Danish News in Brief: Health trio want tobacco banished from supermarket counters

In other news, birdwatchers are welcoming a rise in the number of red kites, but the courts look set to take a dim view of the recent increase in Facebook users sharing child pornography videos

Three health organisations have made a joint call to banish tobacco products from the counters in supermarkets, reports BT.

Cancer fighting organisation Kræftens Bekæmpelse, general medical assocation Lægeforeningen and heart concern group Hjerteforeningen contend that removing the products will result in fewer youngsters buying them.

The organisations claim the products kill an estimated 13,600 Danes every year. Some 22-23 percent of people aged over 15 in Denmark currently smoke.

Coop would welcome a ban
Supermarket owner Coop – which owns Kvickly, Irma, Fakta and the Brugsen outlets – is open to the idea and will change its practices should politicians enforce the ban.

However, it conceded that it would be foolish to introduce the ban itself as it would lose out on sales to rival supermarkets.


Denmark’s most expensive property listing
The recently restored stately home of Nakkebølle Gods in south Funen is on the market for 90 million kroner – making it Denmark’s most expensive property on the market right now. Estate agent Adam Schnack talks up the historical significance of a 248-hectare property that includes a manor house erected in 1559 close to Nakkebølle Fjord with tapestries in the dining room, five-metre ceilings in some of the bedrooms and several outbuildings, of which one was used as a holiday home by Dirch Passer and HC Andersen. Denmark’s second most expensive listing is North Zealand farm Haregabgaard, which is being offered for 85 million kroner.

Red kite numbers soaring
The number of red kites has soared in Denmark for the second consecutive year. As of January 1, there were 371, up from 306 at the beginning of last year. The birdwatchers association, Dansk Ornitologisk Forening, attributes the rise to milder winters, more migration from an overpopulated Sweden and fewer poisonings. One third of the population resides in east Jutland, where numbers have risen from 69 in 2016 to 113.

Test case for 1,000 Facebook users charged with child pornography 
Four young men will next week stand accused of sharing child pornography material in Lyngby Court. The defendants allegedly shared a video on Facebook in which two 15-year-olds have sex. The trial is being seen by the media as a test case of the future action against 1,000 youngsters charged with the same offence.

Boy dies of injuries a week after electrocution
A 17-year-old boy has died of his injuries at Rigshospitalet a full week after being electrocuted at Høje Taastrup Station. On January 21, the boy and three others were exploring a freight area of the station when tragedy struck as he boarded one of the trains and suffered a cardiac arrest. Two others were also injured.

Seven arrested in Aarhus after shootings and stabbings
Police arrested seven men in Aarhus last night after extensive fighting broke out in the Brabrand neighbourhood, which included gunshots and at least two stabbings. Weapons were found in a vehicle stopped by the police and all four occupants were arrested. One man, a 27-year-old, will appear before the equivalent of a magistrate’s court, while the other six were released without charge.

Man arrested after allegedly blinding train driver with laser beam
A 19-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning for brandishing a laser pen on a platform at Skovlunde Station in Greater Copenhagen in an attempt to dazzle a driver. DSB then alerted the police who moved quickly to arrest the man near the station.