Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Swedish royal princess visits Bangladesh, Swedes fourth happiest in the world, prime minister concerned over 'very serious' reports of parliament terror plot, and Iraqi ex-defence minister arrested at Arlanda Airport. Here's the latest news.
Swedish royal princess visits Bangladesh
Swedish Crown Princess Victoria is in Bangladesh to visit the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with UNDP representatives and Johan Forsell, Sweden's minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade.
On the first two days of her visit she attended an event on inclusive digital development in Dhaka. She also met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who served up a dinner with traditional food from Bangladesh, and she visited a water purification plant in Khulna.
In preparation for her trip, the Royal Court writes that Victoria also met with the Swedish foreign ministry, UNDP and Bangladesh's ambassador to Sweden, Mehdi Hasan.
Sweden was among the first countries to recognise Bangladesh as an independent state and in 2022 they celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations.
“Since then, Sweden has been our partner in our development process. We share a lot of common positions like on climate issues, peace, women, development and also multilateral forums where we support each other,” Hasan told The Local in an interview last year.
Swedish vocabulary: to visit – att besöka
Swedes fourth happiest in the world
Sweden has climbed from sixth to fourth place in the annual World Happiness Report, sponsored by the UN.
The report is based on Gallup polls where people got to answer questions and rate their own happiness on a scale.
Finland holds on to first place for the seventh year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.
Swedish vocabulary: happy – lycklig
Swedish PM concerned over 'very serious' reports of terror plot
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country's security services were in close contact with German authorities after two men were arrested in Gera, south of Leipzig, on suspicion of planning a terror attack on the Swedish parliament building in Stockholm.
Kristersson called the news "very serious" when asked by media. "Sweden has faced a very threatening period," he added.
Identified as Ibrahim M G and Ramin N, Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday that the two men are Afghan citizens with links to IS Khorasan, the splinter group of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan.
They are suspected of planning to open fire on police officers and other people in or at the Swedish parliament building in Stockholm, in retaliation of a series of Quran burnings in Sweden in recent years.
Last year, at least four militant Islamic terror groups called for revenge attacks against Sweden in response to the series of Quran-burning protests carried out by the Iraqi activist Salwan Momika and by the Danish activist Rasmus Paludan.
Swedish vocabulary: very serious – mycket allvarlig
Iraqi ex-defence minister arrested at Arlanda Airport
Former Iraqi defence minister Najah al-Shammari was briefly arrested after arriving in Sweden, where he is suspected of benefits fraud, the prosecutor investigating the case said Tuesday.
Public prosecutor Jens Nilsson told AFP that Shammari was detained on Monday when he landed at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport since an arrest warrant had been issued.
Nilsson added that in his assessment there was no need to detain Shammari and he had made an agreement with his lawyer that the suspect would come in for questioning the following day.
"He is suspected of aggravated benefits fraud and benefits fraud," Nilsson said in a email to AFP.
Swedish vocabulary: a defence minister – en försvarsminister
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Swedish royal princess visits Bangladesh
Swedish Crown Princess Victoria is in Bangladesh to visit the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with UNDP representatives and Johan Forsell, Sweden's minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade.
On the first two days of her visit she attended an event on inclusive digital development in Dhaka. She also met Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who served up a dinner with traditional food from Bangladesh, and she visited a water purification plant in Khulna.
In preparation for her trip, the Royal Court writes that Victoria also met with the Swedish foreign ministry, UNDP and Bangladesh's ambassador to Sweden, Mehdi Hasan.
Sweden was among the first countries to recognise Bangladesh as an independent state and in 2022 they celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations.
“Since then, Sweden has been our partner in our development process. We share a lot of common positions like on climate issues, peace, women, development and also multilateral forums where we support each other,” Hasan told The Local in an interview last year.
Swedish vocabulary: to visit – att besöka
Swedes fourth happiest in the world
Sweden has climbed from sixth to fourth place in the annual World Happiness Report, sponsored by the UN.
The report is based on Gallup polls where people got to answer questions and rate their own happiness on a scale.
Finland holds on to first place for the seventh year in a row, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.
Swedish vocabulary: happy – lycklig
Swedish PM concerned over 'very serious' reports of terror plot
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country's security services were in close contact with German authorities after two men were arrested in Gera, south of Leipzig, on suspicion of planning a terror attack on the Swedish parliament building in Stockholm.
Kristersson called the news "very serious" when asked by media. "Sweden has faced a very threatening period," he added.
Identified as Ibrahim M G and Ramin N, Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday that the two men are Afghan citizens with links to IS Khorasan, the splinter group of the Islamic State terror group in Afghanistan.
They are suspected of planning to open fire on police officers and other people in or at the Swedish parliament building in Stockholm, in retaliation of a series of Quran burnings in Sweden in recent years.
Last year, at least four militant Islamic terror groups called for revenge attacks against Sweden in response to the series of Quran-burning protests carried out by the Iraqi activist Salwan Momika and by the Danish activist Rasmus Paludan.
Swedish vocabulary: very serious – mycket allvarlig
Iraqi ex-defence minister arrested at Arlanda Airport
Former Iraqi defence minister Najah al-Shammari was briefly arrested after arriving in Sweden, where he is suspected of benefits fraud, the prosecutor investigating the case said Tuesday.
Public prosecutor Jens Nilsson told AFP that Shammari was detained on Monday when he landed at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport since an arrest warrant had been issued.
Nilsson added that in his assessment there was no need to detain Shammari and he had made an agreement with his lawyer that the suspect would come in for questioning the following day.
"He is suspected of aggravated benefits fraud and benefits fraud," Nilsson said in a email to AFP.
Swedish vocabulary: a defence minister – en försvarsminister
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