(OSLO, Norway) — A 1,300-pound walrus that became a popular attraction in Norway in recent weeks was euthanized on Sunday, after officials concluded the marine mammal posed a risk to humans.

Increasingly large crowds of people came to the Oslo Fjord to see the female walrus, named Freya, who climbed onto small boats to sunbathe. After warning the public to stay away, the Norwegian government made the decision to have Freya put down early Sunday.

“Through on-site observations the past week it was made clear that the public has disregarded the current recommendation to keep a clear distance to the walrus,” Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries said in a statement. “Therefore, the Directorate has concluded, the possibility for potential harm to people was high and animal welfare was not being maintained.”

The head of the directorate, Frank Bakke-Jensen, said several possible solutions, including moving Freya, were considered but were ultimately deemed not viable.

“There were several animal welfare concerns associated with a possible relocation,” Bakke-Jensen said in a statement Sunday. “We have sympathies for the fact that the decision can cause reactions with the public, but I am firm that this was the right call. We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.”

When Freya arrived in the Oslo Fjord last month, the directorate said officials were closely monitoring the walrus and were preparing to relocate her if possible. They said they hoped she would leave of her own accord.

“Neither the Directorate of Fisheries nor researchers we are in contact with recommend culling. It is therefore currently not applicable, and other options are being considered,” the directorate said in a statement on July 20.

At that time, Freya was “doing well, taking food, resting” and appeared “to be in good condition,” according to the directorate.

“The conditions around her are calm, with few cases of close human encounters,” the directorate said in another statement on July 25. “Walruses do not normally pose a danger to humans as long as you keep your distance. However, when it is disturbed by humans and does not get the rest it needs, it may feel threatened and attack. Nearby people can provoke dangerous situations.”

Walruses are a protected species in Norway. They’re native to the Arctic Circle. It’s unusual — though not unheard of — for them to travel farther south. Last year, a walrus named Wally was spotted on Valentia Island in Ireland.

ABC News’ Christine Theodorou contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — The Iranian government on Monday denied that its officials were responsible for the attack on Salman Rushdie, saying the government hadn’t previously heard of the man who allegedly stabbed the author on Friday.

“No one has the right to accuse Iran,” Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said in his weekly press conference on Monday, adding that Iran was not previously aware of the alleged attacker.

“We know nothing about this person more than what we heard from the American media,” Kanaani said.

Rushdie, an Indian-British citizen, was stabbed last week during a lecture event in New York. Police identified the suspect as Hadi Matar, 24, who was charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree.

In 1989, Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued an apostasy fatwa over the author’s novel “The Satanic Verses.” The book was partly inspired by the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. Iranian leaders and others accused Rushdie of blasphemy.

“Salman Rushdie exposed himself to the public anger by insulting Islamic sacred topics and crossing red lines of both over 1.5 billion Muslims and red lines of followers of all divine religions,” Kanaani said on Monday. “All of them were offended by someone insulting a divine prophet.”

“In attacking [Rushdie], no one deserves condemnation except of [Rushdie] himself and his supporters,” Kanaani said.

The Iranian foreign minister in 1998 said that the country had dropped Rushdie’s death threat, but the current supreme leader of the country, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in the country’s political decision-making and issuing of religious decrees, confirmed multiple times, including in 2017, that the fatwa was still valid.

Rushdie was taken off a ventilator and was on the “road to recovery,” his literary agent, Andrew Wiley, said on Sunday.

Prior to Iran’s official reaction, local media appeared to express some contentment that Rushdie had been stabbed. Iran Daily, which often reflects the government’s perspective, ran a story under the headline: “Satan’s neck under the blade.”

Another newspaper, Keyhan, whose managing editor was appointed by Iran’s leader, congratulated the man who allegedly stabbed Rushdie, calling him “courageous.” It called for “a kiss on his hand who tore the neck of God’s enemy with a knife.”

