Latest society & culture news and updates from Norway in English.
A defense grenade was found at Solgård waste site in Moss in Østfold on Thursday. The site is closed while police and the Armed Forces assess how to handle it. Employees and residents were evacuated, and the police bomb squad is involved.
Armed police arrested a person in Andøy in Vesterålen after a violent incident at a residence on Wednesday evening. One person was lightly injured, and police say there was no danger to others in the area.
Police in Drammen arrested three men aged 19 to 23 after shots were fired in Dronninggata on Wednesday evening. Police said the incident involved a conflict between two groups and that no one was reported injured.
A leisure boat caught fire and sank at Svinholmen in Haugesund. One person was reported injured, an explosion was reported, and diesel and oil were leaking from the boat, police said.
Staff at Stormen library in Bodø keep a nasal spray to counter overdoses and have trained in handling violence, as drug use in the building's toilets grows. The Librarian Union says libraries across Norway now stock overdose antidotes and demands mandatory de-escalation training.
Norwegian prosecutors are asking for 30 years of preventive detention with a 20-year minimum for Arfan Bhatti in his appeal case in Borgarting lagmannsrett. It is the same sentence he received in Oslo tingrett in January for complicity in the 25 June 2022 terror attack in Oslo, in which two people were killed. His defence lawyer, John Christian Elden, is seeking a full acquittal.
Two workers fell from height in Norway on Wednesday, one in the Rogfast tunnel at Mekjarvik and one on a boat in Svolvær, police said. Officers also handled a roundabout collision in Haugesund, a guardrail crash on the E6 at Øyer, a rear-end crash in Lillesand, a lamppost crash in Bærum, a two-vehicle collision in Fredrikstad and an electric car fire in Trofors.
Statens vegvesen is narrowing E18 out of Oslo to one lane from Friday at 21:00 to Sunday at 14:00, while the Granfosstunnelen closes in the direction of Kristiansand. The agency warned of long queues and told drivers to leave the car at home.
A person fell from a height in a serious work accident on the Rogfast tunnel project in Rogaland. Police reported the accident at 10:16, and the person has been brought out of the tunnel for hospital transport.
Økokrim will release all five men charged with complicity in aggravated fraud against Nato. Two of the remaining suspects will be freed today and the last tomorrow. All five deny guilt.
A man in his 40s died after a fire started in a living room in a multi-family house in Haugesund. Police say the hypothesis that a criminal act caused the blaze is considerably weakened, and a man in his 30s was released after being charged.
A Norwegian court ordered Christian Sønstebø and Carine Smeby Schackt to pay 300,000 kroner of TV 2's legal costs over the documentary “Kollaps - profeten i Bærum.” The couple withdrew their lawsuit, and their own legal bill brings the total to nearly half a million kroner.
A burst main pipe has left large parts of Kirkenes without water, and a second leak overnight into Monday made the situation critical. Sør-Varanger municipality has ordered all private water use to stop so care homes and the medical centre keep their supply until repairs are done.
Police in the Oslo Police District responded to a threat situation at an address in Rudsveien on Gjettum in Bærum. The nearest neighbours were evacuated, and police said the person involved poses no threat to other residents at present.
Kirkenes residents must stop all private water use immediately as the elevated reservoir is forecast to run dry by 19:00 Tuesday. The order aims to keep water flowing to Prestøyhjemmet, Eldresenteret, Wesselborgen and Kirkenes Legesenter. A second leak in under a week has cancelled patient appointments and postponed operations at Kirkenes sykehus.
Bane Nor evacuated its traffic control centre in Bergen on Tuesday morning after an automatic fire alarm went off in the building at Krinikelkroken 1. Trains stood still until the situation was resolved at 09:33, though delays are still expected.
A 19-year-old man from Grenland has been charged with raping three children under 14 and remanded in custody for four weeks by the Nedre Telemark district court. His defence lawyer says the suspect has been interviewed but no question of guilt has been put to him yet.
A fire broke out in a detached house on Nesodden in the early hours of Tuesday, and police have arrested one person based on witness information. All three people in the house were evacuated. Police say it is not yet clear whether the house was set on fire.
A single car drove off RV13 Sandsvegen near Vela at Sand and landed on its roof. Police said only one person was in the vehicle and the driver did not appear to be seriously injured. The ambulance arrived and the driver was placed inside it.
Emergency services searched a car reported underwater in the river at Ringstilla in Lillestrøm and found it empty. An air ambulance and the SAR Queen were notified before police confirmed the car had been parked for a hunting trip before floodwater carried it into the river.
Elon Mangjolli, 15, at Haraldsvang school in Haugesund had not heard of any of the texts on the government's proposed national reading list. Education Minister Kari Nessa Nordtun says the list is advisory, while professor Eirik Vassenden criticises the selection.
Nordland county municipality collected 34 million kroner from summer payment on free ferries, nearly double its 17 million kroner target. Local residents and businesses say they bore the cost of a scheme meant for tourists, while the transport councillor calls the extra money a pure bonus.
Police and fire services responded at Strandgata 19 in central Oslo after a tower crane tilted. Part of the surrounding area was cordoned off and an adjacent building was evacuated.
A lorry and a passenger car collided head-on on Hallingdalsvegen in Flå. The car driver was trapped and not contactable, and a doctor at the scene confirmed the driver had died. The road is closed in both directions for a long time, with detours via FV287 and the E16.