Qatar locks down Porsche stake
Luxury carmaker Porsche said Friday the Gulf state of Qatar would take a stake in the company and acquire the majority of stock options the firm holds in Volkswagen.
Day: August 14, 2009
Germany
Sweden
Sales up at Swedish state liquor stores
Sales at Sweden's state-run alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget, measured in terms of the amount of goods sold, increased by 9.2 percent in the first seven months of 2009 compared to the same period last year.
Sweden
Porpoises make welcome Baltic return
Marine biologists have been thrilled to hear of two porpoise sightings in the Baltic Sea in recent days. The blunt-snouted mammals, relatively common off Sweden's west coast, have become almost extinct in the Baltic.
Germany
Secret CIA terrorist prisons were planned from Frankfurt
Three controversial secret CIA prisons built after September 11, 2001 to house alleged terrorists were planned from Frankfurt, The New York Times reported this week.
Sweden
Uppsala father gets two years in prison
A 58-year-old father of four in Uppsala has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for abusing his wife and children.
Germany
Small Muslim group opens up to outsiders
Germany has some four million adherents to Islam, but as David Wroe reports, a small group of Muslims is making a big effort to become a recognised part of German society.
Germany
Merkel and Medvedev meet for economy talks
Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Russia Friday and both called for deeper economic ties amid talk of several major Russian-German industrial deals in the works.
Germany
Amusement parks report thrilling sales despite crisis
While most branches of the German tourism industry are suffering post-crisis losses, close-to-home amusement parks are welcoming more guests than ever, daily Financial Times Deutschland reported on Friday.
Germany
Berlin hosts epic sprint duel between Bolt and Gay
The epic sprint duel between Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay will headline a star-studded World Athletics Championships in Berlin this weekend.
Sweden
Le Bon Palais, Barnhusgatan 12
Le Bon Palias is a stylish nightclub with a comfortable and inviting atmosphere. With its beautiful chandeliers and expensive furniture, this place truly knows the essence of luxury. The large discotheque can easily hold 1,000 people, and it usually does on most nights.
Sweden
Sweden’s Assman hosts human duck race
The small western Sweden village of Uddebo will play host to a slew of "flabby old men" dressed as ducks racing down the Assman waterway next Saturday.
Sweden
Youth unemployment doubles in Sweden
Unemployment in Sweden amounted to 251,000 in July, with a further 4,400 served notice.
Germany
Althaus moots end to ‘Soli’ tax for East German reconstruction
Dieter Althaus, the premier of the eastern state of Thuringia, said on Friday an election victory for Chancellor Angela Merkel next month could spell the end of a “solidarity surcharge” levied to help fund the reconstruction of Germany’s economically depressed east.
Sweden
Vietnamese workers in north-south berry dispute
Vietnamese migrant workers, in Sweden to harvest berries, have gone out on strike in protest at the tough working conditions, according to a report in local newspaper Värmlands Folkblad.
Germany
Biker gang member shot dead in Berlin
A member of a biker gang has been shot and killed in Berlin’s Hohenschönhausen district, police reported on Friday.
Sweden
‘Super bunker’ houses Sweden’s top criminals
The new high security bunker at Kumla prison in central Sweden is now home to around a dozen of Sweden's most hardened criminals. The facility has space for 24 in total.
Sweden
Prize-winning businessmen give the gift of experience
Crowned Stockholm businessmen of the year in 2008, Brits Martin Charlton and Jonathan Kirby are the people to turn to when it comes to giving the gift of dog-sledding, hot-air ballooning or wolf-patting.
Germany
Greens remove campaign poster featuring bare buttocks
The Green party in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia have decided to take down campaign posters featuring a white woman’s hands grabbing a black woman’s bare buttocks after critics said it was racist and offensive.
Sweden
Parents jailed for lashing 11-year-old son
The parents of an 11-year-old boy have been imprisoned by a Swedish court for doling out regular punishment with a belt which left their son bleeding from cuts on his back.
Sweden
Fuglesang heads for second space adventure
Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang has begun preparations in Houston, Texas for his second trip into space.
Germany
Weekend set for friendly weather
High-pressure weather system Katrin will bring weekend-friendly weather with it, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
Sweden
School offers reward for student recruits
The perilous financial position for many independent schools in Jönköping in southern Sweden has led to one offering unusual incentives to persuade friends to sign up.