Manslaughter investigation following collision (Aftenposten)

The two Filipino seamen who were on watch when the Norwegian tanker Bow Eagle ran down a French trawler, sailed on without raising the alarm and subsequently lied about the accident, which happened on Monday night. Four French fishermen were killed, three others were rescued after spending nine hours in the water. The collision is being investigated by French authorities as a case of manslaughter, criminal damage and failure to come to the aid of those in distress. "The incident as such is shameful. We are shocked and disappointed. This violates all the rules and norms which we expect our people to abide by," said Ole Johan Haahjem, operations manager with Odfjell ASA, which owns the Norwegian ship. The Bow Eagle’s Norwegian captain and first officer were asleep when the accident happened.

Legal expert claims captain will go free (Verdens Gang)

The Norwegian captain on board the Bow Eagle cannot be held legally responsible for the accident at sea, according to Norway’s leading expert on maritime law, professor Erik Røsæg. "The shipowners, on the other hand, can expect to be sued for compensation by the victims’ next of kin, said professor Røsæg. However, he believes the consequences could be serious for the two Filipino seamen who were aware of the collision but sailed on without raising the alarm. "For this offence the maximum penalty for the second officer is six years’ imprisonment. This corresponds to the penalty for involuntary manslaughter under aggravating circumstances," he said.

Jagland wanted to help Stoltenberg (Dagsavisen)

"We have to rid ourselves of the "monster" within the party and the nastiness which pervades its internal workings. This will make the party easier for Jens Stoltenberg to lead," said outgoing Labour leader Thorbjørn Jagland in explanation for his harsh public comments. Jens Stoltenberg denies that he has taken part in a campaign against Mr Jagland. "We have to put this affair behind us. It is history. It is important for the Labour Party to look ahead," he said.

Jens went back on agreement (Verdens Gang)

At a meeting behind closed doors in Thorbjørn Jagland’s office, Jens Stoltenberg made no protest about Mr Jagland’s new plan to continue as party chairman until 2004. Neither Labour Party deputy leader Hill-Marta Solberg nor party secretary Martin Kolberg voiced any objections either to Mr Jagland’s plan. "I was willing to continue for another two years. That is what I told the party leadership. No one in the leadership had any objections – including Jens Stoltenberg. We also developed a plan for how he and I should share the leadership tasks between us until the annual conference in 2004," said Mr Jagland.

Labour Party accused of ideological vacuity (Aftenposten)

According to political commentator Frank Aarebrot, the Labour Party will be unable to get back on its feet until it begins to discuss issues. Mr Aarebrot believes that behind the latest round of mudslinging is a sense of frustration over last year’s election defeat. He says the party is suffering from ideological vacuity. "The problem is that Thorbjørn Jagland has his own perception of what has happened, which he has made no bones about. I understand that perception, but do not agree with it. He gives the impression of having been a leader driven from pillar to post by external forces – partly by the press, partly by people within the party. I think he is making a mistake. There is a grain of truth in what he says, but it is not the whole truth," said Mr Aarebrot.

Jagland correct in what he says (Nordlys/ANB)

Professor Kjell Arne Rørvik of the University of Tromsø thinks Thorbjørn Jagland is correct in a lot of his criticism, but refuses to believe that he did not know what a row would ensue from his comments. The political science professor sees the controversy surrounding Trond Giske’s attempt to be elected deputy leader as a continuation of the battle between Jens Stoltenberg and Thorbjørn Jagland. However, he says there is no reason to believe that differences of opinion within the Labour Party are solely a sign of weakness. On the contrary, the fact that there are many opinions within the party about the best way forward could be a very healthy sign, he claims.

Krekar’s family could be expelled (Aftenposten)

Mullah Krekar’s refugee status is to be revoked, and the Immigration Directorate will also consider what is to be done with his family, who are Norwegian citizens. Revelations concerning Mullah Krekar’s activities could ultimately lead to his family being expelled from the country. "What the results of our deliberations concerning his family will be, I can neither comment on nor say anything about today. But this is quite clearly a very serious affair," said the Immigration Directorate’s spokesmen, Geir Lønsdal.

