Blown out in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is booming but Chancellor Merkel’s out-of-touch Christian Democrats still couldn’t stave off an electoral defeat of historic proportions in their conservative heartland, writes The Local’s Marc Young.
Day: March 28, 2011
Germany
Sweden
Juholt’s girlfriend convicted of fraud: report
The girlfriend of newly crowned Social Democratic party leader Håkan Juholt was convicted of fraud and fired from her former employer, according to media reports.
Sweden
Stockholm helicopter heist inspires US e-book
While the Hollywood-esque robbery of a Stockholm cash depot continues to play out in the Swedish courts, American journalist Evan Ratliff recently published the first in-depth account of the heist, The Local's David Landes explains.
Germany
Doctor jailed for removing organs while using lemon juice antiseptic
A doctor who used lemon juice to disinfect his patients’ operation wounds and removed healthy organs was sentenced to four years in a minimum security facility followed by a four-year ban on practising medicine, a Mönchengladbach court said Monday.
Germany
Broadcaster ProSieben kills nuclear-themed Simpsons episodes
The German broadcaster ProSieben said Monday it had decided not to show any episodes of the satirical US cartoon series "The Simpsons" depicting nuclear disasters out of consideration for Japan's atomic catastrophe.
Germany
India channels funds to Iran via Bundesbank
India is set to pay Iran for billions of dollars worth of oil imports by channelling funds to Tehran via the German central bank, the business daily Handelsblatt reported Monday.
Sweden
Swedish airlines flout consumer rights: report
All of the airlines operating domestic routes in Sweden apply terms and conditions in contravention of passengers' legal rights, according to a new report from the National Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket).
Germany
Girl finds boa constrictor in toilet
A seven-year-old girl was shocked to find a sizeable boa constrictor staring up at her from the toilet over the weekend, police in Hannover said. The “fugitive” reptile escaped before authorities could capture it.
Sweden
Swedish researchers explore Somali-autism link
Swedish researchers want to gain access to a databank of blood tests taken from all babies born in Sweden in order to shed light on an apparent heightened incidence of autism among the country's Somali population.
Germany
Merkel blames ‘painful defeat’ on Japan fears
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday lamented her party's "painful defeat" in Baden-Württemberg's state election and blamed the debacle on fears sparked by the Japan nuclear crisis.
Sweden
Larsson friend reveals Millennium sequel plot
Kurdo Baksi, confidant and author of an expose book on deceased Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson, has revealed that the manuscript believed to be the fourth book in the Millennium series holds a number of plot twists and turns.
Sweden
Police probe secret Swedish ‘sex-chamber’
A secret chamber containing a dingy bed, elaborate restraining devices, and an assortment of sex toys continues to baffle Swedish police weeks after it was discovered beneath an abandoned farmhouse in western Sweden.
Switzerland
Green in historic victory in Basel canton
The Greens in a northern Swiss canton have scored a surprising electoral victory over the weekend, getting their first candidate in the Basel-Landschaft canton elected, at the expense of the Swiss People's Party (UDV).
Germany
German media roundup: A seismic shift for Merkel’s coalition?
With the Greens emerging as the winners of two state elections, has there been a seismic shift in Germany’s political landscape? Newspapers in The Local’s media roundup on Monday sift through the wreckage Chancellor Merkel’s coalition.
Switzerland
Spider causes car crash near Basel
Arachnophobia is believed to be the cause of head-on car crash near Basel at the weekend.
Switzerland
President: Allied aircraft can use Swiss airspace
Micheline Calmy-Rey, Switzerland's president, has said the neutral country will allow allied aircraft into its airspace when attacking Libya. "Neutrality is not indifference," she argues.
Sweden
AstraZeneca payout resolves US tax dispute
Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca said Monday it had settled a tax dispute with US authorities by agreeing on a net payment of $1.1 billion.
Switzerland
Search called off after deadly avalanche
Rescuers in Switzerland on Sunday called off a search for a woman missing and feared dead in the Swiss Alps after an avalanche swept away a party of French hikers the day before, killing four.
Sweden
Thief caught after forgetting credit card
A 53-year-old man has been arrested for stealing a selection of electronic items, after forgetting his credit card at the returns counter of an Uppsala store on Saturday.
Germany
Teens injured in pop idol event stampede
Some 60 people were injured Sunday in a stampede when an unexpectedly large crowd showed up for autographs with stars of Germany’s equivalent to the TV show “Pop Idol,” leaving more than two dozen hospitalized, police said Monday.
Germany
Private train drivers strike in the northeast
Train drivers at private regional rail services went on strike early Monday morning in the city-state of Berlin and the states of Brandenburg and Saxony, in a bid to pressure employers to improve wages and working conditions, union GDL said.
Sweden
Police officer charged with drunken assault of football supporter
An off-duty, drunk police officer has been charged with assaulting a football supporter in a Stockholm metro station last October.
Sweden
Fears grow for abandoned bear cubs
The female bear which attacked and injured a 12-year-old skier in Funäsdalen in northern Sweden on Friday fled into the woods, leaving her cubs to fend for themselves and who are now at risk of starvation.
Germany
Frugal fashion: Clothing swaps take off in Germany
Among fashionistas, expensive shopping sprees are so last season. An increasingly popular way to freshen up a wardrobe without breaking the bank is to find a clothes-exchange event like Swap in the City.
Sweden
Sweden set to send foreign prisoners home
The European Union has proposed that prisoners committing offences in another member state should be able to serve their sentences in their home country.