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June 11, 2004
Polar bears surround
campers in Labrador
An air-drop of ammunition
helped spring campers near Nain fend off visits from hungry polar bears.
A man and two women who
were in a cabin 50 km north of Nain, Labrador, spoke to RCMP via satellite phone
last Thursday, saying they had been forced to shoot a 680-kilogram polar bear
the night before after warning shots failed to scare away the animal.
The cabin's occupants said
they had to shoot the animal dead after it had come around the cabin four times,
snarling and growling.
They said several more
polar bears had shown up, possibly to scavenge from the carcass, and were circling
the cabin.
The RCMP decided to fly
in with a Twin Otter and drop off ammunition. From the plane, the officers could
see a man using a snowmobile to drag the dead bear away from the cabin. Another
bear was spotted in the water about 100 metres from the cabin.
One of the officers opened
a cargo door and dropped four boxes of bullets to the cabin below.
Police said the pilot considered
landing nearby but the people on the ground waved as if to say they needed no
further help.
June
11, 2004
Greenlandic politician
charged with B&E
Police charged a member
of Greenland's local parliament with breaking into a hotel and stealing liquor.
Jensine Berthelsen will
plead self-defense because it was cold outside, national KNR radio reported
on May 28.
Berthelsen of the liberal
Atassut party said she had no choice but to force her way into the hotel in
the west coast town of Sisimiut. Berthelsen was returning from a party to the
hotel Sisimiut, where no one responded to her repeated ringing on the doorbell.
"It was cold and there
was no other way to get in," she told the radio.
Police gave her the choice
of a fine or going to court and Berthelsen opted for a trial.
"If I pay the fine
it amounts to declaring myself guilty, and I don't think I am," she said.
June 11, 2004
Disko Bay nominated
as heritage site
The World Conservation
Union has nominated Ilulissat fiord in Greenland's Disco Bay to UNESCO's list
of international natural and cultural heritage sites.
A final decision will be
made next month at UNESCO's annual conference in China, where a delegation from
Denmark, the Greenlandic Home Rule Government, and Ilulissat Council are expected
to take part.
"Nothing has been
decided yet, but Ilulissat Fiord has won considerable praise in a field of many
applicants. We're hopeful that the fiord will make it on to the list. If it
does, it will be the first time in history that a natural area in the Danish
Commonwealth is added to the United Nations' world heritage list," said
Marianne Jensen, acting director of the Greenland's Environmental Directorate,
in an interview with Ritzau news.
The UNESCO nomination campaign
for the fiord began in the late 1990s. A total of 26 nature areas around the
world have been nominated for UNESCO's list this year.
June
11, 2004
Norway butts out
"Welcome to Norway.
The only thing we smoke here is salmon,'" read posters issued by the Norwegian
government, a week before it eliminated smoking in all workplaces, including
bars, restaurants and discos on June 1.
The posters are part of
a new smoke-free campaign launched by the Norwegian health department as Norway
becomes the second country in Europe after Ireland to implement a total smoke-free
policy in all workplaces.
"This law does not
aim to reduce the number of smokers, but simply aspires to ensure that employees
in restaurants and bars have a smoke-free work environment," Health Minister
Dagfinn Hoeybraaten said.
In addition to the new
information campaign, the Norwegian government has been trying to get the country's
citizens to quit smoking by attacking their wallets. At more than $9.70 U.S.
a pack, Norway, along with Britain, has the most expensive cigarettes in Europe.
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