Norway

Thomas Dybdahl: Straight from the Norwegian woods comes this most appealing singer/songwriter, with a grownup sound and vision at once earnest and austere, romantic and rational. Dybdahl cites Tim Buckley and Serge Gainsbourg as inspirations and shares sweet sonority with fellow Norwegian Sondre Lerche, for whom Dybdahl has opened. The just out "Songs" compilation on Decca is being billed his "International Debut album. " And tonight, you can catch Dybdahl live on the ground floor - literally.

LES ESSARTS, France - Thor Hushovd of Norway captured the overall lead at the Tour de France on Sunday after his Garmin-Cervelo team won the time trial in the second stage of the race. Hushovd took the yellow jersey from Philippe Gilbert of Belgium, the winner of Saturday's opening stage, as defending champion Alberto Contador lost more time to his rivals. World champion Hushovd seized the coveted yellow jersey for the third time of his career ahead of his teammate David Millar, with whom he shares the same time in the overall standings.

BOCHUM, Germany - Australia kept alive its chances to reach the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup by beating Equatorial Guinea, 3-2, on Sunday in a game that will be remembered for a penalty that wasn't called. Australia's Leena Khamis, who scored the first goal, hit the post in the 16th minute. As the ball bounced back, Equatorial Guinea defender Bruna grabbed it with both hands, held it for a couple of seconds, then casually dropped it again. Khamis pointed to Bruna and shouted "handball," then she and her Australian teammates threw out their arms in amazement when referee Gyoengyi Gaal failed to call a penalty.

Brazil and Norway became the latest tournament favorites to run into stubborn opposition at the Women's World Cup, as both escaped with 1-0 wins yesterday in Germany. Either the gap is closing between nations in women's football or the World Cup favorites have yet to hit their stride, as all the top contenders have won their opening group matches but none has scored more than two goals. Norway needed a late goal to edge Equatorial Guinea, while Brazil beat Australia in the day's other Group D game.

AUGSBURG, Germany - Emilie Haavi finally broke down Equatorial Guinea's defense in the 84th minute and Norway escaped with a surprisingly close 1-0 win in its opening game at the Women's World Cup. The heavily favored Norwegians had hit the post three times Wednesday and looked as if they were going to have to settle for a 0-0 draw before substitute Leni Larsen Kaurin broke free on the right and passed to Haavi low in an open center. Equatorial Guinea captain Anonman had several clear chances for her team, representing a nation of 670,000 in West Africa with a FIFA ranking of 61, the lowest in the tournament.

By Jo Nesbø Alfred A. Knopf. 400 pp. $25.95 Reviewed by Peter Rozovsky The next Stieg Larsson was once in demand as a teller of ghost stories. "I thought for a while it was because I was a great storyteller," Jo Nesbø says. "Later on, I think it was my big brother who told me the reason why they wanted me to tell the stories was because when I told them, they could hear the fear in my voice. " Fear and suspense have much to do with the best parts of The Snowman , fifth of the star Norwegian crime writer's novels available in the United States.

RE YOUR ARTICLE "The white shift out of Philly" (June 2): A perusal of city records should reveal that the Irish, Polish and Italians were randomly checked off as "race other than white" only four generations ago. This article is really unfair, because it hides that simple fact. "White" is a phony, mean-spirited claim that people make in order to form an artificial "majority" group. Worse yet, a woman can come from Norway, call herself "white" (which won't mean anything in Norway)

He has the good looks of Britain's Prince William - and the smile to go with it. Though not royalty, Kristian Rokke, 28, hails from one of the wealthiest families in Norway. He is the new chief executive officer of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, where he has worked for four years in various management roles. Rokke began at 17 in the shipbuilding industry in Norway. His March appointment by parent company Aker ASA in Norway was a surprise, coming just weeks after a financing deal, including $42 million from Pennsylvania, had enabled the shipyard to stay open to build two more ships - without buyers lined up - until future work could be secured.

The Detroit Red Wings have fallen behind two games to none against the San Jose Sharks after a pair of one-goal losses on the road. Detroit needs home ice to become an advantage when the Western Conference semifinal shifts to Joe Louis Arena for Game 3 Wednesday night. If it's not, the Sharks might quickly eliminate the storied franchise from the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight year. San Jose needed just five games in last year's second round to end Detroit's season.

In A Somewhat Gentle Man , a deadpan comedy best described as the Coen Brothers Norwegian style, Stellan Skarsgard is colorless and oddly configured, like a potato fallen from the sack. As Ulrik, a convict released from prison after serving 12 years for murder, the Swedish actor best known to American audiences as the math professor in Good Will Hunting watches the steel prison gates roll open. He looks out at the frozen landscape. He hesitates. By contrast to this wintry Norwegian wood, prison seems - cozy.