No applications from Icelandic organisations or individuals were received by the Nordic Council to meet with its council members before their own meeting which begins in Oslo today.

The public in all the Nordic countries were invited to meet council members to press them on important subjects or get them on board with their causes or points-of-view.

A total of just four meeting requests were received; mostly from Norway. The meetings held were mostly about transportation between Norway and Sweden and citizenship rights in the Nordic countries.

This was the first time the public were invited to interact directly with the Nordic Council in this manner and among the stated goals is to stimulate open debate within the Council and to open the Council up to the people.

Tina Bostrup, an employee of the Nordic Council, told Vísir.is that she hopes Icelanders show the meeting initiative more interest when the Nordic Council meets again in Iceland at the end of March.

Casual research indicates that today’s first attempt failed primarily because most people did not know about it. That is unlikely to be the case next time.

The right-wing extremist again refused to plead guilty to terror charges, despite admitting planting a bomb in Oslo’s government quarter and going on a shooting spree at a youth camp on Utoya Island.

The 32 year-old is currently undergoing psychiatric tests but is expected to stand trial beginning on 16th April next year. He will be held in custody for at least another 12 weeks, but the judge agreed to relax the killer’s solitary confinement conditions.

Dozens of people crammed into the Oslo District courtroom, with hundreds more watching the proceedings in overflow rooms via video link.

Wearing a dark suit and appearing calm, Breivik said: “I am a military commander in the Norwegian resistance movement,” before attempting to question the legitimacy of the court. He has previously claimed the attacks were “necessary” to rid Norway and Europe of Muslim control.

On 22nd July, the Norwegian national dressed as a police officer and exploded a car bomb close to government offices in Oslo, killing eight people. He then went to Utoya Island and carried out an hour-long shooting spree at a Norwegian Labour Party summer youth camp. Comprising mainly of teenage victims, Breivik killed 69 people on the island and injured dozens more before he was finally arrested.

Faced with harsh budget cuts, city officials have already stopped sending the festive freebies to Washington and Antwerp.

According to Aften newspaper, cost cutters were considering dumping Rotterdam from the Christmas list, as the city is believed to be of little value to Oslo’s PR status.

After tallying up the cost of scrapping the annual tradition altogether, cancelling lighting ceremonies, or letting just the Dutch city go without, Oslo has, however, decided to extend good will to all.

Last year, the gratis tree cutting, shipping and lighting ceremonies cost the Norwegian taxpayer NOK 780,000 (EUR 101,000).

Demonstrating that the free spruces are a symbol of the close ties between the countries, Stian Berger Rosland, head of Oslo’s city government, will attend the tree-lighting ceremony in Trafalgar Square, while other officials will head to Rotterdam and Reykjavik for their celebrations.

The Oslo Christmas trees are iconic symbols of Christmas in all three cities and have been enthusiastically welcomed by locals for many years.

The unnamed victim was killed while visiting an apartment in the Bislett, with another two men, including the suspected murderer, also suffering injuries.

“One man is dead following a stabbing. We are treating the case as murder,” Oslo Police operations manager Marianne Grinaker told NTB after the incident on Sunday night. According to The Foreigner, the alleged killer will be questioned by police in his current location at Ulleval Hospital.

Christine Sommerfelt Alm, a resident of the Pilestredet building where the attack took place, described the dramatic events to the media.

“We were awoken by a terrible noise in the night. At first, my live-in partner said it sounded as though someone was getting a beating. The noise gradually got worse and worse,” she said.

“Someone was hammering on the door of the main entrance, and a voice shouted something that sounded like ‘come back, if you dare’. I opened the door, and there was blood over the entire stairway. I just stood there looking at it before my partner pulled me into the apartment and closed the door,” she said.

The killing, which occurred on the same night that several sexual assaults and rapes were also reported, is the fifth in a month – an unusually high number for the Norwegian capital.

Talking about the latest murder, Officer Kjell Pedersen said, “Those involved are Norwegian men in their early 20s. The deceased has not been identified so we cannot release any further details about him. We believe we have an idea of who he is, but this hasn’t been confirmed.”

Another resident of the apartment block has since been questioned.

21 year-old Tore Eikeland was one of nearly 100 people to die in Friday’s attacks on ruling Labour Party targets. Eikeland was a Labour councillor in Bergen and the leader of Young Labour in the Hordaland region.

When Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg spoke in the national cathedral about Eikeland and all of the victims, he did so with a tear in his eye and cracks in his voice.

In his heartfelt speech, Stoltenberg said he knew many of the victims personally. He mentioned Eikelund and seven others by name; praising what they had managed to achieve in their young lives — both personally and for the Labour Party. The PM said that when Eikeland spoke to the most recent national party conference, he was accorded the honour of a standing ovation from the whole auditorium.

The Prime Minister closed by saying that these young people have now passed from this life into eternity under circumstances which are completely beyond comprehension.

(Photo: Visir.is)

Anders Behring Breivik, 32, has admitted detonating a bomb in the capital, Oslo that killed at least seven people, before going on a shooting rampage at an island youth camp, massacring at least 86 youngsters.

The Norwegian Christian, who has been linked to far-right extremist political groups, is thought to have been planning the attack for years. Speaking through a lawyer after his arrest, he said his actions were “gruesome but necessary”.

