Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Wednesday
Billionaire buys Danish football club, government wants equality in blood donation and al-Qaida threat taken seriously by authorities. Here’s Denmark’s news on Wednesday.
Danish billionaire takes over football club
Anders Holch Povlsen, the owner of the Bestseller clothing company and one of Denmark’s richest people with a fortune of over 7 billion dollars according to Forbes, has taken over a majority share of Herning-based football team FC Midtjylland through his company Heartland.
Povlsen has bought the club from Matthew Benham, who is also the owner of English Premier League team Brentford.
“We’ve been privileged under Matthew’s ownership, where we’ve become a major club in Denmark and moved up into the 60 best teams in Europe,” FC Midtjylland CEO Claus Steinlein said at a press briefing.
“This will mean we can lift the club to the next level. It’s been a fantastic journey with ups and downs but now we’re taking the next step,” he said.
Vocabulary: aktiemajoritet – majority shareholding
Government wants equality for gay men who give blood
Gay men should be allowed to give blood on equal terms with anyone else, government representatives state in an article in political media Altinget.
“It’s therefore our clear expectation that we will soon put a stop to many years of discrimination against homosexual blood donors in Denmark and thereby no longer prevent people from giving blood because of their sexuality,” spokespersons from the three coalition parties Flemming Møller Mortensen, Linea Søgaard-Lidell and Monika Rubin say.
Health Minister Sophie Løhde is “of the same opinion”, they state.
Current rules only permit men who have sex with men to give blood if they have not had sex for four months at the time they donate. Those rules have only been in effect since 2020, prior to which they could not give blood at all due to a law adopted in 1988 during the AIDS epidemic.
Vocabulary: ligestilling – equality
Denmark ‘takes threat seriously’ from al-Qaida
Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard says he is taking a threat against Denmark from militant terror group al-Qaida seriously.
“We have a threat level against Denmark that is serious and that has now been intensified recently,” Hummelgaard said.
The minister stressed that the public need not fear an attack, however.
“It’s important for me to say that we have highly competent and alert police and security services that are looking out for us,” he said.
The police security service PET on Monday told broadcaster TV2 that the As-Sahab Media Foundation, which functions as al-Qaida's media centre, published a call for Muslims to "take revenge" on Denmark and Sweden for the Quran-burning protests carried out over the past few months.
Vocabulary: trusselsbillede – level of threat
READ ALSO: Al-Qaida calls for 'revenge' attacks on Sweden and Denmark
Denmark is crawling with 'world’s toughest animal'
The tardigrade, most famous for its ability to survive in extreme habitats, is prevalent and thrives in Denmark’s mild climate according to new University of Copenhagen research.
Although the creature is adapted to extreme conditions, it also gets along fine in Denmark where there is a sizeable population of the creature, which can grow to up to 1.5 millimetres in length.
Tardigrades are eight-legged, microscopic animals known for their ability to survive in places where little wildlife can – such as Mount Everest, the ocean floor and even in space. They have been shown to have an ability to hibernate for 30 years, which is probably about enough to get through the Danish winter.
"It’s almost like sci-fi-like if we transfer some of the tardigrades’ abilities to lie dormant to humans or other organisms. Intense research is therefore going into how their hibernation works down to the molecular level," researcher Nadja Møbjerg from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology said.
Vocabulary: bjørnedyr – tardigrade
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Danish billionaire takes over football club
Anders Holch Povlsen, the owner of the Bestseller clothing company and one of Denmark’s richest people with a fortune of over 7 billion dollars according to Forbes, has taken over a majority share of Herning-based football team FC Midtjylland through his company Heartland.
Povlsen has bought the club from Matthew Benham, who is also the owner of English Premier League team Brentford.
“We’ve been privileged under Matthew’s ownership, where we’ve become a major club in Denmark and moved up into the 60 best teams in Europe,” FC Midtjylland CEO Claus Steinlein said at a press briefing.
“This will mean we can lift the club to the next level. It’s been a fantastic journey with ups and downs but now we’re taking the next step,” he said.
Vocabulary: aktiemajoritet – majority shareholding
Government wants equality for gay men who give blood
Gay men should be allowed to give blood on equal terms with anyone else, government representatives state in an article in political media Altinget.
“It’s therefore our clear expectation that we will soon put a stop to many years of discrimination against homosexual blood donors in Denmark and thereby no longer prevent people from giving blood because of their sexuality,” spokespersons from the three coalition parties Flemming Møller Mortensen, Linea Søgaard-Lidell and Monika Rubin say.
Health Minister Sophie Løhde is “of the same opinion”, they state.
Current rules only permit men who have sex with men to give blood if they have not had sex for four months at the time they donate. Those rules have only been in effect since 2020, prior to which they could not give blood at all due to a law adopted in 1988 during the AIDS epidemic.
Vocabulary: ligestilling – equality
Denmark ‘takes threat seriously’ from al-Qaida
Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard says he is taking a threat against Denmark from militant terror group al-Qaida seriously.
“We have a threat level against Denmark that is serious and that has now been intensified recently,” Hummelgaard said.
The minister stressed that the public need not fear an attack, however.
“It’s important for me to say that we have highly competent and alert police and security services that are looking out for us,” he said.
The police security service PET on Monday told broadcaster TV2 that the As-Sahab Media Foundation, which functions as al-Qaida's media centre, published a call for Muslims to "take revenge" on Denmark and Sweden for the Quran-burning protests carried out over the past few months.
Vocabulary: trusselsbillede – level of threat
READ ALSO: Al-Qaida calls for 'revenge' attacks on Sweden and Denmark
Denmark is crawling with 'world’s toughest animal'
The tardigrade, most famous for its ability to survive in extreme habitats, is prevalent and thrives in Denmark’s mild climate according to new University of Copenhagen research.
Although the creature is adapted to extreme conditions, it also gets along fine in Denmark where there is a sizeable population of the creature, which can grow to up to 1.5 millimetres in length.
Tardigrades are eight-legged, microscopic animals known for their ability to survive in places where little wildlife can – such as Mount Everest, the ocean floor and even in space. They have been shown to have an ability to hibernate for 30 years, which is probably about enough to get through the Danish winter.
"It’s almost like sci-fi-like if we transfer some of the tardigrades’ abilities to lie dormant to humans or other organisms. Intense research is therefore going into how their hibernation works down to the molecular level," researcher Nadja Møbjerg from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology said.
Vocabulary: bjørnedyr – tardigrade
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