Not on my time
Norway should let employees go to the gym for free during working hours, the head of the ruling Labor Party said Wednesday. "I know that some firms have already started to offer their employees physical training while at work. It has resulted in big improvements to the work environment and less sick leave," Thorbjoern Jagland told NRK public radio.
Jagland, who is also foreign minister in the rich oil-producing country of 4.5 million inhabitants, said Norway should overhaul laws about the workplace to include more privileges to prevent stress and burn-out.
The minority Labor government has just 65 of the 165 seats in parliament. Norway is the biggest oil and gas exporter outside OPEC and pumps 3.2 million barrels of oil a day.
Pop star's locks swiped
The hair of one of Hungary's most popular pop stars has been stolen from the hospital where he died earlier this week, a Hungarian paper says.
Jimmy Zámbó, 42, who was known by his fans as the "King," died Tuesday after accidentally shooting himself in the head at home with a pistol.
Zambo's long hair was shaved off before an abortive brain operation in the hospital. But the hair disappeared, the daily Blikk said, quoting hospital officials. Zámbó's fans have said they would pay large amounts of money for the star's hair, the paper added Saturday. (see our article on Zámbó this week)
Those damn phones agian
A Slovenian airliner made an emergency landing Tuesday after a passenger's mobile phone caused its electronics system to malfunction and indicate there was a fire on board, Adria Airways said Wednesday.
The state-owned carrier said a Canadair regional jet, bound for the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, had turned back soon after take-off, because of the erroneous fire warning. It made an emergency landing in Ljubljana.
An investigation showed that the alarm had been caused by a mobile phone in the luggage compartment which had not been switched off.
Millionare knows how to pick 'em
Germany's top commercial television channel RTL axed its hit program, "Marry a millionaire," Wednesday, after embarrassing revelations that the "winners" of last week's program fixed the result.
The show was exposed as a farce when it emerged that the lucky bride chosen by millionaire Thomas Tepe from a group of 45 candidates was not only charming and beautiful, but also his current girlfriend.
The scam was exposed when viewers telephoned in during last week's live show to say that they had seen the pair together on numerous occasions.
Moon not wounded in attack
Turkish police arrested eight people for shooting at the moon during an eclipse for what they said were traditional reasons.
Hurriyet newspaper said Thursday that police in the southeastern town of Kahramanmaras had briefly detained the moon shooters, who said they were following an ancient tradition, and confiscated their rifles. The report did not explain the origin of the tradition.
The eclipse was visible in Europe, Africa and Asia on Tuesday night.
Compiled by Robert L Salvato, 12 January 2001
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