Equinox is for some people a natural phenomenon; for some it remains a usual day. However, when the day and night become the same length, people in a small city of Sandvika, not far from Oslo, the capital of Norway, will gather together to enjoy the Kulquinox festival.

Kulquinox, a word combination of culture (in Norwegian, kultur) and equinox is one of the concepts developed by Cosmic Wind Cultural Collaborations. As the word indicates, it is a cultural festival which takes place twice a year around the time of the fall and spring equinox.

From music and dance to poetry and acrobatics, the wide range of the festival program is as diverse as the audience itself. For the coming Kulquinox on September 15, 2012, there will be performances of national and international artists to the public such as Sandra Kolstad, a well-known Norwegian visual performer and electronic musician; Assula, a visual artist from Danmark; Lex Tit, a mimer and clown from the UK, Helene Boehler with MBira, a fascinating African instrument; Mongolian Jetset, a promising psychedelic musician band from Norway; Mike Gallaher, a US jazz musician and a dance group who is going to surprise the audience with a fusion of Celtic, tribal and belly dancing.

Taking place in a large and open backyard with a café, theater stage, beach lounge and wide space for lighting and projection, Kulquinox is not only promising international cultural highlights but also a vibrant atmosphere for the local culture.

This will be the 4th annual festival. In 2008, Cosmic Wind Cultural Collaborations established a culture house in Stabekk, a district of Oslo. The house quickly became a popular meeting point for important players on the cultural scene and created a community of friends. In that year, Cosmic Wind organized a night of cultural events, offering concerts, light shows, dance, debate, film, gaming and acrobatics. What began as a summer celebration four years ago has now become a festival.

Last year, over 100 artists from different genres took part collaborating, performing and communicating with each other and the audience till the sun showed its first beautiful morning rays.

In addition to a full program including astronomy show, music, visual art, film, ceramic exhibition, dance and poetry for young and old, there was a market place for crafts. Many large and small organizations such as Red Cross Norway; Amnesty International Norway; Kulturtalk, a consulting company in culture, Norsk Taiji Senter and the Baerum Kunst, a local artshop were presenting and promoting themselves and enjoying the surroundings. The festival really began to take shape and find its place in the local life. It also brought possibilities for local enterprises, such as Lykkehaven café-restaurant, which serves ecological food at the festival.

“The purpose of the festival is to create an event with associated workshops, which promotes collaboration across artistic genres and cultural boundaries,” explains Mr. Aamot Wind, one of the collaboration leaders. “Moreover, the festival has a social profile. We encourage people to participate in workshops, shows and activities. We bring people together and thus promote a positive local community.”

Being an artist himself, Wind is probably one of the most noticeable people in the crowd. With dreadlocks rolling down to his knee while interviewing him in a café, he certainty convinced Toonari Post that a unique look is always an attraction to the public. In that sense, he is already a good example of an exhibition object for the coming Kulquinox.

Toonari Post says lykke til (good luck for) this year’s festival!

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Anders Behring Breivik, who has been psychologically evaluated by psychiatrists, insists he is not crazy and that taking the insanity plea would be worse than death. This has a lot of people wondering, what is sane about killing 77 people?

Breivik has admitted his crime and told the court last week in chilling detail and with no remorse, how he went about killing 69 civilians that were attending a political youth camp on Utoya, an island just outside of Oslo, Norway.

According to VOANews, “he told a court filled with relatives of those he killed that at first he was hesitant to carry out his plan to shoot as many people as he could when he arrived on Utoya Island. But he said the killing got easier once he shot his first victim in the head.”

Another eight people had already been killed from a bombing that Breivik orchestrated at a government building in Oslo. He claims he got the idea of executing his plan after extensively researching Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh is infamously known for his anti-government antics and is commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City Bomber after killing 168 people and injuring an additional 600 in 1995.

Breivik, who has strong anti-Islamic beliefs, has mentioned at every one of his court appearances that he killed those people “in order to fight multiculturalism in Norway and what he sees as a Muslim invasion of Europe.”

If Breivik is found sane, the maximum sentence he will receive is a 21 year prison sentence, which reflects that Norway does not have the death penalty. Is a 21 year prison sentence too lenient for taking the lives of 77 people?

While the government system seems to be acting extremely lenient toward Breivik’s sentencing in comparison to other nation’s standards, several Norwegians are not taking his massacres lightly. Tens of thousands of Norwegians defied Breivik as they gathered in Oslo on April 26. At the gathering, Norwegians united by singing a folk song about multiculturalism.

