Results tagged “denmark”

Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen just wanted to go for a simple bike ride in Central Park after "three days of talks in air-conditioned rooms" about climate change, but it turned into such a production. His entourage was swollen with press, two bodyguards, two Secret Service agents, and two "undercover" NYPD cops on bikes. The 7:15 a.m. ride, which kept getting lost, was also tailed by two limos and an NYPD vehicle. Needless to say, it's not the kind of thing you want to deal with on your morning jog, and one runner yelled at the entourage, "This isn’t a bike lane!" To which the cycling cops explained, "We're the police!" And they only use bike lanes for parking. [Daily Intel]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that a new, drug-resistant strain of the H1N1 virus has been discovered in a patient in Denmark. Apparently the patient is not responding to Tamiflu, but Tamiflu manufacturer Roche's Pandemic Taskforce leader David Reddy said today, "Such a development had to be expected and is no surprise from a scientific point of view," noting that the patient was taking the drug as a preventative measure. Dow Jones reports that Reddy suggested "was probably already infected with the virus, and resistance to the drug emerged because he was given the lower preventative dose." While drug-induced resistance is rare, it happened 0.4% in adults during clinical trials. Danish health officials have also asserted that the strain has been isolated and has not spread to other patients. This comes alongside news that Swedish musician Jens Lekman also contracted the virus while on tour in South America, which he discovered while on an airplane home—which did not endear him to his fellow passengers. The city's Health Department is expected to make another swine flu update tomorrow.

Ever wonder how the NYPD treats cyclists on Bizarro world? Instead of locking horns with Critical Mass, or writing ridiculous tickets, or ignoring drivers who turn bike lanes into double-parking lots, or parking in bike lanes themselves, perhaps they'd take a less adversarial approach to pedaling commuters who brave this car-clogged city. Well, as a contrast to last year's infamous cop vs. bike bodyslam video, here's a look at the kind of treatment cyclists get from the police in the Bizarro world that is Denmark: free helmets and hugs. Awww.