Weekly News from Fyksland
Coverage and translation provided by Vaijskä Radio
Sunday, 5 January, 2003
Parks Fyksland launches rescue inquiry
KAANSÄ (AP) - National Parks Fyksland has launched an inquiry probbing into the possibility of a delay of the rescue efforts had caused the death of three fallen climbers. Coroner reports suggested the victims suffered severed hypothermia and died two to three days after their fall into a 53-metre deep canyon. Four climbers have fallen in Mount Skoeken on 28th of December. Only one of the victims was found alive by Parks Fyksland rescue team five days later. The search was called off for three days because of severe weather conditions. Full story...
Monday, 6 January, 2003
Dry season begins at Epiphany
KAANSÄ (AP) - "January doesn't begin until Epiphany", says Lapi Lindøn, as he drinks his cocoa at a café in Kaansä. Lindøn means that the traditional alcohol-free January begins from the 12th day after Christmas - after all, who wants to cut the Christmas season short? Lindøn says that he plans to be without alcohol for a whole month. With his lunch he plans to take water and nothing else. The festive season, which begins in early December - or for some already in late November up to the New Year and beyond - is enough to tax the tolerance and the livers of most businessmen. It is quite good to have a few weeks now and then without any alcohol at all, says Lindøn. Full story...
Tuesday, 7 January, 2003
Visken bombing victims remembered
PORTI IKSTIS, Viske (VKK) - A simple ceremony outside Viske's ducal office in Porti Ikstis commemorated the one-year anniversary of the fatal bombing that had claimed the lives of three employees of the Viske Administrative Building. Though much of the site and surrounding area have been rebuilt, a wreath laid by Duke Hensel of Viske marks the spot where the deadly car bomb exploded. Full story...
Victims' families not seeking lawsuit
LAAKTUMAA, Øtali-Þorja (AP) - In a news conference held in Laaktumaa today, the families of the three climbers killed in a climbing accident have promised not to seek a lawsuit against National Parks Fyksland. Parks Fyksland has already launched an inquiry into a possible negligence in the rescue effort that had possibly caused the death of three climbers. "We believe [the rescue teams] have done the best job they could under the circumstances," said a family member of one of the victims. Full story...
Wednesday, 8 January, 2003
Ministries at odds over calls for tobacco price increase
KAANSÄ (VKK) - The Minister of Health and Social Affairs favours considerable increases on the price of cigarettes, whereas the Ministry of Finance objects to the proposal. The price increase was suggested by the Chairman of the Fyksian Medical Association Heiki Pilar at the National Doctors' Convention in Niekopenhaag on Monday. Pilar argues that the raising of the price of a pack of cigarettes by 20 krons to over 35 krons for a pack of 20 would have a positive impact on prevention of smoking-related illnesses. Full story...
Thursday, 9 January, 2003
Friendly fire hearing gets underway
KAANSÄ (VKK) - Holding hands with their wives, two American pilots involved in an accidental bombing that killed five Fyksians in Afghanistan arrived Thursday at a military hearing that will determine whether they should be court-martialled. Maj. Harry Schmidt, who dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on the Fyksians in the early-morning darkness of 16 April near Kandahar, looked gaunt as he went into the hearing room with his wife, brushing past reporters while looking down. Full story...
Friday, 10 January, 2003
Viske police accused of ignoring sex trade
PORTI IKSTIS, Viske (AP) - Regional police has criticised the local police of Porti Ikstis for slackness in their investigations of the sex trade. Despite numerous reported suspicions in the area, only one preliminary investigation was launched last year. The Porti Ikstis police had information on 69 purchases of sex and ten suspected pimping cases. They also knew of dozens of Russian women who were believed to be prostitutes, and of over a hundred men who were suspected of trafficking women to Fyksland. Full story...
Saturday, 11 January, 2003
Comic strip Ouldesonger to appear in Icelandic
PORTI IKSTIS, Viske (AP) - From next month it will be possible to read the Fyksland's national epic Ouldesonger (Ancient saga) in a new Icelandic translation. This would probably not be news were it not for the fact that the edition of Ouldesonger in question is a comic book adaptation, the first and only one of its kind. First published in Fyksian in 1992, with a second part added two years later, the comic strip Ouldesonger contains all 150 cantos of the original work. Full story...
