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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday

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

Lorries on the E20 motorway in Denmark. The Danish Council on Climate Change has called for the government to boost electric-powered goods transport .
The Danish Council on Climate Change has called for the government to boost electric-powered goods transport. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

Danish citizen charged with deadly Norway bow and arrow attack

An appalling fatal bow and arrow attack in Norwegian town Kongsberg last night was committed by a Danish national, police in Norway have confirmed.

“The man is a Danish citizen, but lives in Kongsberg,” police said in a statement.

“We decided to confirm this information because many rumours were circulating on social networks about the perpetrator of the attack, some [implicating] people who have no connection with these serious acts,” they added.

Norwegian police had earlier indicated that the suspect had acted alone and could not rule out terrorism. Five people died in the attack with two injured.

You can keep up to date with this story on our Norwegian edition.

READ ALSO: Danish citizen charged with deadly Norway bow and arrow attack

Danish municipalities plagued by hackers 

Three in four municipalities in Denmark say they are being increasingly targeted by hackers, according to a survey conducted by broadcaster DR.

A particularly bad example involves the Høje-Taastrup municipality west of Copenhagen, from which scammers managed to transfer 180,000 kroner to bank accounts in the Netherlands.

The Danish Centre for Cybersecurity has urged municipalities to ramp up their digital defences.

Climate change council wants electric lorries 

The Danish Council on Climate Change (Klimarådet) has called for goods transport to switch to battery-driven vehicles, saying this could make a significant contribution to reducing emissions in Denmark.

The council makes the recommendation in a new report released this morning.

In the report, the climate council ask the government to push for battery-driven goods vehicles in coming years. A number of other recommendations are also made.

Tour de France route to be presented, including Danish stages

The Danish stages of the Tour de France have been long in the making and delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but the routes for next year’s tour – including the stages which will go through Denmark – are to be officially presented today.

Three stages of the 2022 tour will take place in Denmark. Crown Prince Frederik and five local mayors will be involved at the presentations today.

Covid-19 daily infections highest since September 1st

Yesterday saw 789 new infections with Covid-19 registered in Denmark. That is the highest figure since September 1st.

But low hospitalisation numbers and high vaccination coverage means that increasing infections – inevitable during the coming cold months – are not a cause for concern in isolation, a senior medic told DR.

The total number of Covid-19 patients at Danish hospitals remains under 100 and has been at this low level for several weeks.

“Overall it looks fine and stable and I think we have good control of the epidemic,” senior consultant at Bispebjerg Hospital’s intensive care unit Christian Wamberg told DR.

“But we do expect an increase in hospitalisations. We expect to see those who are not vaccinated at hospitals. It’s also the unvaccinated, younger people under 50 who we are seeing now,” he added.

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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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