Posts Tagged ‘Copenhagen’
Written by admin on 06 February 2012
Copenhagen, Feb 6 (IANS) A total of 135 passengers, included Norway’s crown prince Haakon and his wife, crown princess Mette-Marit, were evacuated from an aircraft at the Copenhagen airport after smoke was detected in one of the plane’s motors.
Danish broadcaster DR News said the royal couple from Norway had been in Copenhagen to celebrate Danish crown princess Mary’s 40th birthday.
No passengers were hurt, and the plane was safely evacuated, said SAS airlines, which operates the aircraft.
The plane was scheduled to fly to Oslo, said Xinhua.
The cause of the smoke was not known.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 09 January 2012
Copenhagen, Jan 9 (IANS) A Danish warship has freed 14 Iranian and Pakistani hostages following a seaborne action against pirates off Somalia’s coast, the Danish Navy said.
On Saturday, the warship Absalon, part of a NATO-led anti-piracy operation, pursued a fishing boat it had suspected of being a pirate mother ship for some time, off Somalia’s coast in the Indian Ocean.
‘The operation took place as planned and without harm to the ship’s crew, the hostages or the pirates,’ Xinhua quoted Carsten Fjord Larsen, captain of the warship Absalon, which conducted the action, as saying in a statement.
‘After three hours, the 25 pirates gave themselves up. Some began to throw their weapons overboard, and others followed,’ Larsen told Denmark’s public broadcaster DR News.
The Absalon fired warning shots and gave verbal instructions to the pirates to surrender, he said.
On inspection, the fishing vessel, which was previously hijacked by pirates, was found to contain small motor boats and fuel, allegedly used by the pirates.
The pirates and hostages were being questioned, while the fishing vessel was held alongside the Absalon with a view to returning it to its rightful owner.
There was, however, no information as to how long the hostages were held captive. Larsen said they have now made contact with their families.
Without a functional government since 1991, Somalia has become a home for pirates who have launched numerous attacks on commercial ships off its coast.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 02 January 2012
Copenhagen, Jan 2 (IANS) The WTA tennis tournament in Danish capital Copenhagen has dropped plans to switch to clay courts from the existing hard courts, its organizers said Monday.
‘It is expensive to create three indoor clay courts that are needed at this level. It will cost the tournament roughly an additional 600,000 to 800,000 Danish kroner ($105,000-139,000) to hold the tournament on clay,’ said Steen Thomsen, chairman of Nordic Sports Group, which organises the tournament.
‘So it clear, that it is sensible to save this money,’ he told Danish newspaper Politiken.
The $220,000 event has considered switching from hard court to clay for some time now in a bid to attract more big name tennis players.
‘At the same time, we are in direct competition with an outdoor clay court event in Spain. So if a player is a clay court specialist, they will probably choose that (event) instead of ours,’ Thomsen said.
According to Politiken, the 2011 WTA Copenhagen attracted criticism from some players and coaches as it took place shortly before the Wimbledon grass court tournament.
That meant players participating in both events had to adapt quickly between different surfaces. But this arrangement looks likely to continue in 2012 as well.
‘As it appears now, the tournament will remain fixed as a hard-court tournament in April. But if the WTA changes its schedule, it can also mean changes to our tournament,’ Thomsen told Politiken.
Women’s world no.1 tennis star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has won the previous two editions of the WTA Copenhagen and is scheduled to play there again this year.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 30 December 2011
Copenhagen, Dec 30 (IANS) Denmark’s Jan Oe Joergensen stunned compatriot and world number four Peter Gade to claim the Copenhagen Masters badminton title.
Joergensen Thursday outlasted Gade 14-21, 25-23, 22-20, in front of a sell-out crowd at the Falconer Center arena in the Danish capital to win the title for the second time, reports Xinhua.
The result was a shock loss for Gade, a former world number one, who has previously won the Copenhagen Masters 10 times, and was favourite to win it again.
