World News

Sweden to ease pandemic curbs despite worries over mounting Delta cases

Sweden's government said on Monday it will move ahead with a planned easing of pandemic restrictions this week but warned that new variants of the virus demanded vigilance as it…

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Swedish PM Lofven names unchanged cabinet

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven reappointed his previous cabinet of Social Democrats and Greens on Friday following his re-election as premier this week. Lofven resigned last month after losing a…

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UPDATED: Sweden’s Lofven re-elected PM in parliament vote

Swedish Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven was re-elected as prime minister by parliament on Wednesday, ending weeks of political turmoil since his resignation last month. But Lofven, who had quit…

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UPDATED: Swedish Social Democrat Lofven is asked to return as PM

Social Democrat Stefan Lofven will try to win a new term as Sweden's prime minister in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday after the assembly's speaker asked him to return to…

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Swedish manufacturing PMI dips again in June

Activity in Sweden's manufacturing sector fell for the second month in a row in June, dropping to 65.8 points from a downwardly revised 66.0 points the previous month, data showed…

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Lofven eyeing return as Swedish premier

Swedish caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he would be willing to return to head a government that did not yet have backing for a budget, potentially making it easier…

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Swedish PM Lofven resigns in wake of no-confidence vote

STOCKHOLM, June 28 (Reuters) - Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Monday he had handed in his notice of resignation, giving parliament's speaker the job of finding a new…

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Swedish PM Lofven still voters’ favourite leader despite crisis

Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Lofven is Swedish voter's most trusted leader, a poll showed on Thursday, despite a crisis that saw parliament pass a vote of no-confidence in him…

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Swedish government ups GDP forecast as economy bounces back from pandemic

Sweden's economy will grow substantially faster than previously expected this year, as it recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said. Gross domestic product is expected to…

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Swedish snap election looms as Liberals urge PM to step aside

A snap election looked increasingly likely in Sweden on Thursday after the Liberal Party said it would not help restore a Social Democrat-led government after Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lost…

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Swedish think tank says economic recovery accelerating

Sweden's economy is picking up pace and will grow 4.4% this year, a leading think tank said on Wednesday in a fresh forecast. "The economy is accelerating in the second…

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Swedish IT provider says COVID-19 test database breached

A Swedish information technology firm said a database containing patient data, including COVID-19 test results, had been breached but it was unclear if any contents had leaked. InfoSolutions said in…

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Swedish PM Lofven ousted in parliament no-confidence vote

Sweden's parliament ousted Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in a no-confidence vote on Monday, giving the Social Democrat leader a week to resign and hand the speaker the job of finding…

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Swedish PM faces defeat in Monday no-confidence vote

Stefan Lofven was on Sunday hours away from becoming the first Swedish Prime Minister to lose a no-confidence vote, after failing in a last-ditch effort to secure majority support in…

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Last-ditch efforts to defuse Swedish political crisis go on

Efforts to defuse a crisis that has left Sweden's centre-left minority government facing likely defeat in a no-confidence vote next week will carry on throughout the weekend, Finance Minister Magdalena…

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UPDATED: Swedish Left Party to seek support for no-confidence vote in PM Lofven

Sweden's Left Party said on Thursday it would seek support from other parties to put forward a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Stefan Lofven over plans to ease rent control…

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Swedish government faces possible no-confidence vote

Sweden's government dismissed demands from the Left Party to stop working on a proposal for the abolition of rent controls on new-build properties, setting up a showdown that could topple…

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Sweden sees worrying local outbreaks of the COVID Delta variant

Swedish health officials have warned of worrying local outbreaks of the COVID delta variant and urged people to get vaccinated to avoid a fourth wave of the pandemic. Sweden, an…

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Pace of inflation slows in Sweden in May

The pace of inflation slowed in Sweden in May, figures from the Statistics Office showed on Thursday, despite production bottlenecks and supply issues that have boosted price pressures across the…

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UPDATED: Photo Story: Finnish flagged cargo ship Ramona runs aground in Sweden

