Car breathalyzers to be compulsory from July
France is battling drink-driving by forcing every car driver, including visitors to the country, to carry a single-use breathalyzer kit from July.
Day: February 6, 2012
France
Norway
‘Stallion’ caught with pants down at Norway racetrack
An 18-year-old harness racing enthusiast was caught on camera in Norway last week enthusiastically dry-humping a friend from behind as his horses won their races and the money rolled in.
Germany
Robust Germany faces rising ‘burnout’ problem
Germany, holding up better than its eurozone partners in the current economic crisis, is battling the increasingly widespread phenomenon of "burnout" which is supposedly costing its economy billions of euros each year. AFP's Aurelia End reports.
Sweden
A YouTube salute to Sami National Day
As Sweden's indigenous Sami celebrate their National Day on February 6th, The Local offers up a few video clips highlighting their unique vocal traditions.
Sweden
School rapped over bullying victim’s suicide
A 15-year-old girl from southern Sweden took her own life after several years of bullying during which her school's idea of combatting the problem had been to make her go tell the other students that their taunts upset her.
Germany
Industrial orders rise amid eurozone gloom
Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, saw the release of further favourable economic data on Monday with industrial orders in December partly reversing steep falls seen the previous month.
Germany
How to choose the best health insurance for you
When choosing health insurance, many of us focus too much on cost, and not enough on what we're buying. Here's your guide to seeing past the glossy brochures.
Switzerland
Philippines searches swamps for kidnapped Europeans
Philippine troops were scouring mangroves on remote southern islands on Monday as the search for two kidnapped Europeans intensified, security officials said.
Germany
Snow to follow record deep freeze
Germany shivered through record low temperatures of -29 degrees Celsius overnight, but the German Weather Service has forecast an even deeper freeze ahead of snow showers midweek.
Norway
George Clooney clip bags Norwegian ad award
A commercial featuring Hollywood superstar George Clooney has won the annual audience award for the best ad shown on Norwegian TV in 2011.
Germany
Car thieves discover dead baby
Four young car thieves in the western German state of Saarland notified the police on Sunday night after they stumbled on the corpse of a small baby in the boot of a car they were breaking into.
Sweden
Police teacher warned after ‘monkey’ comments
An instructor within the Swedish police force has been accused of hate crimes for referring to a trainee officer with a foreign background as a "monkey".
Switzerland
Asylum seekers sanding off fingertips: report
Many Eritrean and Somalian refugees are taking extreme measures to destroy their fingerprints to avoid being identified and returned to the first country they entered in Europe.
Switzerland
Profits drop at Swiss bank Julius Bär
Swiss private bank Julius Bär posted a 26.8-percent fall in full year profits on Monday despite healthy cash inflows from emerging markets.
Switzerland
Cheese board chuffed with rise in exports
Swiss cheese exports held firm in 2011 with smaller, speciality brands driving demand despite the strong franc, figures out on Monday showed.
Norway
Norway’s Telenor ‘not dead yet’ in India market
Norwegian phone giant Telenor said on Monday it was examining all legal means to keep operating in India following a court order cancelling its mobile licences, declaring "we're not dead yet".
Norway
Breivik asks court for ‘immediate release’
The Norway gunman who killed 77 people in twin attacks in July asked an Oslo court on Monday to release him immediately, saying his massacre was a "preventive attack against state traitors."
France
Le Pen attacks all sides over ‘pathetic’ poll
Far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen slammed a poll in a Sunday newspaper that asked people how they would vote if she was not on the ballot paper.
Norway
Groom attacks best man over sex with bride-to-be
A Norwegian couple have called off their wedding after the bridegroom brutally assaulted his best man on finding him in bed with his future wife.
Germany
Children sit in front row at bloody sex opera
One of Germany’s most famous opera houses, Dresden’s Semperoper, gave teenagers front row seats to the premiere of its new production of Alban Berg’s “Lulu” – which centres on a murderous prostitute.
