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Norway:

Police urge shorter bar hours
28 Aug 2007, 12:16

Police in Norway’s four largest cities are asking local politicians to order bars to close at 2am, because the vast majority of street violence and vandalism occurs late at night after excessive drinking by the bars’ clientele.
The police also want sales of fast-food to be shortened, in the hopes that rowdy Norwegians will just go home. “It’s our opinion that the framework for peaceful conditions for the public is seriously disturbed by sales- and serving-policies that lead to both over-drinking at a time of night when social control is reduced,” the police wrote in their letter.

Netherlands:

Ex-MPs claim unemployment benefit
Tuesday 28 August 2007

Of the 70 MPs who left parliament after the November election, at least 39 are still claiming wachtgeld – special unemployment benefit for former parliamentarians – according to magazine Intermediair. Ex-MPs are entitled to up to €6,200 a month for up to six years.

Finland:

Boy Fined in YouTube Defamation Case
Published 24.08.2007, 17.35

A fifteen year old youth has been fined by the Nurmes District Court for showing a video of his teacher on the internet YouTube service.The video shown on YouTube, filmed at the school’s May Day festival showed the teacher performing and singing. Attached was a text saying the video was from a mental hospital. The teacher’s name was also mentioned.The court determined the youth was mature enough to understand the consequences of his actions from the teacher’s standpoint within the school environment.

Sweden:

‘One million Swedes’ dependent on state handouts
Published: 28th August 2007 11:16 CET

Every year Statistics Sweden measures the total of all state handouts. These include, for example, sickness benefits, economic assistance and unemployment benefits. The resultant data is then used to calculate the equivalent number of people aged between 20 and 64 who could survive on benefits alone. For 2006, this amounted to 1,022,168 people.

Denmark:

Strict visa laws block tourist billions
27.08.2007

The Integration Ministry is prepared to ease the country’s rigid visa requirements to allow hundreds of thousands of more tourists into the country.
Denmark is losing billions of kroner on would-be tourists who are either denied a visa to enter the country or simply do not apply due to the government’s strict regulations, reported Berlingske Tidende newspaper Monday.
Last year over 60,000 Chinese tourists spent at least one night in Denmark, but tourist organisations and the nation’s tourist advisory board say that number could have been considerably larger if the visa laws were relaxed.
Besides the Chinese, citizens from 134 other countries also need visas to enter Denmark, including all former nations of the former Soviet Union. The integration minister, Rikke Hvilshøj, said she is prepared to loosen certain visa requirements.
According to Statistics Denmark, only 6 percent of all visa applications to Danish embassies worldwide were denied last year. But the rules associated with applying are precisely what keep many foreigners from even applying for a visa to come here, according to both Andersen and Flemming Bruhn of tourist advisory organisation VisitDenmark.