What’s on in Germany: May 26 – June 1
This week’s highlights: Contemporary design in Berlin, classic cars in Hamburg, and a night of music in Munich.
Day: May 26, 2011
Germany
Germany
Greece approaches Telekom on OTE sale
The Greek government on Thursday approached Germany's Deutsche Telekom to discuss the sale of the state's remaining stake in Balkans telecoms giant OTE.
Germany
Big petrol firms inflating prices, watchdog says
Motorists in Germany are paying too much for petrol because the five major fuel companies are informally collaborating on prices, the competition watchdog announced Thursday.
Sweden
German E.coli outbreak spreads to Sweden
Ten Swedes are severly ill and many more are suffering other effects from a virulent enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) bacteria following the recent outbreak of the disease in Northern Germany.
Sweden
Bildt: Mladic arrest ‘a good day for Europe’
Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt on Thursday hailed the arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic, calling it the closing of a "dark chapter in European history".
Sweden
Hooligan’s parents’ plea: ‘don’t hurt our son’
The parents of an 18-year-old football fan who ran onto the pitch and punched a goalkeeper during a match between Malmö and Helsingborg on Tuesday have made a public appeal against vigilante justice in the wake of threats made against their son.
Germany
Police arrest 11 in people-smuggling ring
Police in Germany said Thursday they had smashed a people-smuggling ring that brought an estimated 2,000 people into the European Union illegally in the last three years.
Germany
WWII bomb discovery causes massive evacuation in Berlin
Berlin’s Kreuzberg district on Thursday faced a massive evacuation effort that let to the removal of thousands and the disruption of transport after construction workers found a 250-kilogramme bomb from World War II.
Germany
Nine children injured in Hesse bus blaze
Nine school children were injured, three of them seriously, when a fire broke out on a tour bus on the A4 motorway in Hesse on Thursday, police said.
Germany
Deadly E. coli found in Spanish cucumbers
Cucumbers from Spain have been identified as a source of the deadly E. coli outbreak gripping Germany, health officials announced Thursday.
Sweden
Pressure is on – elite classes for younger students
As the idea of elite education takes hold in Sweden, a country known for promoting equality, The Local's Karen Holst looks at the debate surrounding a decision to offer advanced classes to younger students.
Switzerland
Immigration helped economy – experts
A new government report says Switzerland's relaxed free movement treaty with the European Union helped to cushion the effects of the 2009 recession.
Switzerland
Government plans new asset-freezing law
The Swiss government said on Thursday that it would consider creating a new law to make it easier to freeze the assets of foreign dictators.
Germany
Merkel calls for global nuclear reactor tests
Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the rest of the world to carry out atomic reactor “stress tests” and demanded the G8 take a leading role in nuclear security on Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the group of leading nations.
Sweden
Swedish hospitals launch campaign touting early pregnancy
Health authorities in southern Sweden are launching a public awareness campaign to encourage couples to have children sooner to combat the trend of women having their first child at an increasingly older age.
Sweden
‘The Swedish hooligan disease’ – a case of footballing déjà vu
As Swedish football reacts to the latest of a string of hooligan incidents in recent weeks, The Local’s Peter Vinthagen Simpson looks back at the case of the “drunk Dane” who attacked the referee in a Euro 2008 qualifier and wonders if any lessons have been learnt.
Germany
One dead after teens set themselves on fire
Two German teenagers set themselves on fire in an apparent suicide bid which left one of them dead and the other seriously hurt, prosecutors in North Rhine-Westphalia said Thursday.
Switzerland
Basel seal championship – yet again
FC Basel sealed their 14th Swiss Super League Championship on Wednesday night, with a 3-0 home win over Lucerne. Basel have now won the title three times in the last four seasons.
Germany
Ash airspace closure possibly unnecessary
The closure of German airspace due to the threat from a volcano ash cloud may have been unnecessary, with authorities making an off-the-cuff decision on flimsy data, a media report said on Thursday.
Sweden
Swedish MPs knew of undercover US agents
Several Swedish politicians knew that undercover US agents had been discovered in Sweden, according to a Swedish MP and member of the National Police Board.
Sweden
Gaming software company offers golden job chance in Stockholm
Do you work in the software industry? Ever fancied working in one of the world’s online gaming hubs, with a great quality of life and a stimulating working environment? Now’s your chance.
Germany
Schäuble shares ECB’s concerns on Greek debt
The European Union can help Greece but a restructuring of its debt would pose grave risks, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Thursday, narrowing differences with the European Central Bank (ECB).
Sweden
Ingmar Bergman ‘switched at birth’: report
Ingmar Bergman, the famed Swedish director who died in 2007, was not his mother's biological son, according to the results of an investigation by his niece published on Thursday.
Germany
MPs push for national smoking ban
Bundestag members from all sides of politics are joining forces to push for uniform anti-smoking laws nationwide, going up against entrenched opposition in many parts of the country.
Switzerland
Swiss signal end to nuclear power
The Swiss government on Wednesday recommended to parliament that the country's five nuclear power plants should not be replaced as they age, leaving them to be phased out by 2034.
Germany
Man points gas pistol at Frankfurt Airport police
A disturbed man, possibly under the influence of cocaine, penetrated the security area of Frankfurt Airport and pointed a gas gun at German police officers, in the latest in a series of security scares at Germany's largest air hub.
Sweden
State liquor stores moot higher tax on wine
Sweden's state-run alcohol retail monopoly Systembolaget has demanded an extra tax on box wine equating a price hike of up to 25-30 percent in order to curb the thirst for bag-in-box wines.
Sweden
Swedish birds in ‘record’ non-stop flight to Africa
Three Swedish birds have set a new record in long distance flying after travelling 6000 kilometres non-stop from Sweden to West Africa at an average speed of 70 kilometres per hour, according to a new study from Lund University.
Sweden
Swedish bosses open to bribes: study
Every fifth business leader in Sweden could consider paying a bribe to win advantages in business and to retain clients, a new survey by Ernst & Young shows.
Germany
Berlin club scene wants culture high
Members of Berlin's music scene are campaigning for the German capital's legendary club culture to be treated like theatre or opera by city officials.
Sweden
Spotify and Facebook in music streaming tie-in
Swedish music service Spotify and social networking giant Facebook are collaborating on a streaming music service, according to a media report Wednesday.