DAX tanks amid global economic fears
Germany’s DAX stock index on Monday dropped to its lowest level in nearly a year on investors' fears about the downgrading of the US credit rating and the eurozone debt crisis.
Day: August 8, 2011
Germany
Switzerland
Geneva protest over refugee camp
Some 200 people demonstrated at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva on Monday, demanding US and UN protection for Iranian exiles at the Ashraf refugee camp in Iraq.
Switzerland
Swatch confirms competition probe
The world's biggest watchmaker Swatch confirmed Monday it was being probed by European anti-trust authorities over claims that several luxury watch producers colluded to stop supplying spare parts to independent repairers.
Switzerland
Eight injured in train crash
Eight people were injured Monday when a regional train derailed in the north-eastern Swiss canton of Aargau and hit a freight locomotive, a Swiss Federal Rail spokesman told AFP.
Germany
Air traffic controllers to strike Tuesday
Air travellers face massive delays and flight cancellations after air traffic controllers announced they would carry out a six-hour strike on Tuesday morning.
Switzerland
Swiss conservatives split by immigration campaign
An anti-immigration poster campaign has caused a split in the conservative SVP party, with three senior politicians distancing themselves from the posters.
Sweden
Swedes arrest three men over Spain murder
Swedish police said on Monday they had arrested three Romanians suspected of murdering an elderly woman during a robbery in Spain.
Sweden
Swedish lesbians forced to pay more for sperm
Artificial insemination costs vary widely across Sweden, forcing some same-sex couples to pay significantly more than heterosexual couples who save thousands of kronor by bringing their own sperm.
Germany
Spending a day at the beach without leaving Hamburg
Hamburg’s love affair with the sea is well-known, but the northern port city is also burnishing its credentials as a bona fide beach town. Jiffer Bourguignon gets some sand between her toes.
Germany
RWE CEO stepping down early
Jürgen Grossmann, who heads Germany's second largest power company, RWE, is to step down early and be replaced by Dutchman Peter Terium, the company said Monday.
Germany
Iron Age people gave interiors of dwellings a decorative streak
Archaeologists in Saxony-Anhalt have discovered a 2,600-year-old wall painted in bright patterns. It reveals that Iron Age houses were not the drab constructions they were once thought to be.
Germany
Germans donating more to help famine-hit East Africa
Germans have increased aid donations to help East Africa after relief agencies complained the country wasn’t doing enough to stem famine in the impoverished region.
Sweden
Borg promises restraint as stocks head south
Sweden's finance minister Anders Borg on Monday promised a "cautious" economic policy as he commented on turbulence in global stock markets. Trading in Stockholm meanwhile nosedived as a mid-morning rally ran out of steam.
France
Australian heroine of French resistance dies
Nancy Wake, whose courageous acts during World War II won her the prestigious French Légion d'Honneur award, has died in London.
Germany
Germany says Syria’s Assad losing legitimacy
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will forfeit legitimacy if his regime continues to carry out acts of violence against demonstrators in his country, the German government warned on Monday.
Sweden
‘Old-timer gang’ faces Swedish court
Monday saw the start of the trial against the so-called Old–timer gang (Gubbligan), facing charges for aggravated robberies in southern Sweden between 2007 and 2010.
Germany
Man cheats death despite shocking drunkenness
A man was hospitalised in Thuringian city of Jena at the weekend after police picked him up with a staggering blood alcohol level of 0.59 percent - more than 10 times the legal driving limit.
Switzerland
Swiss get closer to German tax dodging deal
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said a tax evasion deal with Germany that will levy a 26 percent withholding tax on new German assets in Swiss banks, will be signed “shortly”.
Sweden
Supreme Court declines honour killing case
The Supreme Court of Sweden (Högsta Domstolen) will not re-open the Högsby honour killing case, the court announced on Monday.
France
Man sets himself alight in mosque
A Muslim man died on Sunday after setting himself on fire inside a mosque in the French city of Toulouse, local officials said, saying the man was psychologically disturbed.
France
Weak growth forecast for France
The French economy is on course to grow by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of the year, the Bank of France said in a preliminary forecast on Monday.
Switzerland
Swiss jobless rate falls slightly
Switzerland's unemployment rate was flat at 2.8 percent in July compared to June, the economy ministry said Monday.
France
ECB ‘ready to buy Spanish and Italian debt’
The European Central Bank is ready to buy Spanish and Italian government debt to try and stem the eurozone crisis, French Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Monday.
Sweden
New York designer exploits ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
Aniv von Borche, a 23-year-old bona fide New York-based designer attending the Stockholm Fashion Week which opens on Monday, tells contributor Caroline Bursell of how he aims to bring a "dose of different" to encourage Swedes out of what he calls their "fashion shell".
Sweden
Fake digs fool flat hunting students
Flat-hunting students in Sweden have been swindled into forking out cash for accommodation that doesn’t exist, causing one housing site to issue a warning to its users.
Germany
Friedrich’s call to identify bloggers meets broad resistance
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich’s call to end anonymity for internet bloggers in the wake of the Norway massacre has been slammed by the opposition and even the conservatives’ coalition partners, the Free Democrats.
France
Dodgy mushrooms swell emergency rooms
Mushrooms have appeared earlier than usual in the southwest of the country, leading to a flood of people turning up in hospital emergency rooms with food poisoning symptoms.
France
Four killed in air travel protests
A protest about air fares on the beautiful French south Pacific island of Maré turned violent at the weekend when four people were killed in clashes.
France
French star faces death threats
Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard has been the victim of threatening messages and videos, New York prosecutors announced at the weekend.
Sweden
Stockholm stock market in shaky opening
As expected the Stockholm stock exchange opened sharply down on Monday although after an hour's trading had rebounded into positive territory.
Sweden
Kidnapped Swede found with captors in lay-by
Five men barged into a flat in the Rosengård suburb of Malmö, in the south of Sweden, early on Monday morning kidnapping one man after incapacitating two others.
Germany
Eurozone scrambles to calm investors
Germany and other world economic powers scrambled late on Sunday to shore up confidence in global financial markets with pledges to do whatever was necessary to protect the euro currency and stem the debt crisis.
Germany
Berlin double-murder suspect arrested
A man accused of shooting and killing his ex-wife's mother and sister, and seriously injuring another man, late last week in Berlin’s Wedding district has finally been arrested, police announced Monday morning.
Sweden
‘Sweden will be affected by the crisis’: experts
Swedish experts say Sweden won't avoid being affected by the turbulent world economy and on Sunday financial spokesperson for the Social Democrats, Tommy Waidelich, said that he wants to gather the Riksdag’s financial committee to discuss the situation.
Sweden
German tourists ‘missing’ in Sweden paddle back to safety
A German family touring south eastern Sweden was surprised on Sunday to find their camp-site teeming with police after a misunderstanding with camping ground staff caused a police search action.