Girl stabbed in the back at bus stop
A manhunt is underway in eastern Sweden after a 16-year-old girl was stabbed in the back at a bus stop in the town of Upplands Väsby, 26 kilometres north of Stockholm, on Monday afternoon.
Day: May 25, 2009
Germany
Signs ease German-Polish nude bathing war
A long-running row between German nude bathers and their more modest Polish counterparts in the Baltic Sea resort of Usedom was eased on Monday after signs were erected on the beach dividing it into nudist and textile-wearing zones.
Germany
Porsche denies bankruptcy rumours
German luxury sportscar maker Porsche sought to deflect talk of bankruptcy on Monday after acknowledging it had borrowed hundreds of millions of euros from Volkswagen and needed billions more.
Germany
Angry dairy farmers to get tax relief
The German government on Monday agreed to dairy farmers’ demands for tax breaks to help farms hit by falling milk prices as some 6,000 protestors marched on Berlin with tractors.
Sweden
Anna Maria Corazza Bildt: putting food on the EU agenda
With a five-year-old son who's allergic to peanuts, Anna Maria Corazza Bildt says her election platform has sprung from personal experiences at an unlikely place: the grocery store.
Sweden
Court rejects lawyers’ call to gag Pirates
Lawyers representing record companies have demanded that a Swedish court impose fines on three of the backers of The Pirate Bay if they do not close the site. The court has now rejected the lawyers' demands to act without first giving the three a chance to respond.
Germany
Probe into former West Berlin cop’s Stasi past opened
Amid calls for a fresh investigation, Berlin’s interior senator Ehrhart Körting has opened a probe into the Stasi past of a former West Berlin police officer who infamously shot a student protester in 1967.
Sweden
Swedish tabloid apologizes for union boss doppelganger mix-up
Swedish tabloid newspaper Expressen published pictures and an interview with the head of Sweden’s Trade Union Confederation (LO), Wanja Lundby-Wedin, on Monday, only to find that they had spoken to, and photographed, the wrong woman.
Germany
Berlin urges UN action against North Korean missile tests
Germany on Monday sharply condemned North Korea's latest nuclear test, calling it an "irresponsible provocation" that threatened regional stability.
Germany
The Local’s guide to EU elections
Get out your big red marker! The German election for the European parliament will be held on June 7. If you're an expat European citizen, and you want to use your shred of influence on the only directly-elected body of the European Union, check out The Local's practical guide.
Sweden
Mareike Neumann offers Swedish style counsel
Having a strong sense of style requires more than wearing any old t-shirt or listening to mainstream music, says 25-year-old Mareike Neumann. And style is something the Swedes have mastered.
Sweden
‘High taxes do not equate to an effective welfare state’
Sweden's high tax regime is counterproductive: rather than focusing on the improvement of core services, it has led to a bloated bureaucracy and an inefficient welfare state, argue Nima Sanandaji and Robert Gidehag of the Swedish Taxpayers Association.
Sweden
‘Cut taxes to boost competition’: Experts
Sweden's Globalisation Council, an office under the Swedish Ministry of Education and Science, has proposed 28 billion kronor ($3.8 billion) in reforms to taxes and social insurances in its final report published on Monday.
Sweden
Overweight inmate seeks damages for svelte fatigues
An inmate at Karlskrona prison in southern Sweden has applied for damages after the prisons service was unable to provide adequate attire to cover his considerable frame.
Sweden
Police focus resources on morning drinkers
Most drink-drivers get caught in the morning, a new report shows. Police now propose focusing roadside alcohol checks to meet the opening hours of the Swedish state monopoly alcohol retailer Systembolaget and at sports arenas at the weekends when parents arrive with their children.
Germany
Crows attack woman walking dog
A woman in Herne lived through a vicious scene right out of an Alfred Hitchcock film when she was attacked by three crows while walking her dog, police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia reported on Monday.
Sweden
H&M mogul buys English country village
The billionaire owner of Swedish clothing retailer H&M, Stefan Persson, is about to buy an entire English country village, setting him back a cool 300 million kronor ($40 million), British newspaper The Sunday Times reports.
Sweden
Bildt ‘alarmed’ by North Korea nuke test
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Monday described North Korea's nuclear test as "alarming", denouncing its decision to invest in nuclear technology rather than helping its poverty-stricken people.
Germany
Business confidence reaches 6-month high
Confidence among German firms rose to a six-month high in May, a key sentiment index showed on Monday, suggesting that Europe's top economy might be pulling out of its worst slump in more than 60 years.
Sweden
Belgium aids Volvo in bid to protect jobs
The Flemish government has responded positively to an appeal from Volvo Cars CEO Stephen Odell to support its Belgian operations.
Sweden
Marie Wickberg: a fresh face in politics
Eager to make her mark in the upcoming election, Marie Wickberg of the Centre Party presents herself as a fresh-faced alternative to the "tired old men in the European Parliament".
Germany
German cities demand faster internet
The German city and community alliance (DStGB), urged the government on Monday to “remove regulatory shackles” in the task of providing the entire country with speedy internet connections.
Germany
Spy jailed for aiding Iranian missile programme
An Iranian-Canadian businessman who had spied for Germany for more than a decade has been convicted of supporting Tehran's missile programme, according to a German press report to published Monday.
Sweden
Swedes back move to euro: survey
A majority of Swedes are in favour of adopting the euro as the country's currency, a new survey shows.
Sweden
Zetterberg scores double as Detroit extend series lead
Swedish star Henrik Zetterberg netted two goals as the Detroit Red Wings completed a 6-1 rout of the Chicago Blackhawks to extend a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference final series.
Germany
Pilot strike tangles traffic in Stuttgart
Pilots at the Stuttgart airport staged a day-long strike beginning at 6 am on Monday morning, causing massive delays and cancellations for several airlines.