Spying between allies "not acceptable", say Macron and Merkel
French president Emmanuel Macron have demanded explanations from both Denmark and the US over plans the NSA used Danish undersea cables to spy on senior European politicians.
"This is not acceptable between allies, and even less between allies and European partners," Macron said after the two leaders talked via video conference.
"There is no room for suspicion," he added, as he stressed the value of the ties between Europeans and Americans. "That is why what we are waiting for complete clarity," from both Denmark and the US, he added. "We are awaiting these answers."
Merkel said she "could only agree" with Macron's comments, adding she was "reassured" by Danish Defence Minister Trine Bramsen's condemnation of any such spying.
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Danish government wants rethink on dropped vaccines
Denmark's government on Monday asked the country's health authority to reconsider rulings against using the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines, after struggling to keep its vaccination drive on schedule.
The use of both vaccines was abandoned several weeks ago over concerns about rare, but severe cases of blood clots in some recipients.
But the Danish authorities have had difficulty getting deliveries of the Moderna vaccine from the United States, forcing a revision of plans to have everyone vaccinated by September.
Health Minister Magnus Heunicke told state broadcaster DR it was in this context that the government was asking the health authority to reconsider. Read our story here.
Demand soars for optional vaccination scheme
The number of people in Denmark who have applied to be vaccinated with either the Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca vaccines under the voluntary scheme has risen rapidly so far this wake, Jonas Nilsen the co-founder of Practio, the private company offering the vaccines, has told the Ritzau newswire.
At present, more than 30,000 people are queuing up for the doctor's consultation required to determine whether it is safe for them to be vaccinated them with one of the two vaccines.
Nilsen said he believed the rise had come because Denmark's vaccination timeline had been pushed back once again, due to lower-than-expected deliveries of the Moderna vaccine.
The average age of those who have enrolled in the voluntary scheme is 33 years old, and 87 percent of them are men.
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Denmark's vaccination program may now only be finished in September: media
With 1.1m fewer vaccine doses now expected to arrive in Denmark in June and July, it is unlikely that all adults in the country will be vaccinated until well into September, according to broadcaster TV2, the Ekstra Bladet newspaper, the Ritzau newswire and other media.
The shortfall follows a delay in approving the CureVac vaccine and lower than expected deliveries of the Moderna vaccine.
Pub owners in Aalborg party street bring in own restrictions
Bar owners in Jomfru Ane Gade, a busy street of pubs and nightclub in Aalborg, are to make having a valid coronavirus pass compulsory for those drinking outside as well as inside in the hope of warding off calls for the street to be closed in the face of rising infections. Aalborg's mayor Thomas Kastrup-Larsen has been calling for the street's bars to be temporarily closed.
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