Aarhus Municipality bans staff from using tobacco during work hours 

Employees of Aarhus municipality will no longer be able to place snus, the little nicotine bag, under their gums during work time.

A decision to ban snus was made by a majority in the city council, and means that the Aarhus Municipality policy on smoking has now been broadened to include all nicotine products including the little snus pouches.

Some 28,000 municipal staff including social care sector, childcare and school employees will be affected by the rule, which takes effect on May 1st.

“Aarhus Municipality has a big responsibility to lead the way and signal that nicotine products, just like cigarettes, are not part of the culture as an employee of Aarhus Municipality,” health councillor Christian Budde told newswire Ritzau in a written comment.

Vocabulary: rygepolitik – smoking policy

Denmark wins prestigious chef championship

A Danish team led by Sebastian Holberg Svendsgaard, a former chef at three-star Michelin restaurant Geranium, yesterday won first prize in the prestigious European Bocuse d’Or gastronomic competition.

The Danish team presented their dishes after five and a half hours in the kitchen, newswire Ritzau writes.

This included a “Nordic mythology-inspired” dish of fish with a black wavy edge on top that had been roasted and fried. Inside the fish was the Danish Vesterhavsost cheese with herbs.

The Danish win means the duo get to compete in the world championship version of the event next year.

Vocabulary: kokkehold – team of chefs

Nordic Waste sister company can be held liable over landslide

DSH Recycling, a company with the same owners as Nordic Waste, can be held liable for costs resulting from the landslide at Nordic Waste’s soil treatment plant in December last year, the government’s legal advisor Kammeradvokaten has concluded.

The local authority, Randers Municipality, is currently bearing the financial weight of operations to prevent environmental damage after Nordic Waste declared itself bankrupt in the aftermath of the landslip.

READ ALSO: Danish village no longer under threat from Nordic Waste landslide

The government will now pursue DSH Recycling for costs.

“The legal investigation showed that responsibility for the landslide is not limited to Nordic Waste A/S, which ran the operation, but also includes DSH Recycling A/S, a part of the same corporation,” Environment Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a statement.

Vocabulary: koncern – corporation

Denmark ‘closer’ to Finland but still second in 2024 World Happiness Report

Denmark’s reputation as the ‘world’s second-happiest country’ has been bolstered by the latest edition of the UN’s World Happiness Report, which again ranks the Scandinavian nation second behind Finland.

The UN’s World Happiness Report, published on Wednesday, puts Denmark second on its national happiness ranking.

Finland takes the title of world’s happiest nation, once closely associated with Denmark, for the seventh year in a row.

The Danish second place is the same as its 2022 and 2023 rankings and one spot better than in 2021.

The United States fell out of the top 20 for the first time since the report began in 2012, getting a ranking of 23. The United Kingdom was 20th, Australia 10th and Ireland 17th.

Nordic neighbours Sweden and Norway were 4th and 7th respectively.