Danish News in Brief: Sunniest July in Danish history

Elsewhere, Estonia to look into Danske Bank money laundering case and Jutland farm sheltering Ukrainian football team

Jul 31, 2018

The summer of 2018 just keeps churning out the records. Hottest. Driest. And now the sunniest.

The month of July hasn’t even finished yet, but it is already the sunniest since the registration of sunshine hours began back in 1920.

According to the national weather forecaster, DMI, July has baked through 326 hours of sunshine so far, ousting the previous record set in July 2006, which saw 321 hours of sunshine.

Almost the driest
And DMI expects the new record to be further improved to about 338 hours by the end of the month. On average, the month of July in Denmark sees about 198 hours of sunshine.

However, the recent cloudbursts in some parts of the country mean that the month will most likely not become the driest July in history – a record that currently stands at 15mm.

Housing sales up in 2018
According to new figures from housing site Boligsiden.dk, housing sales have increased considerably over the first half of 2018, compared to the same time last year. Copenhagen and Aarhus saw decreases of about 5 percent, but housing sales have shot up by at least 20 percent in seven other municipalities – led by a nearly 30 percent rise in Norddjurs Municipality. The total number of housing sales in Denmark for the first half of the year was 24,375 – up 3 percent from 23,659 in 2017. Historically low interest rates have been cited as being part of the reason for the increase.

Ukrainian kids stranded in Jutland
Over 40 Ukrainian kids taking part in the Dana Cup football tournament in Hjørring have been stranded in Jutland since Saturday after the engine on the bus that was due to take them home to Ukraine broke down. A Løkke poultry farmer, Poul Raunsmed, has stepped up and has offered shelter to the kids, who are aged 10-16, and their seven coaches. Raunsmed, who happens to employ Ukrainians on his farm, has put up the team in a small restaurant that is owned by his wife. A new bus is scheduled to arrive in the next couple of days from Poland to take the kids back home. Locals and the Dana Cup organisers have helped Raunsmed provide food for the stranded team.

Estonians investigate Danske Bank case
The Estonian Parliament has decided to further discuss the alleged money laundering scandal involving Danske Bank’s affiliate in Estonia. The Estonian justice minister, Urmas Reinsalu, is among the high-profile politicians who have been called to a meeting tomorrow that aims to place responsibility for the fraudulent activity. Danske Bank has been under heavy fire over the past year following the revelation that its Estonian affiliate has been used to launder money by a number of dubious parties. Just this month the British businessman and CEO of Hermitage Capital Management (HCM), William Browder, reported Danske Bank to the Danish and Estonian police for its role in the theft of 1.4 billion kroner from HCM in 2007.

Dane arrested in Israel
Enhedslisten has confirmed that a Danish citizen was among a number of activists arrested in Israel on Sunday. Mikkel Grüner is a local politician in Bergen, Norway, but he holds Danish citizenship. It is reported he was aboard a Norwegian vessel that tried to sail medication into the Gaza Strip. A total of 22 activists, including Grüner, were aboard the Norwegian-registered ship ‘Kårstein’. The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that a Dane has been arrested and is receiving standard consular assistance, but they would not name the individual.