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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Two aircraft return to Copenhagen amid bomb threat, Randers files new complaint against Nordic Waste, Danish Medicines Agency finds possible link between hives and Moderna Covid vaccine and more news from Denmark on Friday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday
Svanemøllen Beach near Copenhagen, pictured earlier this month. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

Two planes evacuated in Copenhagen after bomb threat 

Two aircraft flying to Stavanger in Norway were yesterday forced to turn around and return to Copenhagen because of a bomb threat, Copenhagen Airport confirmed in a post on social media X.

Both planes were evacuated when they landed in Copenhagen.

“We can confirm that a flight to Stavanger has returned to Copenhagen due to a suspected bomb threat. We are working with the relevant authorities who have begun their work, and all passengers have been evacuated,” the airport wrote, before adding in a follow-up tweet that two aircraft, not one, were involved.

All passengers were “safe and well” in the airport, Copenhagen Police later tweeted. The matter has now been placed in the hands of the authorities, the airport said.

Norwegian media VG reported that a Norwegian airlines flight to Stavanger was the first to be turned around, followed by a SAS flight with the same destination.

“The threat was so unspecific that this [second] flight was also asked to land,” Copenhagen Aiport spokesperson Lise Agerley Kürstein told VG.

Vocabulary: evakueret – evacuated

Randers files new police report against Nordic Waste 

The Nordic Waste scandal has begun to rumble forwards again with the local authority, Randers Municipality, yesterday filing a police report against the company for “additional violations”.

That comes after the government’s legal advisor’s this week said DSH Recycling, a company with the same owners as Nordic Waste, can be held liable for costs resulting from the landslide at Nordic Waste’s soil treatment plant in December last year.

The new report to police is related to violations of environmental protection acts, Randers Municipality said.

“We are still in a very serious environmental situation with his case, and we will consistently report whenever we find violations of the environmental permit or legislation,” municipal official Jesper Kaas Schmidt told newswire Ritzau.

Schmidt said he would “certainly not” rule out further reports.

Vocabulary: bestemt ikke – certainly not

Chronic hives a ‘possible side effect’ of Moderna Covid vaccine

Danish Medicines Agency (Lægemiddelstyrelsen) tests suggest that chronic hives are a potential side effect of the Spikevax Covid-19 vacine, which is produced by Moderna.

Based on a total of 360 European cases, the agency found a “probable” connection in 58 cases, while a “possible” connection applied in 228 cases.

A suspected side effect can be categorised as either probable, possible or unlikely.

The results are early and further investigations are needed, team leader Martin Zahle Larsen of the Danish Medicines Agency told Ritzau.

Hives are a type of skin rash with red, raised bumps that can be itchy and uncomfortable. Most cases potentially linked to the vaccine emerged 7-13 days after the third dose was given.

Vocabulary: nældefeber – hives

Europe needs to step up circular economy efforts: EU agency

Europe must accelerate efforts to transform its economy into a circular one focused on reusing or repurposing materials to cut waste, a necessity if it is meet climate targets, the European Environment Agency warned yesterday.

“Decisive action is essential to drastically reduce waste, prioritise reduction of resource use, improve recycling rates and improve the introduction of products that are designed for circularity from the outset,” the Copenhagen-based agency said in a statement.

“We are still far from the ambition to double the Union’s circularity rate by 2030,” the EEA said, adding that there was a “low or moderate likelihood” that EU’s ambitions would be “achieved in the coming years”.

“We need an additional policy push,” Daniel Montalvo, a climate expert at the agency, said at a press conference according to newswire AFP.

At the heart of the problem, according to the EEA, are business models in which products have a very short lifespan — if they are even used at all.

“Business models primarily revolve around mass-producing products, often sacrificing quality, and this results in early breakdown or premature obsolescence,” the EEA said.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Storm caused fears of Børsen collapse, decision could be made over military service for women, record number of diabetes cases and more news from Denmark on Monday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Police closed area around Børsen amid fears of collapse 

Police cordoned off an area around the burnt-out old stock exchange Børsen in central Copenhagen on Sunday night, due to fears the damaged section of the building was about to collapse.

The closed area was opened again around 10pm, however.

Stormy weather in Copenhagen last night was the cause of concerns that scaffolding around the building could be toppled, thereby causing the building to fall. But the danger passed as the weather calmed, police said.

Vocabulary: stormskade – storm damage

Politicians set for talks over military service

Negotiations over whether to extend Denmark’s military service obligations to women are set to enter a key stage.

Two of the parties that are in the group that determines military spending are strongly against military service for women. This means that the government – which favours the change – cannot adopt the policy without breaking an existing parliamentary alliance on the area.

The two parties in question – Liberal Alliance and Denmark Democrats – are set to speak with Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen today in an attempt to reach a compromise.

Vocabulary: forligskreds – group of parliamentary parties that have signed formal deal to determine state spending and policy on a given area

Record number diagnosed with diabetes 

A total of 25,557 people were diagnosed with diabetes in Denmark last year, a record number, the diabetes charity Diabetesforeningen said in a press statement.

The increase is primarily attributed to type-2 diabetes diagnoses, with 24,650 type-2 cases compared to 907 of type 1.

Some 360,000 people in Denmark are currently living with diabetes, but that number is expected to reach 467,000 by 2030.

“This is partly because the population of Denmark is getting older and thereby gets more diseases,” Diabetesforeningen CEO Claus Richter said to newswire Ritzau.

“Additionally, not enough people are aware how much of a difference diet and exercise make in relation to preventing diabetes,” he said.

US troops to mount exercise on Danish Baltic island

US troops are planning to take part in a military exercise on the island of Bornholm next month, marking the third time in three years US soldiers have trained on Danish soil.

Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, revealed the planned exercise, which will take place between May 1st and May 7th in a briefing to the Danish parliament’s defence committee.

As part of the exercise, US troops will ship an unnamed weapons system to Bornholm Airport, and then set it up in a military exercise area, but would not then fire any shots or missiles. 

“The exercise has a military training aspect, but also sends a signal about the solidarity of the alliance, about American commitment to security in Europe and in our own immediate area,” Lund Poulsen said in the briefing.

 

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