Another newspaper printed a front-page story with the headline “Satan on the Path to Inferno,” which ran with a picture of Rushdie on a stretcher being wheeled away.

Public opinion on the stabbing may differ from the official perspective, according to one source who spoke with ABC News on Monday.

“This is a clear attack not just on a great writer but to the freedom of speech. Such acts must stop,” said Sarah, an Iranian student in sociology, who asked that her last name be withheld for her safety. “I am so happy that Rushdie survived and is on the path to recovery and the extremists failed doing what they wanted.”

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(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

Aug 15, 5:53 AM EDT
Griner to appeal Russian conviction, lawyer says

Brittney Griner’s defense team filed an appeal for the verdict by Khimky City Court, according to Maria Blagovolina, a partner at Rybalkin Gortsunyan Dyakin and Partners law firm.

The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in a Moscow-area court this month.

-ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova

Aug 14, 4:44 PM EDT
1st UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat set to depart for Africa

The first UN-chartered ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat is set to head for Africa from the near the port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials said Sunday.

The MV Brave Commander is loaded with 23,000 tons of wheat that will be shipped to Ethiopia as part of a mission to relieve a global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has halted grain exports for months, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Alexander Kubrakov announced at a news conference.

Kubrakov said the UN-chartered ship is scheduled to leave the Pivdenny port near Odesa on Monday.

“When three months ago, during the meeting of the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Kyiv the first negotiations on unlocking Ukrainian maritime ports began, we have already seen how critical it is becoming a food situation in the world.” Kubrakov wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “This especially applies to the least socially protected countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, for whom Ukraine has always been a key importer of agro-production.”

He said Ethiopia is in desperate need of Ukrainian grain.

“This country has been suffering from record drought and armed confrontation for the second year in a row,” Kubrakov said. “Ukrainian grain for them without exaggeration — the matter of life and death.”

He said he hopes the MV Brave Commander will be the first many more grain shipments under the U.N. World Food Program.

Aug 12, 2:28 PM EDT
‘They treat us like captives’: Exiled Zaporizhzhia manager on conditions at plant

An exiled manager at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant told ABC News that the Ukrainian staff is treated “like captives.”

Oleg, who asked to be referred by a pseudonym, said he felt threatened by the Russian soldiers.

“They didn’t say, ‘I’m going to shoot you now,’ but they always carry guns and assault rifles with them,” said Oleg, who managed one of 80 units at the plant but was able to leave last month. “And when an assault rifle or a gun has a cocked trigger, I consider it as a threat.”

Amid reported shelling in the vicinity of the plant, Oleg said he was primarily concerned about its spent fuel containers, “which are in a precarious position, and they are not shielded well.”

-ABC News Dragana Jovanovic, Britt Clennett, Nataliya Kushnir and Sohel Uddin

Aug 11, 4:43 PM EDT
UN secretary-general calls for all military activities around nuclear power plant to ‘cease immediately’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “calling for all military activities” around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant in southern Ukraine “to cease immediately,” and for armies not “to target its facilities or surroundings.”

Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Energoatom said Russian forces shelled the plant for a third time on Thursday, hitting close to the first power unit. Earlier on Thursday, Energoatom said five rockets struck the area around the commandant’s office, close to where the radioactive material is stored.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the Russian-installed interim governor of Zaporizhzhya Oblast, issued a statement claiming Ukrainian forces struck the plant, hitting close to an area with radioactive material.

Guterres said he’s appealed to all parties to “exercise common sense” and take any actions that could endanger the physical integrity, safety or security of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

“Instead of de-escalation, over the past several days there have been reports of further deeply worrying incidents that could, if they continue, lead to disaster,” he said, adding that he’s “gravely concerned.”

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, pleaded with the U.N. Security Council Thursday to allow for an IAEA mission to visit the plant as soon as possible. He said the situation at the plant is deteriorating rapidly and is “becoming very alarming.”

-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou, Fidel Pavlenko, Natalya Kushnir and Natalia Shumskaia

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