Bomb threat prompts evacuations

Police in Sandnes on Norway’s west coast announced Wednesday that a bomb threat had been lodged against a local NAV welfare office. The threat was made over the phone, and prompted the evacuation of both the building where the NAV office is located and a nearby high school. Police also cordoned off the area around [...]

Cities reject state government’s plan to help and control beggars

City governments in Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and Bodø are among those turning down new funding offered by the left-center state government to both accommodate and control Norway’s growing problems posed by migrant beggars. The cities claim the state’s plan is unworkable and won’t help. Justice Minister Grete Faremo of the Labour Party finally unveiled how [...]

More rapes amid russ’ wild partying

Police in western Norway were investigating four reported rapes over the weekend at one of the biggest outdoor events of the “russ” partying season for graduating high school students. Meanwhile, a recent study shows that teenagers from Oslo’s affluent west side drink more and party harder than their peers on the east side. With the annual [...]

Four arrested after fatal stabbing

UPDATED: Police were holding four suspects Thursday in connection with the fatal stabbing of a Swedish woman in an apartment at Fredenborgsveien 14 in downtown Oslo earlier this week. Another man was found with severe stab wounds outside the building and was rushed to Ullevål University Hospital. Details remained sketchy, but police say they received [...]

Rapes reported at huge ‘russ’ party

Police in Oslo were investigating reports of two rapes of young women taking part over the weekend in one of the huge annual parties held by and for the graduating high school students known as russ. The two students reported the rapes separately in the early morning hours of Sunday. Both were attending one of [...]

State convicted for failing to protect victim of domestic violence

Norway’s highest court has held the state liable for failing to protect a woman and her children from her violent ex-partner. The court ruling is considered a major victory for victims’ rights in a country where complaints have been rising that criminals often get more consideration. The landmark case was filed by a woman who [...]

Former mayor appeals conviction for sex with a minor

Rune Øygard, the longtime Labour Party politician and former mayor of Vågå, was back in court this week as he attempts to overturn his conviction for having sex with a minor. He was sentenced to five years in prison but continues to claim that his accuser is lying. Norwegian media were once again giving the [...]

Accused gang rapists face 21 years in prison

Prosecutors now have five persons both charged and in custody following what they believe was the gang rape of a woman in Oslo’s Grønland last week. Two of the suspects, a 16-year-old boy and his 18-year-old companion, were ordered during the weekend to be held in prison for two and four weeks respectively while police [...]

Police crack drug smuggling network

Norwegian police, acting on tips from colleagues in Denmark, have seized more than 500 kilos of hash and NOK 3 million in cash after cracking what’s believed to be a major drug smuggling network. They also made several arrests after tracking suspects to shopping center garages in Oslo. “This is a case of considerable scope, [...]

Museum launches artworks probe

Officials at one of Norway’s leading art museums, the Henie Onstad Art Centre just west of Oslo, are now investigating the origins of 18 of its most famous pre-war artworks, following allegations that Henie Onstad has a Matisse painting in its collection that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Heirs to the Jewish art collector [...]

Norway strikes tax deal with US

On the very day that’s the deadline for most US citizens to file their annual tax returns, April 15, Norway’s finance minister and the US’ ambassador to Norway signed a formal agreement to share financial information related to their citizens’ tax obligations. The deal means Norwegian tax authorities can get help tracking down any hidden [...]

Weekend crime wave hit Oslo

Five persons were robbed, two of them at gunpoint, within 15 minutes in Oslo’s trendy Grünerløkka district late Friday night. One of them was severely injured, and police report that a majority of crimes in the entire country occur in the downtown area encompassing Grünerløkka, Tøyen, Grønland and downtown south of Egertorget. One man in [...]

Smugglers caught in record seizure

Police and customs agents in southeastern Norway managed to stop 14 specially built vehicles that were loaded with smuggled alcoholic beverages and tobacco on Sunday, but think others made it over the border and sped on into the country. The authorities were holding seven persons on Monday who were arrested in the seizure, which broke [...]

Woman admits to arson in Bergen, ‘wanted people to die’

A court in Bergen on Norway’s west coast ordered that a 45-year-old woman who’s admitted setting a series of fires be held in custody for at least the next four weeks, while police continue their investigation. “She has expressed that she wanted people to die,” police lawyer Kari Trones told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). The woman [...]

Survivors hail new willingness to reexamine ‘Scandinavian Star’ fire

Survivors of the deadly fire on board the passenger- and car ferry Scandinavian Star 23 years ago are relieved that the Oslo Police now agree they should launch a new investigation into who was responsible. It’s already been ruled a case of arson, but the survivors and victims’ families have been plagued for years by unanswered [...]

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