Man held after Sweden's first fatal shooting since April
A man is being held on suspicion of murder after another man was shot dead in Malmö late on Wednesday.
Emergency services were called out to Västra hamnen in Malmö just after 11pm. A man was found seriously injured at the scene and was taken to hospital.
"The man's life could not be saved, and he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at hospital," police control room officer Peter Martin told the TT news agency.
A male suspect was arrested in a car nearby. The man, who is in his 30s, was later formally detained on suspicion of murder. Police seized the car.
Police cordoned off a large area overnight, using drones, among other methods, as part of their investigation.
"During the night, we have been working on interviewing witnesses in the local area and carrying out door-to-door inquiries. We also have forensics on site," said Martin.
By around 5am on Thursday, police had wrapped up their work at the scene and the cordons were lifted.
Police were not immediately able to confirm whether the victim was previously known to them.
The incident is the first fatal shooting to take place in Sweden since late April.
Swedish vocabulary: a suspicion – en misstanke
Swedish Bar Association urges lawyers to boycott new asylum legal aid rules
The Swedish Bar Association is urging its members to refuse to provide legal advice to asylum seekers, Swedish public radio programme Ekot reports. The move comes ahead of the government's tightening of asylum laws on July 12th.
The asylum laws are being tightened as a result of the EU's new Pact on Migration and Asylum being incorporated into Swedish law. Among other things, the change means that full legal representation in the form of a legal counsel in asylum processes will be replaced by just two to three hours of legal advice.
Karin Gyllenring, a lawyer in the Swedish Bar Association's working group on migration law, told Ekot that this could lead to an increase in wrongful deportation decisions.
The association is now demanding that the government withdraw the rules abolishing legal representation – which are intended to be in line with the EU's very minimum standard – and is calling on its members to reject the new assignments.
Swedish vocabulary: legal advice – rättslig/juridisk rådgivning
Even a wet July won't save Skåne from severe groundwater deficit
Sweden's water shortage is persisting in parts of the country.
"We are continuing to see low groundwater levels in areas including Skåne, even with wet weather. The trend is set to hold throughout the summer," Eva Hellstrand, groundwater expert at the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), told TT.
The rain that fell in June had a small positive effect on groundwater levels, but wasn't enough to reverse the trend.
"The reports have looked exactly the same all spring. If we are to see an abrupt turning point, it needs to rain heavily in July," said Hellstrand.
Skåne, Sweden's southernmost region, is currently facing major problems with low surface water and groundwater levels.
"It is unusual for us to have such exceptionally low groundwater levels, above all in Skåne and Gotland, but also in other parts of southern Götaland," said Hellstrand.
She noted that the groundwater reservoirs in Blekinge, Kronoberg and Jönköping are also running low, following poor rain and snowfall during the past winter.
"Levels in the reservoirs began to drop rapidly during May when it was so dry. More rain in June had a slight impact on the smaller, fast-reacting groundwater reservoirs, but the effect soon stalled."
Looking one month ahead, regardless of the weather, SGU forecasts unusually low levels in the southern parts of Götaland, and Skåne in particular.
"If we get normal or dry weather, virtually the whole of Götaland and parts of Svealand will have low or unusually low levels," Hellstrand noted.
But even in the case of downpours, Skåne and southern Götaland will still have low groundwater levels one month from now.
Swedish vocabulary: groundwater – grundvatten
Why did around 50 aircraft fly over Stockholm on July 1st?
If you heard a big roar overhead in Stockholm yesterday, don't worry, they were just celebrating.
Around 50 aircraft flew over the Swedish capital in the early afternoon, passing over the Royal Palace at around 12.50pm, as you know if you read The Local on Wednesday.
It featured several formations of Jas Gripen fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters and a "large formation of historic aircraft", the military stated in a press release.
The event was meant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Swedish Air Force, with other activities also taking place in Stockholm on the day.
Swedish vocabulary: to celebrate – att fira
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