Dead heat on EU membership (Nationen)

Supporters of EU membership are gaining ground. If there had been an EU membership referendum today the result would have been nail bitingly close. Nationen’s poll shows that opponents of EU membership would have won the referendum with 50.3 per cent, against 49.7 per cent in favour. Taking a statistical margin of error into account, what we are talking about is a dead heat. Moreover, the poll shows that the number of ‘don’t knows’ is very low. Only 8.2 per cent of those questioned were sitting on the fence. This is the lowest proportion of ‘don’t knows’ ever recorded in our EU polls.

1. Worth Noting

• "We must have a different political culture. We must stop casting suspicion on each other. We are completely losing control," said Thorbjørn Jagland, who wants to lance all the party’s festering sores before the annual conference in November. But Mr Jagland’s comments have been met with massive criticism within the party. Today’s national executive committee meeting is expected to try and resolve the crisis.
  (Aftenposten)
• More and more communication is now taking place by e-mail and mobile phone. The Norwegian Postal Administration has been hard hit by this development, for we are sending fewer and fewer letters. In the first half of this year the Postal Administration made an operating profit of NOK 28 million, compared with NOK 577 million last year.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss is thinking of tightening a number of the tax regulations for the farming industry. The tax increases could be included in this autumn’s budget proposal.
  (Nationen)
• Half of all new students at the University of Oslo disappear after their first year. The university’s vice chancellor, Arild Underdal, admits that what students are offered is not good enough. He also believes that many young people start studying at the university without having any clear idea of what they want out of it – which is why many of them drop out.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Claims for unpaid debts of over NOK 40 billion, outstanding child support amounting to NOK 2.5 billion, and charges, fines and unpaid student loans to the tune of NOK 4.6 billion. This year’s pay bonanza has made Mr and Mrs Norwegian even less willing to meet their financial obligations. Nevertheless, debt collection agencies are expecting the figures to increase by 25-30 per cent this year.
  (Vårt Land)
• The grassroots of the Church of Norway is in favour of separating church and state. A clear majority of the parish councils which have expressed an opinion so far, say yes to disestablishment.
  (Dagsavisen)
• Shipyard parvenu and property developer Carl Fredrik Seim has confirmed that the plan all along was to move Mjellem & Karlsen’s shipbuilding activities out of its city-centre site in Bergen. Mjellem & Karlsen occupies one of the best real estate sites in the whole of Bergen. "It was the total package we were interested in," confirms the property developer now.
  (Aftenposten)
• The Government’s proposals to soften overtime restrictions could block a deal with the unions on wage moderation. Gerd-Liv Valla, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), is furious and has demanded that Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik drop the proposals.
  (Dagens Næringsliv)

2. Today’s comment from Aftenposten

The Labour Party’s masochistic tendencies know no bounds. Despite the fact that the former colossus of Norwegian politics has been reduced to a party which has more than enough to do to retain the support of 20 per cent of the electorate, far too many of its officials are still spending far more time and energy fighting each other than rebuilding the party. As soon as the destructive leadership struggle between Thorbjørn Jagland and Jens Stoltenberg was brought to a close with Mr Jagland’s decision not to stand for re-election as party chairman, the battle for the vacant deputy leader slot began. A dispute over gender quotas and the need for breadth and renewal at the top, where far too many people talk over each other’s heads and, with good reason, can be suspected of working towards their own secret agendas, is threatening to poison the atmosphere within the Labour Party once more. As if that were not enough, on TV2 last night Mr Jagland came right out and said more clearly than ever before that Jens Stoltenberg alone was responsible for the Labour Party’s disastrous general election result. It is only to be expected that party members will react strongly when their chairman in this way denies his share of responsibility for the party’s setbacks. That Mr Jagland is bitter over some of the treatment he has been subjected to is understandable, and he probably did not know that his interview with TV2 would be aired the day before the party’s national executive committee meeting. But he must have known that a new round of bitter finger pointing about past events was the last thing the Labour Party needed right now. By ignoring this fact, the party chairman has made a strong contribution to the nastiness which has pervaded the Labour Party for far too long, and which is a significant reason for its loss of support among many voters.