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Larkspur Landing, in California, where Elisabeth Martinsson was last seen. Photo: Pedro Xing. Licensed under CC0 via Wikimedia Commons

Bones of missing Swede confirmed in US town

US coroners have officially identified the skeletal remains of a 21-year-old Swedish student who went missing in California over three decades ago and have relaunched a murder investigation. READ

The chief executive of Stockholm's public transport group SL, Anders Lindström, has resigned. Photo: Annika af Klercker/Svenska Dagbladet

Stockholm transport boss resigns over theft

The head of Stockholm's public transport group, SL, has stepped down a fortnight after he was fined by a Hong Kong court for stealing an expensive designer credit card holder in an airport store. READ

The amber rock was in fact a large piece of trotyl, pictured. Photo: Daniel Grohmann

Swedish amber rock was Second World War bomb

A two-kilo rock handed to a museum in southern Sweden by a fisherman who thought it was a piece of amber, has turned out to be a huge Second World War bomb. READ

The Swedish women's national football team. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

Sweden ladies red-faced over infectious 'clap' tag

Swedish is a peculiar language, and translating expressions into English can be tricky, as most expats know. The women's national football team got a taste of this on Tuesday, when their international slogan inadvertently encouraged fans to spread gonorrhoea around Sweden. READ

A Swedish paper has compared pupils' national test scores to their individual grades. Photo: Annette Friberg/SCANPIX

Does Sweden mark down foreigners' children?

Children in Sweden with foreign-born parents appear to get lower scores in national exams than from their own class teachers, research by a major Swedish daily newspaper suggests. READ

Fewer people are being sent to prison in Sweden. Photo: Fredrik Persson/SCANPIX

Sweden has fewest new prisoners in six decades

Fewer people were sent to prison in Sweden in 2014 than in any other year since the 1950s, according to new figures from Sweden’s Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården). READ

25/07 Swedish inmates to receive digital tablets »
10/01 Swedish jails empty despite crime rise »
24/02 Prisoner numbers fall in Sweden »

An SFI class in Stockholm. Photo: TT

Asylum seekers face ‘years’ without Swedish

Sweden’s commitment to give free Swedish classes to all asylum seekers is failing, according to the Red Cross, which says that too many are being forced to wait “several years” before they can attend lessons. READ

A Russian military long range bomber aircraft. Photo: TT

Russia exercise parallels Sweden war simulation

Russian military forces have launched an unexpected huge military exercise, which is taking place as Sweden continues to host thousands of troops from nine countries for a similar war games simulation. READ

Opinion

A very Swedish coffee break. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT

'Swedes need to ditch cakes at coffee time'

Grabbing a cake and a coffee at least once a day is one of Sweden's best loved traditions and even has a special name: 'fika'. But Swedish medical student Haroon Bayani is calling on Swedish nationals and foreigners alike to stop reaching for sweet treats in the workplace. READ

The Swedish state owns two Pirate Bay domain names after a court ruling. Photo: Marc Femenia/SCANPIX

Pirate Bay founder to appeal domain ruling

One of the Swedish Pirate Bay founders will appeal a court ruling to let the state seize two domains used by the controversial file-sharing site, his lawyer has told a Swedish daily. READ

Features

My Swedish Career

Joshua Goddard has visited all of Europe's countries. Photo: Private

'Stockholm is the prettiest city in Europe'

In this week's My Swedish Career feature, we meet a Kiwi teacher who relocated to Stockholm and became a semi-professional globetrotter. The Local speaks to Joshua Goddard just after he completed his grand tour of Europe. READ

Opinion

2.2 million Brits live in another EU country. 2.3 million people from elsewhere in the EU live in the UK. Photo: Charles Clegg.

Give us a vote: we've got most to lose if UK quits

Brits in the rest of the EU should all be given a vote in the country’s upcoming referendum - as should Europeans who live in the UK. We’re the ones with most to lose, argues The Local's managing editor James Savage. READ

Interview

Sweden's foreign minister Margot Wallström. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

'Serious blow' to EU if UK leaves says minister

Two months after one of Sweden's biggest diplomatic disputes in decades, foreign minister Margot Wallström is ready to look to the future. In an exclusive interview with The Local, she discusses Sweden's strong stance on the Mediterranean migrant crisis and why she wants the UK to remain in the EU. READ

The Local Recipes

Crispy baked asparagus. Photo: John Duxbury

How to make crispy Swedish asparagus

Asparagus season is upon us. Swedes love this green vegetable, so what better way to celebrate than with some crispy asparagus baked with traditional Swedish cheese. Food writer John Duxbury shares his recipe with The Local. READ

Interview

The problem is not confined to Sweden. Here Severine Ali Mehenni holds pictures of her daughter Sahra who left France to join jihadists. Photo: AP/TT

