Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a confidential letter of weak leadership, lack of charisma and angry outbursts, the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten newspaper reported Wednesday.
The newspaper published what it said was a letter to Norway's foreign ministry from Mona Juul.
"At a time when the U.N. and multilateral solutions to global crises are more needed than ever, Ban and the U.N. are notable by their absence," the letter read.
Juul and her husband Terje Roed-Larsen — now a U.N. special envoy — had key roles in secretly brokering the now-failed 1993 Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Juul wrote that Ban showed "weak handling" of international challenges. She said he was a "passive observer" to Myanmar's arrest of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and she blasted his slow reaction to the civil war in Sri Lanka.
Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marte Lerberg Kopstad refused comment on the authenticity of the letter. She referred reporters to Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere's comment to Aftenposten that he had noted the matter, and that he saw Ban as "hard working" and a "good listener."
Juul's Norwegian-language letter was published halfway through Ban's term as U.N. secretary-general. He is due on an official visit to Norway starting Aug. 31.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Norway 4-0 Scotland: Scots Crushed By Norwegian Efficiency
Norway pulled off a deserved and emphatic 4-0 win over ten-man Scotland as they rescued their World Cup hopes at the expense of those of the visitors.
Norway seemed the team more likely to score in the opening stages, as Gary Caldwell had to work hard to keep tabs on the lofty John Carew.
Just as it seemed Scotland had dodged a bullet after Riise's awful miss, tragedy stuck the Tartan Army. Gary Caldwell was penalised for the final time after a series of fouls on John Carew and subsequently found himself dismissed from the pitch. Then to rub salt in the wounds, John Riise stood over the free-kick and sent a deflected thunderbolt straight into Marshall's net.
Ross McCormick was then sacrificed to make way for a replacement centre-back in the form of Christophe Berra. During the time the Scots were trying to adjust to their new line-up and praying for half-time, tragedy struck once more when Morten Gamst Pedersen found enough space in the visitors' box to take the score to 2-0 as the whistle blew for the break.
Still reeling from the loss of his brother, Steven Caldwell was subbed off soon after the restart when he brought Carew down on the edge of the box. The temperament of the Caldwells was poor on the night, and the ensuing free kick from the reckless challenge almost allowed Carew to add his name to the scoresheet.
After a catalogue of failed attempts, Carew looked like he would finally get himself on the scoresheet after 60 minutes had passed. The giant Villa striker was to be denied again though as his strike came off both posts and rolled to the feet of Erik Huseklapp. The Norwegian made no mistake scoring from 6 yards into the open net. 3-0 Norway.
Carew's luck began to become something of a comedy as he managed to lose out on a sure thing yet again. The Norwegian stuck for goal, hitting the bar in the process. The ball dropped onto the line and looked as though it had crossed, but the linesman said nothing doing as Carew put his head in his hands. Eventually Egil Olsen took pity on the striker and opted to take him off the pitch.
As the Norwegian's continued to bombard Scotland into the dying stages of the game, a poor challenge from Graeme Alexander awarded Morten Gamst Pedersen one last chance at goal before the final whistle. The perfectly taken free-kick was swung round the wall by the Blackburn Rovers man and easily found the top left corner of Marshall's net before the whistle was blown and the Scots were allowed to leave the pitch that they were so badly humiliated on.
Norway seemed the team more likely to score in the opening stages, as Gary Caldwell had to work hard to keep tabs on the lofty John Carew.
Just as it seemed Scotland had dodged a bullet after Riise's awful miss, tragedy stuck the Tartan Army. Gary Caldwell was penalised for the final time after a series of fouls on John Carew and subsequently found himself dismissed from the pitch. Then to rub salt in the wounds, John Riise stood over the free-kick and sent a deflected thunderbolt straight into Marshall's net.
Ross McCormick was then sacrificed to make way for a replacement centre-back in the form of Christophe Berra. During the time the Scots were trying to adjust to their new line-up and praying for half-time, tragedy struck once more when Morten Gamst Pedersen found enough space in the visitors' box to take the score to 2-0 as the whistle blew for the break.
Still reeling from the loss of his brother, Steven Caldwell was subbed off soon after the restart when he brought Carew down on the edge of the box. The temperament of the Caldwells was poor on the night, and the ensuing free kick from the reckless challenge almost allowed Carew to add his name to the scoresheet.
After a catalogue of failed attempts, Carew looked like he would finally get himself on the scoresheet after 60 minutes had passed. The giant Villa striker was to be denied again though as his strike came off both posts and rolled to the feet of Erik Huseklapp. The Norwegian made no mistake scoring from 6 yards into the open net. 3-0 Norway.
Carew's luck began to become something of a comedy as he managed to lose out on a sure thing yet again. The Norwegian stuck for goal, hitting the bar in the process. The ball dropped onto the line and looked as though it had crossed, but the linesman said nothing doing as Carew put his head in his hands. Eventually Egil Olsen took pity on the striker and opted to take him off the pitch.
As the Norwegian's continued to bombard Scotland into the dying stages of the game, a poor challenge from Graeme Alexander awarded Morten Gamst Pedersen one last chance at goal before the final whistle. The perfectly taken free-kick was swung round the wall by the Blackburn Rovers man and easily found the top left corner of Marshall's net before the whistle was blown and the Scots were allowed to leave the pitch that they were so badly humiliated on.
Friday, 7 August 2009
Preparing for Mars expeditions on Svalbard
The Norwegian archipelago Svalbard has been chosen as test bed for life-detection technology to fly on future missions to Mars.
The 2009 AMASE (Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition) will be taking place from August 1st to 24th.
Since 2003 six AMASE expeditions have been carried out. This year’s expedition includes more than 30 scientists and engineers from USA, Norway, Germany, Spain and UK. The participants come from different disciplines like microbiology, geology, biogeochemistry and robotics, SpaceRef.com reports.
The participants will carry out very different activities: from testing equipment that eventually would fly in future Mars missions to study the conditions in which extremophiles thrive in glacial ice and develop and test protocols to search for past and present habitable environments on icy planets.
The main research will be carried out in Svalbard fjords rich in carbonates, clays, basalts or water-ice that are considered good Martian analogue.
The 2009 AMASE (Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition) will be taking place from August 1st to 24th.
Since 2003 six AMASE expeditions have been carried out. This year’s expedition includes more than 30 scientists and engineers from USA, Norway, Germany, Spain and UK. The participants come from different disciplines like microbiology, geology, biogeochemistry and robotics, SpaceRef.com reports.
The participants will carry out very different activities: from testing equipment that eventually would fly in future Mars missions to study the conditions in which extremophiles thrive in glacial ice and develop and test protocols to search for past and present habitable environments on icy planets.
The main research will be carried out in Svalbard fjords rich in carbonates, clays, basalts or water-ice that are considered good Martian analogue.
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