No proof Ribery knew prostitute was 16
French prosecutors accept football international Franck Ribery did not know that a prostitute he paid for sex was a minor, the Bayern Munich midfielder's lawyer told AFP on Friday.
Day: November 18, 2011
France
France
No reason to cut France rating: bank chief
The head of the Institute of International Finance, a top lobby group for the banking industry, said on Friday he sees no reason for France to lose its top credit rating despite eurozone debt crisis pressure.
Norway
Breivik’s island massacre was plan B: lawyer
Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik went on his killing spree on Utøya island on July 22nd because a bomb he set off failed to demolish the prime minister's offices, his lawyer was quoted as saying on Friday.
Sweden
Sweden braces for freezing rain, snow
Freezing rain and snow is expected to fall across large swaths of central and northern Sweden on Friday night, prompting warnings from icy road conditions across much of the region.
Germany
Merkel and Cameron struggle to show unity
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron were at pains on Friday to stress unity on tackling the debt crisis but differed sharply on strategic points.
Sweden
Store spares shoplifters using ‘sign of shame’
Shoplifters caught stealing at from the Dollar Store in Sundsvall in northern Sweden can avoid being reported to police if they agree to wear of full-body sign outing them as a thief.
Switzerland
FIFA wins appeal against FC Sion
FIFA said on Friday it had won a case against FC Sion after a Swiss cantonal court upheld a decision by football's world ruling body to impose a transfer ban on six of the club's players.
France
22-year-old seeks French presidential candidacy
A 22-year old communications student is seeking to bring attention to youth issues by putting himself forward as a potential candidate for France's 2012 presidential election.
Sweden
117 skin cancer cases misdiagnosed
Several more cases of skin cancer or preliminary stages of malignant melanoma have been detected in the retesting of diagnoses after the Sahlgrenska University hospital cancer scandal became public earlier this year.
Germany
Neo-Nazi murders expose institutional blind spot
Germany’s law-enforcement and intelligence authorities are scrambling for answers after a neo-Nazi terrorist cell murdered at least ten people. Hannah Cleaver examines how the far-right threat was ignored.
Germany
Neo-Nazi terror cell ‘may have been bigger’
The neo-Nazi terrorist group which killed nine shopkeepers and a policewoman probably involved at least two more people than the four already in the sights of the authorities, Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor said on Friday.
Switzerland
Fiery sauce sends Swiss snackers to hospital
A snack bar in Zurich is serving sausages with a sauce so strong that ambulances have shown up on several occasions to rescue fearless eaters.
Sweden
Cutting through the bull ‘sheet’ of swearing in Sweden
While learning Swedish is a common hurdle for immigrants of all stripes, US-native and parent Rebecca Ahlfeldt reflects on how differing definitions of foul language can pose a special challenge for the ex-pat parents of small children.
Germany
Suzuki cuts ties with Volkswagen
Japan's Suzuki Motor said Friday it had ended its alliance with Volkswagen and demanded the German auto giant sell back its stake in the Japanese carmaker by November 2012.
Sweden
New deal on rejected asylum seeker detention
Rejected asylum seekers will only be allowed to remain in detention for a maximum of two months before being deported from Sweden, according to a new agreement between the government and the Green Party, Sveriges Radio (SR) reported on Thursday.
France
French police under fire in new book
A sociologist's investigation into a French anti-crime squad operating in the suburbs of Paris has raised questions about current police conduct in France.
Germany
Court says no to misleading Nutella labels
A German court has told makers of Nutella to change the labels which it said were misleading, giving the impression that the nut-chocolate spread had more vitamins and less fat and sugar than it did.
Germany
The ins and outs of buying property
Germany might have avoided the recent global real estate bubble, but buying a flat can still be a confusing and expensive endeavour. Joe Morgan looks into mortgages and other property pitfalls.
Sweden
Sweden’s ten most influential foreigners
From swim wear designers to dancers, CEOs to physiologists, Sweden is teeming with foreign talent. The Local kicks off its new series with a countdown of influential foreigners in an array of fields.
Sweden
Dirty diaper ‘terror’ keeps Swedish town on edge
A town on the east coast of Sweden has been struck by a wave of unusually smelly crimes, where dirty nappies are pilfered from bins, unwrapped by the perpetrators and strewn around public places.
