Bailiffs chase football legend Lothar Matthäus
Lothar Matthäus, one of the world’s most successful football players, is being chased by bailiffs who despite employing private detectives to track him down, say they cannot find him.
Day: January 13, 2012
Germany
Sweden
Malmö dwellers forced to deliver their own mail
As postal workers assigned to the Malmö district of Seved feel too threatened to carry out their duties, the residents themselves will now have to deliver their own post.
Germany
Work ciggie break ban idea hits opposition
Calls for cigarette breaks at work to be banned in Germany have raised the hackles of workers - and led one MP to say it was a “step towards a non-smoking dictatorship”.
Switzerland
Central bank expects healthy profit for 2011
Switzerland's central bank said on Friday that it expects to post a significant profit for 2011 after taking advantage of rising gold prices and positive foreign currency trades.
France
Man asked for coffee – airline gave him drain cleaner
A French court on Friday ordered Air France to pay €146,000 ($186,000) to compensate a passenger who said he was served poisoned coffee on a domestic flight in 2006.
Norway
Norwegian film Troll Hunter tops UK charts
The Troll Hunter, a critically acclaimed horror mockumentary, has become the first ever Norwegian film to top the British DVD and Blu-ray retail sales charts.
Germany
Germans work six weeks a year longer than French
Germans work six weeks longer each year than their French counterparts – but the European champions for staying out of the office are the Finns, new data shows.
France
France loses AAA-rating: source
Standard & Poor's has decided to downgrade France's top-notch credit rating but will spare Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, an EU government source told AFP on Friday.
France
French debt downgrade ‘imminent’ – rumours
Standard and Poor's Corp declined comment Friday on rumours on the markets that it was about to downgrade several eurozone credit ratings, as stocks and the euro turned lower after earlier gains.
Sweden
150-year-old love letter found in Swedish field
A woman from Stockholm who recently picked up some soiled pages in a country field in western Sweden could hardly believe her eyes when she realized she was holding a love letter written in July 1862.
Germany
Thousands of US soldiers to leave Germany
The US military will withdraw thousands of soldiers from Germany as the American military takes half of its troops out of Europe as part of a forces redeployment to focus more on the Middle East and Asia.
Sweden
Swedbank in massive Latvia write down
Nordic banking giant Swedbank said Friday it was writing off nearly two billion kronor on its operations in Latvia, which has emerged from the world's deepest recession.
Sweden
Destinations in Sweden overlooked by the New York Times
The New York Times recently ranked the province of Dalarna in central Sweden as one of “45 places to go” in 2012. But the home of the famous wooden horse isn't the only place in Sweden worth seeing this year.
Sweden
Friday the 13th ‘not unlucky’: Swedish study
Despite Friday the 13th having a reputation as an ill-fated day, fresh figures from Swedish insurance company Trygg-Hansa have shown that there is nothing particularly unlucky about it at all.
Switzerland
Novartis cuts 2,000 US jobs after patent loss
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has again drastically reduced its workforce in the United States to deal with the expiry of an important patent and its failure to get traction on other drugs,
the firm said on Friday.
Switzerland
Dad killed daughter in brutal axe murder
A Swiss prosecutor has described as a "veritable slaughter" the vicious axe murder of a 16-year-old girl by her 53-year-old Pakistani father, who believed his daughter had tarnished her family's honour.
Sweden
New find reveals Swedes’ role in Ottoman sex-slave trade
The recent uncovering of centuries-old documents has revealed that Swedish ships were used in the Mediterranean slave trade. Up to three quarters of the cargo was women who researchers have suggested were sold as sex slaves.
France
‘Come and copy our films’ – French libraries
French librarians are calling on readers to copy borrowed books and DVDs to fight the clampdown on the illegal downloading. They say the French law allows people to copy works available in public libraries.
France
Carla tells Sarkozy “I’ll be there”
First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy says she is ready to hit the campaign trail for her husband President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Norway
Breivik to get new psychiatric evaluation
An Oslo court on Friday ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in July, after an earlier and widely contested test found him criminally insane.
Germany
Fancy beer bottles brew up problems
Big German breweries are making fancy beer bottles in a drive to catch consumers’ eyes and boost flagging beer consumption - but small beer-makers say trend could drive them out of business.
Germany
Canine name trend leaves Bello in dog house
Today’s dog owners are well travelled, creative linguists who enjoy a drink - or so they’d like their pet’s name to suggest, as traditional canine names such as Bello are replaced by more individual choices, a new study says.
Germany
Stinky rubber boot fire puts 50 in hospital
Dozens of people had to go to hospital after a pile of rubber boots caught on fire and gave off noxious fumes in a warehouse in northern Germany.
Norway
Switzerland knocks Norway off Big Mac perch
A burgeoning Swiss franc has helped the Alpine nation dislodge Norway from the top of The Economist's Big Mac index, a study comparing the price of McDonald’s most famous burger with the cost of living in 100 countries.
Sweden
‘Spank her arse’ coaching tactics spark outrage
An athletic club in southern Sweden has come under fire for a coach's use of sexually suggestive materials known as "Hot babes of the defence" to aid the training of a team of 14-year-old boys.
Switzerland
Swiss top Big Mac index with ‘meaty’ franc
Switzerland has the world’s most overvalued currency, according to The Economist's 'Big Mac Index', a study comparing the price of McDonald’s most famous burger with the cost of living in 100 countries.
Norway
Illegal immigrant denied abortion in Oslo
Oslo University Hospital has received a rap on the knuckles from a health service watchdog after it demanded advance payment from an undocumented migrant from West Africa who wanted an abortion.
France
Hollande falls for radio prankster
Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande was invited to take part in a TV show with a French star presenter. Hollande at first accepts the offer. Then he hears the details.
Sweden
Kids’ eyes glued shut by Swedish docs
Two small children who sought treatment for facial injuries at two different Swedish hospitals ended up having their eyes glued shut by mistake, with one toddler requiring emergency surgery to correct the error.
Germany
Immigrants stop 8-year population decline
A large number of new immigrants pushed up Germany's population in 2011 for the first time in eight years, the national statistics office, Destasis, said on Friday.
Switzerland
Becker ordered to pay up in wedding fee dispute
A Swiss court has ruled that German tennis legend Boris Becker must pay the minister who presided over his nuptials 3,400 francs ($3,600) in a long-running dispute over the wedding fee.
Norway
Breivik to undergo new psychiatric test: report
A Norwegian court will on Friday order a new psychiatric evaluation of Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people last July, after an earlier test found him criminally insane, a news report said.
Sweden
Nervous student caught with 56 cheat notes
A student in the north of Sweden was recently discovered to have been hiding a large number of cheat notes about his person when sitting for an exam at Umeå University.
Sweden
Bildt: euro stability lessened crisis impact
The impact of the global financial crisis would have been worse on the EU the euro had not provided the necessary monetary stability, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt said on Thursday.
Sweden
Violent fight sends two women to hospital
Two young women were taken to hospital and two were detained by police after a violent fight erupted in Örebro, in central Sweden, on Wednesday.
Germany
Judges call for rethink on court security
German judges have called for a complete rethink of security after a prosecutor was shot dead by a man in court who seemingly had no problem taking a pistol into the court.
Germany
Wedding bills served up to Boris Becker
German tennis legend Boris Becker has been told by a court he must pay the minister who presided over his wedding 3,400 Swiss francs (€2,800) in a long-running dispute over the wedding fee.
Germany
Environmentalists urge better forest care
In order to protect Germany's fragile forests, planners need to make their ecosystems more diverse, according to environmental groups who say the country hasn't learned enough from a devastating 2007 storm.