Snow causes chaos on the roads ‒ and there's more on the way
A number of accidents took place on Swedish roads last night due to heavy snowfall, causing queues on the roads as trucks were forced to stop. One person speaking to Expressen around 7am said that she had been stuck "more or less since just after midnight".
More snow is expected to fall on Thursday and Swedish weather agency SMHI has issued an orange weather warning for parts of northern Kalmar county, including Oskarshamn and Västervik. That warning is in place from 4pm to 11pm on November 20th.
"Consider not going out in traffic or be prepared that there is a risk of getting stuck," the agency writes on its website. "Road conditions may be poor due to slippery roads, poor visibility and blowing snow behind vehicles."
A yellow warning is already in place for much of southern Sweden, including cities such as Malmö, Helsingborg, Växjö and Jönköping.
Swedish vocabulary: varning ‒ warning
Rate of fatal domestic violence falling
The number of women murdered by a former or current partner is falling in Sweden, new preliminary figures show.
"Things are clearly going in the right direction, although every murder is one too many," the country's chief of police, Petra Lundh, said in a press conference.
So far this year there have been six confirmed cases of women murdered by a former or current partner, according to preliminary police figures.
"The year isn't over yet and there are also a number of cases ongoing, so we don't have the any clear result yet," Lundh added.
At the same time, murders due to domestic violence against women have fallen in recent years. From the beginning of the 1990s until the 2010s around 20 women per year were murdered by a former or current partner. That figure fell to around 15 between 2010 and 2021 and has fallen further since.
Last year, 11 women were murdered as a result of domestic violence, as well as two men. In 2023 and 2022, ten murders took place, all women.
"In the last few years we've seen an average of ten murders," Lundh said, adding that it is difficult to say exactly what is behind the drop, although police have been working to strengthen preventative work against fatal domestic violence in recent years.
Swedish vocabulary: dödlig relationsvåld ‒ fatal domestic violence
State-owned mortgage bank upgrades its forecast for country's economy
State-owned mortgage provider SBAB has upgraded its GDP forecast for the country's economy for 2025 and 2026, due to increased household consumption this year and state consumption next year.
"Things will be a little bit better both years," the bank's chief economist Robert Boije told the TT newswire.
The new GDP forecast for 2025 is 1.2 percent, a slight increase on the 1 percent previously predicted. The bank expects that the economy will see a larger boost next year, upgrading its forecast to 2.6 percent from the previous prediction of 2.5 percent.
Unemployment figures still make for grim reading, with the bank predicting a peak of 8.7 percent this year and a slight fall to 8.4 percent next year.
The bank believes that CPIF inflation (where the effect of interest rates on mortgages is removed) will fall from 2.7 percent this year to 1.4 percent in 2026.
Swedish vocabulary: prognos ‒ forecast
Churches given right not to hire priests who refuse to marry same-sex couples
A new decision made at the church assembly will allow parishes to reject priests applying for jobs if they refuse to carry out marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. It would be up for each parish to decide whether to ask priests about their standpoint on the issue, as well as whether their answer means they can or cannot be hired.
The decision was made after a long debate at the church assembly which resulted in 141 votes in favour and 99 votes against. Four members of the assembly abstained, Christian newspaper Dagen reports.
The previous rules allowed all priests to decide for themselves whether to carry out marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Swedish vocabulary: kyrkomötet ‒ church assembly
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