Today in Denmark: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Danish police step up speed control efforts, electricity price comparison site criticised and other news from Denmark on Thursday.
Danish police step up speed control
The Danish police are increasing the number of vehicles that can automatically control speed (so-called ATK vehicles) on the country's roads.
This will gives the police a better chance of catching motorists who do not comply with the speed limits, the National Police wrote in a press release on Thursday.
The police have received 25 new photo vans and speed control boxes, which have been distributed all over the country.
That means that the total number of ATK vehicles will increase from 82 to 107, according to Ritzau.
"We know that excessive speed is a factor in four out of ten fatal accidents," deputy police inspector Thomas Tarpgaard, stated in the press release.
With the new vehicles, the police's work with speed control will be strengthened. The new ATK vehicles contain a number of improvements which, among other things, mean that it will be easier to photograph motorcyclists who drive too fast.
"We will have better opportunities to photograph motorcyclists who drive too fast. At the same time, the camera has a higher resolution, so we'll get better images to work with," Tarpgaard added.
Beware of misleading electricity price comparisons
Elpris.dk is a price comparison service run with public funds by the Danish Utility Regulator Authority. Its purpose is to help consumers get an overview of the electricity market.
However, people who check whether they can get cheaper electricity from another company by consulting the website elpris.dk may be misled, according to the Bolius Knowledge Centre.
The centre has carried out a test of the website, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten reports.
According to Jørgen Munksgaard Rasmussen of Bolius, the fact that electricity companies report their prices to the service themselves can be problematic.
The authority has no control over whether the companies actually report grid management fees or surcharges, he told Jyllands-Posten.
Therefore, a company can appear to offer lower prices on elpris.dk than is actually the case, according to the Knowledge Centre Bolius.
The Danish Consumer Council has also been critical of the price comparison website.
Denmark and the EU call on the Taliban to reverse NGO decision
Foreign ministers from 12 countries - including Denmark - and the European Union (EU) are calling on Afghanistan's Taliban-led government to reverse its decision to bar women from working in NGOs.
"The Taliban's unjustifiable and dangerous order, which excludes female employees of national and international NGOs from the workplace, puts millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid for their survival at risk," the statement reads.
In addition to Denmark and the EU, the foreign ministers from the USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Netherlands have signed the appeal.
On Saturday, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan ordered all NGOs not to allow female employees to come to work.
The Taliban justify the decision with the fact that some female employees have not followed the rules of Islamic clothing for women.
The order from the Taliban has caused several NGOs – including the Danish aid organization Dacaar – to pause their work in the country.
Danish gas reserves at almost 90 percent
Europe's gas stocks are still well-filled. When it comes to Denmark, the latest figures show that the Danish gas reserves are at almost 90 percent.
"January and February may well be some really cold months throughout Europe, and then we may well have a critical situation again, but I believe that we are getting past the point where companies will have to shut down," professor of energy planning at Aalborg University Brian Vad Mathiesen told DR.
However, Danes should not use the good news as an invitation to ramp up energy consumption.
"In the next 3-4 years, we must have an extremely strong focus on savings efforts…
"However, if we can get through this winter, then it is my assessment that we can get through the next two winters," Mathiesen noted.
"There are other analysts who believe that filling up the gas storages may be difficult. I don't necessarily think it will be," the energy researcher stated, adding that it will only be challenging to fill up the gas reserves if Danes return to a normal level of consumption.
"I think that people have become good at saving and can see that you can actually save a lot of money," he explained.
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Danish police step up speed control
The Danish police are increasing the number of vehicles that can automatically control speed (so-called ATK vehicles) on the country's roads.
This will gives the police a better chance of catching motorists who do not comply with the speed limits, the National Police wrote in a press release on Thursday.
The police have received 25 new photo vans and speed control boxes, which have been distributed all over the country.
That means that the total number of ATK vehicles will increase from 82 to 107, according to Ritzau.
"We know that excessive speed is a factor in four out of ten fatal accidents," deputy police inspector Thomas Tarpgaard, stated in the press release.
With the new vehicles, the police's work with speed control will be strengthened. The new ATK vehicles contain a number of improvements which, among other things, mean that it will be easier to photograph motorcyclists who drive too fast.
"We will have better opportunities to photograph motorcyclists who drive too fast. At the same time, the camera has a higher resolution, so we'll get better images to work with," Tarpgaard added.
Beware of misleading electricity price comparisons
Elpris.dk is a price comparison service run with public funds by the Danish Utility Regulator Authority. Its purpose is to help consumers get an overview of the electricity market.
However, people who check whether they can get cheaper electricity from another company by consulting the website elpris.dk may be misled, according to the Bolius Knowledge Centre.
The centre has carried out a test of the website, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten reports.
According to Jørgen Munksgaard Rasmussen of Bolius, the fact that electricity companies report their prices to the service themselves can be problematic.
The authority has no control over whether the companies actually report grid management fees or surcharges, he told Jyllands-Posten.
Therefore, a company can appear to offer lower prices on elpris.dk than is actually the case, according to the Knowledge Centre Bolius.
The Danish Consumer Council has also been critical of the price comparison website.
Denmark and the EU call on the Taliban to reverse NGO decision
Foreign ministers from 12 countries - including Denmark - and the European Union (EU) are calling on Afghanistan's Taliban-led government to reverse its decision to bar women from working in NGOs.
"The Taliban's unjustifiable and dangerous order, which excludes female employees of national and international NGOs from the workplace, puts millions of Afghans who depend on humanitarian aid for their survival at risk," the statement reads.
In addition to Denmark and the EU, the foreign ministers from the USA, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Netherlands have signed the appeal.
On Saturday, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan ordered all NGOs not to allow female employees to come to work.
The Taliban justify the decision with the fact that some female employees have not followed the rules of Islamic clothing for women.
The order from the Taliban has caused several NGOs – including the Danish aid organization Dacaar – to pause their work in the country.
Danish gas reserves at almost 90 percent
Europe's gas stocks are still well-filled. When it comes to Denmark, the latest figures show that the Danish gas reserves are at almost 90 percent.
"January and February may well be some really cold months throughout Europe, and then we may well have a critical situation again, but I believe that we are getting past the point where companies will have to shut down," professor of energy planning at Aalborg University Brian Vad Mathiesen told DR.
However, Danes should not use the good news as an invitation to ramp up energy consumption.
"In the next 3-4 years, we must have an extremely strong focus on savings efforts…
"However, if we can get through this winter, then it is my assessment that we can get through the next two winters," Mathiesen noted.
"There are other analysts who believe that filling up the gas storages may be difficult. I don't necessarily think it will be," the energy researcher stated, adding that it will only be challenging to fill up the gas reserves if Danes return to a normal level of consumption.
"I think that people have become good at saving and can see that you can actually save a lot of money," he explained.
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