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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

Northern city Aalborg is one of the worst-affected areas as snowy weather disrupts Denmark.
Northern city Aalborg is one of the worst-affected areas as snowy weather disrupts Denmark. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Intensification of Covid-19 vaccine push 

Coronavirus infections are at an all-time high and seven cases of the omicron variant have so far been detected in Denmark.

This formed the backdrop to a government briefing yesterday evening at which Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen again led calls for more people to take a Covid-19 vaccination.

While Frederiksen has previously focused on unvaccinated people, this time she asked the public to accept the offer of a booster jab as soon as possible. Boosters will be offered to all over-18s six months after the original vaccination course was completed.

Vaccination capacity is to be ramped up to enable 500,000 jabs per week, the government said at the briefing.

We’ll have more on this story in a report on our website today.

READ ALSO: How foreign citizens can get a booster Covid-19 jab in Denmark

Snow falling across the country

Much of the country is again waking up to snowfall or snow on the ground, with the white stuff moving east across the country and particularly affecting parts of Funen, Zealand and Bornholm.

Temperatures this morning are above freezing during, however, so ground snow should melt during the day.

Stormy weather meanwhile caused a temporary closure of the Great Belt Bridge at around 5am. Icy roads have caused a number of traffic accidents.

Snow strands staff and customers in Ikea

Have you ever been to Ikea to pick up a few bits for your home, only to end up feeling you’ll never leave?

Six customers and 25 staff members were forced to spend the night in the furniture giant’s Aalborg branched after being snowed in, local media Nordjyske writes.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” store manager Peter Elmose said.

Aalborg Airport passengers forced to sleep in terminal

At least Ikea Aalborg’s stranded customers and staff will have had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same probably cannot be said for 300 passengers at the city’s airport, who were also forced to stay at the terminal overnight after the airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

Danish Oscar hopeful sketches human face of Afghan refugee crisis

“Flee,” an award-winning Danish film about a gay Afghan refugee undertaking the perilous journey to Europe, puts a real-life human face on the country’s decades-long crisis while simultaneously keeping its subject anonymous — through animation.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s hybrid documentary, which won the Sundance festival’s jury prize and is Denmark’s official candidate for next year’s Oscars, stems from his teenage friendship with a refugee from Afghanistan, whom he has given the cover name Amin.

“I had the curiosity about his past ever since I met him when we were 15 years old, and he arrived to my Danish hometown,” Rasmussen, now 40, told news wire AFP.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Stock exchange façade collapses, police seize thousands of cars from reckless drivers, Copenhagen's Palads building closer to demolition and more news from Denmark on Friday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Friday

Børsen’s façade collapses on third day after fire 

The facade of Copenhagen’s historic former stock exchange collapsed yesterday evening, rescue services said, as work to put out the last of the flames continued for a third day.

Half of the 17th-century Børsen building was destroyed and its 54-metre spire tumbled to the ground in the fire that broke out early Tuesday, in scenes that shocked Denmark.

“Unfortunately, there has been a collapse of the facade,” Copenhagen’s rescue service said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

They added that all workers had been evacuated from the scene and no injures were reported.

Containers had been placed around the building in an attempt to support the façade, but officials said they had been unable to anchor them to the structure.

READ ALSO: Denmark’s stock exchange fire ‘could result in court case’ 

Vocabulary: ydermur – façade

Heavy rain across the country today

More April rain will fall today, with up to 10-15 millimetres falling in the soggiest areas.

A low pressure front means that southern parts of the country will see the worst of the rain, DR writes.

Things will begin to clear up this afternoon, however beginning in the north.

Vocabulary: sydlige egne – southern parts

Copenhagen Municipality votes on first step towards demolishing historic building

The Palads cinema building in central Copenhagen is a step closer to demolition following a vote at the city government.

The owner of the building, Nordisk Film, has had plans to pull it down and build a tower since 2017, in part because of low demand from cinema-goers.

But the plan must go through several steps to receive municipal approval, including a vote on a so-called lokalplan for the location on Axeltorv square.

Thursday evening’s vote approved the first steps towards developing this plan, newswire Ritzau reports, meaning the eventual construction of a 36-metre tall building, which would have a cinema in its basement, is a step closer.

Vocabulary: nedrivning – demolition 

3,000 vehicles confiscated in 3 years under new reckless driving rule

New rules introduced in March 2021 giving police extended powers to seize vehicles from reckless drivers have resulted in 2,966 confiscated cars, the Justice Ministry said in a statement.       

Reckless driving encompasses offences including drunk driving, street racing and exceeding 200 km/h on motorways.

The rules allow police to seize the vehicle used for the offence on the spot, regardless of its owner. The car can then be auctioned.

Vocabulary: vanvidskørsel – reckless driving

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