Hard cheese: EU court scolds Denmark over feta labels in win for Greece

Ruling targets Danish firms that have exported white cheese labelled as ‘feta’

Twenty years after feta cheese was recognised as exclusively Greek, the EU’s highest court has gone one step further and announced that Denmark would be breaking the law if it continued to allow dairies to sell counterfeit feta outside the bloc.

In Athens, the news elicited immediate glee. “This is a wonderful day for authentic feta cheese,” said Christos Apostolopoulos, who heads the Association of Greek Dairy Industries, which produces 80% of the country’s stock. “We are very pleased and delighted. Our complaints have finally been heard.”

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Copenhagen shooting: police say no indication of terrorism motive

Gunman acted alone and appears to have selected his victims at random, officials in Denmark say

A shooting at a Copenhagen shopping centre in which three people were killed and four others seriously wounded was not terror-related, Danish police have said.

Søren Thomassen, Copenhagen’s chief police inspector, said the gunman, a 22-year-old Danish man who confessed to the shooting on Sunday night, had apparently picked his victims at random when he opened fire at the Field’s shopping centre on Sunday afternoon.

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Several killed in shooting at Copenhagen shopping centre

22-year-old Danish man in custody as police chief says terrorism cannot be ruled out as a motive

Danish police say several people were shot dead and one suspect has been arrested after gunfire rang out at a busy Copenhagen shopping centre, with emergency services rushing to the scene on Sunday evening.

The number or condition of all the people struck by shots was not immediately available amid confusion over what had occurred at one of Scandinavia’s biggest malls.

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‘There is a lot of excitement’: Tour de France comes to Denmark

Anticipation mounts in greatest cycling nation in the world for world’s greatest cycling race

Cycle paths have been painted yellow, knitting enthusiasts have made a giant yellow jersey, and preparations are being made for a flotilla of boats flying yellow flags. The “big yellow party” comes to Denmark on 1 July when the country widely regarded as the best in the world for cyclists hosts the opening stage of the world’s greatest cycling race.

The Tour de France was originally slated to start in Copenhagen in 2021, but was transferred to Brest in response to a Covid-related scheduling conflict with the European Championships.

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Go fish: Danish scientists work on fungi-based seafood substitute

Team call in Michelin-starred restaurant to help crack challenge of mimicking texture of seafood

From plant-based meat that “bleeds” to milk grown in a lab, fake meats and dairy have come a long way in recent years. But there is another alternative that scientists are training their sights on, one with the most challenging texture to recreate of all: seafood.

Scientists in Copenhagen are fermenting seaweed on fungi to develop the closest substitute for seafood yet, working with Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, to meet demand from diners for sustainable plant-based alternatives that are as good as – or better than – the real thing.

Imitating the fibrous texture of seafood is a difficult achieve, and the team are experimenting with growing filamentous fungi, the micro-organisms found in soil that form a mass of intertwining strands, on seaweed, to create a single product that tastes of the sea.

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Canada and Denmark end decades-long dispute over barren rock in Arctic

Hans Island ‘whisky war’ – described by some as a ‘pseudo-confrontation’ – ends after formal division agreed

It has been described by some as a “pseudo-confrontation”, and by others as a diplomatic afterthought. Now, however, the so-called “whisky war”, which was never really a conflict at all, has finally been resolved with the formal division of a tiny barren Arctic island between Canada and Denmark.

Sitting in the Kennedy Channel of Nares Strait between the north-western coast of the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island, the uninhabited half-mile-square Hans Island has no mineral resources nor much else of interest unless you are a visiting seabird.

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Denmark on course to back joining EU’s common defence policy

Exit polls show majority of voters in favour of removing opt-out after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Denmark appears poised to join the EU’s common defence policy, becoming the last of the bloc’s members to sign up, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to reshape Europe’s security landscape.

Exit polls published as polling stations closed showed 69% of voters in favour of removing an opt-out to the EU’s common security and defence policy (CSDP). Thirty-one per cent of voters opposed the measure.

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Sending UK asylum seekers to Rwanda will save money, claims minister

Claim about long-term benefits disputed by MP Andrew Mitchell who describes reported cost of £30,000 a person as ‘eye-watering’

Britain will save money in the “longer term” by sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, a minister has said after the reported cost of about £30,000 a person was described as “eye-watering”.

Defending the decision to fly out many of those who arrive on the Kent coast to a country more than 4,000 miles away, the Home Office minister Tom Pursglove said it would “crush” the business model of people smugglers.

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Boris Johnson to host Nordic and Baltic leaders for talks on Ukraine invasion

Prime minister to host summit of Joint Expeditionary Force as he seeks to bolster European resilience

Boris Johnson is preparing to embark on a series of meetings with Nordic and Baltic leaders as he seeks to bolster European resilience after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The prime minister will host a summit of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in London, where he will urge leaders to work together to ensure no further nations fall victim to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aggression, No 10 said.

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Denmark PM says sorry to Greenland Inuits taken for ‘heartless’ social experiment

Mette Frederiksen apologises in person to six surviving Greenlandic Inuits who were snatched from families as children more than 70 years ago

Denmark’s prime minister has apologised in person to a group of Greenlandic Inuits who were removed from their families and taken to Copenhagen more than 70 years ago as part of an experiment to create a Danish-speaking elite.

“What you were subjected to was terrible. It was inhumane. It was unfair. And it was heartless,” Mette Frederiksen told the six surviving members of that group at an emotional ceremony in the capital. “We can take responsibility and do the only thing that is fair, in my eyes: to say sorry to you for what happened.”

