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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday

Firefighters work to shore up burnt-out walls of old Stock Exchange, Great Belt Bridge traffic disruptions, world’s tallest wind turbine goes up in West Jutland and more news from Denmark on Thursday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Thursday
Danish Chamber of Commerce director Brian Mikkelsen with the top of the fallen Børsen Dragon Spire. Photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

Fire services at Børsen taking things ‘one day at a time’ 

Firefighters still working to put out the remnants of the devastating blaze at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange Børsen say they are working on improving the stability of the centuries-old building’s outer walls.

“It’s very complicated work because the entire roof section of the scaffolding is now in a large pile with the copper roof, storey partitions, contents of the building and so on,” senior firefighter Frederik Ryber told broadcaster DR.

READ ALSO: IN PICS: What will it take to rebuild Copenhagen’s old stock exchange building?

The walls need to be stabilised before work to clear damage from the building can continue on Thursday.

Around 10 firefighters have continued to extinguish small fires and monitor for any outbreaks overnight as the fire services remain present as long as they are needed.

“We are taking it a day at a time,” Ryber said.

Vocabulary: stillads – scaffolding

Great Belt Bridge reopens after short traffic closure

The Great Belt Bridge between Zealand and Funen was briefly closed early this morning but traffic is now again crossing normally, operator Sund & Bælt said in a post on social media X.

The delay was caused by “diversion of traffic” and follows similar disruptions throughout this week with maintenance work ongoing on the crossing.

Drivers using the bridge during the night and early hours particular may see delays.

Vocabulary: vedligholdelse – maintenance

World’s tallest wind turbine erected in West Jutland

Yesterday saw a world record broken in West Jutlnd town Thyborøn as Vestas completed the installation of the world’s tallest land wind turbine, DR writes.

After the turbine machinery was affixed to the tower yesterday afternoon, the 15 megawatt construction reached a height of 266 meters – taller than the Great Belt Bridge.

Project leader Jens Jørgen Birch said there had been “no protests at all” from local residents opposing the turbine.

“It’s also now the fourth time we’ve erected wind turbines in the area,” he told DR.

Vocabulary: verdensrekord – world record

Public servants offered incentives to speed up mink compensation claims

Officials are to be offered a financial incentive as the government attempts to speed up mink fur farmers’ compensation cases, Minister of Transport Thomas Danielsen says.

Public servants who Work for at least 18 months in the government departments in the towns of Viborg, Aalborg, Vejle and Skanderborg, where the cases are bwing processed, can get paid an extra 5,000 kroner per month, Danielsen told DR.

READ ALSO: Denmark ejects mink breeders from compensation committees

“This should be seen as a temporary task to be completed,” Danielsen said

The transport minister is on the case because the so-called “Minksekretariat”, which is processing state compensation for the government’s 2020 decision to temporarily ban mink fur farming, comes under the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority (Trafikstyrelsen).

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Right wing party defends use of Mette Frederiksen deepfake, parties want mink breeder compensation cut, Billie Eilish announces Royal Arena concerts and more news from Denmark on Tuesday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Party criticised over deepfake satire video of prime minister 

The far-right Danish People’s Party (DF) has been criticised for sharing a video that uses ‘deepfake’ techniques to misrepresent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

In the video, Frederiksen is made to appear as if she is saying the government plans to cancel Christmas, Easter and Pentecost holidays after already scrapping Great Prayer Day.

A small stamp is visible in the corner of the video signalling that it is not real footage of Frederiksen.

The centre-left Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Liberal (Venstre) party, a partner in the coalition government, have both criticised the video.

“DF’s AI video of the prime minister is very funny in terms of content, but a political party using deepfakes is extremely concerning and I don’t think DF actually understands the potential for (ab)use of deepfakes,” SF’s digital spokesperson Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen tweeted.

DF leader Morten Messerschmidt has rejected the criticism, saying the video was clearly meant as satire.

Vocabulary: satirisk – satirical

Politicians call for lower compensation price for mink skins

SF and the Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) want the state compensation mink fur farmers to be renegotiated. Both parties voted for the compensation plan in 2021.

The parties new positions come after a commission concluded that the most realistic unit price of a mink fur is lower than the price used to set compensation, media Zetland writes based on a leaked document.

The Social Liberal food spokesperson Christian Friis Bach called the issue a “scandal” in comments to Zetland.

Mink breeders receive compensation based on a price of 333 kroner per skin, while the commission has ruled that the most likely price is 247 kroner.

READ ALSO: Danish mink fur breeders received ‘too much compensation’

Vocabulary: afgørelse – ruling

Billie Eilish to play two concerts in Copenhagen in 2025

One of the world’s biggest names in pop music will play to fans in Copenhagen next year after Billie Eilish announced two dates at the capital’s Royal Arena almost a year to the day, on April 28th and 29th 2025.

The concerts, confirmed by Live Nation Denmark in a press release, are part of Eilish’s upcoming world tour “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, in which she will play across Europe as well as in Australia and the United States.

Ticket sales for the two concerts will begin on Friday, according to the press release, with prices starting at 440 kroner.

Vocabulary: verdensstjerne – international star/celebrity

Foreign workers in Denmark ‘create 300 billion kroner of value’

Almost one in eight people in paid employment in Denmark is a foreign national, meaning workers from abroad create a huge amount of value for the country, the Confederation of Danish Industry said in a new analysis.

Based on Statistics Denmark data DI found that, between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign nationals working full-time in paid employment in Denmark increased from 147,000 to 309,000.

The 2023 level is equivalent to 13 percent of overall employment in Denmark being attributable to foreign labour, DI said.

“You cannot overestimate the importance of international labour in Denmark,” DI’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said in a statement.

“If they had not been here and made the contribution they do, we’d not have been able to produce goods, treat the sick or build the amount of houses we need,” he said.

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