Danish customs official have intercepted thousands of illegal ‘Womenra’ pills in the post over the last several months. Reports in the Copenhagen Post indicate that the pills are ordered online by Danish women and sent from India. The drug is intended to increase blood flow to the genitals and increase a woman’s sex drive. The Danish Medicines Agency intends to start a public information campaign against the pills, which it says can be dangerous.

As June truly gets underway and the sun is increasingly unwilling to dip behind the horizon, Scandinavians are rejoicing at the good weather they are predicted to keep at least for the next week. Temperatures in southern Norway are due to hover around 30 degrees centigrade next week, and there is no rain in sight, says SikuNews. "It looks very good, with high temperatures through to Thursday next week," state meteorologist Oyvind Johnsen told Aftenposten on Tuesday. Indeed, fire authorities in the area are on high alert for forest fires, which could cause considerable damage if left unchecked. In the meantime, sea temperatures in Oslo Fjord are well above average for the time of year. Northern Scandinavia can expect rain during the next week; but it will be interspersed with liberal helpings of fine, bright weather.

Iceland’s handball team have secured their place in the Beijing Olympics this summer after their shock victory over Sweden on Sunday. Iceland played Sweden, Poland and Argentina at the weekend in a mini tournament to see which two of the four teams would qualify. The team beat Argentina as widely expected, but lost to Poland. Hopes were dashed, as Iceland has a terrible record when it comes to beating Sweden. After an entertaining game, Iceland managed to beat the Swedes 29-25 and ensure that they accompany Poland to Beijing.

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.

Det islandske lavpris flyselskab, Iceland Express, har afsløret sin nye sundere menu, som er klar til at nå læberne på det flyvende folk 1. juni. I samarbejde med islandske Avaxtabillinn, specialist i færdiglavet helsekost, siger Iceland Express at det er en reaktion på et stigende antal forespørgsler fra sundhedsbevidste passagerer. Den nye menu lægger vægt på at substituere kunstige ingrediencer med frisk frugt og grønt, uden at det koster passagererne en formue. Nye tilbud vil inkludere salater, frugtsalater, pastaretter, pizza slices og et forbedret udvalg af sandwiches. “Passagererne har i stigende omfang efterspurgt mere frisk og sundere mad ombord og derfor har vi besluttet at ændre vores menu i samarbejde med Avaxtabillinn. Firmaet er kendt for at levere et højkvalitest produkt som vi er stolte af at kunne tilbyde vores passagerer,” siger Matthias Imsland, administrerende direktør for Iceland Express. For mere information om Iceland Express, gå til www.icelandexpress.com

A 32-year-old woman has been sentenced to six years in prison for raping a woman in her 60s in the northern Swedish town of Haparanda. According to reports in The Local, the woman committed the crime with her 38-year-old brother. The pair entered the victim’s home and punched and kicked her. They were reportedly armed with a knife and forced the victim to perform oral sex upon each of them, as well as forcing her to masturbate herself. In addition to the break-in and the rape, the pair also robbed the victim and kept her hostage until the following day. The attack took place on 24th January, and the brother of the guilty woman remains at large. In her defence, the woman says she was in Finland when the attack occurred.

The wave of strikes which recently engulfed the public sector in Norway are now over, everywhere except Oslo. Despite the expectation that the strikes might drag on for weeks, the state negotiator, Dag Nafstad, was able to hammer out an agreement between the Unio union and KS, the organisation representing the municipal employers. This news means that over 11,000 workers in local schools, day care centres, nursing homes and some health stations are now due to return to work on Thursday. Details of the deal were not made public immediately, and nor were the reasons for Oslo continuing the strike alone.

Forest fires have been raging out of control in the north of Sweden for a week, according to reports in The Local. With the work of 100 fire fighters and seven helicopters, the blazes are thought to finally be under control and close to being extinguished. "Even if we are getting there, we can't say we have full control of the situation," fire brigade official Ulf Andersson told AFP. "A lot depends on the winds, and if they start blowing the fire could flare up again." The fires are spread over a thousand hectares, and dry conditions mean the area remains at high risk.

Bradford & Bingley International, a specialist provider of offshore savings accounts for British expats, has announced it will leave the interest rate of its top online savings account unchanged, despite two recent cuts in the Bank of England base rate. The online eSaver account will retain its 6.40 percent interest rate for expatriate savers investing from GBP 1,000. The high rate is available on savings accounts for British expats who do not exceed three withdrawals during each tax year. Those making four or more withdrawals are offered interest at 5.90 percent, which remains 0.90 percent above the current Bank of England base rate. “The offshore market has become very competitive and we are proud to be able to offer our customers one of the best rates available for easy access savings,” said Lynette Byrne, Acting Managing Director of Bradford & Bingley International. “The added convenience of being able to operate this account online 24 hours a day makes it an exciting proposition that we are delighted to be able to offer British Expatriates and increasingly customers from the Isle of Man and Channel Islands,” she added. Bradford & Bingley International is based on the Isle of Man and specialises in savings accounts for the British expatriate community. More information on BBI and its eSaver online savings account is available at www.bbi.co.im. Continue Reading

By: Azfar A. Khan (Mr.) Due to astronomical rises in oil prices in the international market, the cost of production of electricity is also rising day by day. Hence, it’s imperative to adopt some other methods for the production of electricity. This article dwells on the generation of electricity through wind and focuses on manufacturing of wind turbines, the machines used for the generation of electricity. Generation of electricity through wind is not something new. India, the fourth in line of countries in the world for the generation of electricity, is producing more than 8000 MW of electricity by utilising wind turbines. One would be surprised to know that in the region of Nevarra, Spain, 70 per cent of the region’s energy needs are being fulfilled by wind and solar energy. This region is both windy and sunny. With no deposits of coal, oil or gas of its own, this region deliberately opted for renewable energy in the late 1980s. With some 1,100 windmills installed all over Nevarra, this region can boast of generating more electricity from renewable sources than entire big EU countries like France or Poland. It’s a classic example of using renewable energy in any country. The question that automatically comes to one’s mind is: “If it can be done in Spain, why can’t it be done in any other country?” The answer is a big “It can”! Continue Reading