Norwegian doctor jailed for raping patients

Arne Bye was found to have abused his position as a doctor to conduct inappropriate exams

Bye was also banned from practising medicine and ordered to pay compensation.

Nearly all of the offences took place during medical examinations that Bye carried out on his patients while he worked as a physician in the small town of Frosta – a tiny community of fewer than 3,000 residents, near Trondheim on the west coast of Norway.

Former GP Arne Bye was convicted of 70 counts of rape and sexual assault. He was also convicted of 82 counts of abusing his position as a doctor, Norwegian media report.

A court in Norway has sentenced a doctor to 21 years in prison for the rape and sexual abuse of dozens of women, in a case that has shocked the Scandinavian country.

Warning: this story contains details some may find distressing.

The court had deliberated over a lengthy indictment, which included allegations spanning nearly two decades relating to 94 women, according to Norwegian media.

Bye pleaded guilty to some of the crimes, and was also acquitted on a number of the charges.

Addressing the court in Trondheim on Friday, Judge Espen Haug said the case was “very serious” and described Bye’s actions as “absolutely unacceptable”.

“The defendant’s actions happened in a place and setting where people are supposed to feel safe,” Judge Haug said. “His actions have undermined public trust in the health service as well as doctors in general.”

The 55-year-old defendant stood on his feet, appearing calm and unmoved as the maximum sentence was handed down.

The courtroom was then asked to sit as it took more than an hour for the judgement to be read out.

Health authorities had first alerted the police to concerns about Bye in August 2022, and he was charged a year later.

Bye had secretly installed a camera in his office, Norwegian media reports. Police uncovered the scale of his offences after reviewing hundreds of hours of footage.

Dozens of women and children, reportedly aged between 14 and 67, from the small, rural community came forward. The earliest complaint dated back to 2004, the most recent from 2022.

Central to the case had been the methods Bye used for medical examinations.

Over four months, the court heard details of non-consensual touching and inappropriate pelvic examinations conducted by Bye.

These acts constitute rape under Norwegian law, which makes a distinction between penetrative and non-penetrative rape.

Bye was also shown to have used non-medical equipment, such as a deodorant, during these exams, with no justification for doing so.

The defence attorneys had sought a lower sentence of around 17-18 years as Bye had pleaded guilty to the rape of 21 victims.

Prosecutors told public broadcaster NRK that they were satisfied with the verdict, and would review the outcome before considering any appeals.

Bye’s lawyer also said he would take some time to read the verdict properly before considering whether to appeal.

If you have been affected by any issues in this report, help and support is available at BBC Action Line.

Italians will be asked to decide in a referendum on June 8th and 9th whether the country should ease rules on applying for citizenship via residency. So when will we know how the vote went?

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For Italians in Italy, it’s almost time to go to the polls in the upcoming referendum on citizenship, while those voting from overseas have already cast their ballots by post.

The question many people have now is how quickly the votes will be counted and the result announced.

Polling stations will open on Sunday, June 8th, at 7am until 11pm and on Monday 9th from 7am to 3pm.

There will in fact be five separate referendums voters can choose to take part in on reforms to Italian law: four concerning workers’ rights, and one on the citizenship issue.

If you’re eligible to vote, you can find all the practical information you need about doing so here.

Once polling stations close, how quickly we can expect a result largely depends on turnout.

READ ALSO: Seven things to know about Italy’s citizenship referendum

Past referendums have seen void results announced within hours in cases where they failed to attract the minimum voter threshold to be declared valid.

And it looks likely that the same thing might happen this time.

The prospect of being able to take up citizenship through residency after five years instead of ten is a welcome one for many international residents who have made Italy their home and are now waiting to benefit from citizenship rights.

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Italy’s ten-year term is among the longest in Europe, and cutting it to five years would bring it in line with citizenship via residency rules in many neighbouring countries, including France and Spain.

But of course, only Italian citizens can vote in Italy’s referendums, meaning those who are most affected by the proposal do not have a say.

And for the majority of the Italian electorate, polls suggest that this just isn’t an issue that sparks much interest, meaning that the long-term trend of low voter turnout at most of the country’s past referendums looks unlikely to change.

READ ALSO: Two in three Italians won’t vote in June referendums, poll says

Current predictions are that only 30 percent of the electorate will turn out for the vote, this time meaning the referendum would fall far short of the 50 percent threshold, or quorum, needed for a valid result.

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And the government itself is openly encouraging supporters not to take part in the vote, as it continues to rail against the proposed reforms.

It’s not clear whether the intensifying media coverage of an increasingly heated and polarised political debate over the issue will impact voter turnout either way.

If turnout is particularly low, it would likely be evident by Monday night that this referendum isn’t going to meet the quorum.

In that case, the citizenship referendum will be declared invalid and the current rules will remain in force.

If either a Yes or No vote does reach the quorum, it’s not clear when exactly authorities expect to announce a result, but in the past results have been called as early as the next day.

READ ALSO: How can you vote in Italy’s upcoming citizenship referendum?

