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Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
A slight easing off of hot temperatures is forecast in Denmark this weekend. File photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Eight percent of new Danish coronavirus infections were picked up on trips to Spain

A total of eight percent of positive coronavirus tests registered in Denmark in the last week have been linked to the infected person’s recent travel to Spain, according to new data from the Danish Patient Safety Authority and reported by broadcaster DR.

Spain is currently classed as a yellow country under Denmark’s travel guidelines, with some regions green, meaning Denmark does not restrict travel to those countries for tourists from Denmark (although people coming from yellow regions are required to take a test on returning from their trip).

READ ALSO: What you need to know about Denmark’s latest travel rules

Spain currently has an infection rate three times higher than Denmark, DR writes. The Danish authorities update the colour coded travel guidelines for international countries and regions on Fridays. We’ll report any significant changes as they come in today.

Young Syrian allowed to stay in Denmark after authorities approve appeal

The Danish Immigration Service (Flygtningenævnet) yesterday reversed a decision to deport a young Syrian refugee to Damascus on appeal.

Aya Abu-Daher, a 19-year-old upper secondary school student who lives in Nyborg had her residence permit extended after the authority reversed on appeal a decision to withdraw her asylum status, which would have likely meant she would have been forced to move into a Danish expulsion or departure centre and await deportation.

Abu-Daher, whose situation gained considerable media attention after she was initially told she would not be allowed to complete her school exams, told newspaper Politiken yesterday afternoon she felt “reborn”.

The future of many other Syrian refugees in Denmark remains uncertain after the country withdrew asylum status from dozens of people. The country maintains that conditions in and around Damascus are safe to return refugees in some cases, a position disputed by experts and not taken by other EU countries.

READ ALSO:

Busy traffic expected as many in Denmark take summer holiday

Thousands of people across the country are today expected to hit the roads this weekend as they travel towards summer houses and holiday homes. That is because the statutory holiday for people in many sectors falls during the coming weeks.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about vacation in Denmark

The Danish Road Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) has encouraged drivers to consider the best times to set out in order to keep traffic smooth. Saturday is expected to be particularly busy, news wire Ritzau reports, with motorists heading across Zealand and Funen and south through Jutland.

Break in heat forecast this weekend

This week has seen some truly scorching, dry weather in Denmark, in stark contrast to the catastrophic images of flooding in Germany and Belgium in recent days.

The heat is forecast to ease a little this weekend, with national meteorologist DMI predicting between 20-25 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 18-23 degrees, with some cloud and wind, on Sunday. Friday will be hot at up to 30 degrees Celsius, although a little more breeze could be felt than in preceding days this week.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Ministry issues Israel travel warning, former Danish PM’s husband gets seat in UK parliament, tourists keen for Danish fish and more news this Friday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Former PM Thorning-Schmidt’s husband elected to UK parliament 

Amid the landslide victory for the Labour party in last night’s UK general election comes the news that Stephen Kinnock, the husband of former Social Democratic Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has been elected to parliament.

Kinnock, the son of Neil Kinnock who led Labour in the 1980s and early 1990s, won the Aberafan Maesteg seat in South Wales.

Thorning-Schmidt has been part of Kinnock’s campaign and was yesterday photographed alongside the UK’s incoming prime minister Keir Starmer.

Vocabulary: forhenværende – previous

Foreign Ministry advises against all travel to Israel

The Danish Foreign Ministry has officially advised against all travel to Israel due to the risk an escalation in hostilities between Israel and militant organisation Hezbollah in south Lebanon.

The updated travel advisory was issued by the foreign ministry yesterday afternoon.

Previously, the ministry advised against all non-essential travel to the area.

In the advisory, the ministry states the situation can deteriorate “with no or very short warning”.

Vocabulary: at fraråde – to advise against

Fresh fish tempts tourists to Denmark

Fishing boats moored at the quayside and fresh fish sold on the harbour are draws for tourists according to a new University of Copenhagen study.

The study, which looked at the link between numbers of fishing boats and hotel guests, found that one extra fishing boat at a local harbour increased hotel stays by 1.1 percent or 90 guests.

“Tourism is affected in a markedly positive way by active fishing vessels landing at local harbours,” Max Nielsen of the univiersity’s Department of Food and Resource Economics said according to DR.

Vocabulary: fiskekutter – fishing boat

Trains keep to timetable but disruptions expected

Many trains in Denmark arrived on time during the first half of 2024, according to data released on Thursday by Banedanmark, the company responsible for rail infrastructure.

But maintenance planned for the second half of the year could result in a worsening of the figure, the company warned.

“I’m satisfied that rail traffic in the last half of the year has run well, including when you compare to many other countries,” Banedanmark’s traffic director Peter Svendsen said in a statement.

Some 78.5 percent of passengers with national rail company DSB arrived on time, meaning a target of 75 percent was achieved. Over one-fifth was thereby late by at least three minutes.

Over 90 percent of passengers arrived within 10 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

 

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