Suspect in police custody after violence shakes rural village
Police in Norway responded to a stabbing incident that left three people injured, one seriously. The attack took place in Nore og Uvdal, 85 km from Oslo, according to a police tweet on Friday.
Norwegian authorities labeled the incident a “PLIVO”, which stands for “ongoing life-threatening violence” in police terminology.
Police said a suspect had been arrested an hour after the stabbing was first reported.
Numedal is in the south-east of Norway and includes several municipalities.
Mayor Jan Gaute Bjerke described the violence as “deeply tragic”.
“The municipality staff will help with information and run a crisis management team in coordination with the police,” he said.
The stabbing comes after a defendant in one of the most notorious recent cases of violence in Norway pleaded guilty to a bow-and-arrow and knife rampage that left five people dead and three injured, including an off-duty police officer.
Norwegian police initially investigated the incident as an act of terror, but later concluded that the suspect, a 38-year-old Danish man was suffering from mental illness. His trial is scheduled to last until Jun 22.
Durban, May 20 (IPS) – Ashley has vast work experience. She has laboured by the sweat of her brow in the blistering sun on the streets of Guatemala, in the open fields on farmlands and indoors, toiling for long hours to the hum of a sewing machine.
President Biden heads to Asia Friday for a meeting of the Quad group, which includes leaders from India, Japan and Australia. The unspoken focus of the gathering is China.
With high court poised to strike down abortion as constitutional right, VP warns of government interference in private matters
After a year of finding no fault with Covid-19 vaccine mandates, Vice President Kamala Harris is warning that the government will infringe on personal liberties if the US Supreme Court overturns constitutional protection of abortion rights as expected.
“At its core, this is about our future as a nation, about whether we live in a country where the government can interfere in personal decisions,” Harris said on Thursday in a meeting by videoconference with abortionists and abortion advocates. “This is about our future.”
At issue is a Supreme Court decision that would strike down Roe v Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling that protected abortion as a constitutional right. A draft of the court’s 5-3 decision striking down Roe v Wade and leaving the abortion issue for states to decide was leaked to the media earlier this month. The ruling is expected to be issued officially in late June or early July.
This is a critical moment for reproductive rights. Today I am meeting with abortion providers and leading advocates who are on the frontlines of the war on women’s rights. Tune in. https://t.co/htVSC6PT5P
The vice president’s virtual meeting with abortion providers came on the same day that lawmakers in Oklahoma passed a bill banning abortion from the moment of “fertilization.” Governor Kevin Stitt has vowed to sign and enact any anti-abortion legislation that reaches his desk, as he did when he approved a bill last month making it a felony for abortionists to terminate a pregnancy.
“Think about that for a second, from the moment of fertilization,” Harris said. “It’s outrageous, and it’s just the latest in a series of extreme laws around the country.” She added that such laws are designed to “punish and control women.”
Harris argued that the Supreme Court decision represents a threat to all Americans, not just women, because the original Roe v Wade ruling was based on a finding that prohibiting abortion would infringe privacy rights.
“The right to privacy that forms the basis of Roe is the same right to privacy that protects the right to use contraception and the right to marry the person you love, including a person of the same sex,” she said. “Overturning Roe opens the door to restricting those rights.”
It would be a direct assault on the fundamental right to self-determination, to live and love without interference from the government.
However, another landmark ruling in an abortion case – Planned Parenthood v Casey in 1992 – found that terminating a pregnancy is a unique act, unlike other privacy rights, because it involves consequences for others, including the life that is terminated. The 5-4 ruling in the Casey case upheld abortion as constitutionally protected, but it opened the door for states to impose restrictions, as long as they didn’t impose an “undue burden” on people seeking abortions.
“Kamala Harris just repeated the lie that reversing Roe would threaten rights to contraception and marriage,” said the Rev. Frank Pavone, a Catholic priest and anti-abortion activist.
