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TODAY IN SWEDEN

Today in Sweden: a roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

Today in Sweden: a roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Centre Party leader Annie Lööf arriving at parliament for the party leader debates. Lööf tested positive for Covid-19 later that day. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

Sweden pledges to compensate homeowners for record-high energy bills

In a press conference yesterday, Finance Minister Mikael Damberg and Energy Minister Khashayar Farmanbar announced plans to offer compensation to homeowners after historically high energy bills this winter.

The compensation will be based on consumption rather than income, with the maximum offered to those using more than 2,000 kWh per month. The maximum amount of cash back will be 2,000 kronor per month ($223), so it will be capped at a total of 6,000 kronor.

Households that consume less electricity than 2,000 kWh per month will also be able to get money back, but not as much. The exact amount will be based on a sliding scale, but it is not clear exactly how it will work.

Here is what we know so far about who will benefit.

Swedish vocabulary: elpriskompensation – compensation for electricity prices

Centre Party Leader Annie Lööf tests positive for Covid-19

Annie Lööf announced that she had tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday evening via Twitter, saying: “I feel completely symptom-free, but tested positive this evening via a quick test.”

She further explained that she chose to test herself after someone who she had met at the end of last week began to show symptoms and tested positive. 

“I am following the recommendations in place, isolating myself and my family, and will take a PCR test as soon as there are available times. As I said, I’m doing fine and have no symptoms, but I trust the quick test and am limiting my contacts to my family.”

Lööf was in parliament earlier on Wednesday for the first party leader debate of the year.

Swedish vocabulary: snabbtest – quick test

Omicron may be the way out of the pandemic, experts say

Omicron is more infectious than earlier variants, but does not appear to cause as serious illness.

Magnus Gisslén, professor in infectious diseases at Gothenburg University, told SVT’s Morgonstudion today that he believes infection rates will reach a peak within a few weeks, and that Omicron will contribute towards achieving herd immunity.

“When enough people have been infected, and many who have been vaccinated have had minor cases, infection rates will decrease as the virus will not have as many people to infect,” he told SVT.

“I believe that we should reevaluate this illness soon, and that it should no longer be classified as a danger to public health,” he said.

Niklas Arnberg, professor of virology at Umeå University believes that the term ‘herd immunity’ has changed during the pandemic.

“Vaccines don’t protect as well from Omicron, which is extremely infectious. We are going to need to live with the virus, and cannot immunise it away,” Arnberg said to SVT Morgonstudion. “I don’t think we will need restrictions by late spring, but I can’t speculate an exact date”.

Swedish vocabulary: flockimmunitet – herd immunity

Man accused of burning down Gävle goat to appear in court

Proceedings start today against the man accused of burning down Gävle’s famous (or infamous?) Christmas goat, SVT reports.

The 13-metre-high giant straw goat in the Swedish east coast town of Gävle is famous around the world for being set on fire (which, just to be clear, is illegal!). Since its inception in 1966, the Gävlebock has burned down 30 times. Prior to 2020, it last burned down in 2016.

Security footage of the goat from early on the morning of December 17th shows a man wearing a grey hoodie crawling through the double fencing around the goat and setting fire to it. The face of the person setting fire to the goat is partially visible in the video footage.

The suspect denies involvement in the crime.

Swedish vocabulary: bockbrännaren – the goat burner

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TODAY IN SWEDEN

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

'Sensational' silver treasure hoard found on Swedish island, diplomatic immunity protects driver who abandoned car on Stockholm railway, and getting a Swedish passport is about to become more expensive. Here's the latest news.

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

‘Sensational’ silver treasure hoard found at Swedish church

Two skeletons and a rare silver treasure hoard were recently found during an archaeological examination of the ground at the Brahe Church on Visingsö, an island in Lake Vättern north of Jönköping, conducted before workers were supposed to install pipes for geothermal heating.

A total of 170 so-called silver bracteates were found in the grave, next to the left foot of one of the skeletons. Their existence was previously unknown and they are thought to be from the years 1150 to 1180, a period from which few similar finds have been made in Sweden. 

“It’s a wholly sensational find which will change the early medieval history of coins in Götaland,” said Eeva Jonsson from Sweden’s Royal Coin Cabinet in a statement. 

It’s not yet known why the person, who appears to have been a man in his early 20s, was buried together with so much treasure. Burying people together with money or other items was common in Sweden in pre-historic times (pre-historic times refer to the time before there were written sources recording history, and in Sweden the era lasted until the 11th century) but was unusual in Christian graves.

Swedish vocabulary: silver coins – silvermynt

Driver of car left on Stockholm railway protected by diplomatic immunity

Police have identified the suspected driver of a van which in early March drove two kilometres along a railway in Stockholm before being abandoned on the tracks, but they have diplomatic immunity and cannot be charged.

The investigation has now been closed, reports the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

The driver was originally suspected of gross carelessness in traffic, endangering other people and running away from the scene of a traffic accident.

The van belonged to the Ethiopian embassy, which apologised for the incident at the time.

Swedish vocabulary: a driver – en förare

Sweden set to raise the price of passports

From the start of May, the cost of getting a Swedish passport will increase from 400 kronor to 500 kronor.

The government writes in a press statement that the police authority’s passport services are funded by fees, so the price paid by passport applicants is meant to cover the cost of providing them.

Swedish vocabulary: a passport – ett pass

IN STATS: What do new figures tell us about violent crime in Sweden?

With 121 violent homicides recorded, 2023 was the worst year for murder in Sweden since 2020, when 124 people were killed in violent attacks, continuing a rising trend seen since 2021. The number of violent killings was up 4 percent on 2022, when 116 people were killed.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that this is still lower than the 129 people who died of “murder, manslaughter or violent attack” in Sweden back in 1989, when the population was nearly 20 percent lower.

When it comes to the gang shootings that have dominated headlines in Sweden in recent years, there were signs of improvement, with 53 people shot dead in 2023, down from a record 63 in 2022.

As The Local’s Nordic editor Richard Orange reports in this article, however, it’s hardly great news, as 2023 still witnessed the second highest number of deadly shootings ever recorded in Sweden. 

Swedish vocabulary: a murder – ett mord

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