Sweden and Ukraine sign deal for 100 to 150 Gripen fighter jets
Ukraine wants to buy between 100 and 150 Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, with the two countries signing a letter of intent to sell the jets on Wednesday.
"They're fantastic planes," Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a press conference in Linköping with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
He added that the letter of intent signalled the "start of a new era".
"Today we have an agreement which can lead us forwards so that Ukraine can have a fleet of Swedish Gripen planes," Zelensky said.
The letter of intent is the first step in a long process, which would see planes delivered in three years' time, at the earliest. But first, the issue of how to finance the planes needs to be discussed.
"An important step could be taken as early as tomorrow [Thursday] when the question of frozen Russian assets is discussed in the European Council," Kristersson said.
Swedish vocabulary: flygplan ‒ plane
Could now be the time to opt for a fixed-rate mortgage?
Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, has indicated that it has no more plans to either cut the key interest rate further or raise it, which means that interest rates on mortgages are likely to remain stable for the next year or so.
At the same time, the geopolitical situation is unpredictable, with wars and tariffs affecting the economy globally and in Sweden.
State-owned mortgage bank SBAB believes now could be the time for property owners to switch to a fixed-rate mortgage.
"Given our interest rate forecast with rates with different fixed terms, it looks like it is cheaper to insure yourself against unwanted changes to the interest rate by opting for a fixed rate," SBAB's chief economist Robert Boije wrote in a statement.
He said that this could particularly be a good option for people who have small margins and who are not planning to move house for the next few years.
Swedish vocabulary: binda räntan ‒ fix your interest rate
Moderates to focus on 'Swedish values' in election campaign
One of Sweden's governing parties, the Moderates, is planning on placing a focus on Swedish identity and Swedish values in the upcoming election campaign.
Negotiations within the party started today, as the party holds its party congress in Västerås to decide the topics it wants to focus on before the election in September next year.
"Previously, we thought work was important, then language, and now we're adding values," said Douglas Thor, the leader of the party's youth wing MUF.
It looks as if the party is going to place a heavy focus on integration, setting itself the following goal: "In Sweden, we accept and follow Swedish values." These values, it says, include equality, not being a burden on others and striving for consensus.
One proposal includes changing the discrimination law so that it is no longer permitted for men to refuse to shake women's hands at work for religious reasons.
"When different perspectives clash with each other, then the values we have in Sweden and our views have to come out on top," migration minister Johan Forssell said.
Swedish vocabulary: svenska värderingar ‒ Swedish values
Man receives prison sentence for biting off opponent's fingertip in football match
A man in his 40s has been sentenced to ten months in prison after biting his opponent's fingertip off in an argument during a football match.
According to the sentence, there had been a number of fights between the men during the match in Västerbotten in October last year, and finally the man bit his opponent's entire fingertip off, including the nail.
The defendant said that the man had a piece of his finger in his mouth which he then spat out.
The finger-biter admitted his guilt, but said he was acting in self-defence. He has been sentenced for assault and ordered to pay 23,200 kronor in damages.
Swedish vocabulary: fingertopp ‒ fingertip
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