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Outdoor drinking in Stockholm's Medborgarplatsen. Photo: Connie Fridh/Image Bank Sweden

Spike in 'continental' drinking in Sweden

Alcohol consumption is on the rise in Sweden according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD). READ

Stockholm's Pride Festival in 2014. Photo: TT

Sweden scores top spot for gays in Scandinavia

Sweden has scored highest in Scandinavia and fourth in Europe in the latest review of how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people experience human rights across the continent, by campaign group ILGA-Europe. READ

Migrants arriving in Sicily last year. Photo: TT

Sweden backs migrant ‘sharing’ EU proposals

Plans to force wealthy European nations such as the UK to take in more refugees have been backed by Sweden, which currently takes in more asylum seekers per capita than any other EU nation. READ

Two unlikely newlyweds have become Sweden's favourite sweethearts. Photo: Helena Wahlman/imagebank.sweden.se

Meet Sweden's oldest newlyweds (probably)

Sweden has gone crazy for two lovebirds who prove it is never too late to find love. Ingrid Jonsson, 88, told The Local on Tuesday how she and Håkan Andersson, 94, tied the knot after almost two decades together and are thought to be the oldest newlyweds in the land. READ

Shoppers in Malmö. Photo: TT

Push to up prices in Swedish stores stalls

Consumer prices failed to go up in April, despite a package of measures designed to boost inflation, increase spending at Swedish tills and grow the nation's economy. READ

Ikea has warned two of its children's safety gate models could pose a safety risk. Photo: Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman/SvD/TT

Ikea recalls safety gate after 'children hurt'

Swedish furniture giant Ikea recalled one of its world famous safety gates on Tuesday after reports that several children had been injured falling down stairs. READ

Part of the facility on Langøya. Photo: Noah

Sweden dumps toxic ash on Norway island

Sweden has dumped than 500,000 tonnes of toxic ash from waste incinerators on a small island just outside Oslo, enraging Norwegian environmentalists. READ

Opinion

The Swedish flag. Photo: Fredrik Broman/Image Bank Sweden

'Cutting immigration could limit casual racism'

Sweden should stop accepting foreigners who aren't prepared to adopt the country's values, argues writer Mark Fahmy. His comments come as the EU mulls introducing a quota system designed to ensure asylum applications are shared more evenly among member states. READ

A Neo Nazi rally in Stockholm in 2014. Photo: TT

Swedish neo-Nazi party crumbles as support falls

A Swedish neo-Nazi party, the Party of the Swedes, has decided to bow out of politics after membership dropped following last year's elections. READ

Smoke rises after an airstrike by the US led coalition against Isis in Ramadi, Iraq. Photo: AP Photo

Sweden pledges extra aid for war-torn Iraq

Sweden has earmarked 70 million kronor ($8.44 million) in bilateral aid to Iraq in the coming year, the Nordic country's development aid minister revealed on Monday. READ

Features

My Swedish Career

Sayuri Hayashi is a trained pianist. Photo: Private

'I find inspiration in beautiful Swedish nature'

It was an interest in Nordic music that brought Japanese composer Sayuri Hayashi to Sweden – and love which convinced her to stay. In this week's My Swedish Career feature, she tells The Local of how the nature around Stockholm inspires her music. READ

Opinion

Paul Connolly (right) with his family. Photo: Nina Don

'Will UK election force us Brits from Sweden?'

There's already much debate in Sweden over whether the UK could leave the EU - if a referendum promised by the new Conservative government goes ahead. The Local's Northern Sweden reporter Paul Connolly is worried British immigrants like him could be forced home - but he's now keener than ever to stay. READ

The Local Recipes

Swedish nettle soup (nässelsoppa). Photo: John Duxbury

How to make delicious Swedish nettle soup

Packed with flavour and nutrition, traditional nettle soup (nässelsoppa) is a well-known sign of spring in Sweden. It is easy to make and works great as a starter. READ

Students in Sweden. Photo: Sofia Sabel/Image Bank Sweden

Push to stream foreign media sites in Sweden

Music and video streaming sites such as the BBC iPlayer, could become legally available for expats living in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe if EU officials get their way, while more Swedish media content may become accessible to foreigners. READ

The Local List

Medieval town Ystad is located in southern Sweden. Photo: Shutterstock

Six cute Swedish towns you've never heard of

The streets of Stockholm and Gothenburg are often jam-packed with tourists, but further afield there are plenty of adorable Swedish towns you've probably never heard of, but which all offer some unique experiences. READ

More News

The Singing Sailor Underwater Defence System. Photo: bsmart.se/SPAS

Singing sailor to scare off Russian submarines

A Swedish peace society has come up with a new way of fighting off Russian submarines in the Stockholm archipelago: a subsurface sonar system called 'The Singing Sailor', which sends out Morse code and features the message "Welcome to Sweden. Gay since 1944". READ

Photo: Spanish National Police.

