Merkel to address parliament over air strike
Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to address parliament on Tuesday over a deadly air strike in Afghanistan ordered by a German commander as her government came under fire 20 days before elections.
Day: September 7, 2009
Germany
Germany
Few of Germany’s unemployed willing to move for work
Very few recipients of Germany's Hartz-IV unemployment benefits are willing to move to find work, according to a study published on Monday.
Sweden
Troops ransack Afghan hospital: Swedish charity
A Swedish charity has claimed that foreign troops entered its hospital in Afghanistan, smashed doors and tied up staff and patients' relatives, violating agreements between aid workers and the military.
Germany
Armoured car sales boost industrial orders
German industrial orders rose sharply in July in a boost for Europe's biggest economy even though the increase was almost solely due to a large order for armoured cars, analysts said on Monday.
Germany
Police confiscate stolen painting found on antiques TV show
Bavarian police said on Monday they had confiscated a valuable painting likely stolen by the Nazis after it turned up on an antiques appraisal TV show.
Germany
The war in Afghanistan comes to Berlin
A NATO air strike in northern Afghanistan has exposed the German government and military to unprecedented criticism from its closest allies. This is unlikely to increase Berlin’s resolve to help fight the Taliban or bolster the transatlantic alliance, argues The Local’s Marc Young.
Sweden
Did Anna Odell’s faked psychosis have any artistic merit?
Ceci n'est pas une depression nerveuse (This is not a nervous breakdown): The Local's Charlotte Webb offers her thoughts on art student Anna Odell's controversial faked psychosis, a final year project that resulted in a conviction last week.
Germany
Making it in Germany: an Aussie fashionista
The Local's series "Making it in Germany" presents Melinda Stokes, the creative force behind Berlin’s Stokx clothing label.
Sweden
Sweden earmarks ten billion kronor for regions
The government has revealed it is to set aside 10 billion kronor ($1.4 billion) for core welfare services in Sweden's regions and municipalities in the forthcoming autumn budget.
Germany
German military kills suspected pirate near Somalian coast
The German military shot dead a suspected pirate off the coast of Somalia on Monday after a boat carrying five men failed to heed warning shots, the German military said.
Germany
Activists blast anti-AIDS campaign showing Hitler having sex
A steamy new AIDS awareness advert showing an Adolf Hitler lookalike having sex has come under fire by activist groups for stigmatising those who are infected with the virus.
Sweden
Spotify launches iPhone app
Swedish music streaming service Spotify announced the launch of the Spotify App for iPhone and iPod touch at the Apple iTunes App Store on Monday.
Sweden
Paul Simon speaks out on Swedish theatre ban
American singer-songwriter Paul Simon has spoken out after Universal Music's Nordic headquarters put a stop to a Stockholm performance of The Sound of Silence, a play by a Latvian theatre company based around the music of the same name by Simon & Garfunkel.
Germany
US-German relations fray over Afghan death probe
German military officials are enraged over what they’re calling targeted misinformation by US military sources following a Bundeswehr-directed air strike that may have killed more than 90 Afghans, including dozens of civilians.
Sweden
Swedes predict property price increase
The number of Swedish households expecting housing prices to increase in the next year has grown to 53 percent, compared to 41 percent a month ago, according to SEB bank's latest property price indicators.
Germany
Among Europe’s most damaged economies, Germany leads recovery
After Hungary, the financial crisis has damaged Germany more than any other European nation, but the country is also leading the way back to prosperity, a new study published by daily Die Welt found on Monday.
Sweden
NASA censors Swedish pupil’s naked astronaut query
On Sunday night, students from Sätraskolan, a school in southern Stockholm, had the chance to interview Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who is on a space mission to the International Space Station (ISS). But NASA thought some of the questions were a bit too risqué.
Sweden
Fortified wine to prevent spread of swine flu: Church of Sweden
A number of Swedish churches have decided to serve fortified wine during communion in hopes of reducing the risk of spreading swine flu, according to several media reports.
Germany
Gabriel accuses Merkel of blocking Asse files
German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel accused Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday of trying to delay clarification on the situation at controversial nuclear waste depot Asse.
Germany
LTU flight attendants strike in Düsseldorf
Service sector trade union Verdi called for a day-long strike for flight attendants of Air Berlin’s subsidiary airline LTU in Düsseldorf on Monday. Heavy delays are expected.
Sweden
Female cyclist bitten by attacker
A female cyclist in central Sweden was assaulted on Sunday night by two men, one of whom left bite marks on her left arm.
Germany
Merkel joins call for Afghan progress meeting
Germany, Britain and France unveiled proposals on Sunday for an international conference on Afghanistan later this year in order to press Afghans to take more responsibility for their own country.
Sweden
Young men at greater risk for alcohol dependence
The number of young men who drink sufficient amounts of alcohol that they risk becoming dependent has almost doubled in four years, according to a forthcoming report from the National Institute of Public Health (Statens folkhälsoinstitut – FHI).
Sweden
Government maintains popular approval: poll
A large majority of Swedes maintain confidence in the four-party centre-right Alliance government, according to a new Skop poll.