Explosion at house in Upplands-Bro north of Stockholm
An explosion ripped through a house in Stenstorp in the Stockholm satellite town of Upplands-Bro on Thursday morning.
"Something had been detonated inside or at the entrance to a small house and caused comprehensive material damage to the house," police spokesperson Daniel Wikdahl said.
Police currently believe that no one was injured in the blast. "It seems not," Wikdahl said. "But this is not confirmed information."
Police were first alerted to the blast at 6.59am
Swedish vocabulary: omfattande - all-encompassing/comprehensive
Inquiry calls for families to lose flats if kids commit crimes
A government inquiry launched by the former Social Democrat-led government has recommended that Sweden's rental laws be changed so that families whose children commit crimes can be more easily evicted.
"In vulnerable areas, rental apartments are the dominant type of home. Many people feel unsafe and we have been given the impression that many people commit crimes in the area very close to where they live," Thomas Edling, the high court judge who led the inquiry, said.
"We have concluded that the right of other residents to safety should take priority. The overwhelming majority behave well and it's their interest that we should prioritise."
Swedish vocabulary: en hyresgäst - a tenant
Stockholm's Gröna Lund amusement park lost one in three customers after accident
The Gröna Lund amusement park saw visitor numbers crash 30 percent over the summer, losing it some 200 million kronor in revenues, after an accident on its Jetline rollercoaster left one person dead and nine injured.
"We are trying to find our way back to healthy profits in 2024," Jan Eriksson, the park's chief executive, told the TT newswire.
The park was closed for nine days in peak season as a result of the accident, and customers were slow to return. The park was also hit by rain in July and August and the impact of inflation on consumers' spending power.
Swedish vocabulary: en dödsolycka - a fatal accident
Stockholm county announces plans to raise tax
The political majority in the Stockholm county administrative region - the Social Democrats, Centre Party, Green Party and Left Party - has announced plans to increase taxes in its budget for 2024.
The council voted to increase regional income tax by 30 öre for every hundred kronor and also to increase patient fees and raise the price of a travel card on SL public transport.
According to the regional councillor for finance, Aida Hadzialic, the move will protect the healthcare service from having to make dramatic cuts.
The four parties' budget for Stockholm region proposes that the patient fee for urgent care centres (närakuten) be raised from 250 kronor to 275 kronor, and the fee for outpatient care (öppenvården) would be hiked from 250 to 275 kronor.
Those with a 30-day pass on SL public transport would see the price of their pass increase by 50 kronor in 2024 and another 40 kronor in 2025, with the price of a single ticket going up by 3 kronor under the new proposal.
Swedish vocabulary: skatt - tax
Swedish government to launch ‘rapid inquiry’ into increased surveillance
The government and the Sweden Democrats plan to launch a rapid inquiry into increasing police surveillance powers – including face-recognition cameras – in order to combat gang violence.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer argued in a press conference that more cameras would make it easier for police to prevent shootings and explosions, as well as help to catch the perpetrators of any attacks criminals manage to carry out.
The three government parties and the far-right Sweden Democrats believe that the police should be allowed to use facial recognition to identify gang members, have access to technology which can automatically read number plates and also be able to access footage from cameras which are already in place for other reasons, for example cameras used to monitor traffic.
Swedish vocabulary: ansiktsigenkänning - facial recognition
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