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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 Tuesday

Danish ship sailed near Russian ships before Nord Stream blast, Danish Health Authority orders cancer review, Danish artist launches epic troll hunt, and Denmark third in Europe on patent applications per head. Here's some of the news on Tuesday.

Today in Denmark: a roundup of the news on Tuesday

Danish ship allegedly sailed after Russian ships near the Nord Stream

The Danish patrol vessel P524 Nymfen was sailing in the area around the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 just four days before they were hit by several explosions on 26 September last year, the UK’s Times newspaper has reported. 

According to the German news site T-online, six Russian warships were in the area at the same time, including the submarine support ship SS-750, which had the mini-submarine AS-26 with it.

According to the site, SS-750 turned off its tracking device when it neared the area where the gas pipelines were blown up.

Shortly afterwards, a Swedish ship, K31 Visby, sailed to the area. 

Danish vocab: patruljefartøj – patrol vessel 

Danish Health Authority orders cancer treatment review 

Søren Brostrøm, the director of the Danish Health Authority, has ordered a survey of cancer care in Denmark after DR reported that 182 patients had waited too long for an operation at Aarhus University Hospital.

Following DR’s report, a survey found that 293 patients had waited for more than the two weeks prescribed by law over the past year. The Central Denmark Region had not reported the delays to the Danish Health Authority because the patients had accepted that the waiting time would be longer than two weeks. 

It has since emerged that the Capital Region around Copenhagen has also failed to report excess waiting times for cancer patients. 

Danish vocab: ventetiden – waiting times 

Danish artist hatches epic global troll hunt

A Danish artist famous for his towering wooden trolls sent fans on a worldwide quest Monday to find his latest creation.

Thomas Dambo has created a complex treasure hunt to find “Moon Mother”, his 100th troll sculpture, who he said has “crawled into the most secret spot in the forest” to give birth.

His giant figures inspired by Scandinavian folk tales are often located off the beaten track to tempt children and adults to venture out into nature, and to show what you can do with recycled materials.

To find “Moon Mother”, fans will have to piece together codes placed near his existing trolls across the world.

“I decided to make a super secret one and make it an intricate treasure hunt that leads you around all the other ones I’ve made through the years,” Dambo told AFP.

Denmark third in Europe on patent applications per head 

Denmark was third only to Switzerland and Sweden in 2022 in the number of patent applications lodged with the European Patent Office per million inhabitants according to the latest figures.

Denmark made 453 applications per million inhabitants, just behind Sweden on 482 and Switzerland on 1,031. See graph for details

“It is gratifying that we have continued to invest in innovation and patents even under the difficult conditions seen over the last year,” said Flemming Kønig Mejl, who leads the international cooperation division at the Danish Patent and Trademark Office.

“It just shows that Danish companies are good at prioritising research and development. It is also something that we make a living from in Denmark, and which helps to create jobs.” 

Danish vocab: patentansøgninger – patent applications

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