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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Weather weekend forecast, concerning university admissions for language and teaching courses, and Denmark sending tanks to Ukraine are among the news stories this Friday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday
King Frederik and Queen Mary open the Denmark Pavilion in Paris ahead of the Olympics. Photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

Weekend to begin with grey, wet weather and end with sun 

Most of Denmark, with the exception of Baltic Sea island Bornholm, is to start the weekend under grey skies and likely rainy weather, with particularly strong showers in Jutland.

The temperature will be between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius, with southern parts of the country feeling warmest.

While Saturday will also begin overcast, the sun will begin to peek through as the day goes on, according to meteorologist Mette Wagner from national met office DMI.

Sunday – the day many will be leaving campsites as their holidays come to an end – will be the driest day this weekend, she said.

“It will be a Sunday where you have a good chance of packing a relatively dry tent,” she said.

The temperature throughout the weekend is expected to stay unchanged from Friday.

READ ALSO: ‘Not a summer at all’: What foreigners think of Denmark’s rainy July

Decline in students studying foreign languages

The number of people enrolling on language degrees at universities is down 10 percent compared to last year, according to figures from the higher education ministry.

This year saw 1,643 students accepted onto foreign language degrees like French and German, down from 1,835 last year.

“The admissions figures for higher education this year show that we need to react to the drastic losses suffered by language degrees,” the political director of trade union Dansk Magisterforening (DM), Mette Fjord, said in a written comment to news wire Ritzau.

There are now 1,000 fewer students on language degrees compared to 2020, she said.

Vocabulary: optagelser – admissions (on a study programme)

Childcare courses also see drop in admissions

The number of people accepted on courses training childcare professionals (pædagoger in Danish), has also dropped, causing concern in a sector suffering from longstanding labour shortages.

Fewer people have begun studying in the profession in the last four consecutive years.

There were also fewer admissions to teaching degrees, the higher education ministry figures show.

“This year’s admissions confirm to me that we still need to create more balance in our education system,” Minister of Higher Education and Research Christina Egelund said in a statement.

“In other words, we need education reforms that can give us more qualified labour and better balance in the educational landscape,” she said.

Vocabulary: at skabe – to create

Denmark to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine this summer

Denmark and The Netherlands are to deliver 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “before the end of summer”, the Dutch defence minister announced Wednesday, saying Kyiv “urgently” needed more military support.

The two countries bought the German-made tanks last year for 165 million euros ($186 million) before sending them for refurbishment.

The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany also announced last year that they would supply Kyiv with around 100 Leopard 1 tanks, the previous version of the vehicles.

“These tanks can play an important role for the Ukrainian army in defending itself against the Russian troops,” Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said in a statement.

Vocabulary: at levere – to deliver

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Border controls begin in Germany, Aarhus attraction closes ride after accident, rare collection coins it in at auction and more news from Denmark this Monday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Monday

Germany commences border controls

Germany is today introducing border controls with all of its neighbouring countries, including Denmark. The controls, announced earlier this month, will be in place for an initial six months.

South Jutland Police have advised drivers to allow additional time for their journeys and have their passports ready.

The Danish Road Directorate (Vejdirektoratet) said  it expects extended journey times and traffic congestion near the border today, especially during rush hours in the morning and afternoon.

“We expect the most affected border crossing to be the Danish-German border

at the Frøslev crossing at the end of the E45,” the agency’s Kenneth Andersen told broadcaster DR.

READ ALSO: Checks on Danish border by Germany ‘in line’ with EU rules

Tivoli Friheden ordered to close zipline after accident

Aarhus amusement park Tivoli Friheden has received an immediate order to close its zipline after a woman was injured at the amusement park on Saturday, local media TV 2 Østjylland reported.

The woman reportedly lost her grip on the zipline and then hit a tree, back first.

She was taken to hospital for examination but received no fractures or other serious injuries, according to an update yesterday.

“She has a few bruises, no doubt about that, and it was likely a very traumatic experience,” East Jutland Police officer Rene Ludvig told TV 2 Østjylland.

The ride will remain closed until a number of issues have been resolved, police told the regional media. The specific safety issues with the zipline are currently unclear.

Vocabulary: svævebane – zipline

Rare coin collection brings in over 14 million euros at auction

A Danish coin collection decreed to be kept off the market for a century brought in 14.8 million euros as it finally went under the hammer in Copenhagen on Saturday, the auction house told Danish media.

After an eight-hour auction in the Danish capital the 286 coins on sale had brought in 14,820,900 euros (about $16.4 million), news agency Ritzau reported.

Michael Fornitz, director of the Danish branch of auction house Stack’s Bowers, told the news agency the final sum exceeded estimates by around 25 percent.

The auction represented the first batch of coins sold from the some 20,000 coins contained in the Bruun collection — which has been kept off the market for a century.

In 1922, Lars Emil Bruun, a Danish entrepreneur and coin expert, bought the collection from the aristocratic Bille-Brahe family.

He died the following year, adding in his will a condition to the sale of the collection.

“The story goes that Bruun, after having seen the devastation of the First World War, was very afraid that something would happen to the (museum’s) national collection,” Helle Horsnaes, head of Denmark’s National Museum’s coin and medallion collection, told AFP in May.

“And therefore he made a will, saying that his collection should be kept as a reserve for the national collection for 100 years after his death,” she added.

Denmark’s National Museum, which had been given first dibs in an agreement between Bruun and the Bille-Brahe family, paid one million euros for seven of the collection’s coins earlier this year.

World Champion triumphs in Copenhagen Half Marathon

The defending world champion, Sebastian Sawe from Kenya, won yesterday’s Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sunday with a time of 58 minutes and 5 seconds.

Sawe overtook world record holder Jacob Kiplimo from Uganda in a sprint on the home stretch.

Margaret Kipkembo won the women’s race in 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 11 seconds, narrowly missing the women’s race record in Copenhagen, which is three seconds faster.

Norwegian middle distance runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen, one of the world’s highest-profile athletes in his regular disciplines, made his debut in the half marathon and finished around 5 minutes behind the winners after keeping pace for the first half of the race.

Tens of thousands of amateur runners joined the elite professionals for the running event in Copenhagen, which enjoys enthusiastic public support and a burgeoning international reputation.

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