Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday
Briton to conduct DR Girls’ Choir, government rejects school lessons on cartoon crisis and WWI grenade pulled out of Copenhagen lakes. Here’s the news from Denmark on Thursday.
British resident of Denmark named as new conductor for National Girls’ Choir
Charlotte Rowan, a 28-year-old British national who has lived in Denmark since 2018, was yesterday announced as the new conductor of the prestigious Danish National Girls’ Choir, better known in Denmark as DR Pigekoret.
Rowan’s appointment was announced by DR in a press statement. She has trained as a choir conductor since moving to Denmark and conducted the boys’ church choir in Herning for a three-year spell.
She replaces Phillip Faber, who is leaving the job this summer after ten years.
In the statement, she said the National Girls’ Choir was “an invaluable ambassador for Danish music and Danish songs while also a beautiful symbol of how strong a talent community for young people can be”.
Vocabulary: dirigent -- conductor
Government rejects plan for mandatory lessons on cartoon crisis
The government has decided against a proposal to introduce mandatory school lessons on the 2005 cartoon crisis, also known in Denmark as the “Mohammed Crisis”.
In 2005, newspaper Jyllands-Posten published satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, resulting in a diplomatic crisis between Denmark and Muslim nations and protests against Denmark in several countries with Muslim populations. The Danish government and media stood by its right to publish the cartoons on the principle of free speech.
A proposal by several right-wing parties to now make lessons on the episode a mandatory part of the school curriculum will not be carried forward by the government, schools minister Mattias Tesfaye said yesterday.
“Teachers are free to [teach it]. Just like teachers are free not to,” Tesfaye said in parliament.
Vocabulary: ytringsfrihed – free speech
Wind turbine giant Vestas registers profit after tough 2022
World wind turbine leader Vestas said yesterday that it returned to profit in the first quarter after Russia's invasion of Ukraine impacted the Danish company’s business last year.
Vestas registered a net profit of 15 million euros in the first three months of the year, news wire AFP reported.
The group had posted a loss of 765 million euros in the first quarter of 2022, citing the fallout from the war and supply chain disruptions.
The company announced in April last year that it was leaving Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
"Vestas has had a good start to 2023," said chief executive Henrik Andersen.
Wind turbine orders rose by 12 percent in the first quarter and revenue was up 14 percent to 2.8 billion euros as deliveries increased.
Vocabulary: omsætning – turnover
Grenade ‘from World War I’ found in Copenhagen lakes
An area near the popular Dronning Louises Bridge in Copenhagen was closed by police for several hours yesterday after a teenager fishing with magnets pulled an object that looked like a grenade out of the water.
Police called a bomb disposal unit to deal with the object. On-duty officer Jonathan Wald told broadcaster DR that it was a “small grenade – probably from the First World War”.
The 19-year-old magnet fisher caught the object after days of hauling bicycles, pushchairs, computers and other pieces of junk out of the lake.
Vocabulary: ammunitionsrydningstjeneste -- bomb disposal unit
Comments
See Also
British resident of Denmark named as new conductor for National Girls’ Choir
Charlotte Rowan, a 28-year-old British national who has lived in Denmark since 2018, was yesterday announced as the new conductor of the prestigious Danish National Girls’ Choir, better known in Denmark as DR Pigekoret.
Rowan’s appointment was announced by DR in a press statement. She has trained as a choir conductor since moving to Denmark and conducted the boys’ church choir in Herning for a three-year spell.
She replaces Phillip Faber, who is leaving the job this summer after ten years.
In the statement, she said the National Girls’ Choir was “an invaluable ambassador for Danish music and Danish songs while also a beautiful symbol of how strong a talent community for young people can be”.
Vocabulary: dirigent -- conductor
Government rejects plan for mandatory lessons on cartoon crisis
The government has decided against a proposal to introduce mandatory school lessons on the 2005 cartoon crisis, also known in Denmark as the “Mohammed Crisis”.
In 2005, newspaper Jyllands-Posten published satirical cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, resulting in a diplomatic crisis between Denmark and Muslim nations and protests against Denmark in several countries with Muslim populations. The Danish government and media stood by its right to publish the cartoons on the principle of free speech.
A proposal by several right-wing parties to now make lessons on the episode a mandatory part of the school curriculum will not be carried forward by the government, schools minister Mattias Tesfaye said yesterday.
“Teachers are free to [teach it]. Just like teachers are free not to,” Tesfaye said in parliament.
Vocabulary: ytringsfrihed – free speech
Wind turbine giant Vestas registers profit after tough 2022
World wind turbine leader Vestas said yesterday that it returned to profit in the first quarter after Russia's invasion of Ukraine impacted the Danish company’s business last year.
Vestas registered a net profit of 15 million euros in the first three months of the year, news wire AFP reported.
The group had posted a loss of 765 million euros in the first quarter of 2022, citing the fallout from the war and supply chain disruptions.
The company announced in April last year that it was leaving Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
"Vestas has had a good start to 2023," said chief executive Henrik Andersen.
Wind turbine orders rose by 12 percent in the first quarter and revenue was up 14 percent to 2.8 billion euros as deliveries increased.
Vocabulary: omsætning – turnover
Grenade ‘from World War I’ found in Copenhagen lakes
An area near the popular Dronning Louises Bridge in Copenhagen was closed by police for several hours yesterday after a teenager fishing with magnets pulled an object that looked like a grenade out of the water.
Police called a bomb disposal unit to deal with the object. On-duty officer Jonathan Wald told broadcaster DR that it was a “small grenade – probably from the First World War”.
The 19-year-old magnet fisher caught the object after days of hauling bicycles, pushchairs, computers and other pieces of junk out of the lake.
Vocabulary: ammunitionsrydningstjeneste -- bomb disposal unit
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.