Switzerland
Parents to share child custody in Switzerland
The Swiss government has decided separated parents should automatically have joint custody of their children except in cases involving the specific protection of the child.
Norway
Bergen’s ‘bullet rickshaws’ ready to taxi
A taxi for “girls out on the town”, trade show vistyors and tourists is how Bergen’s new “bullet rickshaws” or sykkeltaxiene are being advertised.
Switzerland
EU aiding Greece to dig out unpaid taxes in Swiss banks
The European Union said on Thursday it is helping Greece negotiate with Switzerland in a bid to claw back some the €60 billion in unpaid taxes believed to be hidden in Swiss banks.
Switzerland
UBS shrinks investment bank, halves risky assets
Swiss banking giant UBS said on Thursday it was to dramatically cut back its investment bank arm, reducing its risky assets by half, or 145 billion francs ($159 billion).
Norway
Doctors doctor forms for more funds
Doctor-managers at a major regional hospital in southern Norway have been caught inflating the numbers for patient overnight stays, a practice that has forced the shuffling of millions of kroner in funding away from other patient-care programmes.
Germany
Irish irate as Bundestag sees budget first
The Irish and German governments became entangled in a spat on Thursday after details of the Irish budget were given to the German Bundestag, before being presented to the Irish parliament, the Dáil.
Germany
Allianz counts down to space insurance launch
German insurance giant Allianz will launch special insurance to so-called “space tourists” next year, according to a media report.
Norway
Muslim students denied high school prayer slot
High school student Ibrahim El Kadi asked if he could pray while at school. “No,” said his principal.
France
Poll finds French not so chauvinistic after all
France's reputation for chauvinism took a hit on Thursday from an opinion poll that revealed that only 27 percent of its people think French culture is better than all others.
Sweden
Pirate Bay lawyer to take over Assange defence
Julian Assange has dumped his Swedish lawyer in favour of a new defence team which includes an attorney involved in the Pirate Bay trial, as the WikiLeaks founder continues to fight his extradition to Sweden to face questioning over sex crimes accusations.
Germany
Deutsche Börse to sell derivatives businesses
Stock market operators NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse said Friday they would sell parts of their derivatives activities in a bid to gain approval from EU Commission for their merger.
France
Marc Jacobs hit by theft of entire collection
US fashion designer Marc Jacobs was forced on Thursday to cancel his European press day after his entire spring-summer collection was stolen en-route from Paris to London.
Switzerland
Particles still faster than light in experiment re-run
A fiercely contested experiment that appears to show the accepted speed limit of the Universe can be broken has yielded the same results in a re-run, European physicists said on Friday.
France
Two dead in French retirement home blaze
Two people died and a dozen were injured early on Friday when a fire broke out in a retirement home at La Rochefoucauld in the Charente region of southwest France, officials said.
Sweden
Climbers rescued from Sweden’s tallest peak
Two Swedish men were rescued on Thursday after being stuck for five days on the top of Mount Kebnekajse, Sweden's highest peak, as poor weather had previously made a rescue operation impossible.
Sweden
Man on sick pay ran ‘rolling’ alcohol shop
Sweden's social insurance agency Försäkringskassan is demanding that a man, convicted of selling alcohol from the back of his van, pay back the full sickness benefits he received during the time he was running his bootleg operation.
Sweden
Suspects admit Ikea blasts: prosecutor
Two Polish men, under suspicion of being behind a series of explosions in several European Ikea outlets, have owned up to their involvement, Polish prosecutors said on Thursday.
Germany
Koreans look to Germany for reunification advice
South Korea is betting that closer cooperation with Germany can help it solve problems related to the country’s eventual reunification with North Korea.
Germany
Merkel hosts UK’s Cameron amid EU rifts
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host British Prime Minister David Cameron for talks on Friday amid growing friction over how to restore stability in the face of Europe's debilitating debt crisis.
Germany
Bullets – and bones – found in Soviet tank
Construction workers near Rostock made an unusual discovery Thursday, when they unearthed half of a Soviet World War II-era tank with skeletal remains inside. Experts believe the other half of the tank is buried across the street.