Defence

The following articles have been tagged with "Defence":

Republicans call for elk to dethrone cash king

Society: 16 Mar 10
The Swedish Republican Association has called on the central bank to ditch the royals on the country's coins and bank notes in favour of majestic beasts and giants of science and literature. READ »

Student expresses regret over massacre threat

National: 16 Mar 10
A 33-year-old man arrested in connection with a massacre threat at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm on Monday has expressed "deep regret" over his actions, as a wave of copycat threats spread across the country. READ »

Sahlin seeks clarification on Sweden's NATO ties

National: 16 Mar 10
Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin has demanded clarification over Sweden's relationship to the NATO military alliance, accusing the government of moving towards full membership. READ »

Man held over university massacre threat

National: 15 Mar 10
A man has been arrested for threatening a student massacre at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. READ »

Irish police foil plot to kill Swedish cartoonist

National: 9 Mar 10
Seven Muslims were arrested by Irish police on Tuesday on suspicions of conspiracy to murder a Swedish cartoonist who drew the prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog. READ »

Government opposes plan to scale down domestic defence

National: 7 Mar 10
A squabble evidently is in the making between the government and Swedish Armed Forces, that is calling for reduced spending on home defence. READ »

Mounting costs for royal wedding

National: 7 Mar 10
Royal events can be expensive. A case in point is the wedding this summer of Crown Princess Victoria to Daniel Westling. So far, costs of 80 million kronor ($11.4 million) have been made known. READ »

Swedish Armed Forces cuts troops and bases

National: 6 Mar 10
The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) has proposed to scale down the country's domestic defences, closing at least one air force base, eliminating one troop regiment and halving training resources for home defences. READ »

Investor buys big in defence concern Saab

Business & Money: 5 Mar 10
The Wallenberg-family controlled firm Investor has purchased 11.2 million b-shares, 10.2 percent of the capital, in defence concern Saab. The price tag comes in at 1.1 billion kronor ($150 million). READ »

Swedish rapper gets life for Hollywood killing

National: 5 Mar 10
A Los Angeles court on Thursday sentenced 35-year-old Swedish hip-hop artist David Moses Jassy, aka Monopoly, to life imprisonment for the road rage murder of a jazz pianist in Hollywood in November 2008. READ »

Bildt and Miliband chide EU foreign chief

Politics: 4 Mar 10
The foreign ministers of Sweden and Britain joined forces on Thursday in directing a sharp rebuke at Baroness Catherine Ashton over a lack of transparency in the recruitment process for EU diplomats. READ »

Swedish weapons exports on the rise

National: 3 Mar 10
Sweden sold weapons and military equipment to the value of 13.5 billion kronor ($1.9 billion) in 2009, up 7 percent on the previous year, according to figures released on Wednesday. READ »

Ghostbuster Swedes bag Belarus win

Sport: 19 Feb 10
Reigning Olympic champions Sweden saw off the challenge of Belarus on Friday, eight years on from a defeat at the hands of the same opponents that still haunts the men in blue and yellow. READ »

Sweden beat Germany in hockey opener

Sport: 18 Feb 10
Sweden opened their Olympic hockey title defence with a 2-0 victory over Germany on Wednesday with goals from Mattius Öhlund and Henrik Lundqvist. READ »

Swedish officers reported for 'force feeding' conscripts

National: 16 Feb 10
A lieutenant and a captain at the Air Combat Training School in Uppsala have been reported to military authorities for ordering young conscripts to eat food in humiliating circumstances. READ »

Defence firm Saab returns to profitability

National: 14 Feb 10
Saab Automobile has been losing money for years. But the separate Saab military products company is posting nice profits, though not quite meeting market expectation. READ »

Liberals push for more Afghanistan troops

National: 12 Feb 10
The Liberal Party has argued that the Swedish contingent in Afghanistan is understaffed and wants the force to be strengthened by a further 100 soldiers. READ »

'Only good foreign soldier on Afghan soil is a dead one': Myrdal

Politics: 9 Feb 10
Swedish author and anti-war activist Jan Myrdal has sparked outrage following a public lecture in which he appeared to welcome the killing of Swedish, US and other soldiers. READ »

Russian nuclear waste dumped off Sweden

National: 4 Feb 10
The Russian military is suspected of having dumped chemical weapons and radioactive waste off the Swedish island of Gotland in the beginning of the 1990s. READ »

Swedish rapper guilty of Hollywood murder

Society: 2 Feb 10
A US court has found 35-year-old Swedish hip-hop artist David Jassy, aka Monopoly, guilty of the murder of a Norwegian-American pianist in Hollywood in November 2008. READ »

