Police look for lifted bicycles, find stolen art 

investigators tracking an alleged bicycle theft stumbled upon works of art stolen from a Copenhagen gallery in late March, police said to news agency AFP yesterday.

With more than 17,000 bicycles stolen in the Danish capital in 2023, some worried cyclists have taken to fitting their bikes with GPS trackers to help find them after a theft.

One such tracker led the police to search a location in southern Copenhagen.

“We found much more than a stolen bike at the address in question,” the police said in a statement.

“Several electric scooters and electric bikes were seized, 11 in all, all presumed stolen. At the same time, a number of works of art stolen from a Copenhagen gallery on the night of March 31st were recovered.”

Between 20 and 30 artworks by artist Kristian von Hornsleth were taken from his gallery in the theft after robbers used a car as a battering ram to break in.

Fourteen were recovered during the police search, von Hornsleth’s team said.

Two men, aged 32 and 40, were arrested at the scene on suspicion of aggravated theft.

Vocabulary: tyveri – theft

Rapper cancels concerts with band linked to sexism documentary

Popular rapper Tessa has cancelled two concerts where she would have been backed by a band which has become embroiled in discussion of broadcaster DR’s headline documentary Sexisme i musikbranchen (“Sexism in the Music Industry”).

In the documentary, female musicians describe how they were subject to sexist remarks from a member of the band, while filming for the TV2 television series Toppen af poppen.

Tessa said she “in no way wants to be associated with this band member”, newspaper BT writes.

“And the rest of the band have probably enabled this culture by letting him behave like this,” she added.

Vocabulary: at muliggøre – to enable

Health authority says children under 2 should not view screen without an adult

Too much screen time for small children can have negative consequences for development of vision, language and motor skills, the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) says in new recommendations.

The agency wants to bring increased focus to the issue, it said in a statement released yesterday.

A key element of these recommendations is that parents who care for their children at home do not let them look at screens unsupervised.

Children under the age of 2 should not use a screen with an adult actively being involved, while the adult should themselves limit screen use so the child feels seen and heard, the authority writes.

Vocabulary: skærm – screen

Government aims to boost entrepreneurship with investment

The government has announced spending of 2.1 billion kroner over the next three years, and 1.1 billion kroner annually from 2027, aimed at giving entrepreneurs a better chance of starting successful businesses.

The new strategy includes a softening of tax rules for entrepreneurs along with better access to capital for startups and people setting up businesses.

“The goal for the government is clear. Denmark must be a world-class entrepreneurial country,” Business Minister Morten Bødskov said at a briefing.

Vocabulary: iværksætter – business entrepreneur/founder