Lufthansa ticketed seven passengers on Spanair flight
Lufthansa said seven people bought tickets through the German carrier for the Spanair flight that crashed on Wednesday at Madrid airport killing many of those on board.
Day: August 20, 2008
Germany
Sweden
Nobel a likely no-no for Sweden’s king of crime fiction
The most popular work of crime fiction ever published in Sweden is never likely to win a Nobel Prize. But it should, argues Jeanne Rudbeck, who is left spellbound by Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy.
Germany
German by choice
In the latest dispatch of Portnoy’s Stammtisch, The Local’s column about life in Germany, Portnoy takes the German conservatives to task over their seemingly backward attitudes toward citizenship.
Germany
German CEO pay rose with profits last year
Managers at Germany's biggest companies saw record profits turn into fat pay raises last year, according to a study released this week by a German investors' association.
Germany
Catholic priest stripped of leadership for blessing gay union
A Roman Catholic dean has been removed from his leadership position for blessing a gay marriage, the diocese of Limburg in central Germany announced on Wednesday.
Sweden
Two Swedes in fatal Madrid plane crash
Two Swedes were among 173 people on board a Spanish tourist plane that crashed in Madrid on Wednesday afternoon.
Germany
Berlin calls Russian pullout ‘unsatisfactory’
Germany called on Russia on Wednesday to stick to its promise to withdraw its troops from Georgia by the weekend, calling troop movements so far "very unsatisfactory."
Germany
German fertility rate inches upward
Germany's long-stagnant fertility rate last year was the highest its been since 2000, despite two previous years of decline, the German Statistical Office announced on Wednesday.
Germany
German conservatives slammed for ‘racial ideology’ on citizenship
A leading parliamentarian for Germany’s Social Democratic Party has criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats for pursuing citizenship rules based on “racial ideology” instead of allowing dual nationality.
Sweden
Wrestler Abrahamian files official complaint
Swedish Olympic wrestler Ara Abrahamian has filed an official complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the International Wrestling Federation (FILA).
Germany
Germany to block sovereign wealth fund takeovers
Berlin on Wednesday to block takeovers of German firms by petrodollar-rich investment vehicles known as sovereign wealth funds if they are deemed to jeopardize national security.
Sweden
SAS faces headache as Spanair pilots threaten strike
Spanair pilots threatened to strike on Wednesday in protest that the loss-making airline, owned by Nordic carrier SAS, lacked a plan to save itself.
Sweden
Tattoo thieves indicted for scissors attack
Two men have been indicted for forcefully attempting to cut away a tattoo belonging to a 32-year-old man in Kalmar, south-east Sweden.
Sweden
Teen murderer gets reduced sentence
A 19-year-old man found guilty of murdering a teenage girl in Mora in north-central Sweden has been given nine years instead of ten years in prison.
Sweden
Swedish teachers fail Holocaust test
Swedish school teachers display glaring inadequacies in their knowledge of Holocaust history, according to a study carried out by the country's Living History Forum.
Germany
Gold medal strongman Steiner backs anti-doping fight
Amid a tale of personal tragedy and triumph, Germany’s adopted gold medallist strongman Matthias Steiner is backing the sport's efforts to rid itself of doping cheats.
Sweden
Boom time for Swedish fast food restaurants
Sweden's cafes and fast food restaurants have increased their turnover by almost eight percent during the year's first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Swedish Retail Institute (Handelns Utredningsinstitut - HUI).
Sweden
Credit card ban for Swedish pensioners
Swedish clients over the age of 75 are not eligible for credit cards at the US-owned Citibank in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter reports.
Germany
Information on entire German population in circulation
The head of an independent state privacy protection centre believes the addresses of the entire German population, as well as a growing amount of illegal bank account information, are being used for marketing purposes.
Sweden
Ericsson in mobile joint venture
Swedish telecoms equipment group Ericsson has announced it is to join forces with semiconductor group STMicroelectronics.
Sweden
Ibrahimovic set to miss France friendly
Sweden's star strike Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of Wednesday's friendly international against France with a knee injury.
Sweden
14 people ‘spoiled Arboga crime scene’
The lack of forensic evidence in the high profile Arboga child murder case is a direct result of at least 14 people unwittingly spoiling the crime scene, experts say.
Germany
Leipzig switches on Europe’s biggest gaming convention
Europe's biggest gaming convention in Leipzig will mark 30 years since "Space Invaders" this week with a homage to the video game classic, as well as 500 exhibitors showing how far the industry has come since then.
Germany
SV Lieth wins dirty locker room contest
SV Lieth, a sporting club in the northern German town of Elmshorn, has won a filthy changing room competition sponsored by a cleaning product manufacturer.