Labour Youth League reports Sharon to police (NRK/NTB)

The Norwegian Labour Youth League (AUF) has reported Ariel Sharon to the police because the organization believes he is responsible for murder, shootings and other crimes that are in violation of international conventions. Eva Kristin Hansen, chairman of the AUF, said to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that the case must be tried in Norwegian courts. "We accuse Ariel Sharon of violating international law. We believe there is proof that Israel and the Israeli defence forces have committed grave crimes such as murder and property destruction. Norway’s relationship to international law must be tested in order to determine whether Norway, as a country, can accept people committing such acts," said Ms. Hansen. Mr. Sharon was formally reported to Director General of Public Prosecutions Tor-Aksel Busch on Wednesday.

Try Ariel Sharon in Norway (Verdens Gang)

Eva Kristin Hansen, chairman of the Norwegian Labour Youth League (AUF), believes that Ariel Sharon can be put on trial before a Norwegian court of law. "A Norwegian court of law definitely has the legal right to try the Israeli leader, but whether there is a desire to do so is ultimately a political question," said lawyer John Christian Elden, who assisted the AUF with its formal complaint. This is the first time that the Norwegian prosecuting authority must take a standpoint on the provision in the Penal Code that makes it possible to convict foreigners for crimes against international law that have been committed abroad.

Giske willing to be deputy chairman of Labour (Aftenposten)

Trond Giske has confirmed to Aftenposten that he has accepted his nomination by Sør-Trøndelag County to the position of deputy chairman of the Labour Party. Mr. Giske has his own strategy for lifting the Labour Party out of its current doldrums. "We must be clearer. Not only with regard to individual issues, but also in showing people that we have a radical vision for society. The Labour Party was in power for many years, and was preoccupied with day-to-day issues. We did not devote enough resources to new ideas and our own development," said Mr. Giske.

Increase in number of men accused of rape (Dagsavisen)

Norwegian women are reporting more incidences of rape. The police and the courts, however, are often unable to convict the perpetrators, according to recent figures from Statistics Norway. In 2001, 635 men were reported to the police for rape. Forty-one of them were convicted. This is exactly the same number as in 1998, when 41 of 456 accused rapists were convicted. The numbers are clear: although there were 180 more rapes reported last year, the number of convictions did not increase.

Oslo police are counting on moles (Dagbladet)

In recent years the scope of economic crime has widened, and new methods of earning money illegally are constantly being found. Now the Oslo police force is trying to forestall this type of crime. Informants and intelligence are among the measures the Oslo police are now using to halt economic crime. New methods developed in England and the Netherlands are now being tested.

15 000 job applicants at Snøhvit gas field (Aftenposten)

Fifteen thousand men and women from all over the world want to work for the Snøhvit project in Hammerfest. A large number of the applicants come from northern Sweden and Finland, and from all over Norway. "The response has been incredible. Aetat, the Norwegian Labour Market Administration, has never before registered such enormous interest in working on an industrial project," said regional employment officer Jan Norstrøm in Hammerfest. When the construction work reaches its peak around a year from now, about 1200 people will be directly involved in the building activities.

Røkke is on his way home (Dagens Næringsliv)

Kjell Inge Røkke is closing down his foreign companies and moving their ownership home to Norway. The new parent company in Mr. Røkke’s business empire will be the Norwegian company Resource Group. One of the main complaints made against Mr. Røkke by his critics, that he controls his empire from a tax haven with no public transparency, will thus no longer have any basis.

Stoltenberg wants a debate on Gjedrem’s mandate (Dagens Næringsliv)

Jens Stoltenberg would like to see a debate on monetary policy and on Norges Bank’s mandate for fixing interest rates. "We have created a system in which this type of decision is left to the central bank. This does not preclude the Storting from having a debate on whether the guidelines are adequate. I would welcome this kind of debate," said Mr. Stoltenberg. "There is not much left to see of Minister of Finance Stoltenberg, but that is only to be expected," was Minister of Finance Per-Kristian Foss’s response to Mr. Stoltenberg’s call for a debate on guidelines for Norges Bank. These are guidelines proposed by Mr. Stoltenberg himself just over a year ago.

Worth noting:

• A draft bill from the EU Commission could put the blame on drivers in all accidents in which pedestrians and bicyclists are involved, regardless of who caused the accident. "It is unacceptable that ‘suicide bicyclists’ who run red lights at high speed should not be liable for damages," said Chief Information Officer Egil Otter of the Norwegian Automobile Association. (Vårt Land)
• Over half of all asylum-seekers change their lawyer during the process. One out of five asylum-seekers has contacted a lawyer himself upon arriving in Norway, according to figures from the Directorate of Immigration. "This is ridiculous. The rate at which asylum-seekers change lawyers is extremely high," said Morten Tjessem, Secretary General of the Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers. (Verdens Gang)
• The Oslo police force has seen a 70 per cent increase in money laundering since last year. There are indications that stock market instruments are being used more often to whitewash money. (Dagbladet)
• The video conference company Tandberg is unique in IT circles. The company’s turnover has risen by 53 per cent, and operating results have doubled. The company has presented better results than expected for the eighteenth year in a row. (Aftenposten)
• The Sami Parliament will ask the British mining company Tertiary Minerals to refrain from starting geophysical exploratory drilling activities at Gallujávri in Karasjok this summer. Drilling is scheduled to begin on 22 July. The company found viable reserves of gold, platinum and palladium in the area last summer. (Nationen)
• Yesterday the Swedish krone was listed at its lowest value against the Norwegian krone since Norway acquired its own currency in 1819. At the current rate of 78.96, Norwegians can buy Swedish products more cheaply than ever before. (Aftenposten)
• Thunder and lightning tore through southeastern Norway yesterday evening. During the two hours from 9:45 pm to 11:45 pm no fewer than 2700 bolts of lightning were registered by the Meteorological Institute as having struck southeastern Norway and northern Denmark. And more of the same is expected today. (Verdens Gang)

Today's comment from Dagbladet:

Oslo tops European statistics for fatalities due to drug overdoses. On a list of the 42 cities hardest hit by narcotics, Oslo is number one. This is a first prize we would rather not have won. Behind these figures are appalling personal tragedies. Espen Aas, head of the Narcotic Crimes Section of the Oslo police force, believes that the main reason for the deaths from overdoses is the trend in Norway towards injecting the drugs instead of inhaling them in smoke form, as is more common in other countries. This generally causes the drug abuser to lose consciousness before he has taken a fatal dose. If this is the explanation, it is also an argument in favour of establishing supervised, hygienic injecting rooms where the life and health of addicts are safeguarded more effectively. However, in the long term this trend must serve as a warning to the authorities and a call to intensify efforts to help people escape their drug-induced misery before they end up taking their own lives.