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Denmark to hold referendum on scrapping EU defence opt-out

PM urges voters to overturn existing policy in June and pledges boost to defence spending following Russian invasion of Ukraine

Denmark’s prime minister has called for the country’s citizens to overturn the country’s opt-out from EU defence policy in a referendum to be held on 1 June, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Historic times call for historic decisions,” Mette Frederiksen told a news conference on Sunday, adding that the government “very clearly calls on Danes to lift the opt-out on defence”.

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UK has been slower than some countries in giving Covid jabs to younger children

Progress has been slower than in adults, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts

All nations of the UK will offer Covid-19 vaccines to all 5-11 year olds, with England, Northern Ireland and Scotland all joining Wales in offering the jabs to younger children on Wednesday.

Britain has been slower than some other countries in offering the shots to this age group. Many EU member states began offering vaccination to all children aged five to 11 in December, but progress has been patchy, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts.

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Coronavirus restrictions ease across Europe despite high case rates

France, Netherlands and Germany all announce plans to reduce or remove Covid controls

France’s nightclubs reopen for the first time in three months on Wednesday and the Netherlands returns to “almost normal” from next Friday, as European countries continue to lift their coronavirus curbs despite relatively high infection numbers.

Groups may also play to standing audiences in French concert venues, customers in bars and cafes will be allowed to eat and drink while standing at the counter and cinemagoers and train passengers can snack during their film or journey.

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Flee: inside the film about a Kabul boy who finds happiness, cats and a husband in Denmark

He escaped death, fled across the Baltic, and eventually found love and a new life. Jonas Poher Rasmussen describes how he turned Amin’s often harrowing story into an uplifting, award-winning animation

When the Danish film-maker Jonas Poher Rasmussen was 15, an Afghan refugee moved to his small village. Rumours circulated about how the boy, Amin, had got there. Some said he had walked all the way from Kabul, others that he had seen his whole family slaughtered. Rasmussen became the newcomer’s friend and confidant – Amin even came out to him as gay when they were teenagers – and their closeness endured into adulthood. When they both suffered bad break-ups in their 20s, for instance, Rasmussen went to stay with Amin; they refer to that period now as “the heartbreak summer”. He still didn’t know the truth about how his friend came to Denmark, though, so he did what any documentarist might do: he proposed making a film about him. Amin refused to reveal his identity on screen – but what if the film were animated?

The result is Flee, which alternates between scenes of Rasmussen interviewing his friend, dramatisations of Amin’s perilous journey to Copenhagen via Moscow, and present-day interludes showing him househunting with his boyfriend in which the concept of settling down presents unique challenges for someone who has spent his life running. Aside from the occasional excerpt of archive footage – the war-scarred streets of Kabul, the unruly waves seen from a boat smuggling people across the Baltic – every frame of the movie is animated, most of it in a simple, straightforwardly realistic fashion that matches Amin’s narration.

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As UK households feel pressure, how are other European countries tackling energy crisis?

Many European countries are a step ahead of the British government, which has yet to announce plans to help homes facing annual bills of almost £2,000

In the next week Great Britain’s energy regulator will announce the steepest rise ever in its energy price cap, effectively saddling millions of households with an annual energy bill of close to £2,000.

The blow to household finances follows almost six months of record high energy market prices because of the global gas crisis. Despite the deepening gloom facing bill payers, ministers are yet to agree a package of measures to prevent a national energy crisis.

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Hygge, glögg and pepparkakor… why we’re all falling for a Scandi Christmas

After the comfort food and rituals, Britons are embracing more traditions, such as the festival of Santa Lucia

From Ikea to meatballs, hygge to Nordic noir, Scandinavia’s influence on the UK has been rising steadily for decades. But this Christmas, amid the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, enthusiasm for the region and its traditions is hitting new heights.

Scandinavian goods distributor ScandiKitchen closed online Christmas orders early this year after unprecedented demand for festive products including meatballs, glögg (mulled wine), pepparkakor (ginger biscuits), chocolate, ham and cheese.

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Joe & the Juice bids for growth despite the Covid squeeze

The Nordic cafe chain is planning ambitious expansion in the UK and perhaps an IPO – if it can find the staff

Founded by a Danish karate champion, the smoothie chain Joe & the Juice has blitzed its way on to British high streets, where its pastel-pink outlets and drinks with names such as Sex Me Up have cut a distinctive dash.

Having grown from one juice bar in Copenhagen in 2002 to 300 outlets around the world, the chain is planning to double in size in the next few years, and is rumoured to be plotting a stock market listing.

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Snowstorm in Denmark traps dozens in Ikea showroom – video

Dozens of people were trapped in an Ikea showroom when a storm dumped 30cm of snow in northern Denmark.

After the Aalborg showroom closed, it turned into a vast bedroom after six customers and about two dozen employees who had been left stranded by the snowstorm were forced to spend the night in the store

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Trapped in Ikea: snowstorm in Denmark forces dozens to bed down in store

Six customers and about two dozen staff spent the night in the bed department after a foot of snow fell

A showroom in northern Denmark turned into a vast bedroom after six customers and about two dozen employees were stranded by a snowstorm and forced to spend the night in the store.

Up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow fell, trapping the customers and employees when the department store in Aalborg closed on Wednesday evening.

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Lego gives its 20,000 employees three days extra holiday after profits rise 140%

Pandemic lockdowns and continued expansion in China helped the Danish company to continue building its global toy empire

Lego, the world’s largest toymaker, has awarded its 20,000 employees three extra days of holiday and a special bonus after a year of bumper revenues.

The succession of pandemic-forced lockdowns has seen demand for Lego’s signature plastic bricks soar alongside a rapid expansion in China.

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