Michael Eisele, a forty-four year old sports fishing enthusiast from Germany, landed the 1.80m fish on Tuesday. It tops the previous world record fish by 2.5 kilos and an application has been sent to the Guinness Book of World Records to verify this.

Current record holder is Alphonse Bielevich of Hampton, New Hampshire, which weighed nearly 44 kilos at a length of just over 5 feet.

Cod is the most popular fish in Britain, known for its national dish of battered fish and chips. One ‘chippie’ speculated that more than 200 people could be fed on that single fish, though older fish are generally tougher.

It’s not unusual for cod to grow to large sizes like this, some live for up-to 25 years and reach 2 meters in length. It is widely fished in the North Atlantic as a popular commercial fish for the tables of many European and American families, but is usually caught with nets. Landing one this large on line is rare.

Up to half of the heating that is provided for schools in the city is generated from burning trash, and there is simply not enough trash to meet demand.

For several years the city has discouraged landfills as a means of disposing waste, in favour of modern incinerators that safely burn it to produce some 1.5 terawatts of hourly power output, sufficient to power 150,000 homes.

However, the plan didn’t reckon on the insatiable thirst for rubbish that such energy creation needs, and now has to consider the absurd scenario of importing trash from outside of the city, or even from abroad.

One company, Hafslund, aims to phase out all fossil fuel energy by 2016, but presently it relies on it during peak loads. Companies in other Northern European countries are starting to follow suit.

Sweden, which practices a similar plan, now plans to import 800,000 tonnes of garbage a year to meet demand. Some of it might come from Italy where chronic trash disposal problems have blighted cities like Naples for years.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has proposed cutting corporate taxes by one percentage point, in line with regional trends, but wants to pass the cost on to the offshore industry.

Starting in 2014, mainland companies can save up to 2.4 billion kroner (US$413 million) if the proposal goes through. Meanwhile, special petroleum tax edges up from 50 per cent to 51 per cent.

“Some sectors are performing very well, pushing prices and salaries higher,” Mr. Stoltenberg said at a news conference. “At the same time, businesses that can’t increase prices because they depend on global markets are squeezed by high costs and lower demand from abroad.”

While the oil industry has kept everyone employed and the treasury in good health, the rest of the country has become dependent on this and there is a feeling that companies outside the energy sector no longer remain competitive.

The move is partly in response to a cut in corporate tax in Sweden to 22 per cent, and in Finland to 20 per cent, in order to attract investment and boost economic stagnation.

“We think we give a better signal to the oil companies when they must now bear a bigger share of the investments themselves, not the least because we need more cost awareness in that sector,” said Stoltenberg.

The state has had to foot the bill of most of the 49 billion kroner in cost overruns from 24 oil projects under development.

The four-day conference, which began yesterday at Reliant Park in Houston, Texas, is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources in the fields of drilling, exploration, production, and environmental protection. Every year, the conference attracts around 80,000 attendees from 110+ countries and is considered the world’s largest meeting place for the oil and gas industry.

“Interest in this year’s event is bigger than ever, and the 40^th anniversary will be marked with the attendance of the Crown Prince of Norway at the opening of the Norwegian pavilion,” explained Gunhild Gaarder Kjørstad, project manager at Innovation Norway.

Kåre Storvik, Norway’s most famous OTC veteran, lead the first Norwegian delegation to OTC in 1973 where the then crowned prince of Norway, now King Harald, opened the first Norwegian pavilion.

“We were 40 people in total who travelled over to the U.S. from the Norwegian oil and gas industry, looking to position ourselves on the global stage. Over the years we have gained knowledge of foreign technology that we have further developed in Norway, making us a true force in today’s market,” said Storvik.

Amongst other Norwegian companies showcasing their services at this year’s event will be TUjobs, an online recruitment website that helps professionals find jobs and employers find suitable candidates within the oil industry in Norway.

Other companies at the Norwegian pavilion include APIteq, BW Offshore, Frigstad Engineering, MacGregor / Cargotec Norway, Norsafe, SINTEF Energy Research, Wilhelmsen Technical Solutions, and many more.

The ministers will sign an agreement on ‘Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response’. This is the second legally binding agreement among the Arctic States and will enhance response measures and cooperation in the Arctic.

The ministers will also welcome the release of several important scientific reports and approve policy recommendations from:

•    the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment, the best available science informed by traditional ecological knowledge on the status and trends of Arctic biodiversity and accompanying policy recommendations for biodiversity conservation,

•    the Arctic Ocean Review and

•    the Arctic Ocean Acidification assessment.

These reports provide new benchmarks and knowledge about the state of the Arctic environment.

Beginning on 14 May, the six working groups of the Arctic Council will make presentations and provide information on accomplishments during the Swedish Chairmanship and their ongoing activities at the ‘Folkets hus’ (the Community Center) in Kiruna. This event is open to the public and media.

