High-profile gang crime trial opens in Stockholm
Thirty people face charges in one of Stockholm’s largest court cases linked to gang crime. The trial gets under way today, and is set to run for 35 days in total.
According to a preliminary investigation of 15,000 pages, people in the so-called “Vårby network” – named after the suburb south-west of Stockholm – face a series of charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping, robbery, weapon and narcotics offences, and using explosives. In April the court will hear the allegations of attempted murder of a 29-year-old man, and in May the charges against famous Swedish rapper Yasin, who is accused of conspiring to kidnap another well-known rap artist.
Swedish vocabulary: preliminary investigation – förundersökning
When do I need to change my car’s tyres?
Swedish law states that all cars must be equipped with winter tyres between December 1st and March 31st if the weather conditions require it, so you are legally permitted to change to summer tyres – however beware of sudden cold snaps this time of the year.
You are allowed to keep using non-studded winter tyres for now, but if you have studded tyres you will need to get them changed by April 15th – the last day on which studded tyres are allowed on Swedish roads (and some roads ban them all year round).
Read more about Sweden’s winter driving rules in The Local’s guide.
Swedish vocabulary: tyre – däck
Cold snap leaves Swedes wondering what happened to spring
A sudden cold snap on Easter Monday caused a spate of traffic accidents in Sweden. Several trucks and cars were involved in a pile-up on the E20 road in the Örebro region, but there were no reports of injuries, writes the TT news agency. And on the E4 southbound from Tönnebro to Gävle, cars were banned from overtaking due to an expected onslaught of Easter travellers heading back south from the northern mountains.
It’s not uncommon for the April weather to change suddenly in Sweden, ranging from sunny spring weather one day to snow and hail the next. But for anyone worried about what happened to spring, know that temperatures are expected to rise again in the coming days.
Swedish vocabulary: April weather – aprilväder
Church of Sweden criticises language tests for would-be citizens
The Church of Sweden has commented on a government proposal to introduce language and civic tests for citizenship applicants, as part of a consultation round during which Swedish authorities, organisations and indeed the general public are invited to give their opinion.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT writes that the Church has criticised the proposal, arguing that a language test risks increasing segregation and would particularly impact women and immigrants with lower levels of education.
“I am an immigrant myself and know how important it is to learn the language. At the same time you can’t ignore the fact that people have different starting points,” Archbishop Antje Jackelén, who grew up in Germany, told SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: language – språk
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