US drone kills German Islamists in Pakistan
A US drone strike has killed eight militants, including five Germans, in Pakistan's anarchic tribal belt where Western intelligence has traced an alleged plot to attack an array of targets in Europe.
Day: October 4, 2010
Germany
Sweden
Teacher acquitted for arm lock on 5-year-old
A female preschool teacher facing charges for molesting a 5-year-old boy was acquitted on Monday by the district court in Varberg in western Sweden.
Sweden
Swedish wages plagued by record-low increases
Wages in Sweden have increased at historically low rates so far this year, according to preliminary figures from the National Mediation Office (Medlingsinstitutet).
Germany
End to Oktoberfest marred by crowd chaos
Oktoberfest shuts off its taps on Monday evening after Munich's beer festival welcomed record numbers of visitors to its 200th anniversary celebration. But along with the crowds came chaos this weekend.
Sweden
Terror threat prompts Sweden travel warning
Sweden’s foreign ministry has issued a new warning to travelers in light of the increased threat of terrorist attacks in Europe.
Germany
Böhse Onkelz singer jailed for hit-and-run accident on drugs
Kevin Russell, the former singer of the German hard rock band Böhse Onkelz, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison by a Frankfurt court on Monday for seriously injuring two people in a hit-and-run accident while driving under the influence of drugs.
Germany
Opel decides to close plant in Antwerp
German automaker Opel, a unit of US car giant General Motors, said Monday it would shut down a plant in Antwerp, Belgium by the end of the year because no suitable buyer had been found.
Sweden
17,000 minks set free in southern Sweden
17,000 minks escaped from a farm in Skillingaryd in southern Sweden on Monday after a lock on the animals' cage was bust open.
Germany
Suicide attempt traps 600 in Bavarian train tunnel
Hundreds of passengers were trapped in a tunnel in Bavaria on Monday morning after a suicide attempt on the tracks forced their high-speed ICE train to engage emergency brakes, leading to technical problems, police reported.
Sweden
‘Swedes paid hostage ransom from secret fund’
Sweden paid several million kronor to buy the release of a Swedish UN worker and a Norwegian colleague who had been kidnapped in Lebanon, according to a new book.
Sweden
Cinnamon Bun Day: Just another manic bun day
Forget about Swedish springtime's notoriously sweet semla, the delicious wheat bun spiced with cardamom, filled with almond paste and topped with lashings of cream.
Sweden
Alliance candidate wins Riksdag speaker vote
The Alliance government candidate Per Westerberg on Monday won the election to speaker of Sweden's Riksdag by 194 votes to 153 for Kent Härstedt.
Germany
Muslim group lauds Wulff’s remarks on Islam
A senior Muslim representative in Germany praised on Monday comments by President Christian Wulff that Islam was integral part of the country's society, aimed at cooling a heated debate on integration.
Sweden
Father of test tube babies claims Nobel in medicine
The first of the 2010 Nobel Prizes, the prize for medicine, has been awarded to British researcher Robert Edwards for his work on in-vitro fertilization.
Germany
German warship thwarts Somali pirates
A German naval warship thwarted an attack by pirates on a vessel off the coast of Somalia, the Defence Ministry said on Monday.
Sweden
Alfred Nobel’s last will and testament
Swedish industrialist and scholar Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), who made a substantial fortune from his invention of dynamite in 1866, established the Nobel Prizes in his will.
Sweden
How ‘merchant of death’ Alfred Nobel became a champion of peace
The legacy of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who made a fortune off the destructive power of dynamite, has become synonymous with peace, in large part due to a small twist of fate, writes the AFP's Marc Preel.
Germany
Allianz fills war chest to buy insurance firms
German insurer Allianz has set aside a €1 billion ($1.37 billion) for future acquisitions but will take its time and shop carefully, chief executive Michael Diekmann said on Monday.
Sweden
Saab wins billion kronor defence system order
Sweden defence firm Saab has received an order for an airborne surveillance system worth in excess of 4.5 billion kronor ($669 million).
Germany
Eastern floodwaters ease but alert remains high
Floodwaters in the eastern states of Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg were slowly receding on Monday morning, following several tense days along the region’s dykes.
Sweden
Police chief slammed over ‘racist’ joke
A Swedish police chief has courted controversy after he dressed up and told a joke about a black prostitute in front of a group of colleagues, reported Sveriges Radio Gothenburg.
Germany
State justice minister calls Stuttgart rail protestors ‘spoiled’
Ulrich Goll, state justice minister in Baden-Württemberg, on Monday labeled the massive protests against the controversial rail project Stuttgart 21 “spoiled” and selfish.
Sweden
Reinfeldt rejects Sweden Democrat overtures
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has declined to negotiate with the Sweden Democrats, who may hold the key to the ballot to appoint the next speaker of Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, on Monday.
Germany
Berlin warns against ‘alarmist’ terror threats
Islamist extremists are reportedly plotting attacks against Berlin's TV tower and a hotel next to the Brandenburg Gate, but Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned Monday against being "alarmist" about the threat of terrorist attacks.