NordenBladet — Yemen is currently facing the worst man-made humanitarian crisis in the world. Following three years of armed conflict, 75 percent of the population, 22.2 million people, are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. Two million Yemenites have been forced to flee internally and are thus in even greater need of help in their homeland.
“It is almost impossible to understand the extent of the sufferings in Yemen. Starving mothers are trying to save their starving children while the civil war is raging. Further, the warring parties frequently put obstacles in the way so that emergency aid cannot reach those who need it the most. I am pleased that Denmark is contributing with DKK 70 million so we can continue to help to the vulnerable civilian population in Yemen,” says Minister for Development Cooperation Ulla Tørnæs.
Last year, the UN and its humanitarian partners succeeded in delivering emergency aid to 10 million people in Yemen despite hostilities and difficult humanitarian access. In 2017, Denmark provided direct humanitarian support to the Yemen crisis for a total of DKK 219 million.
8.4 million people are facing famine and around 1.8 million children and more than 1 million pregnant women or nursing mothers suffer from acute malnutrition. In addition, Yemen is affected by a cholera outbreak where more than 1 million people are presumed to have been infected within the last year.
The latest Danish funding allocation for Yemen is dispersed with DKK 35 million for the World Food Programmes efforts to prevent famine and with DKK 35 million for the UN’s Humanitarian Country-Based Pooled Fund, which supports and coordinates life-saving relief efforts.
By 2018 humanitarian needs have increased due to, among other things, the blockade of the main Yemeni ports in November and December 2017 that reduced the level of emergency aid and commercial imports of food and fuel, leading to immense price increases and a deterioration of food security. Only half of the country’s health facilities function and 16 million people lack access to clean water and sanitation facilities, which increases the risk of disease spreading.
In addition to the latest contribution, Denmark is also donating DKK 100 million on a yearly basis to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). In the beginning of 2018, the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator allocated a record amount of USD 50 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to the humanitarian efforts in Yemen in light of the escalating crisis. With its annual non-earmarked contribution to UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Denmark is thus contributing indirectly to humanitarian funds allocated to Yemen.
NordenBladet – According to Forbes’ 2017-edition of the world’s billionaires the world’s richest person is still Bill Gates, with a combined wealth of almost $87 billion dollars. Biggest gainer was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who grew his wealth by almost $3 bn in a year. But who are wealthy in Scandinavia? The list also contains 58 people from the Nordics, more than half of them from Sweden. Meanwhile, Norway, with 14 billionaires, has one more than Finland and Denmark combined.
This year, Sweden saw five new billionaires enter the list, whereas oil & gas billionaire Mika Anttonen (ST1) was Finland’s only new entry. Denmark stayed the same, while Norway had investor Svein Stole and cruise magnate Torstein Hagen enter the list.
The region’s biggest family dynasties are duly represented on the Forbes list. H&M, IKEA and Tetra Laval family members take up more than a third of Swedish spots; elevator giant KONE’s inheritors dominate the Finnish list; and Norwegian investment company Ferd’s inheritors Alexandra and Katharina are the world’s youngest billionaires. The third youngest, 23-year old Gustav Magnar Witzoe, is also Norwegian.
The richest Nordic person on the Forbes list is LEGO Group’s former president and CEO, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen from Denmark. His estimated net worth is $21,2 billion.
Here are the Nordics dollar billionaires 2017, according to Forbes:
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NordenBladet — Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anders Samuelsen, will visit Algeria on the 4th to the 6th of March to officially open the Danish Embassy in Algiers.
The Minister says: “I am very happy to be able to open the Danish Embassy in Algiers. Algeria is an important partner and allied in a number of areas. I look forward to strengthening our cooperation on stability and economic progress in North Africa and the Sahel. Algeria is also an important partner in dealing with the migratory challenges facing Europe. In addition, Algeria is Africa’s fourth largest economy and a growing market. A strengthened Danish presence in Algiers will help promote Danish commercial interests in Algeria. Therefore, it is also a great pleasure for me to be accompanied by a group of leading Danish companies, all of which see a significant potential in Algeria. ”
In addition to participating in the official opening, the Minister for Foreign Affairs will have separate meetings with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel and several other Algerian ministers. The Minister for Foreign Affairs will also open a Danish-Algerian Business Forum, organized by Confederation of Danish Industry and its Algerian sister organization FCE with participation of representatives from Danish and Algerian companies. Finally, the Minister for Foreign Affairs will participate in a visit to the site of the new Novo Nordisk factory outside of Algiers.
NordenBladet – Lawmakers from parties across Denmark’s political spectrum have reacted to the government’s announcement on Thursday of a wide-ranging plan to tackle what it calls ‘parallel societies’ in the country’s underprivileged areas.
MPs from non-government parties from both sides of the aisle gave their reactions following the announcement. The anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DF) and the opposition Social Democrats, the largest party in parliament, both expressed support for the plan, which was presented in Mjølnerparken in Copenhagen on Thursday.
Smaller opposition parties on Denmark’s left wing were more critical.
NordenBladet – The government has unveiled a new plan that promises to propel Denmark to the very top of the European life science sector. The strategy includes 36 initiatives that aim to provide more opportunity for Danish life science across the sector: from research to commercialisation, approval and delivery to international expert markets.
“It’s going well for Danish life science, but international competition is tough as nails. It’s particularly difficult for new life science companies to crack the market,” said the business minister, Brian Mikkelsen.
“The growth plan reduces some of the most formidable barriers facing the companies, and it boosts the entrepreneurship and shareholder culture. More startups and a digital transition will strengthen the growth possibilities within life science so Denmark and Danish companies can continue to be digital and technological leaders in the future.”
