Copenhagen

As Denmark tears down homes in ‘non-Western’ areas to force assimilation, residents fight back in court

Conflict & Justice

Denmark is taking a wrecking ball to people’s homes in neighborhoods where the government feels residents don’t share “Danish values.” A 2018 law allows the demolition of homes in communities designated as “parallel societies.” The underlying idea is “integration through dispersion” but this attempt at social engineering is raising hackles, and the country’s most vulnerable people seem to be left in the dust.

Construction underway on the world’s longest tunnel immersed underwater

Transportation
Students at the International People's College head off to class.

Danish folk high schools offer lessons in peace in times of war

Ukraine
At Copenhagen's central train station, Ukraine's flag wave side by side with Denmark's flag in a sign of solidarity seen all over the city.

Denmark welcomes Ukrainians under special law — with an expiration date

Ukraine
"The Glass Castle," by Dmytro Moldovanov, seen at "The Muses are Not Silent" exhibition at Ukraine House in Denmark, Copenhagen, May 17, 2023.

‘The muses are not silent’: Ukraine House in Denmark offers space for arts, cultural exchange and dialogue

Ukraine
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson talks during the parliamentary debate on the Swedish application for NATO membership, in Stockholm, Monday, May 16, 2022. 

In historic shift, Sweden will join Finland in requesting NATO membership

Global Politics

The historic shift comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

U Saw Mhue Dee, U Saw Benjamin and Daw Naw Lay Lay explain the process of growing elephant foot yam, sheltered from the afternoon heat under a stilt house in Paungdawgyi Village. 

Danish window company confronts its historic carbon emissions through forest conservation

The Big Fix

The multibillion-dollar Danish company Velux is pledging to address its legacy emissions dating back to 1941 through forest conservation projects in places like Myanmar.

Police officers are seen as Peter Madsen (not pictured) is surrounded by the police in Albertslund, Denmark, Oct. 20, 2020.

Danish submarine killer recaptured after prison escape

Conflict & Justice

On Oct. 20, Peter Madsen briefly escaped the country’s most high-security prison in Copenhagen — where he’s serving a life sentence — after taking a hostage and threatening prison guards and police with what appeared to be a gun and a suicide vest.

A painted portrait of Christopher Columbus' son, Hernando Colón,

Christopher Columbus’ son’s universal library is newly rediscovered in this lost tome

Books

Hernando Colón was the illegitimate son of famed explorer Christopher Columbus. His love of books inspired him to attempt an ambitious dream: store all of the world’s books in one place. He summarized much of the information in his “Libro de los Epítomes,” which has recently been rediscovered.

Ana Silvera singing at the Manchester Jewish Museum

Becoming Portuguese: How Brexit and 500 years of Jewish history changed one British’s singer’s life

The final impact of Brexit is still unclear for people living in the UK, but it is already having an effect on the lives of people like Ana Silvera: British citizens who work or live in EU countries.