Founder and frontman of the Strawbs, the folk-rock group best known for their 1973 hit Part of the UnionThe one song by the Strawbs most likely to feature in pop quizzes is Part of the Union, the rowdy working man’s singalong that reached No 2 on the British singles chart in 1973. Yet, written by band members Richard Hudson and John Ford, it could hardly have been less typical of the output of Dave Cousins, the band’s founder and mainstay. Cousins, who has died aged 85, piloted the group through countless changes of personnel and musical styles for more than 50 years, and was at the helm for the band’s final performance at Fairport’s Cropredy Convention in 2023.He drew early inspiration from Lonnie Donegan and was greatly influenced by folk musicians such as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger. Hearing a recording of the bluegrass musicians Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs prompted him to learn the banjo, and he formed the Strawberry Hill Boys with Tony Hooper and Arthur Phillips. He drew extra creative fuel from Bob Dylan and California jangle-rockers the Byrds – Cousins’s voice carried echoes of both Dylan and the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn – and recalled how he used a guitar tuning taught to him by Joni Mitchell on the Strawbs’ debut album. Continue reading…

Christina Block is standing trial in Hamburg accused of kidnapping two of her own children from her ex-husbandFor over half a century Block House has ranked as one of the most recognised restaurant chains on the German high street – a collection of family-friendly steakhouses whose staples include the “classic Block burger” and filet mignon.But for months the Hamburg-based chain has been making headlines for an altogether different reason: a bitter and extraordinary custody battle between the heiress to the family business, Christina Block, and her ex-husband over the youngest two of their four children. Continue reading…

Unlike nursing homes or living alone (and lonely), cohousing emphasizes community and mutual supportEarlier this year, Angela Maddamma, 72, loaded all her belongings into her car. She drove from a house in suburban Richmond, Virginia, where she had lived for 20 years, to her new life about five hours west, in a senior cohousing project called ElderSpirit.Cohousing communities are “thoughtfully designed neighborhoods with private homes” arranged around common areas, where people may gather and build relationships with their neighbors, according to the Cohousing Company design firm. Cohousing is typically multigenerational – of the roughly 170 total cohousing units in the US, most are home to people of all ages, from young families to seniors. But about 12 are senior-specific. Continue reading…

Two hours after Keira Alexandra Kronvold gave birth, her daughter was taken from her – the third child to be removed from her care following a now-banned assessment that disproportionately targets Inuit women in Denmark. Will she win the fight to get Zammi back?‘Now your two hours begin.” The countdown started when Keira Alexandra Kronvold had just given birth in the early hours of 7 November 2024. Keira, 38, was originally granted just one hour with her daughter, Zammi, before her baby was to be removed from her and taken to foster parents – but the midwife begged authorities to give them more time. Before Zammi’s arrival, the midwife asked if Keira had any wishes. “I said, ‘I want hand and footprints. I want to grab her, I don’t want you to catch her when she is born. I want to catch her myself.’”During labour – which lasted just an hour and a half – Keira kept checking whether her 20-year-old daughter, Zoe, who had never seen a birth before, was OK; and she was determined not to scream, to avoid waking up the other mothers and babies on the ward. But when Zammi arrived, everything else – the months of stress, worry and pressure – gave way to pure joy. “I just laid back,” she says, arms cradled and slowly reclining on her sofa, as she re-enacts the moment at home in the town of Thisted, northern Denmark, “because I had to keep her warm. She was so beautiful. That emotional feeling is indescribable. Right there: unconditional love, pure happiness, all that joy.” She wished Zammi a happy birthday and told her how much she loved her. She cried tears of joy, counted Zammi’s tiny fingers. Continue reading…

While Copenhagen’s fortunes grow alongside rise in Swedish commuters over 16km bridge, benefits for Malmö are proving less obviousAfter 19 years of commuting to Denmark from Sweden, Helen Sjögren is so used to crossing the bridge that she identifies as Scandinavian rather than Swedish. The researcher at a Danish pharmaceutical company lives in the Swedish university town of Lund with her three children but has become accustomed to Danish working practices, and the idea of working in Sweden is now difficult to imagine.“Because I’m Swedish, colleagues would expect me to behave like a Swede,” she said, referring to their reputation for seeking consensus. “So I would be seen as rude – too direct to fit in Sweden.” Continue reading…

