Stuttgart 21 rail project construction to restart
Construction work on the controversial Stuttgart 21 rail project is to restart next week after a two-month pause to assess the future of the project following a state election in Baden-Württemberg.
Day: June 10, 2011
Germany
Germany
Playboy shoot reveals feminine side of German football squad
Just weeks before the kickoff of the Women's World Cup, five players on Germany's national team have participated in an erotic photo shoot for Playboy to prove football really is the beautiful game.
Germany
Warming climate causes honeybees to oversleep flower bloom
As the climate grows warmer, flowers are blooming earlier in the spring and this year many German honeybees awoke to find many blossoms already gone. Researchers are working to find out why.
Sweden
Gotland & Öland – Singular beauty at sea
Ancient walled cities, storm-tossed islands and a dose of Bergmanesque atmospherics. Gotland and Öland make for a spectacular summer visit.
Germany
Nowitzki’s drive for NBA glory inspires German basketball dreams
As German basketball superstar Dirk Nowitzki nears the pinnacle of his sport – winning an NBA title – thousands of fans over the Atlantic are glued to their TV screens and cheering him on. Moises Mendoza explores Nowitzki's impact on the game in Germany.
Sweden
16 years for Gothenburg woman’s ‘ruthless’ killing
A 23-year-old man accused of raping and murdering Elin Krantz near a Gothenburg tram stop in September last year has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for the crime.
Germany
Bundesbank boosts 2011 growth forecast
The German Bundesbank on Friday raised its growth forecast for this year to 3.1 percent for Europe's biggest economy, up from a previous expectation of 2.5 percent.
France
Wife of Strauss-Kahn flies home
Anne Sinclair, the wife of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has been spotted back in Paris after the birth of her new grandson.
Sweden
KTH students charged for money laundering
Two students enrolled at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) were among several Stockholm residents charged on Thursday for their role in a massive swindling operation involving 100 million kronor ($16 million) in laundered money.
Germany
RWE boss warns of industrial decline from nuclear phaseout
A quick phaseout of nuclear power could lead to blackouts and threaten Germany's key industrial sector, the head of energy giant RWE said on Friday.
Sweden
Stockholm congestion fee ‘too low’: politicians
Several Swedish politicians are calling for a steep rise in Stockholm's congestion charge following reports of increasing traffic problems around the Swedish capital.
Switzerland
US and Switzerland close to tax evasion deal
US authorities are reportedly about to close a deal with Swiss banks over American tax dodgers – in exchange for billions of dollars in penalties, the US will stop investigations into the banks.
Sweden
Warnings ahead of new wave of violent storms
A new line of thunderstorms is expected to bring more heavy rain to southern and central Sweden on Friday as the region struggles to cope with power outages and flooding from a previous batch of storms.
Switzerland
Footballers fear losing luxury cars
Sixty top-of-the-range cars were impounded from a luxury car dealership earlier this week after the company went bankrupt. Now the dealership's customers, including several top footballers, fear their cars could be confiscated too.
Sweden
Riksdag hands government labour policy setback
The government faces the threat of an embarrassing climbdown in its employment policy following a vote to halt a controversial programme for the long-term unemployed.
Switzerland
MEP ‘bloodied’ sneaking into Bilderberg hotel
Italian MEP Mario Borghezio was reportedly given a bloody nose on Thursday as he attempted to sneak into the secretive Bilderberg conference in St. Moritz.
Switzerland
‘No bank exodus’ after attacks on secrecy
The Association of Foreign Banks in Switzerland said Wednesday that there has not been an exodus of banks, despite attacks on the country's banking secrecy rules.
Sweden
Stockholm braces for drop-in wedding deluge
Las Vegas it isn’t, and chances are Elvis won't be anywhere in sight, but this weekend's mass 'drop-in' wedding at Stockholm's Skansen wildlife park is expected to draw hundreds ready to say "I do", The Local's Geoff Mortimore discovers.
Sweden
Swedish man convicted of sex with sheep
A man who forcibly had sex with a sheep has been convicted of violating Sweden's animal cruelty laws.
France
Lagarde favourite as IMF race nears finish
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is the odds-on favorite to become the next IMF chief as nominations close Friday, with her main rival short of any endorsements from major economies.
France
The Doors threaten to sue Paris theme bar
Lawyers for US rock group The Doors have threatened legal action against a Paris bar devoted to the band, saying it did not want to be associated with a drinking establishment.
Germany
Deadly E. coli found on bean sprouts
German officials on Friday said they had found the first direct evidence of deadly E. coli bacteria on vegetable sprouts thought to have killed 33 people and left over 3,000 ill.
Sweden
Swedish fraudster jailed in Ethiopia
A Swedish woman who has been on the run since 2007 has received a 25-year prison sentence in Ethiopia on charges of fraud and human trafficking, Sweden's TV4 news reports.
France
France in trouble over rare rodent
The European Court in Luxembourg warned France on Thursday over its failure to protect the threatened Great Hamster of Alsace, the last wild hamster species in Europe.
France
Chirac turned away from Deauville casino
The former President is not used to having doors closed in his face, but that's what happened recently at a casino in Deauville.
France
Sexist views block man’s bid to be French
An Algerian man was refused French nationality on the grounds that he held degrading views about women.
Sweden
‘Bad airplane food’ sends 17 Swedish tourists to hospital
A group of tourists from northern Sweden had an unpleasant start to their holiday in Turkey after a suspected case of food poisoning sent 17 to the hospital.
Germany
Germany slams Danish border control plan
As Denmark prepares to vote on re-introducing border controls, a diplomatic war of words has heated up between the German and Danish officials.
Germany
Study sees no power price hikes as Merkel touts nuclear phaseout
As Chancellor Angela Merkel touts Germany’s planned exit from nuclear power, a new study has dismissed fears that electricity prices and greenhouse gas emissions will rise.
Sweden
Disabled ‘trafficked’ to Sweden in benefits fraud
Disabled people are being lured to Sweden by false promises of generous benefits in a sophisticated fraud scheme that officials liken to human trafficking, according to Swedish media reports.
Sweden
Swedish bar association raps Assange lawyer
The Swedish Bar Association (Advokatsamfundet) has issued a warning to the Swedish lawyer of WikiLeaks frontman Julian Assange, its head said Thursday.
Germany
Cross-eyed opossum gets new enclosure, prepares for big debut
Germany's latest animal sensation, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum, has made her media debut three weeks before her new tropical enclosure at Leipzig Zoo is revealed to the public.