Two teens held following fatal shooting at southern Stockholm sports centre
Two teenagers are in custody in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman in her mid-20s at a sports hall in Älvsjö, southern Stockholm, on Friday evening.
But the motive remains unclear.
"The short answer is that we do not know what the motive is, but we have a few leads that we are looking into. However, we haven't progressed far enough in the investigation to confirm any motive," prosecutor Lukas Tigerstrand told the TT news agency.
He said he was not aware of any known threat against the woman, who worked within municipal youth services.
"My impression so far is that she is just an ordinary woman," he said.
Two men in their late teens are being held on suspicion of murder.
"They are suspected of having committed this crime together," said Tigerstrand.
They were arrested in Flemingsberg, south of Stockholm, at around 4.30am on Saturday. Both deny any wrongdoing.
"They are not from Stockholm. As far as we have been able to tell so far, they do not appear to know the victim," Tigerstand said.
No one else has been arrested, but the prosecutor has not ruled out the possibility that more people were involved.
"We are investigating whether there could be more people. Often in similar incidents, we have found that more people are involved than just those who carried out the crime," he said.
The prosecutor has until noon on Tuesday to decide whether to request to have them remanded in custody.
Swedish vocabulary: to investigate – att undersöka
Sweden Democrat leader invites Centre Party to 'no-strings-attached' talks
Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson has invited the Centre Party's Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist for a "no-strings-attached conversation on the parliamentary situation", he wrote on X.
The open letter comes as Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson is potentially next in line to receive the mandate to explore forming a centre-right government, following the failure of Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson.
Sweden can't afford political gridlock that is "allowed to go on indefinitely", according to Åkesson.
"It is against this backdrop that I am now reaching out directly to you. With this letter, I would like to invite you to a meeting and a no-strings-attached conversation on the parliamentary situation and the deadlocks that clearly exist. Not least between our respective parties," he wrote.
The Centre Party is strictly against collaborating with any government that includes the far-right Sweden Democrats. Åkesson stressed that the invitation to meet does not mean that his party is dropping its demand for cabinet seats.
"Elisabeth, we do not need to agree on Sweden's political direction to talk to one another about Sweden's parliamentary situation. On the contrary, it is perhaps precisely when differences are at their greatest that the need to meet is most obvious," he wrote.
Speaker of parliament Andreas Norlén is set to hold a press conference today to outline the next steps forward in the process of forming a government. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: no-strings-attached – förutsättningslöst
Swedish krona drops over 7 percent against US dollar in 2026
The Swedish krona has performed significantly worse against the US dollar this year than any other of the world's most heavily traded and liquid currencies.
Trading at 9.92 kronor to the dollar, Sweden's currency has fallen by 7.12 percent against the dollar so far this year, according to news agency Bloomberg's weekly dollar index.
This makes it by far the worst performer among the so-called G10 currencies.
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Other G10 currencies that have lost ground against the dollar include the Danish krone, down 4.39 percent, and the euro, which has slid 4.32 percent.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Norwegian krone has performed the strongest, rising 6.92 percent against the dollar, while the Australian dollar has gained 4.09 percent.
The current downturn comes after a year in which the Swedish krona steadily strengthened against the US dollar week after week. (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: worst – sämst
Swedish healthcare is getting more expensive – but it isn't all bad news
Rising healthcare costs cannot be explained solely by inflation and Sweden's growing population. They are also down to more expensive and higher-quality care, according to a new report.
The Swedish Assocation of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) has analysed the costs of regionally funded healthcare. Between 2014 and 2024, costs rose by 10 percent more than can be explained by prices, wages and demographic changes. That corresponds to nearly 37 billion kronor in today's money.
"Healthcare offers more advanced diagnostics, care and medication today than in 2014, which partly explains the increased costs. But we are also seeing improved outcomes across many disease areas," TT quoted Douglas Knutsson, an analyst at SKR and one of the authors of the report, as saying.
This is particularly evident in cancer care, which accounts for the largest cost increase.
"One explanation is likely that older people are healthier today and can tolerate treatment at a more advanced age. In addition, rapid advances in medical technology have led to more gentle treatments, allowing even frail patients to be treated," he said.
Cardiovascular disease has not seen the same surge in costs, even though mortality rates are falling there too. The report attributes this to improvements in preventive care and follow-up, much of which takes place within primary care.
At the same time, Knutsson stresses that rising costs always pose a funding challenge.
"Healthcare and the regions need to constantly prioritise. They must introduce and evaluate new initiatives while phasing out methods that deliver limited value relative to the resources required." (TT/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: healthcare – hälso- och sjukvård