16-year-old pupil held over teacher stabbing
A 16-year-old boy was being questioned by police on Thursday evening over the stabbing of a school teacher in the town of Provins, south-west of Paris.
Day: January 27, 2012
Switzerland
Oldest Swiss bank sold amid US tax dispute
The oldest Swiss bank Wegelin & Co announced Friday the sale of its non-US activities to fellow Swiss bank Raiffeisen as Wegelin battles with US authorities investigating tax evasion.
Sweden
Sweden can back eurozone pact: Riksdag
Sweden's parliament on Friday gave as expected the government a green light to support the eurozone pact on fiscal discipline at an EU summit next week, as long as certain terms are met.
Germany
Deutsche Bank boss sees Greece debt deal
The head of Germany's top bank, Deutsche Bank, said Friday he was confident a solution could be found to Greece's woes amid reports of progress in talks between Athens and banks on a debt writedown.
Norway
Norway a transit hub for human smugglers: police
After the arrests on Thursday of four stowaways, Norwegian and British police believe they have uncovered a human smuggling route used by Albanians seeking to travel illegally from Sweden to the United Kingdom.
Germany
Germany rakes in record tax income
December saw the biggest tax haul in German history, it was reported Friday – but the recent revenue boom is slowing down.
Sweden
Group slams English name for Swedish region
A Swedish language preservation network has blasted plans by the "Twin Cities of Sweden" to market their common metropolitan area using the name of a small town in central Texas in the United States.
Norway
No deal yet for Indian children in foster care
Norwegian child welfare service have said they are “willing to assess” a proposal to repatriate two Indian children placed in foster care in Norway eight months ago.
Germany
‘Muslim taxi’ offers gender-segregated rides
A German man has created a new website to arrange shared car trips with a twist – it’s targeted toward Muslims, and drivers can only offer transport to members of the same sex.
Sweden
Woman runs herself over with own car
A woman in Hässelby in western Stockholm was dragged for nearly 10 metres under her own car after she managed run herself over on Friday morning in what police believe was a failed attempt to deal with some apparent engine trouble.
France
Actress found wandering naked in street
Le Parisien newspaper reported on Friday that the actress Laura Smet was found wandering naked on Friday morning in a chic part of Paris.
Sweden
Löfven takes over: ‘our values are timeless’
Stefan Löfven was formally installed as the new leader of Sweden's struggling Social Democrat party on Friday following the resignation of Håkan Juholt last weekend.
Switzerland
Swiss ink tax deal with Ireland
Switzerland and Ireland have signed a deal to amend the double taxation agreement between the two countries.
Switzerland
One year on: Still no sign of missing twins
On Monday, one year will have passed since the dramatic disappearance of Alessia and Livia, two six-year-old twin girls from the canton of Vaud whose fate still remains a mystery.
Germany
Schäuble slams Cameron for blocking EU deal
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble took a jab at Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday, blaming him for Europe's failure to agree a common debt-reduction treaty.
France
Eurovision entry leaks before official launch
France's entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest leaked out on Thursday, despite attempts to keep it under wraps for an official unveiling on Sunday.
France
Seven films in French ‘Oscars’ nominations
Nominations for the French equivalent of the Oscars, the Césars, were announced on Friday, with hot Oscar favourite 'The Artist' receiving fewer nominations than two other films.
Germany
What’s on in Germany: January 26 – February 1
This Week's Highlights: Hitchcock in Frankfurt, indie rock in Munich, and an homage to an electronic music pioneer in Berlin.
Germany
No recompense in case of world’s dearest rug
A Bavarian auctioneer who priced the world’s most expensive rug at €900 has escaped paying damages to its former owner. The woman sued the Augsburg auction house after her rug reached €7.2 million at a Christie’s auction in 2011.
Sweden
Woman fined for crotch grab assault
A scorned Swedish woman who got back at her ex-husband by hijacking his Facebook account to indicate he was gay and then later attacked him by grabbing his testicles and biting him has been convicted for the assault by a court in southern Sweden.