Sweden's Karlsson wins Qatar Masters

Sport: 1 Feb 10
Swedish golfer Robert Karlsson claimed a three shot win over Spaniard Alvaro Quiros to win the $2.5 million Qatar Masters at the Doha Golf Club on Sunday. READ »

Dissident demo over Iran Interpol listing

Politics: 28 Jan 10
Ten Iranian-born Swedes plan to stage a protest outside the Riksdag on Thursday in a bid to have the Swedish government help get their names removed from an Interpol wanted list. READ »

Bag lady Sahlin photo stirs moral debate

Politics: 23 Jan 10
Social Democrat party leader Mona Sahlin has stirred opinion pages without saying a word. Her morals have been questioned after she was pictured with political peers clutching a 6,000 kronor ($828) designer bag. READ »

'Partner may have written Millennium books'

Society: 22 Jan 10
Stieg Larsson was practically incapable of putting a sentence together and could not feasibly have written the best-selling Millennium crime trilogy without major assistance, claims a former colleague of the deceased author. READ »

Swede slams English use for royal wedding bash

Society: 18 Jan 10
A slogan chosen by the city of Stockholm to promote events related to the June 2010 wedding of Crown Princess Victoria has been reported to the Ombudsmen of Justice for violating Sweden’s language laws. READ »

Drunk driver's wet-wipe defence thrown out on appeal

National: 9 Jan 10
A court of appeal has overturned a non-guilty verdict of a 36-year-old drunk driver who was freed when a wet-wipe containing alcohol was used as evidence. READ »

Swedish group eyes Saab sale: report

National: 8 Jan 10
A group led by a Swedish truck industry veteran and a former government minister has expressed an interest in buying Saab Automobile from US owner General Motors. READ »

Three in Sweden sought for Auschwitz sign theft

National: 7 Jan 10
Prosecutors in Poland said on Wednesday they are interested in questioning three Swedish residents about the theft of the iconic "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from the former Auschwitz Nazi death camp. READ »

Swedish Auschwitz sign suspect contacts lawyer

National: 5 Jan 10
High profile defence lawyer Peter Althin has said he will represent a Swede being linked to the theft of the "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from Auschwitz should Swedish prosecutors opt to press charges. READ »

'Whiskey murderer' hit with 15-year sentence

National: 28 Dec 09
A 42-year-old man who stabbed his girlfriend to death and then poured whiskey on her dead body has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. READ »

Israeli military admits to organ harvesting

National: 21 Dec 09
Following tensions over an article published in Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, Israel has admitted that its forensic pathologists removed organs from dead bodies without consent from their families. READ »

Markets absorbed by probiotic Swedish tampons

Science & Technology: 3 Dec 09
Shares in a Swedish biotech firm soared on Wednesday on news that the company had inked a distribution deal in China for its tampons “bathed in human lactic acid bacteria”. READ »

Zlatan's heroics lead Barcelona past Madrid

Sport: 30 Nov 09
Swedish star footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have strengthened his chances of being named European footballer of the year after shooting Barcelona to a 1-0 win over Real Madrid. READ »

Trustor 'mastermind' questioned by Swedish police in Brussels

Business & Money: 26 Nov 09
Joachim Posener, accused of being the brains behind the Trustor investment scandal, has been questioned by Swedish authorities after more than a decade on the run. READ »

Fire at Vellinge refugee hostel

National: 22 Nov 09
A fire was deliberately started outside a hostel housing refugee children in Vellinge in southern Sweden on Saturday. Demonstrations for and against the controversial refugee centre will be held in the country on Sunday. READ »

Norway puts jail brakes on Swedish 'son of God' motorist

Society: 17 Nov 09
A Swedish man who claimed he was the son of God has been sentenced to prison in Norway for unlawful driving. READ »

'Romario' killer sentenced to seven years

National: 13 Nov 09
A 19-year old man, earlier freed by a district court over the killing of Ahmed "Romario" Ibrahim Ali, has been found guilty of murder in the Svea Court of Appeal and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. READ »

Teens sign up for jihad at Stockholm youth centre

National: 11 Nov 09
Swedish taxpayers helped fund a youth recreation centre in the north Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby which served as a recruiting station for the Somalia-based Islamist group al-Shabaab. READ »

AIK see off Gothenburg to win historic double

Sport: 8 Nov 09
AIK added the Swedish cup on Saturday to their Allsvenskan league championship win to claim a historic double - the first for the Solna-based side. READ »