Why Swedish girls are leaving home for Isis

More girls and women than ever before are leaving Sweden to fight with terrorist groups like Isis. The Local speaks to terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp from the Swedish Defence University about what’s luring them to leave one of the safest countries in the world to wage jihad. READ

More News

An Ikea store in Moscow, Russia. Photo: AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel

Russian veterans in Nazi attack on Swedish Ikea

A group of Moscow veterans has lashed out at Ikea, accusing the Swedish furniture giant of deliberately destroying war memorials in a move to help Nazi ideology take hold in Russia. READ

Brexit

Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged that Britain will hold a referendum on the EU. Photo: AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis

Brits in Sweden will get to vote in EU referendum

British nationals who have been living in Sweden for less than 15 years will be allowed to vote in the EU referendum, while most citizens from other EU countries who are living in the UK will have no say on whether the nation in the European Union, the British government has announced. READ

Many foreign professionals struggle to find work in Sweden. Photo: Lena Granefelt/imagebank.sweden.se

Sweden's bid to speed foreigners into work

A new fast-track scheme's been proposed to help foreign skilled workers find employment more quickly in Sweden. The plans, which were presented by the Swedish government on Monday, could come into effect within a year. READ

Royal Wedding

Avicii performing in Stockholm in 2014. Photo: TT

Avicii confirms DJ set at Sweden's royal wedding

Sweden's most famous DJ has confirmed he is set to play at the wedding of Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist next month after befriending King Carl XVI Gustaf's son in Ibiza last year. READ

An aircraft preparing for the challenge. Photo: Försvarsmakten (Swedish Armed Forces)

Sweden hosts giant global 'war' air challenge

The Arctic Challenge Exercise (ACE 2015) is taking place in northern Sweden with more than 3600 military staff from nine countries practising how they might work together during war. READ

The town Västervik in Småland where the fall occurred. Photo: Västervik.com

Hero neighbour rescues young boy in window fall

A six-year-old boy who fell out of a third floor apartment’s window in Västervik in southern Sweden was saved by a neighbour. READ

Eurovision 2015

Måns Zelmerlöw is greeted by happy fans at Arlanda airport. Photo: TT

Eurovision winner Måns celebrates with pizza

UPDATED: Sweden's Eurovision 2015 winner arrived back in Stockholm on Sunday where he was met by delirious crowds, before spending the evening with a pizza and his pet dog. READ

Istanbul photo: Shutterstock

Swedish woman shot dead at Istanbul club

UPDATED: The shooter suspected of having killed a Swedish woman outside a night club in Turkey on Saturday night is still at large, Istanbul police have said. READ

Police outside the Kista Galleria in northern Stockholm on Sunday. Christine Olsson / TT

Stockholm gold store hit by masked raiders

A gold shop in a mall in Kista in northern Stockholm has been robbed by several masked men. The robbers beat staff, grabbed gold and then fled in a car. READ

Stop rape photo: Shutterstock

'Rape worse in Sweden than India', says Gandhi

India's women's minister Maneka Gandhi says that Sweden has worse problems with rape than India. READ

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From our other editions:

Photo: Andrew Nash/Wikimedia

Man dead after fatal shooting on Vienna tram

One man was killed and another seriously injured in a shooting on a tram car in Vienna on Sunday evening. READ

Photo: Sempachseetri

Four Swiss bathing areas 'unfit' for swimmers

Three beaches in Lausanne by the shores of Lake Geneva and an area of the Rhine River in Kaiseraugst in the canton of Aargau have water unfit for swimming, a new European Environment Agency (EEA) study says. READ

Photo: Polizei Bayern

Police seize tiny lamb from Munich brothel

Police in Munich raided a brothel after it was reported that a prostitute there possessed contraband. During their search they found marijuana, other narcotics... and a three-week-old lamb. READ

The Local List

Their love of bikes and the Danish flag make the list, but what else? Photo: Colourbox

My Danish habits that foreigners just don't get

Do you find the Danes a bit weird? The Local's Nick Bojesen Jensen, who has just returned to Denmark after years abroad, lists ten Danish traits that leave his foreign friends bemused. READ

Television sensation Sister Lucia appearing at a campaign meeting in Barcelona on May 20th. Photo: Josep Lago/AFP

Nuns defy Vatican to follow political calling

A couple of Catalan nuns are defying the Vatican and even the Spanish government by throwing their wimples into Spain's political arena. READ

How many of these unforgettable streets have YOU seen? Photo: Loïc Lagarde/Flickr

The ten Paris streets you just have to walk down

Paris is best explored on foot - so we asked the experts at Localers walking tours to come up with a list of the most unmissable streets in the French capital. See how many you have walked along. (No, the Champs Elysées is not one of them). READ