Oslo, Copenhagen - Norway's central bank said Wednesday it will hold a meeting on interest rates earlier than planned, citing the ongoing financial turmoil.

Meanwhile, Denmark's central bank on Wednesday said it would keep its key rates unchanged "for the time being." This comes a day after the lending rate and the rate of interest for certificates were raised from 4.6 per cent to 5.0 per cent.

Oslo  - Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store arrived Tuesday in Afghanistan on his first visit since a suicide attack in mid-January forced him to cut short his visit.

The suicide attack on a hotel in Kabul that claimed eight lives including that of a Norwegian newspaper reporter.

Oslo- Two executives of energy group Statoil Hydro resigned with immediate effect Tuesday after a probe was published into payments made in connection with a 1999 oil deal in Libya.

The probe was launched a year ago when energy giants Statoil and Norsk Hydro merged their energy operations.

The payments were made to a consultancy company in connection with the deal, and came to light during the merger talks.

Oslo - Microsoft said Tuesday its main development centre for search engine technology was to be based in Norway.

Chief executive Steve Ballmer made the announcement after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

In the short-term, Microsoft was to hire 50 developers and researchers, Stoltenberg said.

Microsoft currently has some 300 employees in Norway, mainly employed by FastSearch & Transfer that the US-based giant acquired earlier this year.

Oslo - Norwegian Princess Martha Louise, daughter to King Harald and Queen Sonja, gave birth Monday to her third child, a daughter.

The mother and newborn baby were doing well, the palace said, adding that the newborn baby weighed 3.7 kilograms and measured 53 centimetres long at birth.

The king has notified the speaker of parliament that the baby was to be named Emma Tallulah Behn.

The baby was born at 12:53 at the home the princess shares with her husband, writer Ari Behn near Oslo, the palace said.

The couple were married in 2002.

The princess, 37, has published several books, some for children, under her own name.

Oslo - A Norwegian search service has launched the site Kvasir Junior (http://www.kvasir.no/jr/) which targets children aged six to 12 who want to explore the internet.

The aim is to give children a safe option and focuses on learning, information and entertainment.

"The internet offers great opportunities for children and youths, but also contains dangers," Ingrid Stover Jensen of Kvasir said in a statement.

The criteria for sites that can be registered on Kvasir Junior include "varied content" and even if the sites are geared towards adults, they can be accessed by older children if the language and quality is acceptable.

The sites also have to be up and running, and easy to use.