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Karlskrona child murder

The Blekinge District Court. Photo: TT

Uncle charged with 8-year-old's death

A man and a woman have been formally charged for fatally beating an 8-year-old girl - a child murder case that has dominated the headlines in Sweden all year. READ

A Roma beggar in Umeå last week. Photo: The Local

Sweden and Romania to discuss begging surge

Romania's Social Affairs and Labour Minister Rovana Plumb has accepted an invitation to Stockholm in January to discuss the rising number of Roma people begging in Sweden's major towns and cities. READ 65 comments

The Local List

The sun sets early in Umeå, but luckily there is still plenty to do. Photo: Umeå2014

Eight things to do when it gets dark in Umeå

After a recent trip to the wild north, The Local's Oliver Gee recommends eight things to do in Umeå when the sun isn't shining. Which at this time of the year, is almost all day. READ 3 comments

Mikhail Vanin, Russia's ambassador in Copenhagen. Photo: TT

SAS plane 'near miss' fears blamed on weed

Russia's ambassador to Denmark has made light of Swedish concerns over a Russian military jet's alleged near-miss with a passenger plane, suggesting Swedish authorities may have smoked too much cannabis. READ 16 comments

Video: Swedish sounds

Can you get your tongue around these tongue twisters? Photo: Shutterstock.

Swedes get their mouths round tongue twisters

'Tis the season for some silly news stories. The Local took to the streets of Stockholm to see how well people could pronounce some of the nation's top tongue twisters. READ

Interview

Melinda Gates talks to The Local. Photo: TT

'Swedes should be proud': Melinda Gates

The Local's blogger Natalia Brzezinski talks to American philanthropist Melinda Gates about why Swedes should be proud of their country, this year's Nobel Prizes and the importance of women having a strong voice. READ 12 comments

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. Photo: TT

Child grills Swedish PM on daylight savings

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven made headlines on Wednesday after responding to a 7-year-old's letter which queried the need for daylight savings' time in Sweden. READ 15 comments

The hot dog is a popular Swedish snack. Photo: TT

Comfort eating craze in Sweden's capital

More than one in ten people living in Stockholm have admitted to comfort eating, amid fears of growing obesity and stress in the city. READ 2 comments

A beach in Cyprus. Photo: TT

Swedish free schools sent profits to Cyprus

Two entrepreneurs behind a major Swedish free school chain avoided paying taxes by moving their profits to Cyprus, it has emerged. READ 11 comments

Around 3,000 seals have died off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Photo: Shutterstock.

Bird flu suspected in Scandinavian seal deaths

An outbreak of bird flu has likely killed about 3,000 seals off the coast of Sweden and Denmark this year, Swedish authorities have announced, raising the alarm a month after Germany. READ 7 comments

Features

Opinion

Photo: Shutterstock

Why it's time to celebrate Sweden's diverse identity

Sweden will never eliminate cultural differences by trying to deny they exist or avoiding discussing them. Now, more than ever, Swedes must embrace them instead, argues Norhan Elhakeem, a Stockholm-based Canadian journalist with Egyptian blood. READ 107 comments

Interview

Swedish film director Ruben Östlund. Photo: TT

'Watch my movie and then get a divorce'

With a Golden Globe nomination under his belt, Director Ruben Östlund talks to The Local about his new movie, why Scandinavia shouldn't follow in Hollywood's footsteps, and why he wants you to get a divorce. READ 10 comments

Opinion

Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Sweden. Photo:Tomas Oneborg/SvD/TT

'All nuclear weapons must be abolished'

The lessons of nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the 1940s must never be forgotten and there should be a united front to ensure all nuclear weapons are decommissioned, says Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallström. READ 69 comments

Video

Tattoo photo: Shutterstock

Why do so many Swedes have tattoos?

Tattoos have become so commonplace in Sweden that Stockholm is now believed to be home to the world's most inked population outside of tribal societies. The Local takes a closer look at the trend. READ 43 comments

Opinion

Uppsala mosque. Photo: TT

'Immigration has to become a political issue'

Sweden's politicians will fuel further segregation and the rise of the nationalist Sweden Democrats if they refuse to develop a new language on immigration, argues Mohammed Amin Kharraki, a teacher and spokesperson for Sweden's Islamic Association. READ 340 comments

More News

Olof Palme was an outspoken international human rights advocate. Photo: TT

Chinese activist wins Swedish rights prize

Chinese pro-democracy activist Xu Youyu, who was among key signatories of a 2008 manifesto seeking sweeping political reforms in China, has won Sweden's Olof Palme human rights prize. READ

Swedes can use the website to report other people's suspicious behaviour. Photo: Shutterstock.

