FJELLHAMAR, Norway — Her last phone call was at 9:14 a.m., around the time that her husband, one of Norway’s richest men, passed under security cameras at the gates of his energy and property investment company. Not much later that morning more than 18 months ago, Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen, 68, vanished from her house in suburban Oslo.
When the police in Norway investigated, they found only a plastic strip, a shoe print, and some blood stains, as well as Hagen’s cellphone. The couple’s new puppy was locked in the bathroom, and on their bed lay a poorly written, highly detailed ransom note seeking $9.5 million, to be paid in Monero, an obscure cryptocurrency.
At first, the police treated the matter as a straightforward kidnapping and ransom case, and asked Norwegian news media to remain silent. After a few months, however, the police became increasingly convinced that the clues they found in the house had been planted to mislead them and hide the fact that Hagen was actually murdered.
That growing conviction led the police in January 2019 to let the public in on the secret, in the hope that someone, somewhere could shed light on what had happened.
It is not clear whether anyone did, but the revelation electrified the nation. Late last month, the case took another sensational turn when Hagen’s husband, Tom Hagen, 70, was arrested on suspicion of having orchestrated her killing.
See: Norwegian tycoon arrested, suspected of killing missing wife
I was told that Tom Hagen, a media-shy real estate investor and owner of an electric company, was arrested on his way to work.
On the day of the disappearance, Oct. 31, 2018, Tom Hagen returned from work around lunchtime to find the ransom note. His wife’s cellphone showed an unanswered call by an electrician at 9:48, placing the time of her disappearance sometime before then, the police said. Employees have confirmed that Hagen at the time was at his office complex, eight minutes from the house.
Hagen, who is worth around $190 million, made his fortune as a founder of a utility company, Elkraft, which serves all of Scandinavia. He also owns a large ski resort and other properties.
It emerged early on that in 1993, the couple, who have three grown children, changed their marriage contract, public records show, to stipulate that in the event of a divorce, she would get only the furniture, a car, and the right to keep the land she inherited from her parents.
At first, that seemed to eliminate financial considerations as a motive for Hagen to kill his wife. But legal experts quickly raised doubts that the agreement would hold up in court.
Hagen’s lawyer, Svein Holden, said that the couple had not been experiencing any marital turbulence at the time she vanished.
“Throughout the marriage there have been moments that have been tough,” he said, “but they didn’t have recent problems.”
Hagen, who denies any involvement in his wife’s disappearance, suggested to the police that he might have made enemies who might have wanted to hurt him by hurting his wife, his lawyer said. If he had such enemies, though, he was certainly casual about security arrangements.
In the weeks following the crime, well before Hagen became a suspect, the family and the police had conducted negotiations with the purported kidnappers, communicating through small sales of bitcoins. Different payments corresponded with different requests and answers.
After the initial contact, though, weeks would go by without anyone hearing from the supposed abductors. Finally, frustrated by the slow pace of the investigation, the police decided to permit news outlets to report what they knew. Still, the investigation went nowhere.
In July, Hagen transferred a little over $1 million to the supposed kidnappers on the promise that they would provide proof that his wife was still alive, but none was forthcoming.
The investigation was being led by a fourth-generation police officer, Tommy Broske, who presided over a team of 200. Broske, 48, who in his free time plays drums in a jazz band, the Whereabouts, had made a name for himself policing Norway’s wild border with Sweden, squaring off with drug smugglers and a motorcycle gang, the Bandidos. But he said last year that this was “the most demanding case I ever investigated,” all in the glare of a national obsession with the mystery.
Working methodically despite the pressures, Broske started eliminating potential scenarios. Suicide was ruled out, as was the possibility that Anne-Elisabeth Hagen had decided to flee. In either case, the police reasoned, why would she leave such a complex ransom note and have someone pose as a kidnapper and negotiate with the police and the family?
“They investigated the kidnapping until early this year; they couldn’t rule it out,” said Adne Husby Sandnes, who with his colleague Gordon Andersen has dominated reporting on the case. “But when the police were sure there never was a kidnapping, they went for the arrest.”
Finally, late last month, as Hagen was driving to work, several police cars forced him off the road and officers arrested him.