The Finnish flagged cargo ship Ramona lies aground on the shore of the small island of Faro, northeast of Gotland, Sweden. The ship with five crew members ran aground early…

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Sweden’s Left Party threatens to topple government over rent reform

Sweden's centrist government came under threat on Friday after the Left Party vowed to bring it down over the prospective abolition of rent controls on new residential housing. The Left…

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Sweden failed to protect elderly from COVID, parliament panel says

Sweden's centre-left minority government, which neverordered a COVID-19 lockdown and relied instead mostly on voluntary curbs, failed in several aspects of its handling of the pandemic, parliament's constitutional committee said.…

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H&M’s online second-hand shop Sellpy launches in 20 more countries

Swedish online second-hand shop Sellpy, which is majority-owned by fashion giant H&M , said on Monday it was opening in 20 more European countries, in a bet demand for sustainable…

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‘Social contagion’ as Sweden sees surge in deadly shootings

Sweden has gone from having one of the lowest rates of gun violence in Europe to having one of the highest, a report said this week, describing what one researcher…

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Sweden’s Handelsbanken to help test central bank digital currency

Sweden's central bank will work with commercial lender Handelsbanken to test how the country's proposed digital currency - the e-krona - could handle payments in the real world, the Riksbank…

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Swedish PM sees “beginning of the end”, eases COVID restrictions next week

Sweden will ease some of its COVID-19 restrictions from June 1 as new cases have fallen sharply in recent weeks, the government said, as it presented a roadmap to open…

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Airline SAS gets $361 million loan guarantee from Denmark, Sweden

Sweden and Denmark said they had agreed to offer ailing airline SAS, in which both countries own stakes, a 3 billion Swedish crown ($361 million) loan guarantee. The COVID-19 pandemic…

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Swedish ‘risk tax’ on banks to apply to lending operations abroad

A controversial proposal to introduce a “risk tax” on Swedish banks is being expanded to cover lender’s operations outside of the country, Sweden’s finance ministry said. The proposed tax, which…

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Sweden’s Evolution bets online casinos will outstrip physical venues

Swedish gambling technology company Evolution is betting online casinos will increasingly replace physical venues and help to maintain its rapid recent expansion. Evolution shares have jumped 170% over the past…

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Sweden registers 3,168 new COVID-19 cases, 15 deaths on Friday

Sweden registered 3,168 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, health agency statistics showed, as the third wave of the pandemic continued to decrease in intensity. The country of 10 million inhabitants…

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Stockholm concert venue renamed in tribute to DJ Avicii

A concert and sports venue in Stockholm has been renamed "Avicii Arena" in tribute to one of Sweden's most successful musical exports, DJ Tim Bergling, who took his own life…

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Skanska says to invest record $476 million in US office development project

Sweden’s Skanska is gearing up for its biggest commercial property development project to date, an office building near Seattle in the United States. The Nordic region’s biggest builder, and one…

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Sweden delays plans to ease COVID-19 rules on some public gatherings

Sweden will delay plans to ease COVID-19 restrictions on some public gatherings, such as football matches, until June 1, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said. The government had said at the…

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Pandemic in Sweden could ebb away in summer, Health Agency says

The third wave of COVID-19 infections in Sweden could ebb away during the summer if citizens continue to follow social distancing recommendations and the vaccination programme proceeds as planned, the…

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Update – Sweden reports 43 deaths from Covid-19, Norway to introduce vaccine certificates

Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, has registered 14,950 new coronavirus cases since Friday, the latest health agency statistics showed. The figure compared with 14,911 cases during the…

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Activist Greta Thunberg says global leaders still in denial over climate

Politicians, including Sweden's leaders, are still in denial over the threat from climate change, environmental activist Greta Thunberg said this week after meeting Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. "We climate…

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Photo Story – Stranded whale on Öland

A young humpback whale stranded by Segerstad Lighthouse on Oeland, outside Sweden's east coast, is being lifted out of the water to be transported to an incineration facility, 03 May…

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Sweden vaccination target pushed forward due to spurning of J&J shots

