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Today’s headlines – Tuesday, Dec 11

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December 11th, 2012


This article is more than 12 years old.

Danes back Chinese wages in Greenland
Chinese investment in Greenland has drawn one step closer after the Danish government has indicated it will back a new law that will allow mining companies operating in the semi-autonomous territory to pay foreign workers lower wages than Danish law currently permits. The new law, which has been passed in the Greenlandic parliament, means that thousands of Chinese guest workers soon could arrive in Greenland and work in mines for over 60 hours a week for just 30 kroner an hour. The law would require changes to Danish immigration laws and must be passed by lawmakers in Copenhagen to go into effect. Labour union 3F called the Danish support of the law for “disgraceful”. – Politiken

Jysk Sengetøj still bullish China
A failed venture in China means that Danish duvet retailer Jysk Sengetøj has been forced to radically change its strategy in order to remain in the world’s most populous country. After two years on the Chinese market, only seven of the chain’s original nine stores remain open. Despite the setback, Lars Larsen, the founder and owner of Jysk, is still confident that he can reach his goal of 5,000 shops in China. Jysk currently has 2,000 shops in 35 countries, 1,000 of which are in Germany. The company employs over 17,000 people and opened 48 new stores in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. – Børsen

Planned road improvements shelved
Motorists will have to do without a number of planned motorway extensions and other improvements after the Transport Ministry announced it did not have the 27 billion kroner available for the projects, which include improvements to the Køge Bugt motorway between Solrød to Køge and an extension of a stretch of motorway on Funen. Opposition parties and motorists groups accuse the government of spending the funds on public transport instead. – Jyllands-Posten

Children risk getting asthma when mother takes antibiotics
When mothers take antibiotics during their pregnancy, it increases the risk that their child will have asthma by up to 20 percent, according to a Danish study involving over 30,000 children. Taking antibiotics such as penicillin disrupts the mother’s natural production of bacteria, which can lead to the development of the condition. Danish scientists become suspicious of the link in 1998 when they followed a group of 411 children being treated for asthma while also looking at antibiotic intake of the mothers during the last trimester of their pregnancies. The results of the study have just been published in The Journal of Pediatrics. – Videnskab.dk

Weather
Sunny and scattered flurries. High temperature – 2 C, overnight lows – 14 C. Windy at times. – DMI


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”