Rape acquittals because girl 'not helpless enough'

National: 6 Nov 09
Four men charged with gang-raping a 17-year-old girl have been acquitted by a Swedish court because prosecutors were unable to prove that the girl was in a helpless state at the time of the incident. READ »

Outrage as civic 'angel' sent to prison

National: 5 Nov 09
Per-Anders Pettersson intervened to save a 66-year-old woman from assault. But instead of being lauded for exercising his civic duty he is now about to start a prison sentence in a case that has sparked outrage in Sweden. READ »

Swedish intelligence agency hit by IT-attack

Science & Technology: 4 Nov 09
A cyber attack knocked out the website of a Swedish intelligence agency on Monday, just days after several Swedish media outlets and the police were hit by similar attacks. READ »

The Year of the Rodent: Allsvenskan 2009

Lifestyle: 3 Nov 09
As the Swedish championship gold medal makes its way to Solna, Nic Townsend looks back at another eventful season in Sweden’s premier football competition. READ »

Big city clubs clash in championship climax

Sport: 30 Oct 09
IFK Gothenburg welcome Stockholm team AIK to Gamla Ullevi stadium on Sunday in a title decider as the Swedish Allsvenskan championship goes down to the wire. READ »

Iris, 92, honoured for wartime code-cracking heroics

Society: 30 Oct 09
Iris Kramer, a Brit living in Sweden, has been honoured by the British government in recognition of services for her efforts cracking enemy codes during World War II. READ »

Petrol station names and shames 'pump and run' thieves

National: 30 Oct 09
A petrol-station owner in Växjö in southern Sweden grew so tired of customers filling up and driving off without paying that he identified them with a photo at the entrance to his station. The man is now subject to a police investigation. READ »

War criminal Plavsic lifts off from Sweden

National: 27 Oct 09
Ex-Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic left Sweden on Tuesday after being granted early release from a Swedish prison by the UN war crimes court, prison officials said. READ »

In defence of the eighties generation

Lifestyle: 27 Oct 09
Lazy, self-entitled and spoiled. These are just a few of the choice adjectives employed to describe the generation born in the 1980s, the first generation since Hemingway's to be characterised as “lost.” But just how accurate is the stereotype, asks The Local's Charlotte Webb. READ »

Supreme Court sets precedent over animal rights activist attack

National: 26 Oct 09
Sweden's Supreme Court has upheld a landmark ruling in which a 30-year-old animal rights activist was convicted for his involvement in storming the premises of four companies and harassing members of staff. READ »

Prison sentence for Trustor fraud upheld

National: 26 Oct 09
The Svea Court of Appeal on Monday upheld a prison sentence for Thomas Jisander, who was convicted in 2008 for embezzling 20 million kronor ($3 million) in the so-called Trustor affair. READ »

Bank robber in custody following 'religious awakening'

National: 20 Oct 09
Police in western Sweden may soon be able to close their files on a daring four-year old bank robbery after one of the thieves experienced a religious salvation during his time on the run. READ »

Pirate Bay appeal pushed back to next summer

Science & Technology: 19 Oct 09
An appeal launched by the four men found guilty in the Pirate Bay trial is unlikely to be heard until next summer, a Swedish appeals court announced on Monday. READ »

Encouraging results for Swedish HIV vaccine

Science & Technology: 19 Oct 09
A Swedish HIV vaccine, Hivis, has shown the best preliminary results the world has seen so far, according to experts. READ »

Beltran demands retrial in rape case

National: 18 Oct 09
Swedish-Chilean opera singer and convicted rapist Tito Beltran has submitted a petition for a retrial in the Supreme Court. Beltran claims that former justice minister Thomas Bodström's involvement in the case amounted to a breach of the constitution. READ »

Saab implicated in South Korea spy arrest

National: 16 Oct 09
A former South Korean air force major-general was arrested on Friday on charges of leaking classified military information to Swedish defence and aviation company Saab, officials said. READ »

Sweden passes divisive wiretapping law

Politics: 14 Oct 09
An amended version of Sweden's controversial new signals intelligence law was passed in the Riksdag on Wednesday, with 158 members voting in favour and 153 against, while one member abstained from voting. READ »

Masturbating truck driver convicted of careless driving

Society: 14 Oct 09
A German truck driver charged for masturbating while behind the wheel of his truck when it crashed has been ordered to undergo psychiatric care. READ »

Swedish secret agent's 15th century castle up for auction

Society: 13 Oct 09
A 15th century castle in southern Sweden belonging to a man who once supplied secret Russian technology to the Swedish military, is set to go up for auction in November. READ »