Dane Tine Baun lost in straight sets to Thailand’s Inthanon Ratchanok in the women’s singles final, 17-21, 15-21.
Baun, ranked fifth in the world and a two-time winner here, was surprisingly beaten by the 16-year-old Thai player who is ranked 13.
There was better luck for the host nation in the men’s doubles and mixed-doubles with Danish teams taking both titles.
Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen beat Malaysia’s Zakry Latif and Fairzizuan Tazari 21-18, 21-9, to win their first ever Copenhagen Masters doubles.
Joachim Fischer and Christinna Pedersen beat unseeded Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand 21-13, 21-17, to take the mixed-doubles title.
Fisher and Pedersen, ranked world number three, were named Denmark’s badminton players of the year following a vote by fans, later in the day.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 29 December 2011
Copenhagen, Dec 29 (IANS) Denmark’s Soenderborg city and China’s Baoding city have joined forces to find green energy solutions, officials of the two sides said.
The municipal authorities of Soenderborg and Baoding Wednesday signed an arrangement here to carry forward the intiative, dubbed Friendship City relationship.
Before this, Soenderborg and Baoding had already shared common goals in becoming low carbon urban centers, while acting as hubs for green technology businesses.
‘Soenderborg being a major city in southern Denmark and Baoding being a major city in northern China and gateway to Beijing and Tianjin, the new Friendship City relationship will be a strong base for our joint communities creating new climate solutions and cultural cooperation in years to come,’ said Aase Nyegaard, mayor of Soenderborg, in a joint statement announcing the partnership, Xinhua reported.
The Baoding city of 11 million inhabitants is located 140 km south of Beijing. It is well-known for its ‘China Electrical Valley’, a cluster of photovoltaic and renewable energy industries.
It is also recognized as a Chinese city that has taken the lead in developing green technologies and businesses, while investing heavily in low carbon development strategies.
Soenderborg is home to a number of famous Danish enterprises focused on low energy and energy-efficient technologies.
Under a roadmap known as Project Zero, the city wants to become carbon neutral, that is, reduce to zero the net carbon dioxide emissions of each of its 77,000 inhabitants by 2029.
The city has already developed extensive urban heating and electric power networks based on renewable sources, and is investing in low-energy housing and industrial complexes.
‘We’re much impressed with the Zero Carbon Masterplan in Soenderborg and what Soenderborg has achieved on its Zero Carbon development,’ said Ma Yufeng, executive vice-mayor of Baoding.
‘This is valuable experience for our city to learn from. Baoding has the same intention as Soenderborg to grow low carbon. We can achieve much greater goals and start more extensive cooperation with a formal Friendship City relationship,’ he added.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
Written by admin on 03 December 2011
Copenhagen, Dec 3 (IANS) Women’s World Number One tennis player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has employed Spain’s Ricardo Sanchez as her full-time coach.
‘Richi (Ricardo Sanchez) will be in charge of practical matters. He is good at doing those things which need to be done during training,’ Wozniacki told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet Friday.
‘He has many years’ experience coaching different players, he is a very positive person,’ she added.
Wozniacki, 21, finishes 2011 at the top of the rankings for the second year running, but has never won a grand slam title in her career.
Sanchez predicts Wozniacki has several grand slam victories ahead of her.
‘She will win (grand) slams. She is ambitious. In (grand) slams you need luck, but Piotr (Wozniacki) and I have discussed that she must be a ‘tennis-machine.’ It should not just be about luck,’ Sanchez told Ekstra Bladet.
‘If she improves 30 percent, she will get so much self-confidence that she will play in a more relaxed way at grand slams,’ he added.
Piotr Wozniacki is Caroline Wozniacki’s father and former coach.
Wozniacki herself told Danish media Wednesday that she will put all her efforts into winning a grand slam title and an Olympic Games medal in 2012.
Tags: Copenhagen
Posted in Europe | No Comments »