Civilians attending the event also listened to the stories of some of those who survived Breivik’s attacks and then went to the courtroom where a few survivors testified. One woman who worked at the government building discussed how, after the bomb detonated, “she fell into a coma and lost her memory.” Another man, who also worked at the government building discussed how he survived the blast but lost eighty-percent of his eye-sight as a result.

Breivik has been subjected to two psychological analyses; the first declared that he was insane while the second declared that he was sane. Breivik was outraged by both results while claiming the first analysis attempted to show him as unintelligent and that those who diagnosed him were simply making “evil fabrications” against him. The second psychological test result was that Breivik is sane but is “narcissistic and dissocial.” However, many contend that there is nothing sane about either incident. Breivik has remained emotionless and expression-less throughout the trial as details are unraveled of what he has done. The mass murder told the court last week that, “I embrace death. I looked at the action on July 22 as a suicide mission.”

Breivik has been charged with pre-meditated murder and terrorism. While he admits what he has done, he still rejects the idea that he is criminally guilty of anything. If 33-year-old Breivik decides to take the insanity plea, he would be institutionalized at a psychiatric care facility rather than face prison time.

Regardless of Breivik’s final sentencing, he is standing his ground. He was hopeful that Norway would change its immigration policy after his attacks in July. He is upset that nothing has been changed.

Breivik has warned prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh that “there are currently two other one-man cells in Norway ‘planning attacks’ and who could strike at any time.” Until that day comes however, Anders Behring Breivik will be infamously known in history as carrying out the deadliest massacre ever committed by a lone gunman.

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Aspiro TV, the multi-screen video enabler announced it’s implementing social TV features as part of its services. The seamless social integration into Facebook Timeline will open up new possibilities for Aspiro’s customers.

Integrated into the Aspiro TV platform, the new social TV feature enables end-users to show their friends what they’re watching on their Aspiro-enabled video service. The integration will provide Aspiro’s customers with additional intel on the end-users. This will also allow for new sharing, marketing, integration tools and business opportunities. While watching TV or Video via a service delivered by Aspiro TV, users can also chat with their friends at Facebook directly within the app.

“We believe that social is the next evolution of the TV-experience and as such have chosen to deeply integrate it across our product offering, making it easy for our customers to leverage,” said Aspiro CEO Erling Paulsen. He continued: “It’s what new generation end-users want. Opportunities like this provided by new devices will enhance the experience and help create a more dedicated user.”

Aspiro TV enables multi-screen video experiences on consumer devices. From being a mobile centric company, it has over the last years transformed into delivering to any online device, including tablets, desktop computers, Set-top-boxes, connected TV’s and virtually any screen with internet access.

Aspiro’s open framework integrated with leading industry standards enables companies to connect to their existing platforms and systems and leverage technologies they’ve already invested in. Based in Oslo, Norway, Aspiro TV is a leading multi-screen TV and video enabler powering services for network operators and broadcasters such as Deutsche Telekom, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Nextel, Hi3G, BBC and Entel.

Aspiro in Brief Aspiro has unique positioning as the world’s only provider of complete TV and music streaming services for partners that want to put their own branding on the service. Aspiro also provides the music streaming service WiMP directly to consumers on selected markets. Aspiro has over ten years’ experience in mobile technology and retail in northern Europe, and delivers services to partners worldwide like Deutsche Telekom, Telenor, 3, Entel and Canal Digital. Aspiro is listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic Exchange Stockholm.

Aspiro TV will be demonstrating this and its complete multi-screen TV solution at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit us at our stand number 2A67 in hall 2, 27 February – 1 March 2012. For further information, contact: sales.tv@aspiro.com

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Anders Behring Breivik, the man who massacred 77 people in Norway on July 22, has said he deserves to be set free and that he should receive a medal of honor for the brutal killings. Breivik, 32, has proudly confessed to detonating a fertilizer bomb outside of Oslo government headquarters and for gunning down people at the Labour Party youth camp. However, he has denounced the charges that say his attacks were a  criminal act and refuses to acknowledge the court’s authority.

On Monday, he walked into the Oslo courtroom for the final detention before his trial and raised his handcuffed arms in “some kind of right-wing extremist greeting”, according to his lawyer, Geir Lippestad. Breivik read to the court from his prepared statements and said that the massacre was meant to oppose the “traitors” that welcome immigrants who encourage “an Islamic colonization of Norway”. He asked the court to let him go free and told the judge that he should receive a medal of honor for the slayings.

