Category Archives: Sweden

Risk of undersea cable attacks backed by Russia and China likely to rise, report warns

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Spate of incidents in Baltic Sea and around Taiwan are harbinger for further disruptive activity, cybersecurity firm says

The risk of Russia- and China-backed attacks on undersea cables carrying international internet traffic is likely to rise amid a spate of incidents in the Baltic Sea and around Taiwan, according to a report.

Submarine cables account for 99% of the world’s intercontinental data traffic and have been affected by incidents with suspected state support over the past 18 months.

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Sweden set to rent cells in Estonian jails as it runs out of room for its prisoners

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Centre-right government rejects long-established national policies focused on rehabilitation and reintegration

Sweden is moving away from criminal rehabilitation in favour of US-style mass incarceration, experts have said, as the country prepares to rent places in Estonian jails to help house its rapidly expanding prison population.

The move to outsource prison places is one of a slew of policies aimed at transforming the Swedish criminal justice system as the centre-right government struggles to tackle gang violence and prisons warn of overcrowding.

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Clothing prices rising in US as Trump tariffs kick in, H&M boss says

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Daniel Ervér cites ‘fast-moving situation’ as US administration has changed rules on several occasions

Clothing prices are beginning to rise in the US as Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods start to have an effect, according to the boss of H&M, one of the world’s biggest fashion retailers.

Daniel Ervér, the chief executive of the Swedish retailer, said: “In the US, we are starting to see some competitors increasing prices. Different competitors are acting in different ways. Some more aggressively and some more cautiously.”

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Stockholm rejects ‘bizarre’ US letter urging city to scrap diversity initiatives

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City official says it will not comply with request seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures

A city official in Stockholm has said the municipality has no plans to comply after one of its offices received a letter seeking to impose Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity measures, in what is believed to be the first such missive sent to a foreign government.

“It’s so bizarre,” said Jan Valeskog, Stockholm’s vice-mayor for planning. “It’s our political priorities that count, not the ones from this embassy or any other embassies.”

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Swedish police detain 16-year-old after three killed in Uppsala shooting

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Teenager held on suspicion of murder after attack at hair salon in university city, say prosecutors

A 16-year-old has been detained on suspicion of shooting and killing three people in the city of Uppsala, according to Sweden’s prosecution authority.

“An intensive investigation is under way. We are now gathering information and the police are conducting door-to-door inquiries and interviewing witnesses,” the authority said in a statement. In addition, mobile phones and other material that have been seized are being analysed.”

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‘We got stuck in puddles’: skiers upset by lack of snow on Swedish slopes

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Customers at SkiStar resort in Sälen, one of Sweden’s largest, say they deserve a partial refund

Outraged skiers in northern Sweden claim they should have been given a discount after finding more mud than snow on the slopes at a popular ski destination.

Visitors complained of slush, water and damaged equipment because there was insufficient snow for skiing.

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Millions tune in for three-week live stream of Sweden’s moose migration

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Slow TV is attracting viewers with hits such as a knitting marathon, burning firewood and swimming salmon

Most of the time, nothing much happens. A wide Nordic river, melting snow still lining its banks, meanders peacefully through a pristine forest of spruce and pine. But this spring, as every spring for the past six years, a lot of people will be glued to it.

When Den stora älgvandringen – variously translated as The Great Moose Migration or The Great Elk Trek – first aired on the public broadcaster SVT’s on-demand platform in 2019, nearly a million people tuned in. Last year, it was 9 million.

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‘Fika has become more expensive’: rising coffee prices affect a Swedish tradition

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Swedes are stockpiling supplies of the drink amid cost hikes, with some saying the coffee culture is changing

Nursing an iced chai latte in a Stockholm department store, Emma Tomth says she has cut down her cafe coffee consumption considerably. The 28-year-old social media manager used to buy a latte most days, but with prices having gone up by about 15-20 kronor (about £1-£1.50), she has cut down to two or three times a week.

But it is not just about coffee. The economy also extends to fika – the historically hardwired Swedish tradition of meeting for a catch-up over a coffee and a biscuit or cake. “Many I know are abstaining from meeting for fika to save money. So we do something else instead,” Tomth says. Low-cost alternatives include meeting at home or going on walks, but it is not quite the same as fika, which plays a key social role in an otherwise often introverted society.

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Couple who ran Swedish eco-resort say 158 barrels of human waste left behind was ‘very normal’

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Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk reject criticism of how they abandoned resort and fled to Guatemala

A Danish couple who fled their “forest resort” in Sweden for Guatemala and left behind a large tax debt and 158 barrels of human waste have hit back at criticism and claimed that their handling of the compost toilets was “very normal”.

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk, both chefs, abandoned their purportedly eco-friendly retreat, Stedsans, in Halland, southern Sweden, last year. They owed large sums to Swedish and Danish tax authorities. They have since set up a business in Guatemala.

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Couple who ran Swedish eco-retreat fled leaving behind barrels of human waste

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Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk, now in Guatemala, had racked up large tax debt at Stedsans forest retreat

A Danish chef couple who attracted international acclaim with a “forest resort” in Sweden have been tracked down to Guatemala after apparently going on the run from tax authorities, leaving behind 158 barrels of human waste.

Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk founded their purportedly eco-friendly retreat, Stedsans, in Halland, southern Sweden, after claiming to have “felt the call of the wild” in Copenhagen, where they ran a popular rooftop restaurant.

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Large majority of Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against US, poll finds

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Survey shows between 56% and 79% across seven countries in favour if Trump introduces ‘Liberation Day’ levies

A large majority of western Europeans support retaliatory tariffs against the US, a survey has suggested, if Donald Trump introduces sweeping import duties for major trading partners as expected this week.

The US president appears likely to unleash a range of tariffs, varying from country to country, on Wednesday, which he has called Liberation Day. He also said last week that a 25% levy on cars shipped to the US would come into force the next day.

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Turkey says Swedish journalist detained on terror charges and for ‘insulting the president’

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Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper, was arrested on Thursday when his plane landed

A Swedish journalist who was detained on his arrival in Turkey to cover protests over the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor has been arrested on terror-related charges and for “insulting the president”, the Turkish presidency has said.

Joakim Medin, who works for the Dagens ETC newspaper, “has been arrested on charges of ‘membership in an armed terrorist organisation’ and ‘insulting the president’”, the presidency said on Sunday.

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Stockpile 72 hours of supplies in case of disaster or attack, EU tells citizens

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Bloc’s first preparedness strategy urges people to prepare for floods, fires, pandemics or military strikes

People in the EU are being advised to stockpile enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours as part of a European strategy that aims to increase readiness for catastrophic floods and fires, pandemics and military attacks.

Outlining its first preparedness strategy, the European Commission said it wanted to encourage citizens to take “proactive measures to prepare for crises, such as developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies”.

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Pioneer fintech firm Klarna sees revenue boost as it eyes US stock market listing

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Swedish company’s valuation jumped 24% in 2024 as ‘buy now, pay later’ market is projected to top $160bn by 2032

The Swedish fintech firm Klarna disclosed on Friday that its revenue jumped 24% in 2024 as the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) pioneer made public its filing for a much-anticipated US stock market listing.

The company, which reshaped online shopping through its short-term financing model, drew investor attention as its valuation soared from $5.5bn to $46.5bn in just two years, fueled by three funding rounds between mid-2020 and 2021.

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‘I feel utter anger’: From Canada to Europe, a movement to boycott US goods is spreading

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Tesla sales are falling and apps and online groups are springing up to help consumers choose non-US items

The renowned German classical violinist Christian Tetzlaff was blunt in explaining why he and his quartet have cancelled a summer tour of the US.

“There seems to be a quietness or denial about what’s going on,” Tetzlaff said, describing his horror at the authoritarian polices of Donald Trump and the response of US elites to the country’s growing democratic crisis.

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Trump’s polarising appeal leaves European populists in a tight spot

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Nationalist parties have tended to praise the US president’s politics, but many voters dislike his treatment of Ukraine

Europe’s rightwing populist parties are split over how far to distance themselves from Donald Trump’s pressure on Ukraine, with some fearing unflinching solidarity with the US president’s brand of nationalism will damage their efforts to widen their domestic support.

Broadly, unease over Trump’s treatment of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the ominous encroach of authoritarianism by the new US administration, is strongest among the populist parties in western Europe and some Nordic countries.

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‘Homegrown’ Swedish battery startup admits importing vital components

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Northvolt, which claims to run Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory, admits it depends on Chinese suppliers for cathode active material

The Swedish startup Northvolt has admitted that a vital component of its batteries is imported amid claims that the company, which claims to run Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory, depends on Chinese suppliers.

It comes as a documentary programme to be shown in Sweden on Wednesday by the national broadcaster SVT, exposes the company’s failure to build a truly homegrown battery after its attempts to produce its own cathode active material at its Northvolt Ett factory in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, were unsuccessful.

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Sweden plans to tighten gun laws in wake of Örebro mass shooting

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‘We have to ensure that only the right people have guns in Sweden,’ says the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson

Sweden’s government has announced plans to strengthen its gun laws, including by restricting access to semi-automatic weapons, after the country’s worst mass shooting.

On Tuesday, a gunman killed 10 people at an education centre in Örebro, west of Stockholm, before shooting himself. Police have not said what type of weapon he used but they have said he had a licence to own four weapons, three of which were found beside him.

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Several nationalities among Sweden school shooting victims, police say

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Syrian embassy says its citizens were among 11 killed in attack by lone gunman in Örebro

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People of several nationalities were among the 11 killed at a school in Sweden’s worst mass shooting, police have said.

Anna Bergkvist, who is leading the police investigation, told Agence France-Presse that people of “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those killed by a lone gunman at Campus Risbergska, an adult education centre, in the city of Örebro on Tuesday.

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Shooter at Örebro school had taken classes there, reports Swedish media

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Police say suspect, who is among the dead, acted alone as they continue the work of identifying victims

The gun rampage that left 11 people dead in the Swedish city of Örebro was “a one-man operation”, police have said, as local media identified the shooter as a former student of the adult education centre he attacked.

As Sweden reeled from the deadliest mass shooting in its history, investigators were working on Wednesday to identify the people who were killed and injured after the attack at Campus Risbergska just after 12.30pm on Tuesday.

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