Consolidating position
The 36 initiatives are spread across seven core arenas: Attractive to research and develop in Denmark, More clinical research in Denmark, A world class pharma authority, Better access for qualified labour, More startups and digital transition, A goal-orientated internationalisation effort, and A new life science unit in the Business Ministry.
Currently, Danish life science companies are among the leaders in the global market for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, as life science has become a Danish area of strength over the past 20 years.
From 2001 to 2015, full-time employment within the life science sector in Denmark has increased by 45 percent.
NordenBladet – Initially, they will be incorporated into Lego’s softest brick pieces, such as small trees, bushes and leaves – which will no longer be produced from the oils usually used in Lego brick production. “At the LEGO Group we want to make a positive impact on the world around us, and are working hard to make great play products for children using sustainable materials,” said Tim Brooks, the deputy head of environmental responsibility at Lego.
“We are proud that the first LEGO elements made from sustainably-sourced plastic are in production and will be in LEGO boxes this year. This is a great first step in our ambitious commitment to make all LEGO bricks use sustainable materials.”
Energy self-sufficient
The step is Lego’s first towards attaining its ambition of producing all bricks and packaging from sustainable material by 2030.
Lego has embraced more sustainable models in recent years, such as earmarking a billion kroner to find sustainable materials in 2015 and investing 6 billion kroner in two wind turbine parks.
As a result, the energy production of Lego investments exceeded the energy consumption of all Lego factories, shops and offices globally in 2017.
NordenBladet – Rising interest rates, a tightening up of the laws regarding credit, and falling prices in Oslo and Stockhom are among the factors contributing to falling apartment prices in Denmark’s two largest cities in the first quarter of 2018. Figures collected by Sydbank for Finans reveal that the property market is suffering its biggest setback since 2014 and that these lower prices might become a lasting feature, reports TV2 Nyheder.
“We are seeing a cocktail of factors that are together responsible for the biggest fall in prices that we’ve seen over the last four to five years,” said Søren Kristensen, a macro economist at Sydbank.
According to Sydbank’s model, property prices will fall by 1 percent over the first quarter and this will keep the annual increase down at 6.4 percent. That is rather lower than the 9 percent average gain since the start of 2014. Over the next year, the increase will be nearer 4 or 5 percent and that will primarily affect the prices of flats. Interest rates have been increasing since the start of December and this has hit those property owners who are most in debt hard, according to Nordea. These are often found in the bigger towns. “The tendency that we’ve seen regarding flats with price rises in the double figures over the last year is shifting. That time is over,” said Lise Nytoft Bergman, the chief analyst at Nordea.
In January, 12 percent fewer owner flats were sold in Copenhagen than during the same period last year. That is the first time figures have gone down since 2011. House prices that have not risen anywhere near as much as prices for flats are only predicted to rise by 1 percent in the first quarter, ending the year with a 3.5 percent rise. “Property prices have risen so much that a lot of people just can’t afford them. When interest rates rise and it is more difficult to get credit, it has an impact,” explained Nykredit chief economist Tore Stramer.
“We are now entering a period when price rises are going to be far more moderate and more in step with wage rates,” added Stramer.
NordenBladet – Denmark’s government presented its plan to tackle social problems in what it defines as ‘ghettos’ on Thursday as eight ministers visited the Mjølnerparken area of Copenhagen. Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the plan – which contains a number of potentially controversial elements – was not about race or religion.
But too many Danish residents of non-Western backgrounds were not contributing to society, and the government was not prepared to accept that, the PM said according to newspaper Politiken.
Rasmussen made his comments as he, along with seven other ministers, presented the ‘ghetto plan’ in Mjølnerparken, an underprivileged area of Nørrebro in Copenhagen that is included on the Ministry of Transport and Housing’s ‘ghetto list’.
The plan – titled ‘One Denmark without Parallel Societies: No Ghettos in 2030’ – was also published on the government’s website regeringen.dk on Thursday.
NordenBladet – Øresund Bridge closes in both directions after accident. The accident involved a single lorry that lost control and collided with the central reservation, Copenhagen Police confirmed. No injuries occurred.
The Danish Road Directorate wrote earlier on Wednesday that it did not know when the bridge would reopen, but traffic is now set to begin moving again.
Snow and ice have resulted in hazardous driving conditions across Denmark and southern Sweden on Wednesday.
NordenBladet – Earlier this week it emerged that those volunteering at NorthSide festival would have to pay a deposit this year as the festival wants to curb the number of workers skipping their shifts. Now NorthSide has produced yet another incentive (to go and to skip your shift): this time a positive one.
The festival has unveiled 17 new artists including three additional headliners for this year: US hip-hop group N.E.R.D featuring Pharrell Williams; US indie rockers The War On Drugs; and Body Count, the US metal/rap combo band with Ice T.
“We are perhaps broader than ever before in terms of genres and styles, and the overall result looks very, very exciting and something we are super proud of,” John Fogde, the head of communications for NorthSide, told DR Nyheder.
“We can really see that our guests want to see the new big new international stars. So we’re prioritising new international music ahead of a broad Danish range.”
There are currently 41 bands lined up for NorthSide, and with the likes of Beck, Björk, Queens of the Stone Age, The National, A Perfect Circle and Liam Gallagher also headlining, it is promising to be quite the festival this year.
There are also some big Danish hitters in the mixer, including Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, CV Jørgensen and Nik & Jay.
The festival, which was first held in 2010, will take place at Ådalen in Aarhus from June 7-9.