Breivik stated, “The attacks on the government headquarters were preventative attacks on traitors to the nation, people committing, or planning to commit, cultural destruction, including destruction of Norwegian culture and the Norwegian ethnicity.” He also claimed, “The ethnic Norwegians will be a minority in Oslo in the next 10 years. It is a fact. I represent the Norwegian resistance.”

The 100 survivors and the victims’ family members who witnessed this were shocked by his statements. “It wasn’t good that he got to say what he wanted to say,” said Amel Baltic, a 16-year-old survivor of the Utoya massacre. “It made me irritated.” Some survivors of the attacks are worried that Breivik will use his trial as an excuse to further his extremist views.

Breivik identifies himself as the commander of a militant regime that’s purpose is to cause the downfall of European governments. After they have fallen, a new order will be put into place and Muslim immigrants will be deported. The police have not found any evidence of an organization bent on destroying European governments, however, and think Breivik worked alone.

The judge ruled that he must stay in custody until April 16, which is when his trial will start. He could receive up to 21 years in prison, unless he is diagnosed as mentally ill. Then, he would be sent to a psychiatric prison. The first mental evaluation deemed Breivik criminally insane and psychotic, which drew much criticism. Another evaluation was issued, but Breivik staunchly refused to work with the psychiatrists.

The defense lawyer, Lippestad, thinks Breivik’s comments highlight what is yet to come during the trial. “It’s a preparation for the trial. Much of this case is about his personality,” the lawyer stated.

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Norwegian police took the self-confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik back to Utøya island to stage a reconstruction of his slaughter of 69 people last month.

“We were able to animate his memory with regard to what happened out there,” police prosecutor Paal-Fredrik Hjort Kraby told reporters, adding that many new details emerged in the eight-hour journey around the island.

The victims had been attending an island summer camp run by the youth wing of Norway’s Labour party, which Breivik condemned in a rambling manifesto. Most of the victims were in their teens or 20s, and some were shot while attempting to swim to safety.

Despite Breivik’s admission that he committed the attacks, Kraby said an extensive reconstruction was needed to show survivors and relatives exactly what happened and also to clarify details of the attack that would be presented at Breivik’s trial, expected to begin next year.

“It’s important they get to know as much as possible about what happened on the island, even if it has to come from the suspect himself,” Kraby said. “We’re seeking as many details as possible about each killing.”

Breivik was wearing a bulletproof vest and a leash held by a guard while he returned to the scenic Norwegian island through a simulation of his actions.

Moreover, a police helicopter was circling and commandos were armed and ready for action while Breivik returned to Utøya aboard a ferry similar to the one he had taken the day of the attacks.

He wasn’t wearing handcuffs in order to give him greater freedom of movement during the simulation, Kraby said.
Breivik showed police how he stalked his victims at times holding up his arms as if pretending to take aim at fleeing members of that political youth camp who were his targets on the island of Utøya.

Parts of the simulation were recorded and broadcast by the Norwegian media. The frightening pictures, which showed Breivik in action brought back the memory of the terror from that rainy afternoon on July 22. The video of the simulation posted on the website of the newspaper VG shows him pointing an imaginary rifle into the water to show how he shot his victims.

The 32-year old self-described Christian crusader was calm and co-operative as police prosecutor said. ”The suspect showed he was not unmoved by being back on Utøya,” Kraby said. ”But he did not show any remorse.”

Breivik has admitted to plotting and carrying out the attack as well as detonating a bomb a few hours earlier that killed eight people inOslo. Most of his victims were affiliated with the Labour Party, the leader of the country’s governing coalition, which has helped turnNorwayinto a haven for asylum seekers.

Survivors of the gun attack which claimed the lives of 69 people last month at Utøya revisited the massacre scene a few days ago in the company of families and friends of those who died.

About 500 people visited the island in light rain. As many as 1,500 people are expected to visit over the weekend (20-21 August) including the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg.

Survivors and victims, who were not allowed into the court hearing, were represented by lawyers. Breivik could face a 21-year prison sentence if found guilty of terrorism charges, but that could be extended indefinitely if he is still deemed to pose a threat to the public.

Robert Rozbora / Shutterstock.com

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The Norwegian police announced during a press conference that Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-years-old Norwegian man arrested on Friday and charged over the bomb attack in Oslo and the massacre at Utøya Island, have confessed.

