CDE News

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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Norway relaxes COVID restrictions as infections plummet

Norway will begin on Sunday the third major phase of its plan to reopen society from the pandemic as COVID-19 infections continue to decline, Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on…

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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: Denmark to immunize 12-15 year-olds against COVID-19 ahead of winter

Denmark will offer COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 12-15 after the adult population has been inoculated to boost its overall immunity against the virus ahead of the winter, health authorities…

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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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Eriksen says he feels OK, expresses appreciation towards fans for support

Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen posted his first photo since the terrible episode which last Saturday saw him collapse on the ground after a cardiac arrest during a EURO2020 match against…

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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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Denmark says Russian aircraft violated its airspace twice

Denmark's defense ministry said there had been two Russian violations of Danish airspace on Friday near the Baltic Sea island of Bornholm. "(It is) completely unacceptable that Russian planes violate…

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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: Denmark ditches masks

Denmark will ditch the use of masks and allow 9,000 more fans to attend European Championship soccer matches in Copenhagen, its government said on Thursday, under a deal to ease…

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Norway to test first power interconnector to Britain from June 15

Norway will start testing on June 15 its first power interconnector with Britain, North Sea Link (NSL), Norwegian transmission system operator Statnett said. The testing of the cable follows the…

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Remains of missing Kurdish-Iranian baby found in Norway identified

Police in Norway have said the body of a baby found on the country's coast is that of a missing 15-month old who died in the English Channel last year.…

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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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U.N. refugee agency scorns Denmark’s law on asylum claims

The U.N. refugee agency has voiced strong opposition to a law passed by Denmark's parliament that would allow processing of claims lodged by asylum seekers outside Europe, calling it an…

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UPDATED: Britain in post-Brexit trade deals with Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein

Britain has reached post-Brexit trade agreements with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, the countries said on Friday. The three countries, which are part of the European Economic Area allowing them access…

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U.S. says it stopped spying on allies in 2014, says Norway PM

Norway's prime minister Erna Solberg said on the United States had given assurances it had stopped spying on its allies in 2014, after Oslo launched a protest against the practice.…

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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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Denmark passes law to process asylum seekers outside Europe

Denmark on Thursday passed a law enabling it to process asylum seekers outside Europe, drawing anger from human rights advocates, the United Nations and the European Commission. The wealthy Scandinavian…

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Ten years after Breivik attacks, survivors seek to confront far-right extremism

Nearly 10 years after Anders Behring Breivik tried to kill her on the Norwegian island of Utoeya, Astrid Hoem is back there to explain to a group of teenagers how she ran for her…

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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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UPDATED: Germany seeks clarification on report U.S. spied on Merkel

The German government is following up on a report that the United States used a partnership with Denmark to spy on senior officials of neighbouring countries, including German Chancellor Angela…

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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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Norway unemployment drops as pandemic fades

Norwegian registered unemployment fell to 3.3% in May, the country's labour agency (NAV) said on Friday, down from 4.0% in April as many COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and private-sector hiring…

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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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Iceland takes first step to reduce bank ownership after 2008 collapse

Iceland intends by next month to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of wholly state-owned Islandsbanki, taking the first step to reduce its significant ownership in the sector. Islandsbanki was…

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Booming Danish housing market raises concerns- central bank

A booming Danish housing market is raising concern about bank credit risks linked to mortgage loans, and lending rules might need to be tightened, the central bank said on Thursday.…

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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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Norwegian Air, saved from collapse, reinvents as regional carrier

Norwegian Air emerged from six months of bankruptcy protection on Wednesday with a smaller fleet and its debt almost wiped out but also facing stronger competition and lingering uncertainty wrought…

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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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UPDATED: Finnish finance minister Vanhanen steps down to give position to party leader Saarikko

Finnish Finance Minister Matti Vanhanen will step down and be replaced next week by Annika Saarikko, the leader of the Centre Party who currently serves as science and culture minister,…

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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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More Norwegian business leaders predict rising profits, survey shows

Some 37.2% of Norwegian business leaders now believe their companies will see rising profits in the next 12 months compared to 34.8% of those who were asked three months ago,…

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Norway to further ease COVID-19 restrictions from May 27

Norway will take its next major step in unwinding COVID-19 restrictions on May 27, allowing larger groups of people to meet and the public serving of alcohol until midnight, Prime…

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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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Blinken, Lavrov agree to work together despite differences

Top diplomats from the Biden administration and Russia in their first in-person meeting on Wednesday stressed that the former Cold War foes have serious differences in how they view world…

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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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UPDATE – Norway drops AstraZeneca vaccine, J&J remains on hold

Norway will not resume use of the COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca, and a decision on whether to include Johnson & Johnson shots in its mass inoculation scheme remains on…

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UPDATED: Norway should exclude J&J, AstraZeneca from COVID vaccination scheme, says commission

Norway should exclude the COVID-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson from its inoculation programme due to a risk of rare but harmful side-effects, a government-appointed commission said…

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COVID-19 nasal swab test complications extremely rare

Severe complications associated with nasal swab tests for COVID-19 are very rare, a new study found. Researchers in Finland looked at six months of hospital emergency department data in a…

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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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Denmark, Norway study finds slightly raised blood clot rates after Astra COVID shot

A study in Denmark and Norway has found slightly increased rates of vein blood clots among people who have had a first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, including clots in…

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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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Denmark to allow schools and indoor facilities to reopen

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will allow elementary schools to fully reopen and a range of indoor activities to resume this week, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Indoor activities that…

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Denmark says to stop using Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shots

COPENHAGEN, May 3 (Reuters) - Denmark's health authority said on Monday that the country will no longer use Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 shots as part of its vaccination programme. The…

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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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Vaccination to pave way for rapid growth in Nordic economies

The Nordic region will see rapid economic growth this year and next as it recovers from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Reuters poll of economists found. Denmark, Sweden…

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Norway to speed up first COVID-19 jabs by delaying second dose

Norway said it will extend the time between first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines to 12 from six weeks for most adults under the age of 65 in order…

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Norwegian Air eyes pre-pandemic European travel demand in 2023-24

Budget airline Norwegian Air expects demand for European short-haul travel to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 or 2024, it said as it presented a first-quarter pretax loss of 1.19…

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