Profits up at Sweden's Investor

Business & Money: 13 Oct 09
Swedish investment group Investor turned a profit in the third quarter, the company reported on Tuesday, capitalizing on global financial markets’ decreased volatility. READ »

Another Swede held in Pakistan: report

National: 12 Oct 09
Sweden’s foreign ministry confirmed on Monday that an additional Swedish citizen is currently being held in prison in Pakistan following the return home at the weekend of a group of Swedes who had been arrested on terror charges. READ »

Swedish soldier injured in Afghanistan

National: 11 Oct 09
A Swedish soldier was injured in Afghanistan on Saturday when his unit was attacked near Sayyad. READ »

Swedish bus driver sacked for sending text message

National: 9 Oct 09
A Swedish bus driver has been sacked for sending a text message while driving from Stockholm to Norrtälje. The driver was caught on film by a passenger. READ »

Swedish soldiers shot in Afghanistan firefight

National: 9 Oct 09
Two Swedish soldiers are recovering after sustaining injuries in a firefight in the vicinity of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan on Thursday evening. READ »

Pirate Bay on the run as hosts jump ship

Science & Technology: 6 Oct 09
File sharing site The Pirate Bay was out of commission on Tuesday as it struggled to find hosting providers willing to serve the site. READ »

Saab targeted in South Korea bribery probe

Business & Money: 6 Oct 09
Swedish aerospace giant Saab AB is under investigation by South Korean security authorities looking into allegations the company paid off a local research institute in exchange for classified information. READ »

Third helicopter suspect remanded into custody

National: 1 Oct 09
A 36-year-old man arrested in connection with the helicopter heist robbery in Västberga last week has been remanded into custody by a Stockholm court. READ »

Sweden and the US pit their wits for homeland security

Science & Technology: 1 Oct 09
The Swedish and US agencies of homeland security are meeting in Stockholm this week to discuss "preparedness and resiliency against a broad spectrum of threats." READ »

Hand gel faulted for fouling up Swedish bus service

Society: 1 Oct 09
Bus service in Östersund in northern Sweden has been disrupted due to an increased in the number of drivers using alcohol-based hand sanitizer. READ »

Sweden looks to boost Afghanistan force

Politics: 30 Sep 09
Sweden wants to send more troops to Afghanistan after an assessment by the Armed Forces concluded that the current force of 500 soldiers is too small. READ »

Spotify ties make Pirate Bay judge biased: court

Science & Technology: 29 Sep 09
A Swedish court ruled on Tuesday that a lay judge set to hear the next phase of the Pirate Bay trial is unsuitable for the job because he works for the Spotify digital music service. READ »

Documents cast doubt on Swede's spy conviction

National: 28 Sep 09
For the past 25 years the Swedish Security Service has been sitting on documents attesting to the innocence of a man charged in Sweden with espionage in 1983, a new investigation has revealed. READ »

Bias allegations mount in Pirate Bay case

Science & Technology: 24 Sep 09
Two of the three judges in the Pirate Bay case are biased, according to the defence counsel, Per E. Samuelsson, in a new submission to the appeals court. READ »

Professional Swedish clown accused of tax fraud

Society: 22 Sep 09
A 55-year-old professional clown from southern Sweden has been accused of committing serious tax crimes totaling around 700,000 kronor ($100,000). READ »

New bias suspicions in Pirate Bay legal battle

Science & Technology: 21 Sep 09
Rumours are circulating about another possible conflict of interest in the upcoming appeals court proceedings against the men behind Swedish file sharing site, The Pirate Bay. READ »

Ibrahimovic shines in Inter stalemate

Sport: 17 Sep 09
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced his best performance yet in a Barcelona shirt as the champions were held to a 0-0 draw by Inter Milan in the Champions League Group F opener on Wednesday. READ »

Ibrahimovic goal leaves Barca top

Sport: 13 Sep 09
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his second goal in as many games and helped Barcelona to 2-0 win over Getafe on Saturday. READ »

Battle of the Swedish literary manifestos

Analysis & Opinion: 9 Sep 09
Swedish writers have stepped away from the serious business of writing books to do battle over the future of the Swedish novel. But perhaps they should get off their high horses and stick to the task, suggests The Local's Charlotte Webb. READ »

Drunk and disorderly soldiers sacked

National: 2 Sep 09
Two soldiers who left their weapons unattended while drinking themselves senseless during service in Kosovo in May have been dismissed by the Swedish Armed Forces. READ »

