Steinbach’s halfhearted compromise
Erika Steinbach will have little success trying to outwit those in the German government opposed to her joining a foundation for people displaced after World War II, argues Ludwig Greven from Zeit Online.
Day: January 5, 2010
Germany
Sweden
Home childcare trend fuels segregation fears
Sweden’s childcare allowance is proving ever-more popular in heavily immigrant neighbourhoods, resulting in the closure of some preschools and prompting fears about the measure’s unintended consequences.
Sweden
Sub par Söderling in shock first round Indian exit
Tournament top seed Robin Söderling was dumped out of the Chennai Open in the first round on Tuesday at the hands of 100th-ranked American Robby Ginepri.
Germany
Kosovar cousins jailed for vicious Munich U-Bahn beating
Two cousins who beat a young man nearly to death at a Munich U-Bahn station 13 years ago were sentenced on Tuesday to five and seven years’ prison for the savage attack.
Sweden
Mysterious giant ice balls discovered on Swedish coastline
Bird watchers walking along the beach on the Baltic island of Öland off Sweden’s southeastern coast were puzzled by an unusual natural phenomenon recently when they stumbled across dozens of football-sized balls of ice lying on the shore.
Sweden
Ex-royal bodyguard charged with rape
An agent with Swedish security service Säpo who once served as a bodyguard for King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria has been charged with raping a woman near Uppsala in eastern Sweden.
Sweden
January in Sweden: Week one, thirteenth day, thinking time
The Year in Sweden - January: Journalist Kim Loughran sketches a month by month account of the country he has called home ever since his accidental migration in 1966.
Germany
Female body parts found under Hannover bridge
Female body parts have been found in packages dumped under a bridge in the city of Hannover, police announced on Tuesday.
Sweden
Takeover bid sees Ticket trading halted
Trading in shares of the Ticket travel company was halted on the Stockholm stock exchange on Tuesday morning after the company’s stock price shot up 22 percent on rumours of a takeover bid by the firm's primary owner.
Germany
Germans glued to the tube
Germans are becoming bigger TV couch potatoes, a study revealed Tuesday, with the average person spending more than three-and-a-half hours in front of the television each day.
Sweden
Epiphany reignites Sweden’s public holiday debate
Workers in Sweden have only had two days to return to life on the job following their Christmas vacations before gearing up for yet another paid holiday on Wednesday.
Germany
Steinbach offers to forgo expellee foundation job
A simmering standoff between the government and a vocal advocate for Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II has forced Erika Steinbach to withdraw her candidacy for a key post in a memorial foundation.
Germany
Matthäus splits from fourth wife
Former German international and World Cup-winning skipper Lothar Matthäus has split from fourth wife Liliana and is considering divorce after just a year of marriage, Bunte magazine reported Tuesday.
Germany
Unemployment resists nasty 2009 recession
Unemployment is rising in Germany, official data showed on Tuesday, but short-work schemes and start-ups might have averted a feared surge after the country's worst post-war recession.
Germany
North Sea nations planning renewable energy network
Germany and several other European nations are planning to create a billion-euro renewable energy network spanning the North Sea, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
Sweden
Swedish Auschwitz sign suspect contacts lawyer
Sweden is now processing a formal request for legal assistance from Polish authorities seeking to shed light on the baffling disappearance of the wrought-iron "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Germany
Airbus boss reportedly set to ditch A400M military transport
The German head of European plane maker Airbus is preparing to ditch its A400M military transport project which is bogged down in talks with clients, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Tuesday.
Germany
Neo-Nazi violence dropped in 2009
Police have registered a significant drop in right-wing extremist violence for 2009 compared to the previous year, daily Bild reported on Tuesday.
Sweden
Dalarna braces for record-low Siberian chill
Residents in Dalarna in central Sweden are set to face near-record cold temperatures in the coming days as another cold front sweeps into Sweden from Siberia.
Germany
Privacy advocate warns against using ‘naked’ scanners too quickly
Germany's data protection commissioner, Peter Schaar, has warned officials not to rush the implementation of controversial full-body scanners at airport security stations following a failed terrorist attack last month, daily Frankfurter Rundschau reported on Tuesday.
Sweden
Rowdy prison service Christmas party prompts police response
Police were called to a Christmas party thrown by Swedish prison personnel in Härnösand in northeastern Sweden after the festivities spiraled out of control.
Germany
Westerwelle set to tour Turkey and the Gulf
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will tour Turkey and the Gulf this week to promote a relaunch of the Middle East peace process and weigh events in Iran and Yemen.
Sweden
Crown Princess in surprise Afghanistan trip
Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her fiancé Daniel Westling on Sunday and Monday greeted Swedish soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.