Uruguayan vote rekindles pot plan
A vote by the lower chamber of the Uruguayan legislature in favour of full legislation of marijuana has breathed new life into the City Council’s efforts to decriminalise its use here. Copenhagen is seeking permission to launch a three-year trial with the controlled sale of cannabis. If the bill passes Uruguay’s senate as expected and the substance is legalised there, Copenhagen could have a legal source to purchase marijuana for sale in city-run dispensaries. – DR News
Uncharacteristically Liberal tax cut
The party that once claimed there were no poor people in Denmark is expected to propose tax cuts today that would amount to a 41 billion kroner savings for low-income Danes. Liberal Alliance, which will also continue to push for a flat 40 percent tax amounting to 11 billion kroner in tax cuts for all Danes, said it hoped the policy change would alter voters’ image of the party. – Berlingske
Afghan interpreters left in the lurch
Promised efforts to consider asylum for nearly 200 Afghan interpreters who assisted Danish military forces there have yet to get underway, raising concerns the interpreters have been abandoned by Danish troops, who began their final withdrawal last month. British forces, who are currently responsible for the interpreters, say they will not begin considering asylum applications until the end of the year. – Jyllands-Posten
Soldiers told to toe Afghanistan line
As the final contingent of Danish soldiers in Afghanistan completes its withdrawal, soldiers are being told by their commander to accentuate the positive aspects of Denmark’s military efforts in the country. But while the official line is that al-Qaeda is on the run, and that the Taleban does not pose a threat to the regime in Kabul, military experts say the situation on the ground – and the one described by intelligence analysts – is much less rosy. – Politiken
End of recession
The head of Danske Bank, the nation’s largest bank, says the Great Recession has come to an end six years after it began in 2007. Ejvind Kolding aired his comment after Danske Bank on Thursday released an unexpectedly strong second-quarter report. The bank’s full-year earnings forecast met market expectations, but a reduction in write-downs to a “normal amount” will allow it to “begin looking forward again”, Kolding said. – EPN.dk
Possible Jutland gas find
After six months of seismic studies, the London-based firm New World Oil and Gas has concluded that there could be commercially viable oil and natural gas deposits under central and southern Denmark. The company estimates that there could be at least 16.7 billion m3 of natural gas in the areas it explored. New World Oil and Gas is reported to be seeking a Danish partner as it considers whether to purchase the 35 million kroner drilling licence required to begin extraction. – Ingeniøren
Wet world record
Rikke Møller Pedersen says she can swim faster than the world-record time of 2 minutes, 19.11 seconds she clocked in the semi-final of the 200 metre breast stroke Tuesday night at the World Championships in Barcelona. The 24-year-old shaved 48 hundredths of a second of the previous world record, set during the 2012 Olympics. Pedersen’s closest competitor in today's final is expected to be Russia’s Yulia Efimova, who turned in a time of 2:19:85. The world record was Denmark’s first in long-course swimming in 61 years.
