Swedish schools to put Nato on the curriculum 

Swedish upper secondary school pupils will have to learn about Sweden’s role in the Nato defence alliance, the government said in a press release on Thursday, with the subject included in social studies lessons from the autumn term of next year. 

Pupils will also learn about Sweden’s system of total defence, and international cooperation in foreign and security policy, with Nato’s role included. 

Swedish vocabulary: samhällskunskap – social studies

New ‘orange warning’ for heavy snowfall 

Sweden’s state weather forecaster SMHI has warned of a further round of heavy snowfall in the areas north and northeast of Gothenburg with 5-10 centimetres of snow expected between 8am and 8pm on Thursday. 

The agency has issued a lesser “yellow” warning, meaning some disruption is expected, but less than on Tuesday, when a higher “orange” warning was issued.

The snow is expected to turn into rain on Thursday evening.   

Traffic ground to a halt on several key highways earlier this week, trapping hundreds of motorists. Infrastructure minister Andreas Carlson left an EU meeting in Brussels to return home over the emergency.

Carlson told a press conference late on Wednesday that traffic on most roads was moving again.

Swedish vocabulary: att utfärda – to give out  

Government to spend extra 100 million kronor on car charging stations

The government plans to boosting spending on the Klimatklivet investment fund by 100 million kronor (€8.7 million), with Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari saying she hoped the money would be used to build new charging stations for electric vehicles. 

“That’s the area where we want to pick up the pace. We want to have more charging stations up and down the whole country, so more people can see electric vehicles as an alternative.”  

The government is also planning to increase investment in “valuable natural areas” by 30 million kronor, slightly reversing the 900 million kronor cut made in the budget in 2023. 

Swedish vocabulary: takten – the pace

Swedish bishop named as possible next pope

The Swedish Catholic bishop and cardinal Anders Arborelius is one of three candidates named by the French Le Figaro newspaper as a possible candidate to replace the 87-year-old Pope Francis. 

According to the newspaper, Arborelius has links to “both conservative and progressive circles,” and is “first and foremost a man of prayer but also a noted theologian, committed to ecumenism”.

The fact that he comes from “a very secularized country where Catholicism is in the minority” is described as an advantage.

“This cardinal, who is still not yet particularly well-known, also benefits from a clear charisma, which is something indispensable for a pope.” 

The newspaper also names Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s “foreign minister”, the Hungarian Archbishop Péter Erdö, and the Phillipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as possible candidates. 

Swedish vocabulary: åtnjuta – to have, display, benefit from