Amendment to law will strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities, government saysThe Danish government is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice.The Danish government said on Thursday it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe. Continue reading…

US-made unmanned vessels will monitor maritime activity as part of trial, amid criticism over closer ties with AmericaDenmark is deploying floating drones on the Baltic Sea to protect undersea infrastructure and bolster maritime surveillance amid the growing threat of hybrid attacks from Russia.The arrival of Saildrone, a California-based company, has prompted criticism in Denmark over forging tighter bonds with the US in such a sensitive area as digital security. Continue reading…

Parts of the Seine are opening to bathers and Berliners are pushing authorities to permit river dips, while other hotspots continue to delight city dwellersThe last time there was full-scale river swimming in Berlin’s city centre, before access was outlawed a century ago, there were probably fewer inflatable unicorns and fluorescent pool noodles.But this week, a “Dip-Dip-Hurrah” demonstration to push for the lifting of the roaring 20s-era ban saw about 300 people, many with colourful swimming caps and assorted flotation devices, bob down the Spree River as the golden-hour sun bathed the old Prussian monuments of the historic Mitte district in a warm light. Continue reading…

‘Spectacular’ discovery at site of about 30 graves includes pearls, coins, ceramics and a box containing gold threadA 10th-century burial site believed to have belonged to a Viking noble family has been discovered in northern Denmark, packed with a “spectacular” trove of ancient objects, a museum has said.The discovery came almost by chance when pearls, coins, ceramics and a box containing a gold thread were unearthed during construction work near Lisbjerg, a village located 4 miles (7km) north of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city. Continue reading…

In a Danish palliative care unit, the alternative to assisted dying is not striving to cure – offering relief and comfort to patients and their familiesBy Line Vaaben. Read by Freya Miller Continue reading…

French president is first foreign head of state to visit Arctic territory since US president made commentsEmmanuel Macron has criticised Donald Trump’s threats to take over Greenland as he became the first foreign head of state to visit the vast, mineral-rich Arctic territory since the US president began making explicit threats to annex it.“I don’t think that’s what allies do,” Macron said as he arrived in the Danish autonomous territory for a highly symbolic visit aimed at conveying “France’s and the EU’s solidarity” with Greenland on his way to a summit of G7 leaders in Canada. Continue reading…

New agreement places bases in cities such as Karup and Skrydstrup under US jurisdictionDenmark has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new defence agreement giving the US sweeping powers on Danish soil, including “unhindered access” to its airbases.The deal, which has been strongly criticised by politicians and human rights experts, means US soldiers in Denmark will remain under US jurisdiction. It gives US soldiers access to Danish airbases in three Danish cities – Karup, Skrydstrup and Aalborg – and grants American soldiers and military police powers over Danish civilians at these locations and outside them. Continue reading…

Danish composer driven by the concept of musical metamorphosis and a renowned symphonist“I don’t know where the lyrical element comes from,” the Danish composer Per Nørgård, who has died aged 92, once remarked. “I can’t construct the lyrical element. It is like when you stick your head out of the window on a spring morning and can simply sense the scent of flowers in the air. It can’t be controlled. In a way, the lyrical element is the sensual side of existence, which always comes as a gift.”One of the most lyrical expressions of that gift among Nørgård’s 400 works was in the finale of his small-orchestral diptych Voyage Into the Golden Screen, composed in 1968. Ironically, its free-flowing melody derived not from chance “scenting of [music] in the air”, but rather the technical dictates of Nørgård’s then newly formulated “infinity series”, where the notes follow mathematically from the proportions of the “golden ratio” and the Fibonacci series: a telling musical counterpart to the prevailing Scandinavian concern, across all the arts at the time, of design-driven expression. Continue reading…

In banning a schools debate on Palestinian sovereignty, our leaders have revealed the nation we’re becomingIn Denmark, we like to think of ourselves as being in the vanguard of freedom of expression. We were the first country in the world to legalise pornography. We insisted on the right to publish caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Rather than marginalise so-called rightwing populists in parliament, we invited them in to political cooperation. We pride ourselves on being unafraid of controversy and we’re good at making authorities who try to tell us what to do – and especially what not to do – look ridiculous.Danes also like to think of our country as a role model for democracy. As such, the national elections for children aged 13 to 16 are a cherished tradition, considered a part of civic education and a preparation for democratic participation. All schools are invited to take part in the exercise, which is held every other year. Students debate 20 issues for three weeks before casting votes for the parties that are also eligible to stand in real general elections.Rune Lykkeberg is editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper Information Continue reading…

