Oslo police investigate Norwegian linked to Hezbollah pagers

The Oslo Police District has confirmed it is investigating a Norwegian national connected to a Bulgarian company, which is said to have sold pagers to Hezbollah.

“We can confirm that the police have launched preliminary investigations into the information that has emerged, and are continuously assessing any measures that affect the Oslo police district,” operations manager Alexander Østerhaug from the Oslo Police District said.

Some 12 people were killed and 2,300 injured when pagers in Lebanon were detonated on Tuesday, security sources have linked the attacks to Israel.

New bill to confiscate criminal proceeds

A new bill to lower the evidence requirements to seize the suspected proceeds of criminal activity has been sent out for consultation.

“Much of the driving force behind the crime we see is money. If we manage to stop the flow of money, we will make Norway safer,” finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum told the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.

The new bill would also allow assets to be confiscated from the heirs of criminals, even if the recipient was unaware of the asset’s links to crime.

“We see that it takes so much to get someone convicted. It places great demands on the police and Økokrim (Norway’s economic crime unit) to be able to meet the evidence requirements,” Justice Emilie Enger Mehl said.

Ruter warns of Oslo Marathon transport disruption

Around 100,000 people are expected to be in Oslo on Saturday for the Oslo Marathon, and public transport provider Ruter has told travellers to expect disruption.

Six tram lines and twelve bus lines will be diverted. The disruption will last from 5am to 10pm.

“There can very quickly be delays. There will be a lot of people in the city and it (the marathon) will have an impact,” Øystein Dahl Johansen from Ruter told NTB.

The public has been told to take the metro if possible, as all lines will run as normal.

Norway has its first dinosaur skeletons

Ancient dinosaur bones have been assembled and are ready for display at the Natural History Museum in Oslo, newswire NTB reports.

The bones will be the first complete dinosaur skeletons in Norway, although the museum already has the skull of a triceratops.

The exhibition featuring the skeleton opens to the public on Saturday. The skeletons belongs to the hypacrosaurus. They have been named by Zelda and Zara.