“After 18 months of investigation, the police have come to a point where we believe there is sufficient cause to suspect Tom Hagen of the homicide or complicity in the homicide of Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen,” Broske said in a statement.
“We now believe there was no abduction and that there were never any genuine negotiations,” he said in the statement. “In other words, we believe that there was a clear and well-planned attempt at misleading the police.”
A local court confirmed the arrest warrant, placing Hagen in custody. But then the supreme court ordered his release.
For now, Broske’s investigation has stalled, but he said he was determined to break the case.
“Our goal is still to find Anne-Elisabeth Falkevik Hagen,” the prosecutors wrote in a statement after Tom Hagen was released. “We want to find out what happened to her and who has a role in the case.”
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Right below that article was an advertisement for this:
Unbelievably, it's for the Bo$ton $peakers $eries, which are thought-provoking evenings of diverse opinions and world perspectives, and how about that wonderful genocidal fella with the nice smile on the far left there? He's appearing in October when everything will be back to "normal."
Also see:
"Norway plans to draw a record 382 billion kroner ($37 billion) from its wealth fund, forcing the world’s biggest sovereign investor to embark on an historic asset sale to generate cash. The unprecedented withdrawal, revealed in Norway’s revised budget for 2020, is more than four times the previous record set in 2016. The development exposes the scale of the economic damage done by the twin crises of COVID-19 and a collapse in global oil markets, with Western Europe’s biggest crude exporter now facing its worst economic slump since World War II."
They are $etting $ail in uncharted waters:
"Norwegian Cruise Line, one of the world’s largest cruise companies, said on Tuesday that there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to survive the coronavirus pandemic. Norwegian acknowledged the dire situation in a securities filing announcing that it was seeking $650 million in new financing. The global shutdown of the cruise industry has strained the finances of all three major cruise companies — Norwegian and its two main rivals, Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean — forcing them to borrow money at high interest rates."
What do you mean they are stuck in port?
"Carnival Corp. plans to cut jobs, reduce salaries, and shorten work weeks to cope with the pandemic-driven halt of cruising. The job cuts will include furloughs and permanent reductions, according to a statement Thursday from Carnival, the world’s biggest cruise company. Carnival said the cost-cutting moves, which will also hit senior management, will save hundreds of millions of dollars in cash on an annualized basis. Like the rest of the cruise industry, Carnival suspended voyages in mid-March after a series of coronavirus outbreaks on ships led to deaths and mass quarantines. Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line shares climbed Thursday after the company reassured investors that consumers are continuing to book new cruises. CEO Frank Del Rio said most of the bookings were “good old cash bookings,” not just people rescheduling cruises that were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic."
They are going to call you back in August:
"Carnival Cruise Line said Monday that it plans to gradually resume cruising in North America in August, nearly five months after it halted operations because of the new coronavirus. Sailings will begin on Aug. 1 or soon after, with eight ships setting off from Galveston, Texas; Miami; and Port Canaveral, Fla. A majority of customers can easily drive to those ports, the company noted. Those cruises would sail to destinations including the Bahamas and Cozumel, Mexico, according to Carnival’s website. Carnival said its operations from other North American and Australian markets will be on hold through Aug. 31. It is also canceling planned sailings from Vancouver to Honolulu on Sept. 25 and Honolulu to Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 6. The US Centers for Disease Control issued a no-sail order to cruise companies on March 14. It was extended and is set to expire July 24, unless the the agency decides to lift it sooner."
Time to blow the horn:
"Carnival Cruise Lines plans to sail again starting in August" by Dee-Ann Durbin and Adriana Gomez Licon Associated Press, May 4, 2020
NEW YORK — Carnival Cruise Line said Monday that it plans to gradually resume cruising in North America in August, nearly five months after it halted operations due to the new coronavirus.
Sailings will begin on Aug. 1 or soon after, with eight ships setting off from Galveston, Texas; Miami; and Port Canaveral, Fla. A majority of customers can easily drive to those ports, the company noted.
Those cruises would sail to destinations including the Bahamas and Cozumel, Mexico, according to Carnival’s website.