Sweden has pushed forward its COVID-19 vaccination target by three weeks, the government said on Friday, as the decision to not use Johnson & Johnson vaccine meant supplies were insufficient…

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Ericsson core profit beats forecast, patent fight casts shadow

Sweden's Ericsson on Wednesday reported first-quarter core earnings above market estimates as strong sales of 5G equipment offset a loss of royalty income due to a patent fight with Samsung…

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Electric trucks may soon challenge diesel if charging hurdle cleared, study shows

Electric heavy trucks will soon be able to compete economically with diesel trucks as battery technology rapidly improves, a study by Sweden-based think tank the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) showed.…

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Sweden eases restrictions on people who have had COVID vaccination

STOCKHOLM, April 16 (Reuters) - Sweden will ease restrictions on those, mostly elderly, citizens who have had at least one vaccination shot against COVID-19, the Public Health Agency said on…

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Sweden’s COVID infections among highest in Europe, with ‘no sign of decrease

The rate of new COVID-19 infections in Sweden has jumped to the second-highest in Europe after land-locked San Marino, data showed, as the Scandinavian country which has shunned lockdowns throughout…

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Swedish economy to pick up speed after slow start to year

Sweden's economy will grow faster than previously expected this year, the government said on Monday, despite a third wave of COVID-19 infections that has led to tighter restrictions on society.…

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Sweden to assess EU findings on AstraZeneca shot

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden's Health Agency said on Thursday it would assess over the coming days the EU regulator's findings linking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot to rare blood clots and was…

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Benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh risks: Swedish Medical Products Agency

The Swedish Medical Products Agency said the benefits of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks after the EU drug regulator said it had found a possible link between the…

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Sweden to bring in banks in next stage of e-krona project

Sweden’s central bank will bring in banks in the coming year to test how its proposed digital currency - the e-krona - could handle commercial and retail payments in the…

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Sweden postpones a planned easing of some COVID restrictions as cases surge

Sweden will postpone a planned easing of some COVID restrictions until at least May 3, but tougher measures to get to grips with a surge in new infections are not…

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Sweden says will not meet vaccine target due to delay in deliveries: SVT

Sweden's vaccine coordinator said on Sunday repeated delays of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries meant Sweden would not be able to meet the target of having all adults vaccinated by June 30.…

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Sweden saw lower 2020 death spike than much of Europe

Sweden, which has shunned the strict lockdowns that have choked much of the global economy, emerged from 2020 with a smaller increase in its overall mortality rate than most European…

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Sweden sees highest daily number of COVID cases since December

Sweden, which has rejected lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered its highest number of new cases since the end of last year amid what authorities said was flagging compliance with the…

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Swedish travel ban to Norway and Denmark to end on March 31

Sweden have announced that the travel ban preventing people from Norway and Denmark travelling to country will end on March 31. Mikael Damberg, a government minister, told a news conference…

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Pandemic poses problems for Sweden’s state booze monopoly

On a chilly Saturday in central Stockholm, around 150 people queue on a street, squinting into the low sun, checking their watches and hoping to make it into Systembolaget -…

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‘We need time’: Nordic countries keep AstraZeneca vaccine on hold

Denmark, Sweden and Norway said on Friday they needed more time to decide whether to use AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine while Finland joined them in putting the shots on hold, even…

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Sweden reports 6,781 new COVID-19 cases, 56 deaths, Norway in third wave

Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, registered 6,781 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, health agency statistics showed. The country of 10 million inhabitants registered 56 new deaths, taking…

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H&M sales recover in March as stores reopen after lockdown

Sales at fashion group H&M fell slightly less than expected in the three months through February and rose in the first half of March as pandemic restrictions were eased in…

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Swedish inflation dips in February amid tighter COVID restrictions

The pace of inflation in Sweden slowed in February amid tighter COVID-19 restrictions, data showed on Monday, indicating price pressures are likely to remain restrained for some time to come.…

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Major arms sales flat in 2016-20 for first time in more than a decade

International deliveries of arms were flat in the period 2016-2020, ending more than a decade of increases, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report on Monday.…

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