DANISH CURRENCY: High-denomination 1,000 kroner to be withdrawn
Credit: DKK Currency Profile Finseta
Denmark: Take note DENMARK’S Nationalbanken central bank announced in 2023 that it was withdrawing 1,000-krone notes (€134) from circulation and they would no longer be legal tender after May 2025. Around 6.3 billion (€844.2 million) have still to be exchanged before they are become worthless, Nationalbanken warned.
Norway: Plenty of fish SEAFOOD exports during the first six months of 2024 rose to 13 billion kroner (approximately €1.1 billion), an increase of 727 million kroner (€61.2 million) on the same period last year thanks to a weakened krone. Norway exported to 111 countries, with key markets including Denmark, Poland and the Netherlands.
Royal brawl MARIUS BORG HOIBY, 27, who is Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s eldest son from a previous relationship, was arrested in Oslo when police were called to a “disturbance” in an Oslo apartment. He was held for 30 hours after having allegedly attacked “psychologically and physically” a young woman in her 20s.
Italy: Poor show FAVOURABLE tax rates for super-rich foreign residents introduced in 2017 will be doubled as Giorgia Meloni’s government seeks to raise more revenue. Despite early hopes that they would benefit the economy, critics said the rich expats hardly invested in Italy, but had driven up property prices and the cost of living.
Time’s up A 45-YEAR-OLD “serial pickpocket” said to have offended on 150 occasions in Rome, Milan and Brescia over the last 20 years, was finally handed a 30-year prison term. Always pregnant when stealing in the past, she was regularly acquitted but recent changes in the law meant that she could now be imprisoned.
Belgium: Hold tight BRUSSELS’ public transport operator MIVB launched a campaign to remind bus, tram and metro passengers to hold on when the vehicles are in motion. Last year most of the 618 people who lost their balance and were injured after falling were messaging, watching or scrolling through their phones, MIVB said.
In the swim BRUSSELS’ regional Environment Department rejected an appeal against plans to turn a lake in Anderlecht’s Neerpede Park into a wild swimming spot, claiming the peaceful area and its biodiversity would be endangered. Meanwhile, the State Council is studying a request to cancel the swimming lake’s planning permission.
Germany: Swanning around TWO adult swans and five cygnets were moved on by police while they explored some of Limbach-Oberfrohna’s busiest streets. Although motorists carefully avoided the family which has nested by a pond on the outskirts of town, police said that “long-term” relocation could be necessary if their forays continued.
Ancient art A DANISH student on a dig at the Hohle Fels cave near Blaubeuren in southern Germany’s Danube valley recently unearthed a six-centimetre animal figurine created between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago. Its head was missing but experts who hailed it as the “find of the year”, believe it represents an otter.
Netherlands: Sett piece THE Badger Working Group Utrecht, in collaboration with the Gooi Foundation, located 200 setts in an area east of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. They found that while the number of badgers had remained fairly stable there were fewer in the east Utrecht are, possibly because more were killed on its busier roads.
Staring young TWO balaclava-wearing boys aged 13 and 16, one of them with what looked like a firearm, were detained on August 5 after trying to hold up staff at the Gorinchem Nature Centre’s petting zoo. Director Jose Wienese said the zoo was a peaceful meeting place and “two naughty children” would not alter that.
France: Empty cabs TAXI-DRIVERS, particularly the 20,000 based in Paris, called on the Transport ministry to compensate for loss of earnings due to disruptions during the Olympics. Unions said the Games were “hugely disappointing”, with little demand for taxis after residents were encouraged take their holidays or work from home.
Fast work EGIS RAIL won a €1.38 billion contract to extend Morocco’s high speed railway network, although Spain’s Ineco put in a more competitive bid. Spanish sources claimed that France had been given the contract as President Emmanuel Macron’s “reward” for recognising Morocco’s rights over the Western Sahara.
Finland: Watch it MANY parents are buying a watch-phone as their child’s first mobile since the child-friendly device has no internet or social media access but enables them to take calls, messages and photos. A recent survey found that 10 per cent of parents bought a watch phone in 2024, compared with 1 percent some years ago.
Russia accuses AFTER the Karelia (Russia) Supreme Court ruled that Finland committed genocide there between 1941-1944, Finnish Institute of International Affairs researcher Jyri Lavikainen said Russia was now portraying Finland as an enemy. The tactics were similar to those the Kremlin has also used with Ukraine, Lavikainen added.
Ireland: Dark doings POLICE swooped on a Dublin address on August 5, seizing cryptocurrency worth €6.5 million, together with a €120,000 watch and two vehicles that were worth €220,000. Two men aged 23 and 49, and a woman (32) were arrested on charges of assisting an illegal dark web as well as a money-laundering operation.
Slow down A GARDAI operation detected 3,800 speeding vehicles on Irish roads during the recent Bank Holiday, including a Piltdown (Country Kilkenny) motorist driving at 186 kilometres per hour in a 100-kilometre zone. “It is disappointing that people travel at excessive speeds despite awareness campaigns,” police said.
Portugal: Risky climb A MAN of 31 who climbed the Leixao da Gaivota sea stack in Ferragudo (Lagoa) called for help after realising that he could not descend the 30-metre column of rock. Although the Navy and local lifeboat stations went to his aid, he could only be reached by helicopter, which winched him to safety that evening.
No charge THE government announced that tolls on Algarve’s A22 motorway and automatic toll collection roads are to be dropped on January 1, 2025. The new law, published in the Official Bulletin, stated that toll charges will be eliminated on “sections and subsections” of interior motorways when there is no alternative route.
Sweden: Tougher rules The number of work permits rejected because the applicant’s salary was too low grew by almost 2,000 per cent, according to the Migration Agency. Regulations introduced in November 2023 raised the 13,000 kronor (€1,131) a month threshold to 80 per cent of the average salary, calculated at 27,360 kronor (€2,380).
No links A FOURTH death at the Nothvolt plant was not connected to the gigafactory, a spokesperson said. Police investigating the baffling deaths of three employees at the plant located inside the Arctic Circle clarified that the woman who died in July lost her life due to “a tragic drowning accident” in her spare time.