Switzerland
Credit Suisse wins case against Lehman Brothers victim
A former Credit Suisse client, Hugo Rey, has lost his case in the Supreme Court against the Swiss banking giant despite the late discovery of evidence that appeared to support his cause.
Sweden
Fire brigade slammed for ‘renting out’ rooms
Emergency services in Gothenburg have come under fire recently after it came to light that a fire station had been renting out rooms to visiting colleagues.
Sweden
Agency to cancer victim: ‘go to social services’
A young Swedish mother, recently diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, was told by National Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan), that she was not eligible for sickness benefits.
Switzerland
Swiss temperature plunges to -35.1 degrees
Swiss temperatures plunged to minus 35.1 degrees Celsius in the eastern Graubünden canton on Sunday night, weather agency MeteoSwiss said, the lowest figure recorded so far this year.
Sweden
10-year-old girl stabbed in the throat at school
A 10-year-old girl had her throat slashed with a knife outside a school in Gothenburg in western Sweden on Monday morning, according to police.
Germany
Former spy boss moves to Deutsche Bank
Ernst Uhrlau, former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency the BND, has been on the payroll of Germany’s biggest bank since the start of February, just two months after his retirement.
Norway
Breivik planned to publish own magazine
Long before last July’s dual terrorist attacks, confessed killer Anders Behring Breivik planned to publish a monthly magazine promoting what he described as cultural conservative views.
Germany
Sarkozy looks to Merkel for re-election help
Chancellor Angela Merkel and the bulk of the German cabinet descended on Paris Monday on a mission to rescue her French ally President Nicolas Sarkozy's struggling re-election campaign.
Sweden
One dead, 70 homeless after Gothenburg blaze
A fire in a Gothenburg apartment building has claimed the life of one and made some 70 people homeless as the re-igniting fire has left the entire building unstable, according to emergency services.
France
Depardieu to star as Strauss-Kahn in film
After months of rumours about a possible film covering the fall from grace of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, an American director has confirmed he plans to make a movie with Gérard Depardieu in the leading role.
Germany
Man rescued from canoe on frozen river
A man had to be rescued from the frozen River Elbe in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday after his canoeing trip in sub-zero temperatures turned out not to be such a good idea.
Sweden
Kinnevik in bid to buy up publisher Metro
Swedish investment firm Kinnevik has made an offer to buy up Metro International, a global publisher of free newspapers.
Switzerland
Media blame banks for caving in to US pressure
Swiss banks came under fire in Sunday newspapers for giving in to US demands on banking secrecy.
Germany
Leftist crime on the rise
New figures on politically-motivated crime show a sharp increase in leftist crime in Germany last year, along with a slight fall in far-right crime, it was revealed Monday.
Sweden
89-year-old convicted for shopping cart assault
An 89-year-old man from southern Sweden has been convicted of assault after ramming his shopping cart into that of another shopper.
France
Death toll rises to five as chill continues
A 12-year-old boy, two elderly people and two homeless men have all died as a result of the cold weather covering France.
Germany
China offers Merkel some comfort for Europe
China's Premier Wen Jiabao said a stable Europe was key to stability at home, in comments published Sunday, at the end of a week that saw Germany's chancellor visit Beijing.
France
Half of Air France flights hit on 2nd day of strike
A strike by aviation workers was set to intensify on Tuesday with Air France saying it might fly only half of its long-haul flights.
Sweden
Attackers carve ‘whore’ into woman’s arm
A 20-year-old woman had the word “whore” carved into her arm in connection with a knife attack in Landskrona in southern Sweden.
France
Minister under fire for ‘civilisations’ remarks
French Interior Minister Claude Guéant said on Sunday he stood by remarks that not all civilisations are equal, as critics denounced his comments as dangerous and xenophobic.
Sweden
Outage leaves Swedish town without any heat
A power outage at a district heating plant in northern Sweden cut off heat to nearly all of Sollefteå's 8,000 residents on Sunday night as temperatures dropped below minus 25 degrees Celsius.