Sweden launches site to fight child sex tourism

Swedish police have launched an internet site to help crack down on Swedes travelling abroad for sex with minors. READ

Video: Light therapy

Dragonskolan in Umeå at 2pm in December. Photo: The Local

Inside Sweden's first 'light therapy' school

Umeå in northern Sweden has just a few hours of light a day during December and a high school in the city has become the first in the country to use solar power to give students light therapy during lessons. The Local’s Maddy Savage went to take a look. READ 10 comments

Police launched an extensive manhunt for the would-be thieves. Photo: TT

Armed trio on the run after botched robbery

UPDATED: At least three masked people are on the run after they tried to break into a currency exchange office in western Sweden using a tractor. READ 2 comments

Selfies were all the rage in 2014 - but what does selfie mean? Photo: Shutterstock.

Swedes ask Google most about floss and selfies

Google has revealed what Swedish people searched for the most during 2014, with everything from mosquito bites, dental floss, and selfies taking top places. READ 3 comments

Swedish coins. Photo: TT

Zero percent interest rate extended in Sweden

Sweden’s Riksbank is keeping its record low key interest rate at zero until at least the second half of 2016, it has announced. READ 19 comments

The town has 22 people aged 100 or older. Photo: Shutterstock.

The Swedish town with the most 100-year-olds

Experts have been left scratching their heads as to why a town in southern Sweden has an unusually high number of centenarians - over 40 times more than the country's national average per capita.READ 7 comments

Photo: TT

Thousands of women in secret Swedish abuse file

Police in Stockholm have been keeping sensitive information about thousands of women who claimed they were being abused or threatened in a secret database for over a decade, it has emerged. READ 33 comments

Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld. Photo: TT/uncredited

Sweden asks UN to reopen dead diplomat file

Sweden has asked the United Nations to reopen an inquiry into the death of Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld, who died in a mysterious plane crash more than 50 years ago. READ 6 comments

Malmö airport. Photo: TT

Asylum seekers arrive in Malmö by private jet

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking after a private plane from Beirut landed at Malmö-Sturup Airport, with ten people on board. READ 41 comments

Read older articles »

From our other editions:

Frame capture from the video uploaded by 'Babsi'. Photo: Tube8

'Angel' sentenced for sex acts film in church

"Believe me, if you see what other people get up to, I'm really an angel," said the young Polish woman under cross-examination in court on Thursday after being charged with making a pornographic video in a church. READ

More than 200 rioters are believed to have taken part in the violence. Photo: Jan Müller/Aurka.com

Zurich riot police tackle vandals wreaking havoc

UPDATED: An estimated 200 masked men went on the rampage in a normally quiet part of Zurich on Friday night, with police forced to fire tear gas and water cannons to gain control of the situation. READ

Photo: DPA

India court blocks Bayer generic drug appeal

An Indian court has rejected German drug giant Bayer's bid to block a generic version of its blockbuster cancer treatment Nexavar by a local drugmaker, a move hailed by activists on Saturday. READ

The reported near-miss occurred in Swedish airspace. Photo: Jeppe Michael Jensen/Scanpix

Copenhagen flight nearly hit by Russian military jet

A Russian military jet nearly collided with a commercial passenger plane that had just taken off from Copenhagen Airport, Danish and Swedish military said on Saturday. READ

Protesters wearing gags gather outside Madrid's congress to protest against Spain's new 'gag law'. GERARD JULIEN / AFP

Spain passes tough new 'anti-protest' law

Spain on Thursday finally passed its new controversial Citizen Security Law which opponents say will severely limit civil liberties in the country. READ

Frenchwoman has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two plumbers. Photo: Plumber photohttp://shutr.bz/1vGRu4V

Frenchwoman guilty of sex attacks on plumbers

A court in France this week handed out a 12-month suspended prison sentence to a woman who sexually assaulted two plumbers, who came to repair the central heating in her house. READ

A total of 182 domestic and international Ryanair flights have been cancelled ahead of the strike. Photo: Ryanair

Flights scrapped ahead of Italy general strike

Ryanair and easyJet are among the airlines to have cancelled hundreds of flights to and from Italy ahead of a national strike on Friday against labour reforms. READ

Leader of the Christian Democrats, Knut Arild Hareide, talks on his mobile on his way to Norway's parliament last month. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB scanpix

Revealed: spy equipment in central Oslo

Spy equipment that can be used to eavesdrop on the mobile phones of politicians and ordinary Norwegians has been discovered in several places in the Oslo area, including close to the country’s parliament, newspaper Aftenposten has revealed. READ