Princess Märtha Louise of Norway has left the royal family to devote herself to alternative medicine together with her fiancé Durek Verrett, a shaman by profession; the title of princess remains, but cannot be used for commercial purposes

The government intends to invest about 500 million Norwegian kroner (€42.939.000) a year in church restoration over the next three decades

Over half of Norwegian teenagers enrolling in high schools in the country listed crafts and vocational trades as their first choice of study; government officials are pleased and relieved given the country's shortcomings

Biologists are providing Arctic foxes, remote dog species on the brink of extinction in Hardangervidda National Park, with feeding programmes; some scientists question whether it makes sense to support animals in landscapes that can no longer sustain them

Bergen's municipal government has voted to ban overnight camping in public parks, open spaces, along streets, squares and other public areas; critics say the aim is to keep homeless people off the streets