The Ministerial Meeting will take place on the morning of 15 May at Kiruna City Hall. A press event will be held directly after the meeting. Delegates and media will then visit the LKAB iron ore mine, where the working groups will provide further information on their assessments and policy relevant recommendations.

The Kiruna Ministerial Meeting can be followed via web stream from the Arctic Council website.Ministers in attendance:

•             Carl Bildt, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sweden

•             Lena Ek, Minister for the Environment, Sweden

•             Leona Aglukkaq, Minister for the Arctic Council, Canada

•             John F. Kerry, Secretary of State, USA

•             The Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Iceland

•             Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

•             Villy Søvndal, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Denmark

•             Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Finland

•             Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia

After Breivik was arrested for his crimes, he wrote a political manifesto which was 1,800 pages long and which said the source for a new truth was Wikipedia. Breivik was a frequent user of the popular website whose articles can be written or edited by anyone.

Breivik made most of his Wikipedia contributions between 2009 and 2011. He was especially active on pages pertaining to early 12^th century Norwegian king  Sigurd the Crusader, whom he idolised.

Breivik modified some of the text from the saga Heimskringla, one of the best known works by Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson. Snorri Sturluson’s original text described Sigurd the Crusader’s conquests of pagan towns, but  Breivik changed the conquered communities to Muslim towns.

Breivik also changed another passage where Snorri Sturluson originally described Sigurd the Crusader’s battle with a large Viking group, whom Breivik also changed to Muslims.

Both of the above Wikipedia entries were quickly changed, but some of Breivik’s other Wikipedia contributions remain on the site. Many believe Breivik wrote much of the Wikipedia entry about Kungälv, the Swedish town close to the location where Sigurd the Crusader constructed a famous and large castle.

There has been discussion about whether or not any of Breivik’s Wikipedia entries should stay on the site, but the director of the board has said there is no reason to change the content as long as it is accurate, regardless of who wrote it.

Military duty has long been compulsory for Norwegian men, but the same may soon be true for the country’s women now that the Norwegian Labour Party has approved a measure which would make military service mandatory for all young Norwegians regardless of gender.

The Labour Party approved the verneplikt (conscription) measure at a national meeting last weekend, following in the footsteps of its Center Party and Socialist Left (SV) party coalition government partners earlier in the year. The Liberal Party (Venstre) also supports a military draft for women, and the issue is on the agenda for an upcoming Conservative Party (Høyre) meeting.

Norwegian women can already be summoned for military service evaluation, a process known as sesjonsplikt, or join the military on a volunteer basis. Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Norway’s defence minister, says extending the draft to women sends a strong signal that women’s duty and right to contribute towards the nation’s defence is just as great as men’s.

During an Aftenposten interview, Strøm-Erichsen said, “The defence forces have among the greatest power in Norway, and if that’s left only to men, it goes against the fundamental principle of equality in the country.”

The defence minister also said the Norwegian military needs more women and sesjonsplikt eligibility has not resulted in enough volunteer participation by women. Both Strøm-Erichsen and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide have expressed their support for a more modern, more diverse and highly educated military.

Not everyone, however, supports a military draft for Norwegian women. The topic placed second to the controversial Lofoten oil exploration and drilling project as the most debated issue at last weekend’s Labour Party national meeting.

Norwegian labour minister Anniken Huitfeldt opposes the measure, saying the military doesn’t require more draft eligible people and most young Norwegian men are rejected and avoid service. Center Party representative Kjersti Toppe has suggested mandatory community service, such as nursing home work, as an acceptable alternative to serving in the military for both men and women.

Norwegian politicians expect to vote on the issue at some point before the current parliamentary session ends, but the cost of extending the draft to women means it likely will not come into effect until 2015.

The well known budget airline, set up from the United Kingdom in 1995 by Cypriot shipping magnate Stelios Haji-Ioannou, now flies 600 routes to 30 countries, with 23 bases in Europe alone.

“We’re looking at more routes to Norway,” Paul Simmons of EasyJet told newspaper Aftenposten this week.  SAS’s response was that it has met competition previously operating flights from Copenhagen and will take budget carriers seriously.

The arrival of EastJet in Norway heralds an expansion that has seen it grow to employ 8,000 people and carry more than 60 million passengers in 15 years. Having established itself in a country it soon adds further routes or services, often using major airports – unlike its rivals.

Recently it began operating out of London’s Gatwick airport, giving its passengers more convenient access to long-haul flights. Previously it was solely based from the small Luton Airport, an hour’s train ride North of London. Bergen residents will now have cheaper access to Gatwick when connecting with flights to the US or Asia.

At the same time, another budget airline, Ryanair, is facing legal complaints over its operations in Norway.