Easter News in Brief: Turkish Danes back Erdogan’s bid for more powers

SAS flight grounded and toddler lost with the luggage among some of the other gems you might have missed this Easter

Some 60.4 percent of the Turks in Denmark who voted in their country’s weekend referendum said yes to giving President Recep Erdogan permission to change the country’s constitution and gain more power from 2019 onwards – a higher proportion than the overall 51 percent approval rate, according to figures obtained by Turkish media outlet Kuzey. The new powers, for example, will enable Erdogan to abolish the role of prime minister and possibly stay in power until 2029. The result was condemned as “hypocritical” by Lars Aslan Rasmussen, a Socialdemokratiet MP with Turkish roots. “It is embarrassing that people born and raised in Danish democracy are openly voting for introducing dictatorship,” he said according to Ekstra Bladet.

Loss of pressure grounds SAS flight
A SAS flight travelling from Chicago to Copenhagen was forced to make an emergency landing due to a sudden loss of cabin pressure early on Sunday April 16. Flight SK944, which had 196 passengers on board, landed at Goose Bay Airport in eastern Canada where investigators began the task of establishing what caused the loss of pressure.

Queen celebrates birthday in Aarhus
Easter Sunday was also the 77th birthday of Queen Margrethe II, which posed a few problems to the Danish monarch as she traditionally celebrates the holiday at Marselisborg Castle in Aarhus, but her birthday at Amalienborg. This year, her 45th on the throne, her summer residence in Aarhus won the battle, as the queen, dressed in a turquoise coat, waved to well-wishers at midday from a castle verandah. She last celebrated her birthday at Marselisborg in 2014.

Injection breakthrough
Injections carried out at the hospital can be a killer – literally. At the very least, as many as one in five need to be repeated, causing patients pain and discomfort. But now two experts attached to Aarhus University have developed a new method that uses an ultrasound scanner to ensure 99 percent of the injections are successfully carried out first time, reports DR. Lars Knudsen, a specialist dentist, together with Professor Erik Sloth from the university, have already received a glowing endorsement from a former doctor who needs regular injections to treat his lung transplant.

Boy disappears with the luggage
A three-year-old boy disappeared as his mother was checking in luggage at Copenhagen Airport on Saturday. The luggage belt carried him past the scanners and onto a control room where an employee rescued him and reunited him with his mother. It is unknown how the boy, who was unharmed, managed to board the belt without anyone seeing him and navigate the luggage scanner.




  • Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    Diplomatic tensions between US and Denmark after spying rumors

    A Wall Street Journal article describes that the US will now begin spying in Greenland. This worries the Danish foreign minister, who wants an explanation from the US’s leading diplomat. Greenlandic politicians think that Trump’s actions increase the sense of insecurity

  • Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    Diplomacy meets Westeros: a dinner with the King, Queen – and Jaime Lannister

    What do King Frederik X, Queen Mary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Jaime Lannister have in common? No, this isn’t the start of a very specific Shakespeare-meets-HBO fanfiction — it was just Wednesday night in Denmark

  • Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    Huge boost to halt dropouts from vocational education

    For many years, most young people in Denmark have preferred upper secondary school (Gymnasium). Approximately 20 percent of a year group chooses a vocational education. Four out of 10 young people drop out of a vocational education. A bunch of millions aims to change that

  • Beloved culture house saved from closure

    Beloved culture house saved from closure

    At the beginning of April, it was reported that Kapelvej 44, a popular community house situated in Nørrebro, was at risk of closing due to a loss of municipality funding

  • Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    Mette Frederiksen: “If you harm the country that is hosting you, you shouldn’t be here at all”

    With reforms to tighten the rules for foreigners in Denmark without legal residency, and the approval of a reception package for internationals working in the care sector, internationals have been under the spotlight this week. Mette Frederiksen spoke about both reforms yesterday.

  • Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Tolerated, but barely: inside Denmark’s departure centers

    Currently, around 170 people live on “tolerated stay” in Denmark, a status for people who cannot be deported but are denied residency and basic rights. As SOS Racisme draws a concerning picture of their living conditions in departure centers, such as Kærshovedgård, they also suggest it might be time for Denmark to reinvent its policies on deportation

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