Bondevik under fire (Verdens Gang)

On the same day that negotiations to form a new government got underway at the Sem Gjestegård conference centre, Kjell Magne Bondevik was being accused by the Conservative Party leadership of not acting as a figure of unity. They claim that Mr Bondevik gave a completely unbalanced picture of the forthcoming coalition partnership at his press conference yesterday. "The way Mr Bondevik told it, the Conservatives had joined a project to boost environmental and regional issues. That is not what we hoped for," said an incensed Per-Kristian Foss. The first dispute between the three coalition partners had broken out before the first day of negotiations had even drawn to a close. The Conservative leadership was yesterday so irritated by Mr Bondevik’s comments that they decided that Mr Petersen should raise the matter personally with him at the first available opportunity.

Conservatives incensed (Dagbladet)

The Conservative Party negotiators are incensed at the past week’s frequent leaks from the negotiating table which the Christian Democrats and Liberals have been responsible for. Yesterday the issue came to a head when both Kjell Magne Bondevik, the new government’s prime ministerial candidate, and Liberal leader Lars Sponheim spoke openly about their many important "negotiating victories" on environmental and regional affairs.

Six dead after smoking hash (Dagsavisen)

The myth that smoking hash does not pose a health hazard has been exploded. The National Institute of Forensic Toxicology has revealed that in the course of the last six years, six Norwegians have died as a direct result of smoking hash. "We have made an astonishing discovery," said Jørg Mørland, who heads the Institute. "It is widely known that smoking hash makes the heart work harder, and raises the individual’s blood pressure. But that someone has died as a direct result of smoking has is completely new to us. And these findings have also been greeted by surprise in the international community," said Mr Mørland. "Post-mortems show that the six people concerned did not have any other substances in their bodies than THC, which is the active substance in cannabis. The individuals did not even have particularly high concentrations of THC in their bodies when they died. Nor are there indications that the individuals were more predisposed to cardio-vascular diseases than normal. These findings are also surprising.

Norway underpaying developing countries (Nationen)

Last year Norway earned NOK 5 billion by underpaying for goods purchased from developing countries. This "reverse aid", in which developing countries subsidize the developed world, amounts to half of Norway’s development aid budget. These figures are presented in a new report from the organization "The Future in our Hands". According to the report, "reverse aid" is defined as the difference in price rises for Third World products compared to the average rise in prices for goods sold in primary markets in Norway.

Appointed by Grete Knudsen (Dagens Næringsliv)

Grete Knudsen has appointed Tormod Hermansen as chairman of the semi-state controlled investment company which was officially formed yesterday. Deputy chairman is Widar Salbuvik, an investor and businessman from Moss, while the remaining board members are Ada Kjeseth (Visma Services, Bergen), Kari Johnsen (Fabi kompetanse, Stavanger) and Knut Borch (Norum Ltd, Tromsø). "It would have been more seemly if they had waited until after the new government has taken office before appointing the chairman of the new government-backed investment company," said the Conservatives’ Per-Kristian Foss.

Postal Administration biggest of the fastest (Aftenposten)

The Norwegian Postal Administration has quietly been building itself up in the market for express postal services. The acquisition of De Grønne Bud in Denmark has given the company a market share of 30-35 per cent in Norway and Sweden and around 20 per cent in Denmark, making it Scandinavia’s largest supplier of express delivery services. The Norwegian Postal Administration’s growth in this sector has been fuelled by the acquisition of a number of private companies, under the auspices of its subsidiary, Transport System International, in which the Postal Administration has an 80 per cent stake.

Worth Noting

• Stein Erik ‘Rimi’ Hagen, one of Storebrand’s largest shareholders, is thinking of suing Den norske Bank (DnB) and its CEO Svein Aaser after the Finnish financial services company, Sampo, withdrew its bid for Storebrand. (Verdens Gang)
• Jan Petter Askevold became famous under the nickname ‘Benny Bank Box’ when he used his position as night watchman for the security firm, Securitas, to empty 143 bank boxes. He subsequently fled to Rio de Janeiro. Yesterday the former editor of a porno magazine was remanded in custody in connection with a major drugs case. (Dagbladet)
• The President of the Storting receives visiting heads of state and waves from the balcony of the Storting on Norway’s national day, 17 May. Norway’s immigrant community is not certain if this is a job for Carl I. Hagen. (Dagsavisen)
• Public institutions in Oslo call Legevisitten AS for medical advice at an hourly rate of NOK 1,452. The company has established an 820 number to provide over-the-phone medical consultancy services which cost NOK 24.20 per minute. This adds up to an hourly rate of NOK 1,452. (Klassekampen)
• Oslo Sporveier, the capital’s public transport company, has invested NOK 2 million, in a new timetable information system which does not work. They have now turned off the information screens and are asking passengers to go back to the good old-fashioned timetable booklet – until further notice. (Verdens Gang)
• The Immigration Directorate (UDI) is continuing its controversial DNA testing of asylum seekers from Somalia to check their claims of kinship in family reunification cases. (Dagbladet)
• The Norwegian Medical Association is not happy with the Government’s anti-smoking efforts. "We need a complete ban on smoking in restaurants, pubs and bars," said the Association’s president, Hans Petter Aarseth. (Dagbladet)
• Over the past three years 216 of the country’s 435 local authorities have cut the number of teachers working in the primary school sector. At the same time, the number of pupils has risen by 30,000. (Dagsavisen)
• TV2 has called on the Government to investigate NRK’s commercial activities. TV2 wants NRK to be completely free of advertising, and is asking in particular that the licence-fee funded broadcaster’s partnership with private concerns be more closely investigated. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• The widespread use of anonymous intelligence sources in the US media’s war coverage is more dangerous than the interference in the media which has so far emerged. It gives the authorities particularly good opportunities to lay the ground rules for the media’s news coverage, according to Sigurd Allen, a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Journalism. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• It is unlikely that TVNorge will allow protesters to stop its planned ‘infidelity TV’ series. Rather the reverse – the producer’s belief in love has been strengthened during the time he has been working on the series. (Vårt Land)

Today’s comment from Klassekampen

"If the US government has a legitimate right to bomb and kill civilians in Iraq, those who are oppressed have a moral right to attack the USA with whatever weapons they can create," claims hospital consultant Mads Gilbert, according to Dagbladet’s article on Sunday. Dr Gilbert’s statement regarding ‘moral right’ in fact points to a crucial, but underestimated, element in the Norwegian debate following the terrorist attacks on the USA. With western politicians clinging to its coat-tails, the USA has increasingly claimed the right to ‘intervene’ throughout the world against people and regimes which the USA defines as its enemies. The war against Iraq and Saddam Hussein is the most blatant example of this. If the international community and Norwegian politicians accept the USA’s right to do so, it is obvious that this gives everybody else, including Osama bin Laden, the same right. The fight against terrorism must therefore be aimed at the USA’s role as oppressor and global policeman. Nevertheless, a clear line must be drawn, and it is that all terrorism against civilian targets must be condemned. This also applies to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in which six thousand people died. This must be condemned in the same way as the allies’ horrific bombing of Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.