Breivik killed 85 people in the shooting at the annual summer camp of the country’s ruling Labour party of Utøya, and seven were the victims of the bombing in the government quarter in center of the capital Oslo. Five are the people still missing and 20 those seriously injured. Thus, the death toll could rise further in the next hours.

On his Facebook page the killer described himself has Christian and conservative, with a passion for hunting and war videogames. He was defined by the police a “Christian fundamentalist” strongly hostile to Islam. According to the Norwegian press the man was also tied to extreme-right groups.

On the web site www.document.no he published some posts which show his nationalist ideas and his aversion to multicultural society. More than one year ago in a post he defined the labourist Gro Harlem Brundlandt, who had been Prime Minister for three legislatures between 1981 and 1996, as the “killer of the country”.  She also participated at the Labour party’s rally at Utøya on Friday and made a speech a few hours before the shooting.

Owning a farm Breivik could buy a kind of fertilizer that can also be used to make bombs, and practicing hunting we could own several registered weapons.

An eyewitness reported there was another killer at the island, but it’s not clear yet if he had a partner or not.

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While people were fleeing the scene of the bomb explosion in Oslo, a youth camp on the island of Utøya was being slaughtered by an unidentified man, dressed in uniform and with a gun. The camp was for young supporters of the Norwegian Labour Party and the BBC has unconfirmed reports that the Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was supposed to attend the camp today. When the unidentified shooter opened fire, campers fled in fear and many tried to save themselves by jumping into the surrounding water. But an eyewitness has told the Norway national broadcaster NRK that he in the immediate aftermath saw more than 20 bodies around him. “There are very many dead by the shore [...] There are about 20-25 dead,” said Andre Scheie. He also told that he saw bodies in the water and the police are still searching the water for missing people. Most recently, the government of Norway has been able to confirm the death of 85 people on the island of Utøya and an additional 10 in the Oslo bomb explosion, totaling 95 and making it the worse terrorist attack Norway has seen in history.

A man has been arrested after the shooting and it has been confirmed that he is Caucasian. According to Sveinung Sponheim, acting Police Chief, the shooter was spotted in the capital prior to the explosions which suggest a link between the two incidents. He is currently being questioned at a local police station, according to the BBC.

The hospital is still treating victims from the bombing in the capital and the overall number of deaths could rise within the next 24 hours. The two attacks happened with only a few hours in between which strongly suggest some sort of coordination. Whether it was a deranged loner, working on his own, or it was indeed an organised terror attack is still unknown but meanwhile, police fear that there may be explosive on the island.

The attacks have shocked the Scandinavian community which has strict gun control. Prime Minister Stoltenberg told NRK “Co-workers have lost their lives today [...] it’s frightening. That’s not how we want things in our country. But it’s important that we don’t let ourselves be scared. Because the purpose of that kind of violence is to create fear.”

Despite claiming responsibility, the Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami was most likely not behind the bomb attack according to an expert.

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This afternoon, a bomb exploded in the capital of Norway outside the offices of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and a number of surrounding buildings. An eyewitness reportedly saw the blast shattering all the windows in the high-rise building. “I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Ole Tommy Pedersen told AP.

Within 45 minutes, the city centre was evacuated and the police confirmed that people had been killed. Both police and military was on the scene and the injured were treated in the streets.

According to the New York Times, the terror group Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Meanwhile, a youth camp linked to the leading Norwegian Labour party was involved in a shooting outside Oslo and it is believed that the two events could be linked. Norwegian police have confirmed that at least 30 people have been killed in the camp shooting when an unknown gunman, dressed as a police officer, opened fire indiscriminately on the attendees. The camp was taking place on the island Utoeyais and some tried to flee the violence by jumping into the water.

Seven people have so far died from the bombing in Oslo and two are badly injured. Residents are advised to stay at home.

Timeline:

• 1.30pm: Massive car bomb explosion kills at least seven in Oslo
• 3.30pm: Between 25 and 30 dead as man disguised as police officer opens fire on island youth meeting Norwegian prime minister was due to attend
• Eyewitnesses say bodies floating in the sea around the island
• Man arrested on the island was 6ft tall, had blonde hair and spoke Norwegian – reports he was shot and wounded before being detained
• Police fear explosives may have been laid at camp
• Unknown group called ‘Helpers of the Global Jihad’ said to have posted message saying this is reaction to publication of Muhammed cartoons
• Islands residents told not to reveal their location on Twitter or Facebook
• British Foreign Minister William Hague condemns ‘horrific’ attack
• Oslo Mayor: ‘Wish I were on island to be shot instead of children’
• Police believe the two attacks may be linked

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