News Snippets from the European Press

Denmark: Gender bias ONLY five of Copenhagen’s 101 statues depict women, although 70 are dedicated to men and 16 to animals.  Culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt admitted that “mythical beasts and horses” outnumbered women and said the government would spend 50 million Danish kroner (€6.7 million) on addressing the imbalance.

Norway: Scandi noir NETFLIX plans to begin filming a series based on Joe Nesbo’s thriller, The Devil’s Star, which will be directed by Oystein Karlsen and produced by the UK production company Working Title.  Nesbo, who is also  responsible for the scripts that feature his antihero Harry Hole, will be making his debut as a screenwriter.

Cold call PARATROOPERS from the Eleventh Airborne Division parachuted down to Norway’s Lake Takvanet on March 18 after taking off from Alaska and flying over the North Pole as part of their cold-weather field training.  Together with 100 soldiers from the Norwegian Army they were taking part in Nato’s Arctic Shock exercises.

Italy: Lost legend MARCELLO GANDINI, the Italian car designer responsible for the “Lamborghini doors” also known as “scissor doors” used on luxury sports cars, died aged 85 on March 13 in Turin.  Gandini created his first concept car when he was only 20 years old and joined the Italian industrial design company Gruppo Bertone aged 27.

Taxing times ITALY’S tax authority, Agenzia delle Entrate, hopes to encourage more people to pay their taxes by making the system more user-friendly.  Innovations include making more of the Agency’s services available online and introducing a system for a prior appointment instead of taking a number and joining a long queue.

Belgium: Protected past FLEMISH HERITAGE minister Matthias Diependaele announced that the remains of a Carolingian-era fort in Lanaken will receive official protection as an archaeological site. Discovered by chance seven years ago, the fortress would have controlled the access road to the River Maas (Meuse) and Maastricht in approximately 750 AD.

Second-hand ORANGE BELGIUM has begun an online store for reconditioned smartphones, as the operator emphasised its commitment to a “green and circular” economy. In 2023, the operator collected 37,000 mobile phones and sold 13,500 refurbished devices in Belgium where more than three million new smartphones have never been used.

Germany: Sly spy A PROFESSIONAL soldier posted to the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, was charged with spying for Russia. Held in custody since August 2023, he offered his cooperation to the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian embassy in Berlin, Public Prosecutors said.

Plain speaking THE Bavarian government approved a regulation that limits the use of gender-sensitive language in official documents and in public places. Officials and teachers in the region may no longer use asterisks, colons and other symbols to make nouns more inclusive “because language must be clear and understandable.”

Netherlands: Flower power ROBOTS now patrol tulip fields examining plants for sick flowers, which they then remove along with virus-infected bulbs if necessary.  The back-backing job was once carried out by human checkers but, as one grower said, “The robot is expensive, but there are so few people left who can detect sick tulips.”

Bank spoof  CENTRAL bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) warned that scammers are sending out fake emails, messages and phone calls from supposed employees.  The tricksters persuade victims to transfer money or give access to their accounts after demonstrating that the number they are calling from appears on DNB’s website.

France: Big honour PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron presented the world’s richest man, LVMH-owner Bernard Arnault, with France’s most prestigious award, the Legion of Honour, at a state dinner on March 14.  Also present were Beyonce and Elon Musk as Macron declared that Arnault “knew how to sell a form of eternal Frenchness.”

Drink up THE outdoor terraces of cafes, bars and restaurants will be allowed to remain open until midnight instead of having to close at 10pm during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Paris city hall announced.   The ruling will benefit 3,000 of the city’s 15,000 business owners who have licences for summer terraces.

Finland: Not popular AN online exit poll revealed that only 10 per cent of Russian citizens living in Finland voted for Vladimir Putin in the recent elections.  Forty-four per cent had voted for Vladislav Davankov, 20 per cent deliberately spoilt their voting papers  and approximately 25 per cent declined to reveal who they voted for.

Drive on FOLLOWING the March 15 “transition period” deadline, Russian-registered vehicles will be legal so long as the driver can demonstrate their legal right to use it.  The Enforcement Department explained that the concession also covered individuals who have fled the Ukraine war and are under international protection.

Ireland: Opposing views MICHAEL HEALY-RAE, chairman of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying, was accused of undermining the findings of the final report which recommended legalisation “in very limited circumstances.”  Healy-Rae personally opposes the measure and fellow committee members said his position was now “untenable.”

From afar FOREIGN AFFAIRS minister Micheal Martin announced that the Irish government is committed to contributing $2 million (€1.36 million) to developing a new venue for the Canada Ireland Foundation in Toronto.  It will be housed on Eireann Quay near the memorial to Irish immigrants who arrived there during the Famine.

Portugal: Flying visit SMART detectors, which use robotic technologies and belong to Andalucia’s Astrophysics Institute, registered a fireball travelling at 61,000 kilometres per hour on entering the atmosphere over Portugal early on March 16. It broke up 87 kilometres after entry at an altitude of 19 kilometres near Cano (Alentejo).

Early settler PORTUGUESE, Spanish and German paleontologists identified a new type of dinosaur that lived 150 million years ago in the Lourinha area.  The relatively small herbivorous species, which would have walked on two legs, was first discovered in 2021 during excavations at the fossil-rich rock at Porto Dinheiro beach.

Sweden: Drinking less ALCOHOL consumption in the over-15s fell to 8.6 litres per head in 2023, according to the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN).  Except for 2020 during the pandemic, this was the lowest in almost 10 years, which CAN’s experts attributed to the economic situation.

Milk run DRONES will soon be delivering milk in an initiative that debuts in May in Varmdo, near Stockholm, but will eventually reach the entire country. Customers using the existing Foodora food and grocery deliveries app can place orders that are delivered by Aerit Nimbi drones which can carry up to four kilos.