UNHCR criticizes Sweden’s Iraqi refugee policy
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Tuesday criticized Sweden's policy of deporting rejected Iraqi asylum seekers to the southern and central regions of their home country.
Day: March 18, 2008
Sweden
Irish tourist missing in Stockholm
Police in Stockholm are looking into the disappearance of a 32-year-old Irish man, who was last seen leaving a restaurant in the city on Saturday night.
Sweden
Computers owners to face TV licence fees
Sweden's television licensing agency Radiotjänst is preparing to push through measures requiring computer owners to pay the annual television license fee of around 2,000 kronor ($327).
Germany
Merkel: Shoah binds Germany and Israel forever
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pledged Germany's unwavering support for Israel in a landmark address to parliament, as she wrapped up a visit 60 years after the Jewish state was founded in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust.
Germany
Germany to start blind football league
Germany is starting a football league for blind and partially sighted players at the end of the month – just two years after the sport was first introduced to the country.
Germany
Catholics hang condom ban on Fulda pharmacy
A pharmacy in the centre of the German city Fulda has been forbidden from selling condoms since the local Catholic diocese owns the building and does not want to soil the Church’s image.
Sweden
‘Swedish feminists should embrace free markets’
Swedish feminists could well secure more support if they decided to embrace free markets rather than left wing ideologies, argues Nima Sanandaji of the Captus think tank.
Sweden
Telia Sonera ‘not concerned’ over telecom regulator powers
The government wants to give telecom regulator PTS greater powers in order to increase competition in the market for high speed internet services, a move which may have immediate consequences for Finnish-Swedish telecom operator Telia Sonera.
Sweden
Government to consider Swedish language law
Everyone who lives in Sweden should have access to the Swedish language and the position of Swedish as a first language ought to be regulated by a language law, according to a recently submitted proposal to the government.
Germany
Court upholds German school ban on Muslim headscarf
Rejecting the complaint of a convert to Islam, a German court on Tuesday announced it has upheld a regional ban on teachers wearing the Muslim headscarf in public schools in Baden-Württemberg.
Sweden
Father sentenced for drunken driving lesson
A 46-year-old Swede has been sentenced to a month in prison for drunk driving even though he wasn’t behind the wheel when police stopped the vehicle.
Germany
Lovesick pensioner ‘blew up’ woman’s car
A 56-year-old woman sustained minor injuries in Kulmbach after a small explosion in her car.
Germany
BMW motors ahead despite strong euro
German luxury car maker BMW said on Tuesday it was aiming for higher profits this year despite the strong euro and weak US economy, which could crimp export earnings.
Germany
German retail giant Metro to drop Kaufhof chain
Just a few months after a major shakeup in leadership, German retail giant Metro has announced it will separate from its department store chain Galeria Kaufhof.
Sweden
Supreme Court: commercial breaks violate copyright laws
Sweden’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of two film directors who had sued TV4 for copyright infringement after the channel ran extended commercial breaks during the directors’ films.
Germany
Hamas says Merkel blind to Israeli ‘Holocaust’
The radical Islamist movement Hamas on Tuesday slammed German Chancellor Angela Merkel for closing her eyes to what it labelled as Israel's "holocaust" against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Germany
Huge blaze at Cologne plant extinguished
A fire that broke out at the Ineos chemical plant in Cologne, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Monday night has been put out.
Germany
Social Democrats reach all-time low
A poll released on Tuesday by German weekly Stern reveals that the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) continue to lose popularity, reaching an all-time low for the second time in two weeks at 22 percent.
Germany
Germany objects to EU milk ruling
EU farm ministers on Monday agreed to allow European farmers to increase milk production by two percent, despite opposition from Germany, in the face or higher demand and dairy prices.
Sweden
Brawl breaks out at Karolinska maternity ward
Police were called to break up a fight in the maternity ward at Stockholm’s famed Karolinska Hospital Monday night.
Sweden
Bromma airport’s future safe for three more decades
Stockholm’s Municipal Council decided on Monday night to renew the lease on Bromma airport for another 30 years.
Sweden
Father arrested for brutal child murders
Two children, aged 1 and 3, have been stabbed to death at a house in Arboga in central Sweden, according to a statement from Örebro University Hospital.
Sweden
Swedish cities set their own climate targets
Municipalities in Sweden aren’t waiting for the government to set up the country’s climate goals--they’re moving ahead with their own plans instead.