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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Denmark has good food supply security, minister in Argentina to sell F-16s, and Dane's EV company sees US share price collapse. Here are some of the news stories from Denmark on Tuesday morning.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday
Henrik Fisker, CEO of electric-vehicle maker Fisker Inc. shows off its Ronin electric sports car in Huntington Beach, California, August 3, 2023. Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

Denmark’s food supply security ‘high’, researchers conclude 

A new report from researchers at the University of Copenhagen concludes that Denmark has a high level of security in its food supply chain.

That means the country would be capable of self-sufficiency to a high degree if trade was disrupted.

“The current situation with war in Ukraine and closure of freight routes has create uncertainty around food supply security, but Denmark is well equipped in terms of food products,” agriculture minister Jacob Jensen said during an EU council meeting in Brussels.

The report, compiled by the Department of Food and Resource Economics (IFRO) at the University of Copenhagen shows that Denmark could be “self-sufficient” and provide the correct nutrients to its population in the event of a crisis.

Vocabulary: fødevareforsyningssikkerhed – food supply security

Minister in Argentina to sell Danish fighter planes

The Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen has travelled to Argentina to discuss a possible sale of some of Denmark’s F-16 fighter aircraft, which have been replaced by the Danish military.

While Denmark is in the process of donating some of its F-16s to Ukraine, it plans to sell others according to newswire Ritzau.

“We have chosen to donate 19 to Ukraine and the remaining 24 will potentially be sold to another country. We are now in negotiations over a sale to Argentina,” Poulsen said.

The F-16 are produced in the United States, which must approve any sale by Denmark. Poulsen said he hopes the deal can be concluded within the next month.

Vocabulary: kampfly – fighter aircraft

Danish-led electric car company collapses

Electric car maker Fisker Inc. was delisted on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday after the share price plummeted, Reuters reported.

That came after talks broke down between the company, founded by Dane Henrik Fisker, and a “big automaker”, Reuters writes.

This looks likely to signal the end of Fisker Inc., the reports suggest. The company’s share price had fallen to just 0.09 dollars before it was delisted.

Vocabulary: afnoteret – delisted

New Dankort charges ‘will be passed on to consumers’

Customers in Denmark can expect prices to rise in shops when a new charge for using the country’s Dankort card payment system takes effect on April 1st.

Nets, which owns the Dankort network on which most bank payment cards in Denmark operate, is set to introduce an additional 8.9 percent charge for businesses which accept Dankort from the beginning of next month.

Nets has raised the price for accepting Dankort in physical transactions following a decline in the total number of Dankort transactions.

The charge will “ultimately” be passed on to customers, according to Jannick Nytoft, the director of the national interest organisation for store owners, De Samvirkende Købmænd (DSK).

Nets is pushing for all banks to allow their Dankort payment cards to be used on Google Pay and Apple Pay.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

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

Hells Angels and Bandidos hold joint protest, Denmark two places from Eurovision final, minister seeks to use law to block political deep fake videos, and other news from Denmark on Monday.

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

Hells Angels and Bandidos ride together in joint protest

Bikers from the controversial Hells Angels and Bandidos clubs demonstrated together outside Copenhagen’s City Hall on Sunday to protest forced closures of club houses and even of  the clubs themselves. 

The demonstration marked a rare coming together for the two clubs, which are usually seen as rivals, historically deadly ones.  

“Everything is calm, and there are also lots of ordinary people walking around and looking at motorbikes,” Michael Andersen from the Copenhagen Police told TV2

According to the police, there were around 130 bikes present, who had applied to demonstrate between 11am and 2pm. 

The protest was organised by the Bikerfonden, or Bike Foundation, which groups together 17 Danish biker clubs, including the Bandidos and Hells Angels. 

The Danish government is currently trying to use the courts to disband the Bandidos, and has closed several Hells Angels club houses. 

Danish vocabulary: at opløse – to disband

Denmark was two places away from Eurovision final

Denmark was two places away from qualifying for the Eurovision final when it was voted out on Thursday, falling behind both Norway, which managed to qualify and the Czech Republic, which was also voted out, according to details of the vote posted on the Eurovision homepage on Sunday

Denmark’s entry “Sand” by Saba came 12th out of the 15 songs in the semi-final, from which only the top ten went forward to the finals. Denmark rceived 36 points, compared to 38 for the Czech Republic and 43 for Norway.

Switzerland’s Nemo, who went on to win Eurovision on Saturday night, received 132 points, coming 4th in the semi-final, behind Armenia, The Netherlands and Israel. 

Denmark’s entry received the most votes from the viewing public in Norway, who gave Denmark 10 points.  

Danish vocabulary: hjemmeside – homepage

22-year-old woman stabbed at Copenhagen launderette 

A 22-year-old woman was stabbed at 2.45pm on Sunday afternoon at a launderette in the Valby district of Copenhagen. A 48-year-old woman was later arrested for aggravated assault and violating Denmark’s knife act. The 48-year-old’s knife was also confiscated.  

“This concerns a 22-year-old woman who has been stabbed several times. Her life is not at risk, but she is seriously injured,” Henrik Stormer, from the Copenhagen Police, told TV2 Monopole. 

He told Ritzau that the police do not yet know the sequence of events that led up to the stabbing. 

Danish vocabulary: et møntvaskeri – a launderette 

Minister wants to use copyright law to ban political deep fake videos

Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt (M) wants to use copyright law to ban the deep fake videos of cultural figures spreading on the internet, after the Danish People’s Party and Liberal Alliance used the technology to make videos of top politicians. 

Use of the videos “undermines the democratic conversation and the durability of our democracy”, Engel-Schmidt told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, although he stressed that the content of the two political videos from the Danish People’s Party and Liberal Alliance was not in itself very problematic. 

“But there is a clear limit when you are exposed to advanced identity theft. This is the top level of a slippery slope that can end up undermining trust in each other and making every political message, newspaper article and artistic publication a potential battleground for whether it is true or false. I don’t want that.”

In the deep fake video from the Danish People’s Party, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) is seen stating that Christmas must be abolished, and in the Liberal Alliance’s video, Mette Frederiksen, Moderate Leader Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Liberal Party leader Troels Lund Poulsen are seen in manipulated form. 

Danish vocabulary: kunstig intelligens – artificial intelligence 

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