Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Electric scooter suspected culprit in Norrköping explosion, African swine fever discovered in Sweden, and new property stats reveal sluggish housing market.
Norwegian and Swedish police to work together on gang crime
Norwegian and Swedish police are to deepen coordination on gang crime, after growing evidence that gangs based in Sweden are bringing drug and gun crime to Norway, the two countries' police chiefs said.
At a joint press conference held in Oslo, Sweden's police chief Anders Thornberg and his Norwegian counterpart, Benedicte Bjørnland, said that the two countries' police services were stepping up the sharing of intelligence on individual gang members and gangs.
They also plan to open a new police station on the border, half of which would be in Sweden and half in Norway.
"Norwegian criminals are buying weapons and explosives from Swedish criminals," Bjørnland said at the press conference.
"Sweden has seen a worrying development over organised crime, but there has also been a negative development in Norway. In recent years, there has been growing activity by Swedish gang criminals on Norwegian territory, including people being paid to carry out violent crimes."
Swedish vocabulary: gang crime – gängkriminalitet (in Norwegian: gjengkriminalitet)
Charging electric scooter suspected to be cause of Norrköping explosion
An explosion in an apartment building in Norrköping on Sunday which caused the evacuation of around 150 people is believed to have been caused by a charging electric scooter, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a press statement.
According to chief prosecutor Torsten Angervåg, all indications suggest that there could be a natural explanation behind the explosion, which could "be due to a series of unfortunate circumstances". He added that there was no evidence that the someone had intentionally caused the blast.
"It will, however, take a while before the forensic investigation and the investigation into the fire are completed. Before then, we can't say for certain what set off or caused this extremely serious event."
Three people who were held after the blast are no longer suspects.
Swedish vocabulary: unintentional – oavsiktlig
Cases of African swine fever discovered in Västmanland
African swine fever, a serious viral illness which affects wild boars and pigs, but not humans or other animals, has been confirmed in at least seven wild boar in Fagersta municipality, northwest of Stockholm.
The affected area will be closed off for the foreseeable future, meaning that visiting the area, foraging for berries or mushrooms, hunting, forestry work or other outdoor activities will be prohibited, the Swedish National Veterinary Institute (SVA) wrote in a statement.
It's not clear how the virus spread to Sweden, but it may have travelled via infected meat or on shoes, tools or vehicles.
"At the moment we don't know how it came into the country but it's quite a distance to the closest infected area in Europe, and we're assuming therefore that it was spread via humans and not wild boar," state epizootiologist (that's essentially an epidemiologist, but for illness affecting animals), Karl Ståhl wrote.
Sweden's goal is to wipe out the virus entirely, he added.
Swedish vocabulary: African swine fever – afrikansk svinpest
Fewer homes snapped up in Sweden
Sweden’s housing market remained sluggish last month, new statistics from property site Hemnet show. The site registered 7,126 homes changing hands in August – the lowest figure since 2016.
Västra Götaland, a region in western Sweden and home to Gothenburg, saw the biggest drop, with apartment sales falling 19 percent compared to the same month last year. Stockholm saw a smaller drop, only 4 percent, which was also better than the -10 percent national average for apartments.
Swedish vocabulary: sluggish – trög
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Norwegian and Swedish police to work together on gang crime
Norwegian and Swedish police are to deepen coordination on gang crime, after growing evidence that gangs based in Sweden are bringing drug and gun crime to Norway, the two countries' police chiefs said.
At a joint press conference held in Oslo, Sweden's police chief Anders Thornberg and his Norwegian counterpart, Benedicte Bjørnland, said that the two countries' police services were stepping up the sharing of intelligence on individual gang members and gangs.
They also plan to open a new police station on the border, half of which would be in Sweden and half in Norway.
"Norwegian criminals are buying weapons and explosives from Swedish criminals," Bjørnland said at the press conference.
"Sweden has seen a worrying development over organised crime, but there has also been a negative development in Norway. In recent years, there has been growing activity by Swedish gang criminals on Norwegian territory, including people being paid to carry out violent crimes."
Swedish vocabulary: gang crime – gängkriminalitet (in Norwegian: gjengkriminalitet)
Charging electric scooter suspected to be cause of Norrköping explosion
An explosion in an apartment building in Norrköping on Sunday which caused the evacuation of around 150 people is believed to have been caused by a charging electric scooter, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said in a press statement.
According to chief prosecutor Torsten Angervåg, all indications suggest that there could be a natural explanation behind the explosion, which could "be due to a series of unfortunate circumstances". He added that there was no evidence that the someone had intentionally caused the blast.
"It will, however, take a while before the forensic investigation and the investigation into the fire are completed. Before then, we can't say for certain what set off or caused this extremely serious event."
Three people who were held after the blast are no longer suspects.
Swedish vocabulary: unintentional – oavsiktlig
Cases of African swine fever discovered in Västmanland
African swine fever, a serious viral illness which affects wild boars and pigs, but not humans or other animals, has been confirmed in at least seven wild boar in Fagersta municipality, northwest of Stockholm.
The affected area will be closed off for the foreseeable future, meaning that visiting the area, foraging for berries or mushrooms, hunting, forestry work or other outdoor activities will be prohibited, the Swedish National Veterinary Institute (SVA) wrote in a statement.
It's not clear how the virus spread to Sweden, but it may have travelled via infected meat or on shoes, tools or vehicles.
"At the moment we don't know how it came into the country but it's quite a distance to the closest infected area in Europe, and we're assuming therefore that it was spread via humans and not wild boar," state epizootiologist (that's essentially an epidemiologist, but for illness affecting animals), Karl Ståhl wrote.
Sweden's goal is to wipe out the virus entirely, he added.
Swedish vocabulary: African swine fever – afrikansk svinpest
Fewer homes snapped up in Sweden
Sweden’s housing market remained sluggish last month, new statistics from property site Hemnet show. The site registered 7,126 homes changing hands in August – the lowest figure since 2016.
Västra Götaland, a region in western Sweden and home to Gothenburg, saw the biggest drop, with apartment sales falling 19 percent compared to the same month last year. Stockholm saw a smaller drop, only 4 percent, which was also better than the -10 percent national average for apartments.
Swedish vocabulary: sluggish – trög
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