No funeral leave for Breivik

Norwegian prison authorities have, as expected, turned down a request for funeral leave from convicted terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 persons in a bombing and massacre in the Oslo area 18 months ago. The authorities claim the security risk is too high. Breivik’s mother, Wenche Behring Breivik, died last last week after a [...]

Researchers study Utøya survivors

Researchers in Oslo and Bergen are set to study the brains of young survivors of the massacre on the island of Utøya two years ago. Their goal is to determine whether the trauma experienced by survivors fleeing the gunman’s rampage left lasting changes among those under age 25. Newspaper Bergens Tidende reported on Monday that [...]

More compensation for terror victims

The victims and survivors of last year’s terrorist attacks in Norway qualify for compensation from the state, even though the convicted terrorist who carried out the attacks was directly responsible for the death and injury he inflicted. This week came word that compensation amounts were being nearly doubled beyond the state’s first offer, because of [...]

Trade minister turned author

Trond Giske has been making lots of headlines in recent months as Norway’s busy and sometimes controversial trade minister, but he’s also managed to find time to write a book. Giske teamed up with former AUF vice-chairman and political adviser Jo Stein Moen to write a book on Utøya, the island now infamous around the [...]

Utøya’s future caught in conflict

Conflicts continue in the aftermath of last year’s July 22 terrorist attacks, most recently over the future of the island where convicted terrorist Anders Behring Breivik carried out his massacre, and over the compensation and aid given to victims and their families. Meanwhile, police say it’s a full-time job to monitor all the mail Breivik [...]

July 22 attacks left many scars

New studies are showing how the attacks of July 22 last year have left many scars and changed various aspects of Norwegian society. More than 70 percent of those who survived the massacre on the island of Utøya now suffer from anxiety or depression, Norwegians have less faith in their police, and a vast majority [...]

Plans for ‘New Utøya’ meet opposition

The Labour Party’s youth organization AUF is running into strong opposition to its plans to redevelop the island where 69 persons were killed and scores of others wounded at last year’s AUF summer camp. Debate has also flared up again over AUF leader Eskil Pedersen’s decision to flee the island when the shooting began. Pedersen [...]

Plans unveiled for a ‘new’ Utøya

As Norway’s maximum prison term officially took effect for convicted terrorist Anders Behring Breivik just before the weekend, the leader of the Labour Party youth group that Breivik attacked was unveiling plans for how it planned to redevelop its island of Utøya. Breivik killed 69 persons on the island last year, and youth group AUF [...]

AUF boss expects life term for Breivik

As the date nears for a verdict in the trial of confessed terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, the head of the Labour Party youth organization that Breivik attacked has long felt confident the 33-year-old defendant will be kept in custody for the rest of his life. Other politicians seem confident as well, prompting lawyers to complain [...]

Springsteen: ‘We shall overcome’

SEE THE VIDEO: American rock legend Bruce Springsteen turned up as predicted at Sunday night’s memorial concert in Oslo for the victims and survivors of attacks on Norway one year ago. He had a clear message for his Norwegian audience in the song he chose to perform along with band partner Steven Van Zandt, “We [...]

Pilgrimage back to massacre scene

WITH VIDEO FROM UTØYA: As Norwegians gathered around the country on Sunday for memorials to honor those killed in last year’s terrorist attacks, many survivors, victims’ families and top politicians returned to the scene of the massacre on the island of Utøya. Among them were former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and one of her [...]

Future unclear for massacre site

One year after a lone gunman unleashed a massacre at a Labour Party youth camp on the island of Utøya, survivors and other Labour politicians can’t agree on whether they should ever hold another camp there again. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that he’s staying out of the debate. “As prime minister, I’m careful [...]

Royal recognition for Utøya heroes

More than 100 men and women who came to the rescue of those fleeing a massacre on the island of Utøya last summer were honoured over the weekend with awards and a ceremony at the same hotel where survivors gathered after the terror of July 22. The “ordinary heroes,” many of whom had never taken [...]

Breivik’s family avoids testifying

Lawyers for terror defendant Anders Behring Breivik have opted against calling his family members and several other key persons from his past to testify, at Breivik’s own request. The prosecution isn’t calling them in either, even though they could shed important light on the main question that needs to be addressed in his trial: Whether [...]

Confusion over Breivik’s state of mind

The Oslo City Court has demanded clarity from a state commission charged with certifying court-ordered psychiatric evaluations. Its review of a second evaluation of terror defendant Anders Behring Breivik is so vague that no one seems able to determine whether the commission has actually approved it. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Thursday that the court, [...]

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