Stålsett calls on Pope to speak out (Vårt Land)

Bishop Gunnar Stålsett has described the Vatican’s decision to keep secret its acceptance of the use of condoms in the fight against Aids as both serious and regrettable. Bishop Stålsett does not think the Vatican has gone far enough. "It is not enough to say they do not condemn the use of condoms. The Vatican should recommend their use to help stop the spread of Aids," he says.

Greatest increase in sick leave among the young (Dagens Næringsliv)

The rate of sick leave increases with age, but absenteeism among today’s 30-somethings is rising faster than in any other age group. During the 1990s the rate of sick leave among the 30-something age group rose by over 60 per cent. According to Ola Strømmen, of the National Insurance Administration, the figures show that the more people within a specific age range are in employment, the greater the growth in absenteeism. "The numbers taking sick leave will inevitably grow in the years ahead due to the rising age of the population," said Ebba Wergeland, a hospital consultant and researcher in community medicine. Ms Wergeland’s findings could therefore derail the plans to reduce sick leave which have been agreed by the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (NHO) and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).

Norwegian doctors defend terrorists’ attacks on USA (Dagbladet/Sunday)

They are doctors, with a duty to save lives, and they have experienced terrorism at close hand on battlefields the world over. Nevertheless, hospital consultant Mads Gilbert and surgeon Hans Husum have defended the terrorists’ moral right to attack targets in the USA. "I am a doctor, and could never have flown a plane into the World Trade Center, but I defend the moral rights of those who you call terrorists to attack the USA as a legitimate response to 25 years of military offensives, mines, starvation and embargos," said surgeon Hans Husum, of the Tromsø Regional Hospital. "I am appalled by the terrorist attacks, but I am just as appalled by the suffering the USA has inflicted on others. It is in this context the deaths of 5,000 people must be viewed. If the US government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, those who are oppressed also have a moral right to attack the USA with whatever weapons they can create. Dead civilians are the same, whether they are Americans, Palestinians or Iraqis," said hospital consultant, professor Mads Gilbert.

Hagen takes tough stance on farming (Nationen)

Progress Party Chairman Carl I. Hagen, who could tip the balance one way or the other when the new government comes to decide next year’s national budget, has warned he will be taking a tough stance on government support for farmers. He wants market forces to play a greater role, a more business-like approach to farm management, increased competition from imported processed foodstuffs, and the abolition of the farming land inheritance rights law and the Concession Act. "There should not be any great difference between running a garage and running a farm," he said.

Higher pay not attractive enough (Dagsavisen)

Central government has become more competitive when it comes to pay and job content. Today there are not many who use the public sector as a springboard to higher paid jobs in the private sector. Just over ten years ago, in an effort to retain the best qualified staff, the civil service established a career path which does not involve personnel management responsibility. "Instead, it is possible to develop one’s self as a specialist within a particular field," said Finn Melbø, who head the employer’s department at the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration.

Norway’s environmental lobby ready for a fight (Dagbladet)

Norway’s environmental organizations are warning they will put up a tough fight from day one, if Kjell Magne Bondevik forms a government with the Conservatives and the Liberals. "We will be keeping a very close eye on them. The Christian Democrats and the Liberals campaigned as environmental parties. If environmental issues lose out in a coalition with the Conservatives, there will be trouble," said Frederic Hauge, head of the environmental foundation, Bellona. "We are concerned about developments. When the centre alliance and Mr Bondevik were last in office, we saw a more or less continual downturn for the most important environmental issues," said Erik Solheim, head of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature.

Worth Noting

• Norwegian business leaders have shown little interest in applying for the job of "CEO" of the country’s five new health authorities – companies which have a total budget of NOK 50 billion and employ some 100,000 people. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Data security has been so lax at the country’s tax offices that employees have been able to process their own tax returns. They have also processed data belonging to their spouses, children and partners. The breaches in regulations were uncovered in a check of 62 of the country’s tax offices. (Aftenposten)
• The Public Prosecutors are approaching the second round in the Orderud murder case with exactly the same cards in their hands. They will not be fielding a single new witness or any new evidence when the appeal starts. (Dagbladet/Saturday)
• Wolf activist Svein Sørli has brought charges for alleged threats and gross harassment against the mayor of Nord-Fron, Gunnar Tore Stenseng. The action stems from an e-mail sent by the mayor saying that both wolves and wolf activists were shot and buried in Skåbu. (Nationen)
• The Government is planning to abolish the Media Ownership Authority and allow a greater concentration of ownership in the Norwegian newspaper market. Schibsted could be given the go-ahead to acquire Orkla Media or A-pressen. (Klassekampen/Saturday)
• Oslo has the worst record for the number of deaths due to drug overdoses, according to a survey of four European cities. In comparison to the number of inhabitants, ten times more people aged 15-44 die of drugs overdoses in Oslo than in Amsterdam. (Aftenposten/Saturday)
• Two of the most important "investigators" who will be looking into the cause of the Labour Party’s election defeat are employed as State Secretaries for Thorbjørn Jagland at the Foreign Ministry. Jan Bøhler and Raymond Johansen will play a key role in what has been billed as the Labour Party’s post-mortem on itself. (VG/Saturday)
• A new narcotic substance has turned up on the illegal market in Oslo. It is called Yaabaa. The tablets are produced in Asia and are a synthetic mixture of amphetamine and ecstasy. (Dagsavisen/Saturday)

Today’s comment from Dagbladet/Sunday

The three parties which hold power in Oslo, and which will probably form the next government, have proposed a NOK 75 million cut in the capital’s education budget. They have done this despite the fact that the same parties as recently as June realized that they would have to provide an additional NOK 50 million to compensate schools for previous budget cuts. The Conservatives are the largest party in Oslo, just as they will be the largest party in the forthcoming new government. It is less than a month since the Conservatives declared that education and schools were their most important campaign issue. The party has nevertheless taken a chance and signed a budget proposal which will lead to a reduction in educational services in Oslo.