Police catch 'Swedish church plunderer'

The Spanish National Police said on Monday that they had nabbed a man accused of snatching dozens of religious objects from Swedish churches. READ

Sofia Hellqvist, left, with Sweden's Princess Madeleine and the youngest member of the royal family, Princess Leonore. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Could Sweden get a new princess this summer?

Sweden is being gripped by royal fever as this summer's wedding party moves closer, with one Swedish tabloid reporting on Monday that Prince Carl Philip's bride-to-be, former reality TV star Sofia Hellqvist, is to be offered the title of Princess of Sweden. READ

Not the raspberries. Photo:TT

Frozen berries confirmed as deadly bug source

Imported frozen raspberries used in a Sunday dessert at an elderly care home in southern Sweden have been confirmed as the source of a vomiting bug which led to the deaths of three pensioners and caused more than seventy people to fall ill. READ

Julian Assange

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Photo: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Swedish court rejects Assange arrest appeal

Sweden's highest court has rejected a bid by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to overturn the arrest warrant against him for sexual assault allegations, which means he could yet be sent to the Nordic country for questioning. READ

A lake in the Östersund region where the rescue happened. Photo: Tina Stafren/Image Bank Sweden

Hero Swedish pensioner in dramatic lake rescue

Pensioner Stig Stolt, 77, has made headlines after he rushed to save a group of people whose boat had capsized in cold water in central Sweden. READ

Presented by NaturalCycles

Photo: Shutterstock

Expat women wake up to natural birth control

Cross-border love knows no boundaries. The Local catches up with three women in three countries who’ve discovered a Swedish natural birth control app that can keep up with the demands of long-distance love and moving abroad. READ

Åsa Romson ahead of the debate on Sunday. Photo: TT

Green leader 'sorry' for Auschwitz analogy

UPDATED: Green party co-spokesperson Åsa Romson has apologized after calling Roma people “zigenare” (gypsies) as well as comparing the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean to the Holocaust. READ

One of the family members fainted during the row. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Swedish police called over airport luggage row

A dispute that erupted over a family’s refusal to pay for excess luggage at a check-in counter at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport on Sunday spiralled out of control to the point that police had to be called to the scene to try to mediate. READ

The burglar alarm didn't help much in this case. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/Scanpix

Security firm red-faced after address miss

Thieves targeting a farm in southwestern Sweden were over the weekend left to loot the property in peace after the security firm alerted to the burglary turned up at the wrong address. READ

Read older articles »

From our other editions:

Photo: Fire Service

Train crash leaves one dead and eight injured

A head-on collision by two local trains in Austria left one of the drivers dead and eight people seriously hurt on Wednesday, emergency services said. READ

All victims are believed to be adults. Photo: Michael Buholzer/ AFP

Shooting in Switzerland leaves five dead

UPDATED: A Swiss man killed three in-laws and a neighbour in a town near Zurich before turning his gun on himself, police said on Sunday, sending shockwaves through the normally tranquil nation. READ

Elections in the UK

Cameron's victory was met with scepticism in Germany. Photo: DPA

UK election puts Germany in the spotlight

German politicians and commentators confronted the reality that Germany would have to take an even more dominant role in Europe on Friday after David Cameron's Conservative party achieved a surprise victory in the British general election. READ

$First Danish fracking site shut down by authorities$

Total's shale gas exploration has been stopped. Photo: Cathrine Ertmann/Scanpix

First Danish fracking site shut down by authorities

UPDATED: Total's shale gas exploration in northern Denmark has been stopped over the use of a non-approved chemical. READ

The photo, uploaded to Instagram, has provoked anger in Spain. Photo: lapelirrojah_delbarriooh/Instagram

Fury over Instagram smoking baby photo

A photograph of a baby smoking a cigarette uploaded to a popular social networking site has caused controversy in Spain. READ

The idea of giving birth on a plane would be most mothers' worst nightmare. Photo: Doug/Flickr

It's a boy! Baby born on Air France flight to Paris

An Air France plane touched down in Paris on Tuesday with one extra passenger on board than when it took off, thanks to the help from a doctor who luckily happened to be on the flight. READ

Fiumicino blaze

An employee block the access to Terminal 3 at Rome's Fiumicino international airport. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

Chaos after fire in Rome airport terminal

UPDATED: Dozens of flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers had their travel plans wrecked Thursday after a fierce fire partially destroyed a terminal at the city's Fiumicino airport. READ

Arnulf Øverland, who in 1933 was the last person to be prosecuted for blasphemy in Norway. He was acquitted. Photo: Aage Storløkken/NTB Scanpix

Norway ends blasphemy law after Hebdo attack

Norway has scrapped its longstanding blasphemy law, meaning it is now legal to mock the beliefs of others, in a direct response to January’s brutal attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. READ

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