Breivik is said to be relishing the opportunity to explain the reasons behind his massacre – which proportionally to national population resulted in a bigger loss of life than America’s 9/11 attacks – at a court hearing at 12.00 local time today. The proceedings may, however, take place behind closed doors, and there have been calls for a media blackout so Breivik is not given a platform to express his extremist views.

Police have confirmed that the Norwegian has admitted to the killings, but claims he has not accepted criminal responsibility for the indiscriminate attacks. Under the country’s legal system, he will only serve a maximum of 21 years behind bars if convicted, although his sentence could be extended further if he is deemed a continued threat to society.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Geir Lippestad, Breivik’s lawyer, said his client “thought it was gruesome having to commit these acts, but in his head they were necessary. He wished to attack society and the structure of society.”

A 1,500-page document, which is being called a manifesto of extremist far-right beliefs, was posted on the internet by the suspect shortly before the crimes. Both the Oslo site where the bomb went off and the youth camp on Utoeya Island are connected to the governing Labour Party.

It has emerged that the farmer, who was able to buy fertiliser that may have been used to make the bomb, used dum-dum bullets at the youth camp, designed to cause maximum damage by disintegrating inside the body. A least four youngsters from the camp are still to be located and areas of the bomb site searched, meaning the death toll could rise even further.

Robin Vedvik Helmersen, now 25, almost died after an icicle dropped onto him as he made his way to meet his girlfriend in the city’s fashionable Frogner district in March 2010.

Giving a tearful testimony to the court, Helmersen’s girlfriend told how she rounded the corner just in time to see a passerby rush to her boyfriend’s aid, adding that she instantly recognised the shoes of the man lying in a pool of blood. Helmersen survived, but is now wheelchair-bound, can barely talk and needs round-the-clock assistance.

Both the owner and the manager of the property pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence, conceding that the accident was tragic but denying it was their fault. The Norwegian court, however, sentenced them to 75 and 60 days in prison respectively last week, while the real estate company was ordered to pay a fine of NOK 2 million (EUR 259,000), as well as NOK 500,000 (EUR 65,000) in compensation.

Both men will file an immediate appeal, based on their claim that their building had been secured and the ice actually fell from a neighbouring roof, according to The Foreigner. The problem of snow and ice building up on rooftops has increased in Scandinavia recently due to a string of harsh winters, forcing property owners to undertake expensive and time-consuming removal procedures.

Speaking after the verdict, Helmersen’s attorney, Christian Lundin, told NRK that his client “was very glad,” with the result of the case. “The first thing he said when he heard the judge read the verdict was ‘takk,’ (thank you), and that says it all,” he added.

Speaking to newspaper VG, Conservative Party politician Stian Berger Rosland said Oslo will be “a completely different city” if it continues to grow at its current rate. He added that if the growth of between 12,000-16,000 citizens a year does not slow, the Norwegian capital will end up “like Manhattan, where people come to work but where only the richest can afford to live.”

With between 1,200 and 1,300 new residences being built a year, the number of people wanting to live in Oslo massively outstrips the rate of construction. While small, expensive condos are still relatively easy to find, affordable family homes are scarce, despite estimates that the city will grow by another 200,000 in the next 20 years.

Erling Dokk Holm, of the Oslo School of Management and Institute of Urbanism and Landscape, pointed out that apartments in the city centre have shot up by as much as NOK 3,000 (EUR 385) per square metre since January this year. He added that this could increase to NOK 100,000 (EUR 12,847) per square metre by 2020 if the trend continues.

“The vast majority of rapes are committed by men with backgrounds other than Norwegian,” Rieber-Mohn said in an interview with VG. In contrast, researcher at the city’s Police College, Ragnhild Bjornebekk, said personality disorders are apparent in most sexually violent criminals.

Meanwhile, police have confirmed that they are currently testing DNA evidence from the victims in an attempt to decipher whether any of the women were attacked by the same man. It is suspected that three of the crimes were the work of a single perpetrator, but the results are likely to take two weeks to process.

The fourth rape is thought to have been committed by two men, while a fifth, which occurred on the following Tuesday, has already seen one suspected arrested and released.

News of the rapes has caused anxiety among much of the Norwegian capital’s female population, with retailer Clas Ohlson already reporting that they have completely sold out of defence sprays at their city centre store. According to national broadcaster NRK, many women also carry illegal pepper sprays.

The Night Ravens, Oslo’s volunteer civilian patrol force, has promised to step up their efforts in the affected areas. Oslo Council has also offered to install more lighting in the unsafe neighbourhoods.

“It all started as a challenge, and I was dismayed when I found out how long Tommy and Lindsay had managed,” said Hansen in an interview with The Irish Times. “I read up about Tommy’s record-breaking attempt online and was very impressed by what he did. I think the key here is to have an audience there to support you, and to use the five-minute breaks you’re allowed each hour wisely so that I don’t fall asleep during the middle of it.”

Hansen’s endeavour will be closely monitored by fellow stand-up comedian Jonas Kinge, along with members of the public who will be invited to comment on the Norwegian’s performance as it is streamed live over the internet. Hansen says he is also hoping to draw inspiration from the festival crowd, just in case he runs out of material from his two separate tours this year.

“Fortunately, you are allowed to repeat yourself, which is a relief because I’m not sure if it is humanly possible for a comedian to perform fresh material for so long,” he said. “In terms of preparation I was hoping to get plenty of sleep before the event, but unfortunately that’s no longer an option because the kindergarten that my son goes to will be closed on Monday and Tuesday so I will have to spend the days with him – and he can be quite a handful,” he added before the festival.