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Parents appeal for information on urn being carried in suitcase taken from carA Swedish couple have appealed for information about a wooden urn containing their son’s ashes which was stolen while they were on holiday in Cyprus.Police said the urn was inside one of three suitcases taken from the couple’s car within a 20-minute period on Friday while it was parked outside a restaurant...

Deutsche Bahn says activist’s tweet implied she had not been offered a seat on journey homeSwedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been criticised by a German rail firm for what it said was her implication that she had spent a journey without a seat on an overcrowded train.The teenager tweeted a photograph of herself looking pensively out of the window of her German train...

Marie Fredriksson, who as the singer in Roxette was one of the most recognisable voices in 1980s and 90s pop, has died aged 61 following a long illness.The Swedish star achieved global success with Roxette in the 1990s with hits like The Look and It Must Have Been Love, from the film Pretty Woman, but their 1988 power ballad Listen to Your Heart was...

The voice behind It Must Have Been Love had suffered from health problems after undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumourIt Must Have Been Love: Roxette’s power ballad is a masterpiece of painMarie Fredriksson, who as the singer of Roxette was one of the most recognisable voices in 1980s and 90s pop, has died aged 61 following a long illness.Her family said in a...

Anna Lindstedt accused of brokering unauthorised meeting over fate of Gui MinhaiSweden’s former ambassador to Beijing is to go on trial for overstepping her duties by trying to negotiate the release of a Chinese-Swedish dissident held in China.Anna Lindstedt is accused of brokering an unauthorised meeting to try to get Gui Minhai freed, prosecutors said. Continue reading...

Two members of the committee set up to oversee reforms to the scandal-rocked award announce they are leavingTwo members of the external committee set up to oversee reforms to the scandal-hit Nobel prize in literature quit on Monday, with one claiming the work to change the culture in the Swedish Academy was taking too long.The august and mysterious 18-strong panel of the Swedish Academy,...

Labour’s radical programme is what Britain needs, and is a reminder to my country and Europe of what social democracy looks likeThe UK election is probably none of my business. I don’t live here and I can’t vote. And yet I’m so invested in the outcome, I have decided to come over from Sweden to volunteer for the Labour party, handing out flyers and...

Rate among those in same-sex unions falls by 46%, but still ‘worryingly high’, say researchersSuicide rates among those in same-sex relationships have fallen significantly in both Denmark and Sweden since the legalisation of gay marriage, according to a study, although whatever their marital status, homosexual people remain more likely to take their own life.The joint study by the Danish Research Institute for Suicide Prevention...

Spot checks at ferry ports and on trains and vehicles follow attacks in Copenhagen areaDenmark has temporarily reinstated checks at its border crossings with Sweden after a spate of bombings and shootings in the Copenhagen area that authorities say were carried out by members of Swedish gangs.The spot checks at ferry ports and on trains and vehicles crossing the Øresund bridge separating the Danish...

Swedish researchers say proceeding with induction trial would have been unethicalSweden has cancelled a major study of women whose pregnancy continued beyond 40 weeks after six babies died.The research was halted a year ago after five stillbirths and one early death in the babies of women allowed to continue their pregnancies into week 43. Continue reading...

The brothers haven’t seen each other since 2012. Their story highlights the deteriorating plight of Syrian refugeesThe last time all five brothers were together was in August 2012, inside a bomb shelter in southern Syria.It was Ramadan, and each night they broke fast to the sound of artillery and airstrikes pounding their besieged neighbourhood above. Continue reading...

Cavernous docks can shelter warships, with miles of tunnels, offices, and a hospitalSweden’s navy HQ is returning to a vast underground cold war fortress designed to withstand a nuclear attack, in what has been seen as a defensive move against a resurgent Russia.After a 25-year absence, the navy will once again be commanded from beneath billions of tonnes of granite as the country strives...

Chinese women’s rights advocate Guo Jianmei also among quartet of ‘practical visionaries’ recognised in Right Livelihood awardsDays after her powerful speech to the UN climate action summit reverberated around the world, Greta Thunberg has been named among four winners of an international award dubbed the “alternative Nobels”.The Swedish activist, whose emotional address accusing world leaders of betraying her generation went viral this week, was...

Glacier at Kebnekaise’s summit has shrunk amid soaring Arctic temperatures, say scientists Related: Climate emergency to blame for heather crisis – National Trust The mountain peak known to Swedes as their country’s highest can no longer lay claim to the title due to global heating, scientists have confirmed, as the glacier at its summit shrinks amid soaring Arctic temperatures. Continue reading...

Octopus-like Schwann cells that engulf nerves in skin can sense pain, experiments showA new organ involved in the sensation of pain has been discovered by scientists, raising hopes that it could lead to the development of new painkilling drugs.Researchers say they have discovered that the special cells that surround the pain-sensing nerve cells that extend into the outer layer of skin appear to be...

Rapper whose real name is Rakim Mayers given suspended sentence The US rapper A$AP Rocky has been found guilty of assault over his role in a street brawl in Stockholm and given a suspended sentence.The artist, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, had pleaded self-defence and said he had tried to avoid a confrontation with two men who he said were persistently following his...

Charities say scheme will make beggars even more vulnerable and open to exploitationA Swedish town has become the first in the country to introduce an official begging permit, requiring anyone who asks for money in the street to pay SEK250 (£21) upfront for a licence.Valid for three months, the permit can be obtained by filling in a form online or at a police station...

US rapper had been in detention since 3 July over alleged brawl in Swedish capitalA Swedish court has freed A$AP Rocky and two co-defendants until 14 August, when the verdicts in their trial for assault will be announced.The platinum-selling US rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and two members of his entourage have been in detention since 3 July in connection with a...