And in the case of a Yes vote, nothing would change immediately for would-be citizens as the existing law would first need to be changed by parliament.

Whatever happens next, and whenever the final result is announced, we’ll continue to bring you the latest updates on The Local.

FInd more news and guides in our Italian citizenship section.

Italian citizens will vote on 8-9 June on a proposal to reduce the number of years a non-EU national must live in Italy before they can seek citizenship. Lorenzo Piccoli, Yajna Govind and Maarten Vink write the referendum is a chance to align Italy with rules in the rest of Europe.

On 8-9 June, Italian citizens will vote in five referendum proposals, including a measure to reduce the residency requirement for non-EU nationals seeking citizenship from ten years to five.

The initiative was promoted by a coalition of relatively small political parties – More Europe, Possibile, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Radicals and the Communist Refoundation Party – and numerous civil society associations, reaching a record number of 637,000 signatures in just a few months, the fastest civic mobilisation on citizenship in Italian history.

What the referendum proposes

The referendum has often been, incorrectly, associated with previous debates on ius soli (right of soil) and ius scholae (citizenship through schooling), which centred on granting citizenship to children born or educated in Italy. However, this referendum is more limited in scope.

Its objective is to modify the timeframe for naturalisation outlined in Italy’s 1992 citizenship law, without altering its core principles. The referendum will not affect other existing requirements. The residency requirement is a necessary but not sufficient condition to become eligible for naturalisation. Applicants will still be required to demonstrate knowledge of the Italian language, as well as proof of sufficient income in previous years, fulfilling tax obligations and having no criminal record.

The current referendum is only focused on the residency requirement for naturalisation and aims to halve it. Currently, individuals must reside in the country for ten consecutive years before applying for citizenship. The process often extends by several years due to administrative delays, including up to three years for application approval and a further six months for the citizenship ceremony. The proposed reform would cut the required residency period to five consecutive years. If successful, it would align Italy’s naturalisation laws with those of most European countries.

How Italy compares internationally

In European and western democracies, five years of legal residence is the most common requirement for naturalisation. Countries like France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Ireland adopt this threshold, often alongside integration requirements such as language proficiency and civic knowledge.

Germany, too, in 2024, changed its citizenship law by reducing the residence requirement from eight to five years. Outside Europe, countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand also have a residence requirement of five years. Italy’s ten-year residency requirement is among the strictest in the EU and among western democracies.

Figure: How Italy’s residency requirement compares with the rest of Europe

Source: GLOBALCIT Citizenship Law Dataset, v3, mode: A06_yrs (embargoed data)

Comparative estimates show that the annual naturalisation rate of foreign citizens living in Italy is 2.6% (in the EU it is 2.3%), but one important consequence of the current law is that Italy has one of the lowest rates of naturalisation among long-term foreign-born residents: only 35% of immigrants with 20-24 years of residence in Italy acquire citizenship, far below the EU average of 53%.

Citizenship and integration – what the evidence shows

The academic literature consistently shows that access to citizenship has positive effects. Naturalised immigrants are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages, and feel a stronger sense of belonging. By contrast, protracted waiting periods for naturalisation delay or dampen these effects. These findings suggest that naturalisation is not only a reward but also an important catalyst for integration.

Critics argue that reducing the residency requirement may weaken national cohesion or reward “short-term” presence. But data from countries with shorter naturalisation timelines shows no such effect. If anything, early access to citizenship fosters deeper civic engagement and loyalty. Indeed, a majority of Italians think that citizenship accelerates the integration process. The last Eurobarometer on the integration of immigrants reports that 87% of Italians believe that acquiring Italian citizenship is an important factor for the successful integration of immigrants in Italy.

With Italy facing demographic decline and labour market gaps, simplifying access to citizenship could also serve broader economic and social policy goals. As research suggests, when immigrants can access full membership, they are more likely to invest in long-term human capital, contribute to the tax base and participate in local governance, benefitting society as a whole.

Why this referendum matters

Despite such strong evidence, the referendum has been quickly subsumed into the country’s polarised political environment. Left wing parties support it, while members of the right-wing government coalition urged their supporters to abstain to invalidate the vote. This is because in Italy, popular referendums require a turnout of over 50% to be legally binding, which results in abstentionism being used strategically to invalidate reform efforts, regardless of the issue at stake.

The threshold of 50% has rarely been met in recent decades, although there have been exceptions. The 1974 divorce referendum, the 1981 referendum on abortion and the 2011 referendum on nuclear power, for example, crossed the turnout threshold. These referendums have something in common: strong emotional resonance. They mobilised voters, civil society and institutions around issues that touched on civic culture and everyday life.

It is unlikely this referendum will stir the same emotional intensity as the landmark votes on divorce and abortion. A telling sign of how little attention it has received came on 5 May, when the Italian Communications Authority issued a formal note urging media outlets not to overlook the referendum.

Yet the implications of the vote are important. If the referendum passes, the Italian citizenship law will finally be aligned with the most common requirement for naturalisation in Europe. However, if turnout falls below the 50% threshold, the result will be invalidated, potentially delaying any meaningful reform of Italy’s outdated citizenship laws for years. Failure to pass the reform would risk widening the gap between access to citizenship and the social integration of hundreds of thousands of long-term residents.