Carnival said its operations from other North American and Australian markets will be on hold through Aug. 31. It is also canceling planned sailings from Vancouver to Honolulu on Sept. 25 and Honolulu to Brisbane, Australia, on Oct. 6.
The Centers for Disease Control issued a no-sail order to cruise companies on March 14. It was extended and is set to expire July 24, unless the the agency decides to lift it sooner.
Maybe it is the sea sickness, but I just had a sever case of deja vu.
The CDC says infectious diseases can easily spread when crew members from a ship with an outbreak transfer to other ships. It notes outbreaks of COVID-19 on cruise ships also pose a risk because passengers can spread the disease into communities across the world after disembarkation.
Carnival Cruise Line said it is still determining what specific measures it will take to prevent future outbreaks once it resumes sailing.
“We continue to engage with the CDC and government officials at a variety of levels about new protocols we would implement prior to a return to sailing,” the company said. “We will also be in discussions with officials in the destinations we visit.”
Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University’s College of Public Health, said she’s not sure how cruising can be done safely. Even with reduced capacity, she said, ventilation systems can still spread droplets through enclosed spaces.
“Everything would still have to be distanced,’’ she said. “Dancing, concerts on board, other types of entertainment? Doubtful. Pools? Probably overcrowded. Dining? No idea how they’d do it.”
Even worse, NO ROMANCE!
No more Love Boat reruns, either!
Carnival said passengers will get refunds or vouchers for future travel if their cruises are canceled.
Who wants a voucher for future travel?
Fuck that!
Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line is the largest brand owned by Carnival Corp., which also owns Princess, Holland America Line, and other brands. Carnival Cruise Line has 27 ships and transported 5 million passengers last year.
Other cruise companies are also making plans to return to service. Royal Caribbean says it intends to resume at least some sailings on June 12, while Norwegian Cruise Like plans to restart some operations on July 1.
Cruise companies have taken a huge hit from the new coronavirus, which stranded some ships at sea with sick passengers and crew. A month after the no-sail order went into effect, the CDC said it knew of at least 15 ships with crew still on board showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Carnival Cruise Lines halted new sailings on March 13. It initially expected to be able to sail again on April 10.
Still, parent Carnival Corp. is in good financial shape. It has raised nearly $6 billion in debt and equity since the crisis began, and its CEO recently said the company can last through 2020 with no revenue from cruises. The company wasn’t eligible for loan assistance from the U.S. government because it is incorporated in Panama.
(Blog editor shakes head; cruise lines are in on the global restructuring as well. Never mind that they have sunk their own ship)
Carnival Corp. shares rose 3 percent Monday, while those of Royal Caribbean added about 1.5 percent and Norwegian Cruise Lines tacked on 4.3 percent.
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Related:
Tourism industry seeks public funds for massive marketing push
A regional councils is seeking $15 million in federal funds to pay for ad campaign, and I can not think of a bigger WA$TE of TAX LOOT than THAT!
At least passengers can disembark; not so for the crew left behind:
"Stuck on cruise ships during pandemic, crews beg to go home" by Adriana Gomez Licon and Guillermo Garat Associated Press, May 9, 2020
MIAMI — Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body.
On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the ship Greg Mortimer, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others.
Vásquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world — long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers’ disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid.
Both national and local governments have stopped crews from disembarking in order to prevent new cases of COVID-19 in their territories. Some of the ships, including 20 in US waters, have seen infections and deaths among the crew, but most ships have had no confirmed cases.
“I never thought this would turn into a tragic and terrifying horror story,” Vásquez told the Associated Press in an interview through a cellphone app from the Greg Mortimer, an Antarctic cruise ship floating off Uruguay. Thirty-six crew members have fallen ill on the ship.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that about 80,000 crew members remained on board ships off the US coast after most passengers had disembarked. The Coast Guard said Friday that there were still 70,000 crew members in 102 ships either anchored near or at US ports or underway in US waters.
The total number of crew members stranded worldwide was not immediately available, but thousands more are trapped on ships outside the US. As coronavirus cases and deaths have risen worldwide, the CDC and health officials in other countries have expanded the list of conditions that must be met before crews may disembark.....
