Soaring with eagles and frolicking with seals
If you want to see Sweden's maritime nature eye-to-eye, there's no better place to do it than Västervik.
Day: April 23, 2010
Sweden
Germany
Merkel talks tough on aid for Greece
German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed Friday that aid to Greece was not automatic and depended on Athens producing a credible savings plan and proof that eurozone stability was on the line.
Germany
Losses from failed bank are tough luck, court rules
Angry German investors seeking compensation for worthless securities from the insolvent US bank Lehman Brothers have had their case knocked back by a Hamburg court, which told them the loss was their “own fault.”
Sweden
Sweden extends Thailand travel warning
The Swedish foreign ministry (Utrikesdepartementet - UD) has warned against any "unnecessary travel" to Thailand's capital Bangkok in light of the deteriorating security situation.
Sweden
Stockholm universities top student wish list
Stockholm universities are among the top choices for students this autumn, with medicine, law and economics the most popular fields of study, according to a new report from the Swedish Agency for Higher Education Services (Verket för högskoleservice - VHS).
Germany
Driver obeys car navigation literally, promptly crashes
A Bavarian man was given a persuasive lesson in the fallibility of technology Thursday night when he crashed into another car and injured an 11-year-old boy after obeying his car navigation device's command to turn around on a divided autobahn.
Germany
Of mice and Portnoy
In the latest installment of Portnoy’s Stammtisch, The Local’s column about life in Germany, Portnoy lauds the enduring genius of the country's very own cartoon mouse children's show.
Sweden
Three men jailed after rabbit torture trial
A Swedish court jailed three men on Friday for torturing two rabbits in Stockholm last year. The court served the three men with prison terms ranging from two to four months, while a fourth man was fined.
Germany
Business confidence hits two-year high
Business confidence in Germany rose sharply to a near two-year high in April, the closely watched Ifo index showed Friday, in another sign of recovery in Europe's top economy.
Sweden
How the French Revolution gave Sweden its royals
The French Revolution was bad news for France's royal family, but Sweden's 200-year-old Bernadotte dynasty would not have existed without it, explains The Local's royal correspondent Juan Navas.
Germany
Sugary children’s drink voted year’s worst advertising lie
German food industry watchdog Foodwatch on Thursday awarded the manufacturers of the ultra-sweet children’s beverage “Monte Drink” with their unflattering “Golden Cream Puff” award for most brazen advertising lie of the year.
Germany
Catholics ready for Church exodus, poll finds
Nearly a quarter of Germany’s 25 million Catholics are considering turning their backs on their Church in the wake of the child abuse scandals, a survey published Friday found.
Sweden
Rival blocs tackle one million floating voters
Almost a fifth of the Swedish electorate could envisage switching sides in the September general election, a new survey by Sifo shows.
Germany
Lufthansa offers iPhone loser free flight for German pub crawl
Gray Powell, the Apple employee who blew a hole in the technology firm’s product security by losing a top-secret iPhone prototype after a session on German beer, has been offered a chance to drown his sorrows by airline Lufthansa.
Sweden
Editor resigns over ‘racist’ press subsidy
Martin Ahlquist, editor-in-chief of Swedish news weekly Fokus, has resigned his post on the Press Subsidies Council (Presstödsnämnden) after a decision to award state funds to an extreme-right newspaper.
Sweden
Volvo stock responds to positive report
Swedish truck maker Volvo AB topped the list of winners as the Stockholm stock exchange opened for business on Friday after reporting positive interim figures.
Germany
FDP gears up for fresh tax cut battle
The pro-business Free Democrats are planning to use their party conference Saturday to trumpet their new tax plan, even as senior members of their conservative coalition partners, the Christian Democrats, attack the proposals.
Sweden
Ericsson reports profits slump
Swedish telecom firm Ericsson has reported a 30 percent slump in net profits for the first quarter 2010, after weak sales development.
Germany
Catholics relieved by Mixa’s resignation
As Germany’s 25 million Catholics await word on whether the Vatican has accepted embattled Bishop Walter Mixa’s resignation, senior Church members on Friday expressed relief over – and respect for – Mixa’s decision to step down.
Germany
Bayern eye treble championship dream
After their Champions League success midweek, Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal plans to keep the treble dream alive when they return to Bundesliga action at Mönchengladbach on Saturday.
Sweden
New EU rules open Sweden’s airspace
Flights are now permitted across the whole of Sweden, with new rules in place for flights in the EU-wide risk zone two. This means that Stockholm-Arlanda, Bromma and Malmö remained open overnight.
Sweden
Students seek expansion of volcano help site
A pair of Swedish students are hoping their website launched to organize people left stranded by the Iceland volcano flight chaos will become a permanent fixture to help victims of natural disasters.
Sweden
Swedish prisoners sign up for lullabies project
Malmö city library and the Swedish prisons service have launched a project to encourage imprisoned fathers to record bedtime stories which can be played to their children during the time they are locked up.