nationality of the man have not yet been released. He said that no other skier had been caught in the avalanche.

According to Eilersen, the man was found 90 minutes after the avalanche occurred. Rescuers were hindered in their efforts to reach the man due to the remoteness of his location.

Uloeya Island is located in the Norwegian Arctic, north of Tromso. Although those who were skiing with the man initiated a search soon after the avalanche, it took time for others to arrive and assist.

The avalanche occurred at 12:14 local time (22:14GMT).

According to reports in the Nordlys newspaper, a group of skiers was attempting to cross a mountaintop approximately 1,000 metres long in bad weather when the avalanche occurred. The avalanche affected mainly the lower part of the mountain.

Uloeya is located 460 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and 1,380 kilometers north of Norway’s capital, Oslo.