Ibrahimovic finds net in league debut

Sport: 1 Sep 09
Barcelona's record signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the final goal in a comprehensive 3-0 home win for his new club over Sporting Gijon in the opening league game of the season on Monday. READ »

Pregnant woman ill in suspected swine flu case

Science & Technology: 28 Aug 09
A pregnant young Swedish woman is critically ill with a life-threatening lung infection that is suspected to be swine flu. READ »

'Cyncism prevails for vote-hungry officials in Sweden and Israel'

Analysis & Opinion: 28 Aug 09
As the Aftonbladet organ harvesting scandal rumbles to the end of its second week, Stockholm-based Israeli writer David Stavrou calls on policy makers in Sweden and Israel to shed light on the situation rather than turning up the heat. READ »

Sweden's free speech tradition draws Israeli ire

Analysis & Opinion: 27 Aug 09
Sweden's fervent defence of free speech has sparked a diplomatic storm with Israel over the government's refusal to condemn an article accusing Israeli soldiers of smuggling dead Palestinians' organs, write AFP's Igor Gedilaghine. READ »

Swedish tabloid sued in New York

National: 27 Aug 09
An Israeli lawyer in New York has sued Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet following the publication of an article forwarding allegations that the Israeli army harvested the organs of dead Palestinians. READ »

'Aftonbladet must be held accountable for false allegations'

Analysis & Opinion: 25 Aug 09
In an open letter to the people of Sweden, Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, calls on government officials to demand editorial responsibility over the publication of an article accusing Israeli defence forces of harvesting the organs of dead Palestinians. READ »

Swedish tabloid reported for racial agitation

National: 25 Aug 09
Swedish tabloid newspaper Aftonbladet has been reported to the Chancellor of Justice after publishing an article forwarding claims about the alleged organ harvesting of dead Palestinians by Israeli defence forces. READ »

Annika Östberg moves closer to release

National: 25 Aug 09
Annika Östberg Deasy, who was found guilty in 1981 of being an accessory to two murders in California and spent 27 years in a US prison, has taken a step closer to her release after a decision by the Swedish prisons service. READ »

Israel presses Sweden for 'condemnation'

Politics: 23 Aug 09
Israel on Sunday ratcheted up pressure on Sweden to condemn a Swedish newspaper report about alleged organ harvesting that has heightened tensions between the two countries. READ »

Israel awaits stronger reaction from Bildt

Politics: 22 Aug 09
Israel doesn’t plan on canceling a scheduled visit by Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, despite his refusal to apologize for a controversial newspaper article alleging that Israeli soldiers harvested organs from dead Palestinians. READ »

Classified military documents missing

National: 22 Aug 09
The Swedish military has lost several hundred classified documents containing information about secret facilities throughout the north of the country. READ »

Bildt rejects Israeli call for official condemnation

Politics: 21 Aug 09
Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt has rejected calls from Israel for the government to distance itself from an article in a national newspaper which claimed Israeli soldiers harvest the organs of dead Palestinians. READ »

Brazil delays decision over Jas Gripen

Business & Money: 21 Aug 09
Sweden's Saab is among the defence companies lobbying anew for a $4 billion deal to replace Brazil's ageing fleet of fighter aircraft, after the country indicated a delay in its decision. READ »

Israeli ambassador 'upset and furious'

Politics: 19 Aug 09
Israel's Ambassador to Sweden, Benny Dagan, has expressed fury at a Swedish newspaper article accusing Israel of trading in the internal organs of dead Palestinians. READ »

Sweden slams paper over Israel allegations

National: 19 Aug 09
Sweden's embassy in Tel Aviv has sharply condemned Sweden's largest circulation newspaper Aftonbladet for publishing an article accusing the Israeli Defence Forces of harvesting the organs of Palestinians. READ »

'Arctic Sea hijackers in custody': Russia

National: 18 Aug 09
The Russian navy has arrested eight men who allegedly hijacked the Maltese-registered freighter the Arctic Sea off the coast of Öland in Swedish waters in July, according to the Russian defence minister. READ »

'Bildt interview supports my immunity deal': Karadzic

Politics: 18 Aug 09
Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic asserted on Monday that Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has submitted information backing his claims of an immunity deal. READ »

Smacking kids is never acceptable: Swedish politician

Analysis & Opinion: 12 Aug 09
Thirty years have passed since Sweden banned parents from smacking their children. But Liberal Party MP Helena Bargholtz is dismayed to learn that New Zealand is holding a referendum to reintroduce the practice. READ »