Germany
German engineer kidnapped in Nigeria
Gunmen on Thursday abducted a German engineer working with a construction company on the outskirts of the violence-hit Nigerian city of Kano, police said.
Switzerland
Cops foil watch heist in downtown Lausanne
Lausanne police thwarted a brazen attempted armed robbery at a jewellery and watch shop in the centre of the Vaud capital on Thursday.
Germany
Germans confront latent anti-Semitism
As Germany commemorates the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz on Friday, Miriam Widman explores just how widespread anti-Semitism continues to be nearly 70 years after the Holocaust.
Germany
Cop patrolled 22 years without driver’s license
Criminal charges have been filed against a policeman in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt who allegedly drove patrol cars for more than 20 years without a proper driver's license, officials have revealed.
France
Shakespeare mix-up for presidential candidate
French presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande mistakenly used a quote that came not from William Shakespeare but from a distant relative of the Bard, a British newspaper claimed on Thursday.
Sweden
Northern lights over Sweden: a sampler
In case you missed the spectacular northern lights display that had the skies above Sweden glowing earlier this week, The Local has collected a few video clips that aptly capture the awe-inspiring aurora borealis.
Sweden
‘High hopes’ for Löfven as Social Democrat head
Stefan Löfven, a down-to-earth man from northern Sweden, politically inexperienced but with good chances of strengthening the crisis struck Social Democrats, received mainly flattering judgements from the nation's editorialists.
Norway
Yemeni kidnappers free Norwegian aid worker
A Norwegian UN aid worker kidnapped by a group of armed men two weeks ago has been freed after negotiations, Norway’s foreign ministry said.
Germany
Chills and snow are on the way
Germans might think they've got away with the relatively mild winter so far, but the cold snap may be on its way. The country can expect chilly precipitation over the weekend, the German Weather Service (DWD) says.
Switzerland
Prosecutors arrest Swiss club Xamax’s owner
Prosecutors on Thursday said they arrested the owner of Swiss football club Neuchatel Xamax, Chechen businessman Bulat Chagaev, after the team filed for bankruptcy.
Sweden
Man withdraws mouse from cash machine
A bank customer in Ersboda, northern Sweden, got more than he bargained for when he made a withdrawal from a cash machine and pulled out his money, followed by a mouse.
Germany
Police officers killed in motorway crash
Two police officers were killed in a horrific crash near Würzburg in northern Bavaria Thursday evening. Two more officers and one civilian were also injured.
Sweden
Artist avoids jail for ‘negro slave taunt’
Malmö street artist Dan Park was handed a fine and a suspended sentence after being convicted on Thursday of defamation and racial agitation in connection with posters he made after students staged a "slave auction" at Lund University.
Sweden
Principal stopped kids from getting marks that were ‘too low’
The principal of a school in western Sweden is under investigation for unilaterally scrapping the marks given to a class of eighth graders because they were too low in comparison to other schools in the area.
Germany
New tool unravels Stasi secret files
Germany's "puzzle people" will soon be able to count on a new tool in their Herculean task of re-piecing together thousands of ripped-up former Stasi secret police files.
France
Boy, 10, takes dad’s car after missing school bus
A 10-year-old boy was apprehended by police on Thursday after taking his father's car and trying to drive it to school when he missed the bus.
France
Disruption on Eurostar and Thalys trains
A strike on Belgian railways will mean no Thalys trains will run on the Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam-Cologne network on Monday.
France
Police treatment of minorities ‘shocking’: report
French police use broad powers to conduct abusive identity checks on black and Arab young men and boys despite the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
France
Hollande vows new spending and tax rises
Leading in opinion polls three months ahead of France's presidential election, Socialist candidate François Hollande unveiled a manifesto on Thursday focused on new spending and scrapping tax breaks.