Police nail screw thief
Bavarian police have finally nabbed a man who spent months stealing screws from road signs. Officials, who were running out of the special screws needed, are said to be very relieved.
Day: July 16, 2012
Germany
Sweden
Libor scandal prompts calls for probe in Sweden
Calls are mounting in Sweden for a review of the country's interbank lending system following revelations about alleged manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor).
Switzerland
Berlin criticizes reported Swiss tax CD purchase
A spokesman for Germany's finance minister on Monday criticized the reported purchase of a disc by a German region containing the names of supposed tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts.
Germany
Fury as masterpieces make way for modern art
The planned move of a world-class collection of old masters from a purpose-built gallery in central Berlin to make way for modern surrealist art is causing uproar amid fears that many important paintings could end up in storage.
Switzerland
Ben Ali ready to hand Swiss-held ‘assets’ to Tunisia: lawyer
Tunisia's former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, toppled by a popular revolt in 2011, is ready to hand over his Swiss-held financial "assets" to the Tunisian state, his Lebanese lawyer said on Monday.
Norway
Telenor sales rep hurled abuse at customer
A telesales agent in Norway has found that yelling ‘fuck you’ to a customer is not a successful recipe for staying in paid employment.
Germany
Police admit phantom croc was ‘a large beaver’
Police in Bavaria ended a week-long crocodile hunt empty-handed on Monday after experts concluded that their prey was probably a harmless beaver after all. A witness prompted a frantic search in and out of the water.
Sweden
Rape suspect arrested following Facebook find
A woman used Facebook to identify the man she believes raped her in a park in western Sweden on Saturday morning, one of three rapes reported in less than 24 hours in the area at the weekend.
Switzerland
Allow porn in schools: Swiss men’s group
A Swiss organization for men and fathers is pressing for teachers to be given the freedom to show pornographic materials to children in class.
Sweden
Helping keep entrepreneurs ticking along in Stockholm
The Stockholm School of Economics not only trains the next generation of executives, it also serves as a laboratory for budding entrepreneurs to get ventures like hi-tech watchmaker Mutewatch off the ground.
Sweden
3-year-old Swede sings to YouTube stardom
Sweden’s latest YouTube sensation comes in the form of three-year-old Theo, whose version of Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” has more than 200,000 views after just a few weeks online.
Switzerland
Brothers stabbed outside Zurich club
A young man celebrating his birthday was fatally stabbed while his brother was seriously injured after the pair were attacked outside a nightclub in Zurich on Saturday night.
Germany
Merkel ties own political future to Europe
Chancellor Angela Merkel has explicitly tied her political future to success in managing the eurozone crisis and keeping the European Union together, as she looked towards next autumn’s parliamentary election in an interview.
Germany
Beds, chairs and lifts grow as obesity rises
Safety inspectors have warned lift, bed and aeroplane manufacturers to think carefully about their products – because Germans are significantly heavier than they were a decade ago.
Norway
Norwegian trade surplus grows despite oil strike
Norway's June trade surplus jumped 15.1 percent year-on-year, to 29.5 billion kroner ($4.82 billion), despite a fall in oil exports, the national statistics agency said on Monday.
Sweden
Swede in new slimy slug slaughter: 27,000 killed
An elderly man armed with an ice-scraper in western Sweden has taken extreme measures after Spanish "killer" slugs took over his café.
France
Wet weather dampens French lust: survey
Rain and low temperatures this summer have put a damper on French libidos in the northern half of the country, a recent survey reveals.
Sweden
Journalist arrested over Swedish teddy bear pics
A journalist who posted pictures of "pro-free speech" teddy bears like those dropped by Swedes in Belarus in early July has been arrested by the country's security services as organizers of the stunt released more video footage of the flight.
Switzerland
Strong Swiss franc deters foreign students
Swiss universities are receiving significantly fewer applications from abroad due to the strength of the franc, according to reports.
Germany
Blatter hints Germany bought 2006 World Cup
The German Football Association (DFB) and football legend Franz Beckenbauer have reacted angrily to FIFA President Sepp Blatter's suggestion that Germany won the right to host the 2006 World Cup was won with a shady back room deal.
France
Baby’s body found in plane toilet
The corpse of a newborn baby was found in the toilets of an Air France flight from the Ivory Coast on Sunday.
France
Volleyball Olympians caught shoplifting
Two Algerian volleyball players were caught shoplifting in the northern city of Lisieux, where the women were training for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Norway
Northern Norway hit by major flooding
Massive weekend downpours coupled with melting snow led to the worst flooding in Troms, northern Norway, since the 1940s.
Sweden
Spain’s Ferrer claims Swedish Open title
In-form Spaniard and top seed David Ferrer won his fifth ATP title of the year here on Sunday beating compatriot Nicolas Almagro 6-2, 6-2 at the Swedish Open in Båstad.
Germany
Court: no euro rescue decision until September
Germany's top court said Monday it would rule on September 12 on legal challenges to euro crisis-fighting tools, as financial markets nervously await a decision.
Sweden
Bee swarms blamed on amateur beekeepers
Inexperienced beekeepers who have failed to appropriately tend to hives in Stockholm are being blamed by experts for the recent swarms that have plagued the city.
Germany
Minister condemns buying tax evader CDs
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has criticised the purchase of Swiss bank details of around 1,000 suspected German tax evaders by a western state which recently paid €3.5 million for a CD full of stolen information.
Switzerland
Peerless Federer back on top of the world
Roger Federer, already the holder of a record 17 Grand Slam titles, reached another landmark on Monday when he celebrated an unprecedented 287th week as world number one.
Germany
Germans arrested, wind farm seized in mafia raid
Two Germans were among 31 people arrested in a raid on the mafia in the southern Italian region of Calabria. Assets seized included a giant wind farm, the Italian police said.
Switzerland
Blatter defends stance on bribes case
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has defended his stance on bribery after Swiss court documents accused his predecessor Joao Havelange of taking bribes.
France
Anger as nail-throwers take aim at Tour peloton
Police in southern France began their search for the roadside fans whose nail-throwing antics during the Tour de France caused mayhem at the end of the hilly 14th stage on Sunday.
Switzerland
German region buys data on tax dodgers: report
Authorities in the west German region of North Rhine-Westphalia have bought data on German clients of a Swiss bank suspected of tax evasion, a report said on Saturday.
France
Le Pen’s party to sue Madonna over swastika
France's far-right National Front said Sunday it plans to sue Madonna over a video at the US pop star's concert in France showing party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead.
Germany
Puma expects swift sales with Bolt boost
With the London Olympic games just days away, German sportswear giant Puma is pinning its hopes on sprint legend Usain Bolt to speed up sales and outpace its bigger competitors Adidas and Nike.
Sweden
Wet weather set to continue in Sweden
More wet summer weather is on the way to Sweden this week as rain and thunderstorms have been predicted to continue into next week.
Sweden
Use of ‘Barbie drug’ on the rise in Sweden: police
More young Swedish people are using Melanotan, a drug that makes the user’s skin appear more tanned, despite health risks and unknown long term affects.
Sweden
Man seeks payout after eight cows die from flash
A farmer in eastern Sweden is seeking compensation after eight of his cattle died in a single lightning strike during heavy thunderstorms on Thursday.