The uncommonly early snow fall has caused problems for both public and private transport
Winter has come early to Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark, leaving many people struggling to reach their destinations.
Snow started to fall in Copenhagen on Wednesday and by Friday morning between 5 and 10 centimetres covered the ground, according to the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI).
Conditions on the roads yesterday were difficult, and drivers suffered from severe delays. This is partly due to the fact that many cars are not yet fitted with winter tyres.
The fitting of winter tyres in Denmark is not compulsory, as it is in other Scandinavian countries, and those drivers without them were struggling in the slippery road conditions. The combination also led to a number of cars sliding off the road, making travel hazardous for cyclists and pedestrians as well.
Unfortunately the situation is unlikely to change soon, as garages across the country are reporting a wait of at least two weeks for new winter tyres. The shortage is due in part to a rubber shortage in Europe.
The snow has also slowed public transport Only two lines of the Copenhagen S-train were running on time this morning, and the Bx line between Østerport and Høje Taastrup was cancelled altogether. Another train suffered a power failure, and consequently sat on the tracks outside Østerport station for more than an hour, slowing up other traffic.
According to DMI, more snow is expected over the next few days. Forecasters are calling for nearly a centimetre on Saturday. Snowfall will ease off towards the beginning of next week, but temperatures will remain low, with maximum day temperatures of around 0 degrees Celsius, dropping to minus five at night.
Man reads own death notice
“Sick” practical joke leaves father and daughter in shock
A man from Jutland was shocked when he read his own and his daughter’s death notices in yesterday’s edition of Nordjyske Stiftstidende newspaper.
The death notice in the paper said that Claus Nørgaard Nielsen, 35, from Northern Jutland and his 15-year-old daughter, Michelle, had died in “a tragic accident in Germany”.
Father and daughter are both alive and well, but they are in shock. “It would take a very sick person to pull a prank like this,” Claus told public broadcaster DR.
He doesn’t know who is behind the prank, but has reported it to the police.
“I have some general idea of who could have done such a sick thing, but I can’t single out anyone in particular at this point,” he said.
The police have no clues to who could have placed the advert. They say the text was sent in by text message using a prepaid phone card.
Adding insult to injury, the culprit also entered Nielsen’s home address as the billing address for the advert.
Politicians line up to buy churches
Plans are under way to start converting city churches slated for closure into nurseries and youth centres.The proposal has received political support from all sides, including the city’s deputy mayor for Copenhagen’s child and youth affairs, Anne Vang. “The churches have some beautiful and exciting rooms that are just perfect for cultural events such as concerts,” she told Kristeligt Dagblad newspaper.
“But I'm also excited by the thought of using the churches for child functions. We're currently working with child institutions focusing on the transitions in the children's lives, and we actually need big buildings for that,” she said.
MP Karen Klint, the Social Democrat religious issues spokesperson, was also in favour of the idea. “Part of the mission of our church is to work for our young people. So if a church shuts down, it would make perfect sense to use it as a nursery, for instance,” she said.
Over the next four years, Copenhagen will see an increase of 50 school classes and a shortage of up to 4,000 nursery places, according to the council's children and youth administration.
The proposal comes in the wake of last week’s savings plan announcement by the National Church, which included a list of churches recommended for closure.
Immigration issues dominate leaders’ debate
Social Democrat leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Danish People’s Party leader Pia Kjærsgaard gave voters a preview of what the next general election has in store last night when they squared off in a live TV debate.
As expected, based on previous meetings between the two, the debate was heated, with Thorning-Schmidt accusing Kjærsgaard of being “the nation’s greatest threat to the welfare system”.Several topics came up, but the overriding theme of the debate between the opposition leader and the head of the government’s closest ally turned out to be immigration policy, with particular focus on the controversial points system for foreign spouse immigration.
With both politicians blaming each other’s party for the current problems facing the country, commentators are undecided about who came out on top.
Some have pointed out that Kjærsgaard won on rhetoric, while Thorning-Schmidt’s political message was stronger and more concrete.
According to Kasper Møller Hansen, professor of political science at the University of Copenhagen, the only real loser in the debate was the Liberal-Conservative government.
“With this lineup, Kjærsgaard became the government’s representative. Now, Liberal and Conservative voters might see her as representing their parties’ policies, and that could prove costly for the government,” he told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
The second leg of the debate will take place on Monday.
Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen must call an election before November 2011. The most recent predictions suggest it will be held this spring.
Wise Men foresee debt trap on horizon
High levels of borrowing put country on same path as Greece and Ireland, economic Wise Men sayThe country’s leading panel of economic advisors has warned that Denmark is heading towards a debt trap much like that of Greece and Ireland.
“The government’s recovery plan may solve our current problems, but we will still face big problems from around 2015,” Hans Jørgen Whitta-Jacobsen, senior member of the Economic Council, also known as the Wise Men, told B.T. newspaper.
Denmark currently borrows approximately nine million kroner an hour in order to balance its budget, adding up to 1.5 billion kroner a week.
The debt will continue to grow at the same pace next year, and from 2015 will explode if politicians do not make drastic changes, according to the Wise Men.
“If the current trends are allowed to continue without any new initiatives, we will at some point have problems with the rising interest rates on government bonds,” said Whitta-Jacobsen.
That, he explained, could leave us in the same situation as Greece and Ireland, who have had to ask for help in order to avoid bankruptcy.
The Wise Men’s calculations were based both on the government’s recovery plan and the opposition’s proposed plans.
University unveils design for research facility
The University of Copenhagen is planning to build a new 16-storey research tower in Nørrebro.
The project forms part of an extension of the university’s Panum Institute situated in the northern part of the city near Rigshospitalet and Fælledparken.The new Panum complex is the launch pad for a new and broader strategy to construct a compressed city campus which will be known as Nørre Campus.The winning design was created by Aarhus-based architecture firm C.F. Møller.
“The new Panum will be a unique landmark for Nørre Campus and the city – a real Copenhagen tower,” according to a statement released by C.F. Møller.
The project aims to reach out to the world and attract the world’s best researchers to a Danish research centre with international impact.
“We wish to bring the university closer to the business community and the city surrounding it,” they added.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.