Note: This article gives the views of the authors, not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy or the London School of Economics. Featured image credit: vchal / Shutterstock.com

Biggest drone strike hits Ukraine’s second city

6 hours ago Share Save Paul Adams Diplomatic correspondent Reporting from Kyiv Jessica Rawnsley BBC News Share Save

Watch: Firefighters battle flames after Kharkiv apartments hit by Russian strikes

Russia has hit Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, with a massive drone and bomber attack, killing four people and injuring nearly 60, officials say. Two people were also killed in Russian strikes on Kherson, in southern Ukraine, local authorities said. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 48 drones, two missiles and four glide bombs had been used against his city on Friday night, while more glide bombs were reportedly dropped on Saturday. Earlier, Moscow said a massive wave of drone and missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday night was in response to “terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime”, after attacks on Russian railway infrastructure and air bases last weekend.

In another development, Russian and Ukrainian officials released conflicting accounts about when a prisoner swap agreed at earlier talks would happen. In Kharkiv, some 18 apartment buildings and 13 other homes were hit on Friday night, the mayor said. A baby and a 14-year-old girl were among the injured, he added. One civilian industrial facility was attacked by 40 drones, one missile and four bombs, Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said, adding that there might still be people buried under the rubble. In the later Russian attack using glide bombs on Kharkiv on Saturday evening, one more person was killed and at least another 18 people injured, the city’s mayor said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow and to take “more steps to strengthen Ukraine” in response to Russia’s latest attacks. Six people were killed and 80 injured across Ukraine on Thursday night, when Russia attacked the country with more than 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles.

EPA A psychologist provides assistance to a woman near the site of an air strike in Kharkiv on Saturday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes on Kharkiv made “no military sense” and were “pure terrorism”. He accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of “buying himself time to keep waging the war”, and said “pressure must be applied” to stop the attacks. During the latest round of direct talks in Istanbul earlier this week, the two warring sides agreed to exchange all sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war, those aged under 25, as well as the bodies of 12,000 soldiers. Moscow’s chief negotiator at the meeting, Vladimir Medinsky, said on Saturday that Ukraine had “unexpectedly postponed both the acceptance of bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war for an indefinite period”. He further said that the bodies of more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been taken to an agreed exchange point but that Ukrainian officials had never arrived. A list of 640 prisoners-of-war had also been handed to Ukraine “in order to begin the exchange”, Medinsky wrote on social media. Ukrainian officials responded angrily to the allegations, telling Russia to “stop playing dirty games”.

A statement from Ukraine’s Co-ordination for PoWs office said that the comments did “not correspond to reality or to previous agreements”. The Co-ordination HQ said both sides had been working on preparations for the exchange over the past week and alleged that Russia was not sticking to the agreed parameters of the swap. It added that Ukraine had submitted its PoW lists according to the “clearly defined categories” of the deal, but that Russia had submitted “alternative lists that do not correspond to the agreed-upon approach”. While an agreement on the repatriation of bodies had been reached, a date had not been set, Ukraine said, with Russia taking “unilateral steps that had not been co-ordinated”. Russian air strikes over the past two nights came after bomb attacks on railways in western Russia reportedly killed seven people and injured more than 100, and Ukrainian drone strikes targeted strategic warplanes at four air bases deep inside Russia. Ukraine’s security service SBU said at least 40 Russian aircraft had been struck during “Operation Spider’s Web” last Sunday.

Watch: Drone footage of what Ukraine has said shows Russia airfield attack

Raids across Canary Islands in major cocaine gang bust

2 days ago Share Save Sean Seddon BBC News Share Save

Europol The EU police agency Europol released footage of suspects being arrested on the Spanish islands

A major cocaine smuggling operation that used a network of speedboats to transport drugs from South America to the Canary Islands has been taken down, police have said. Almost four tonnes of cocaine trafficked from Brazil and Colombia were seized and 48 suspects arrested in raids across Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. Spain’s Policia Nacional said the gang used 11 so-called narco boats to smuggle the drugs across the Atlantic in a complex operation that involved using an abandoned wreck at sea as a refuelling platform. Police forces from Europe, including the UK, as well as South America and the US were involved in planning the raids, dubbed Operation Black Shadow.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed that a British national was among those arrested. Europol said the gang used speedboats “repeatedly, departing from strategic points in the Atlantic Ocean to a mother ship transporting the cocaine”. Investigators revealed the gang used “a complex encrypted communications system to evade law enforcement, including the use of satellite terminals, hard-to-trace phones and a coded language”. Police said the raids were months in the planning and saw 29 properties searched, 69 vehicles seized – including boats and jet skis – and cash and firearms recovered. Details of the raids shine a light on the complexity of the networks international drug smuggling gangs use to get narcotics into Europe, a major market for South American-based cartels.

Europol Police say €100,000 (£84,000/$114,000) and guns were found during the raids