Friday, April 15, 2011

This Just In----It's Twins!!

Just this week....
Princess Mary and Prince Frederik of Denmark have christened their newborn twins in Copenhagen. The twins, a boy and girl born on January 8th were baptised at Holmen's church in the Danish capital this week.
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Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary hold their newly christened twins, Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Princess Josephine Sofie Ivalo Mathilda. The children were each given a Greenlandic name, Minik and Ivalo, in honor of Denmark's autonomous territory, Danish media report. In keeping with Danish royal tradition, the names of the new prince and princess were kept secret since their birth until the christening.
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Godparents for the newly-christened royalty are Australian. Aussie interest in the Danish family has peaked since Mary and Frederik met in Sydney in 2000 and were later married.
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Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine are the third and fourth children for the happy parents. The earlier siblings are Prince Christian, five, and Princess Isabella, who turns four next week.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

In an E-mail to The Foreigner, a press spokesman for the Norwegian Ministry of Defence writes "We are informed about the plans for the establishment of an Arctic brigade, close to the Norwegian border. We do not know when the brigade will be established and operational. We will follow the progress of the Russian forces close to Norway."
Soldiers attached to the new Russian mobile brigade are expected to be ready for combat later this year. They will be expected to be taking part in special Arctic warfare training in the base located on the Kola Peninsula, approximately ten kilometers away from the Norwegian border. The move is part of a larger military plan designed to defend its oil and gas interests in the region. Similar actions have also beeen undertaken by the US and Canada. The Arctic contains as much as a fourth of the world's hydrocarbon reserves, and US experts predict global warming could leave the area ice-free as early as 2030.
The Kola Peninsula is located in the far northwest of Russia, almost completely to the north of the Arctic circle. Earlier populated by Sami who engaged mostly in fishing and deer-herding, the territory was later lost in wars and settled by victorious Russians. Closeness to the gulf-stream leads to unusually high temperatures in winter resulting in the area being an important sea-base. Murmansk, in the area, was a significant submarine production center and remains home to the Russian Northern Fleet. Today, the Kola Peninsula is the most industrially-developed and urbanized region in Russia.
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Due to earlier actions by US and Canada to protect future sites of fuel deposits, Russia has decided to extend their interest in the area "to balance the situation."
The new unit, potentially numbering up to 8,000 troops will add to the existing 20th Russian Motorized Infantry in the area.
----The Russians are coming!----