Editorials

Syrian militia members accused of torture and murder live freely in Sweden

While the victims are trying to leave the war behind them, men they believe were responsible for torture, kidnappings, and murders are alleged to have been granted residence permits in Sweden. Now, revelations by Swedish Radio raise questions about how henchmen of the Assad regime were able to pass through the authorities’ screening process.

Hydropower reservoirs at record lows – Electricity prices surge

June began with a sharp rise in electricity prices, exceeding 1.20 kroner per kWh in Eastern Norway. In Southern Norway, the month opened with daily averages above 1.30 kroner. Hydropower reservoirs are running low. What could have provided energy security and lower prices for businesses was exported last year. After a winter with little snow, leaving reservoirs poorly filled, Norway has become a net importer of electricity. The whole situation was entirely predictable.

An anti-democrat comes out of the closet

Politicians must urgently sign Norway up to the EU and scrap any referendum, argues political scientist and Conservative politician Janne Haaland Matlary. She claims the EU issue goes way over the heads of uninformed voters. We can stop complaining about the royal family — institutional decay is even worse elsewhere. With politicians like these, we might as well crown Durek king.

Norwegian fact-checkers and top newspaper target Shada team

The Shada case has attracted widespread attention and sparked strong public engagement, but those who have led the charge — such as Dr Rodgeir Vinsrygg — are now the ones taking the fall. VG has launched a fierce attack, leaving both him and his team dishonoured. However, VG’s story is clearly a narrative, and its true purpose is not hard to see. It is the whistleblowers and alternative media outlets that are being targeted. They are accused of “spreading conspiracies.”

Norwegian media that spread the Hamse Ali hoax now hunt right-wing radicals

One day after Hamse Ali was convicted of false reporting, Faktisk.no and Bergensavisen published a major investigation into those spreading the May 17 violence video. Bergensavisen originated the false Hamse Ali story that divided the nation at great cost. Rather than reflecting on their role in this heated dishonest witch hunt, the accomplices now target ordinary folk who shared proof of a gross racist assault. The absurdity is almost too much to grasp.

Freedom or Absolutism?

“Religion is a private matter,” says Egon Holstad, editor of the newspaper iTromsø, in an attempt to put Christian Youth party (KrFU) leader Ingrid Olina Hovland in her place. A thousand years of Norwegian history proves Holstad wrong. Faith influences the lawmaker, and the law shapes society. A demand to exclude Christianity from political life effectively means abolishing democracy and introducing absolutism.

Woman linked to Chinese spy suspect now works at NATO rocket base supplier

The house raided by PST on Andøya on 7 May lies near Andøya Spaceport, where NATO-funded space rockets are launched. The property is owned by a Norwegian company. Document’s investigation reveals that a former employee of the Chinese owner, suspected of espionage, now works for the supplier of the communication system used at the rocket base.

So far left it breaks the meter: Norwegian commentary shocks bias watchdog

Everyone has biases — and that’s fine, says AllSides. No news coverage is completely impartial. Yet hidden media bias misleads, manipulates, and divides people. Norwegian media regularly does exactly this in its US coverage, fuelling growing hostility toward America and Americans — seen online, at parties, in offices, and around dinner tables.

Norway’s state broadcaster lets multiculturalism choose Norway’s World Cup song

A number of Norwegian artists have created songs for the World Cup ahead of Norway’s participation. NRK chose a 7th grade class at Linderud School in Oslo to vote on the songs in a segment on Dagsrevyen on Monday. There were many hijabs, few ethnic Norwegians, and none voted for the old classic «Alt for Norge».

Morgan Freeman has a lesson on racism for Norwegian activist Sumaya Jirde Ali

At just 17 years old, the Somali immigrant was given a platform to voice her views on a snow-white Norway that she considered unfair and nauseating. Since then, she has used her voice to condemn almost everything we stand for, both as a people and as a nation. Following the brutal assault in Bergen, she once again appropriates the story and turns it into her own self-fulfilling prophecy of racism directed at herself and her people.