The indu$try says the governments' “criminal penalties gave them (and their lawyers) pause,” as they crew are “trapped, feeling this anxiety that at any moment we can get seriously ill, and they do not want this anymore, they want to go home.”
MIAMI — Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body.
On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on the ship Greg Mortimer, summoned the strength to take a cold shower fearing the worst: losing consciousness while isolated from others.
Vásquez, 36, and tens of thousands of other crew members have been trapped for weeks aboard dozens of cruise ships around the world — long after governments and cruise lines negotiated their passengers’ disembarkation. Some have gotten ill and died; others have survived but are no longer getting paid.
Both national and local governments have stopped crews from disembarking in order to prevent new cases of COVID-19 in their territories. Some of the ships, including 20 in US waters, have seen infections and deaths among the crew, but most ships have had no confirmed cases.
“I never thought this would turn into a tragic and terrifying horror story,” Vásquez told the Associated Press in an interview through a cellphone app from the Greg Mortimer, an Antarctic cruise ship floating off Uruguay. Thirty-six crew members have fallen ill on the ship.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that about 80,000 crew members remained on board ships off the US coast after most passengers had disembarked. The Coast Guard said Friday that there were still 70,000 crew members in 102 ships either anchored near or at US ports or underway in US waters.
The total number of crew members stranded worldwide was not immediately available, but thousands more are trapped on ships outside the US. As coronavirus cases and deaths have risen worldwide, the CDC and health officials in other countries have expanded the list of conditions that must be met before crews may disembark.....
The indu$try says the governments' “criminal penalties gave them (and their lawyers) pause,” as they crew are “trapped, feeling this anxiety that at any moment we can get seriously ill, and they do not want this anymore, they want to go home.”
Once again, a CAPTIVE POPULATION forced to GO ALONG with this $CAM!
Suppressing and exterminating the still semi-free is the next phase.
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Suppressing and exterminating the still semi-free is the next phase.
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Better sail away as fast as you can until you hit the shores of Sweden:
"‘Life has to go on’: How Sweden has faced the virus without a lockdown" by Thomas Erdbrinkand Christina Anderson New York Times, April 28, 2020
STOCKHOLM — Trust is high in Sweden — in government, institutions, and fellow Swedes. When the government defied conventional wisdom and refused to order a wholesale lockdown to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus epidemic, public health officials pointed to trust as a central justification.
We do not have that in America, nor should we.
Swedes, they said, could be trusted to stay home, follow social distancing protocols, and wash their hands to slow the spread of the virus — without any mandatory orders, and, to a large extent, Sweden does seem to have been as successful in controlling the virus as most other nations.
Sweden’s death rate of 22 per 100,000 people is the same as that of Ireland, which has earned accolades for its handling of the pandemic, and far better than in Britain or France, yet, on this warm spring day, at least, there was little evidence that people were observing the protocols — adding further mystery to Sweden’s apparent success in handling the scourge without an economically devastating lockdown.
HMMMMMM!
All around Birgit Lilja, 82, along Skanegatan Street in the Sodermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, younger Swedes thronged bars, restaurants, and a crowded park last week, drinking in the sun.
She stood leaning on her cane, briefly resting among dozens of bubbly young Swedes out enjoying one of the first sunny spring days of the year.
“I’m trying not to get too close to people,” said explaining that she had left her house to pick up a new identity card in person, “but I trust them to be careful with me.”
They laughed and basked in freedoms considered normal in most parts of the world not long ago, before coronavirus lockdowns, quarantines, and mass restrictions upended social norms. As other nations in Europe begin to consider reopening their economies, Sweden’s experience would seem to argue for less caution, not more.
“My respect for those who died, but we are doing something right here in Sweden,” said Johan Mattsson, 44, as he was having a drink at a cafe on Skanegatan Street.
The restaurant consultant praised the freedoms he had in Sweden compared with other countries. “I’m not seeing very different statistics in many other countries,” he said. “I’m happy we didn’t go into lockdown. Life has to go on.”
Ya-da-da-da-da.
While other countries were slamming on the brakes, Sweden kept its borders open, allowed restaurants and bars to keep serving, left preschools and grade schools in session, and placed no limits on public transport or outings in local parks. Hairdressers, yoga studios, gyms, and even some cinemas have remained open.
Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned. Museums have closed, and sporting events have been canceled. At the end of March, authorities banned visits to nursing homes.
That’s roughly it. There are almost no fines, and police can only ask people to oblige. Pedestrians wearing masks are generally stared at as if they have just landed from Mars.
It's a soft police state, and it's the opposite here. You are a "scofflaw" without one.
On Sunday, five restaurants were closed for failing to observe social distancing requirements. They were not fined, however, and will be permitted to reopen after an inspection, said Per Follin, regional medical officer with the Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention.
Throughout the crisis Sweden has had enough intensive care units to deal with COVID-19 patients, the minister of health and social affairs, Lena Hallengren, said. “We have 250 empty beds right now.”
Yeah, the "surge" never materialized as care was neglected!
That's CRIMINAL!
A compilation of mortality figures by The New York Times found that many countries were undercounting COVID-19 deaths by the thousands, while Sweden reported just 400 more deaths than expected between March 9 and April 19.
Like I would trust any compilation by the New York Times.
This is not to say that Sweden has escaped COVID-19’s deadly consequences entirely.
Yeah, this is not to say.... sigh.
I'm f**king sick of the $hit qualifiers in damn near every paragraph. This is $hit journali$m.
The freer approach has not fully insulated Sweden’s economy, mainly because the country is dependent on exports, the minister of finance, Magdalena Andersson, said. She said the economy was likely to shrink by 7 percent this year, “but of course hairdressers, restaurants, and hotels are less affected compared to other countries.”
That is why globali$m is a bad idea. $elf-$ufficiency is better, but that brings with it attacks in the economic and military spheres.
From the first signs of the pandemic, the Swedish Public Health Authority decided that a lockdown would be pointless. “Once you get into a lockdown, it’s difficult to get out of it,” the country’s state epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell, said. “How do you reopen? When?”
No kidding, and especially when you have power-drunk potentates known as governors.
Scientists like Tegnell, who has become something of a celebrity in Sweden, and not politicians have driven the debate over the coronavirus response.
“Basically we are trying to do the same thing that most countries are doing — slow down the spread as much as possible,” he said. “It’s just that we use slightly different tools than many other countries.”
When responses are assessed after the crisis, Tegnell acknowledges, Sweden will have to face its broad failing with people over the age of 70, who have accounted for a staggering 86 percent of the country’s 2,194 fatalities to date.
In the absence of recommendations from the Public Health Authority, a Jewish care home near Stockholm unilaterally decided to ban visitors, said Aviva Kraitsik, the head of operations, who asked that the facility’s name be withheld because of threats it has received.
The authority even went so far as to order the “no visitors” signs removed. Kraitsik refused. “I said they could put me behind bars,” she said. “I was prepared to take my punishment to protect our residents,” but it was too late. The virus had crept inside and eventually killed 11 of the 76 inhabitants.
Those damn Swedish bastards!
Supplied coal to the Nazi war effort, too, despite being neutral!
Damn Swedes!
It was only after the home required employees to wear face shields and masks when working with all the residents, even those displaying no symptoms, that it managed to halt the spread of the infection, Kraitsik said.....
That's where I halted my reading.
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UPDATE:
"The Danish health minister said Monday that adults in Denmark over the age of 18 can now be tested for the coronavirus. “It is imperative that there are no hidden pockets of infection that can cause the infection to rise again. Every single chain of infection is one too many and can potentially turn into several,” Magnus Heunicke said. “So, if one has the slightest suspicion that you have been infected with COVID-19, then one should be able to be tested,” he added. People can book a time online and tests will be carried out in makeshift centers that have been erected across the country near hospitals, or in mobile units for people living in remote areas. He said the first 600,000 to be allowed to be tested would be those between 18 and 25. After that, other age groups will be able book time online and about 50,000 tests can be conducted per week. The ministry didn’t give a number for how many who could potentially get the test, saying they presently have enough capacity. Denmark has a population of 5.8 million. People with symptoms of the disease, medical staff, residents, and employees at retirement homes, among others, will automatically be tested."
Also see: Denmark residents sue over laws for dismantling ‘ghettos’