A funny, heart-on-sleeve Danish drama that cleverly captures the complexities of coming out and queer identity with a character that wonders: am I gay enough to be gay? Technically, this film is a romcom – in that it is funny and romantic. But it’s not a romcom in the sense of adhering to the formulaic character types and well-worn plot beats that we’re used to seeing the likes of Jennifers Aniston, Lawrence and Lopez navigate with such aplomb. It is the story of twentysomething Liv (Johanne Milland) and her burgeoning attraction to Andrea (Josephine Park), and is a lovely, well-acted and sincere Danish independent film with plenty of humour; it wears its tender heart on its sleeve and hews closely to the form and style of a coming-of-age film.Nobody here is coming-of-age, though; they’re already-of-age, but in Liv’s discovery of her sexuality, perhaps it could be a coming-of-orientation film. The Venus Effect is strong on the things which matter in such stories: sizzling chemistry between the leads and likable characters you hope can work through their inevitable differences. It’s also good on rather more under-explored themes, such as the ripple effects of coming out in a modern family who aren’t going to disown you for homophobic reasons, but might nevertheless disappoint you in other ways. Continue reading…

The first stage of a major prison swap between Ukraine and Russia has taken place in Turkey, with 390 people released todayFor more coverage of Trump’s tariffs threats – which also include a warning that Apple must pay a 25% tariff unless it manufactures its iPhones in the US – follow our business live blog here:US president Donald Trump has just called the EU “very difficult to deal with,” lamenting the bloc’s “powerful Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American Companies, and more” (original capitalisation!).“Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. Continue reading…

Psychoanalyst and art therapist hailed for her bestselling 2015 book Boarding School SyndromeThe Jungian psychoanalyst and art psychotherapist Joy Schaverien, who has died aged 82, will be remembered beyond her professional world for her book Boarding School Syndrome: The Psychological Trauma of the “Privileged” Child (2015).It became a bestseller for the publisher Routledge: among its readers were adult boarding school survivors who found that it described accurately the traumatic experiences some of them had had when sent away to school, particularly at an early age. Continue reading…

Deal would allow US to carry out military activities in and from Denmark, giving them powers over Danish civiliansWhen Copenhagen signed a new defence agreement giving the US “unhindered access” to Danish airbases in December 2023, the idea of granting sweeping powers to US forces on Danish soil was quite a different proposition to what it is today.The US, then under the Biden administration, was an unwavering Nato ally that Denmark had followed into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Nordic neighbours Sweden, Finland and Norway had similar agreements with the US. Continue reading…

Zara Zerny’s lucid and compassionate study gathers moving, candid interviews with bereaved partners remembering their lost loves The Marvel bromide about “What is grief, if not love persevering?” comes to mind watching this metaphysically charged Danish documentary in which nine senior citizens discuss their departed life partners. Director Zara Zerny works hard in defining the miracle of lifelong companionship, and the ineffable essence of that significant other which persists after death. So much so that, in one final, oddly encouraging section, some of the interviewees here suggest that their loved one still watches over them, Patrick Swayze-style.Awkward beginnings and lovestruck thunderclaps: it’s all here. Finn-Erik recalls his first sighting of Kirsten as a 17-year-old with ballet-dancer grace. Ove was rescued from a hotel-room orgy with multiple Norwegians by strapping six-footer Bent, who tells him: “You’re coming home with me.” Then there’s Elly, the trauma of whose first violent marriage “vanished like the dew before the sun” when she met her new partner Aksel. In Zerny’s intimate interviewing environment, nothing is off the table: sex and infidelity, domestic bliss and disaffection, partnerships that outlast passion, the pain of outlasting your partner. Continue reading…

Government to analyse potential benefits of new generation of reactorsDenmark is reconsidering its 40-year ban on nuclear power in a major policy shift for the renewables-heavy country.The Danish government will analyse the potential benefits of a new generation of nuclear power technologies after banning traditional nuclear reactors in 1985, its energy minister said. Continue reading…