Suspect arrested over Östermalm explosion
A man is being held after an explosion in the posh Östermalm area of central Stockholm on Saturday evening. He is suspected of "destruction causing public endangerment" and of breaking Swedish laws on handling flammable and explosive goods.
Police declined to comment on the man's age, when he was arrested or whether he has a criminal record.
The incident on Saturday grabbed international headlines and prompted Tesla founder Elon Musk to write on X "149 attacks with explosives in Sweden last year?" That figure is correct, although in 2024 (until the end of November) the number has dropped to 107.
Nobody was injured in the Östermalm blast, and police haven't said what caused it.
Swedish vocabulary: destruction causing public endangerment – allmänfarlig ödeläggelse
How bad are cold snaps for your heart?
Research based on Swedish data suggests that cold snaps could be bad for the heart.
A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology went through data from 120,000 heart attacks in Sweden between October and March 2005-2019, and compared them to weather data from Sweden's national meteorological institute, SMHI.
They noticed that the number of heart attacks increased after two days of a cold snap. But there appeared to be no connection between how cold it was, but rather how radical the drop in temperature was. If it dropped from 10C to -5C the following day, the number of heart attacks didn't increase during the first 24 hours. But if the freeze took hold, the risk of heart attacks increased in the following days.
Elderly people with pre-existing heart conditions appeared to be those most affected by the heightened risk.
Swedish vocabulary: a heart attack – en hjärtinfarkt
Black ice warning as Christmas week gets under way
Swedish weather agency SMHI has issued a yellow warning of black ice in parts of the country on Monday morning.
The warning covers an area north-west of Stockholm, from Örebro and Västerås to just south of Hudiksvall, so take care if you live in the area or are driving to, from or through the area on Monday on your way to where you'll be spending Christmas – perhaps be especially careful if you're driving from Stockholm to Dalarna or northern Sweden and you haven't changed to studded winter tyres.
SMHI writes that rain or sleet falling on cold roads is behind the icy conditions.
"During the day on Monday, the precipitation increasingly changes to snow or sleet, and in southern Dalarna and southern Gävleborg counties, the snowfall can become abundant and produce 5-10 centimetres of snow," writes the weather forecaster.
The warning is in place until noon on Monday.
If you're travelling in Sweden for Christmas, The Local's got a guide to everything you need to be aware of.
Swedish vocabulary: weather – väder
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