Sweden

Stories 421 - 440 | << Prev   Next >>

What's Up, Doc? Cawwot Bombs in Sweden!

(Newser) - Swedes got a scare this weekend after an artist wrapped bunches of carrots with black tape to make them look a bit like dynamite, attached clocks and wires and placed them around the southern city of Orebo. Police received several concerned calls from the public about the "Bunny Project:...

EU Parliament Next Stop for Pro-Piracy Party

Swedish group's membership up 215% after Pirate Bay case

(Newser) - Swedish pirates could soon be invading the European parliament, the Times of London reports. The Pirate Party, a political group whose sole aim is encouraging Internet copyright infringement, is poised to win several seats in next month’s elections. “The plan is Sweden, Europe, the world—in that order,...

Sri Lanka Restarts Airstrikes, Bars Diplomat

Swedish foreign minister refused entry days before trip

(Newser) - The Sri Lankan army bombarded the tiny coastal strip where ethnic Tamil rebels are mounting their last stand, the Guardian reports—a day after the government said it would end airstrikes. Tens of thousands of civilians are trapped in the region. The eruption comes as Sweden’s foreign minister, scheduled...

Pirate Bay Judge Belongs to Pro-Copyright Groups

(Newser) - One of the men convicted in the Pirate Bay file-sharing case is demanding a retrial, claiming that the judge is in cahoots with copyright-protection organizations, the Local of Sweden reports. Judge Tomas Norstrom acknowledges being a member of such groups but denies any conflict of interest. Last week, he found...

Pirate Bay Ruling Invigorates Pirates

(Newser) - Last week’s guilty verdict against the Swedes behind the Pirate Bay filesharing site not only hasn’t shuttered the operation—it’s boosted support for the cause of free information, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The affiliated Pirate Party, which advocates for copyright reform, has doubled its membership just...

Pirate Bay Founders Get Jail, Fines for File Sharing

File-sharing site team gets year in jail, must pay $3.6M to firms

(Newser) - In a big win for the movie and music business, four men behind the file-sharing service The Pirate Bay, including its two founders, have been found guilty of making copyrighted files available for downloading, CNET reports. A Swedish court sentenced each to a year in jail; the men must also...

Sweden Legalizes Gay Marriage
 Sweden Legalizes Gay Marriage 

Sweden Legalizes Gay Marriage

Parliament passes law 261-22

(Newser) - Sweden’s Parliament legalized gay marriage yesterday, becoming the fifth European country to do so, CNN reports. Registered partnerships were already permitted in the country, but the new law will allow same-sex couples to officially tie the knot starting May 1. The only party to oppose was the Christian Democrats,...

Autism Linked to Household Vinyl Flooring

(Newser) - Vinyl flooring has been linked to the development of autism in children, Scientific American reports. A joint US/Swedish study looking into the effects of household contaminants stumbled upon the result, which the researchers and others stressed was preliminary. It “turned up virtually by accident,” said one scientist. He...

Sweden to Saab: Tough Luck
 Sweden to Saab: Tough Luck 

Sweden to Saab: Tough Luck

The G.M.-owned Swedish automaker seeks a buyer to save itself

(Newser) - As governments around the world have propped up their automobile companies, typically paternalistic Sweden has answered Saab’s plea for help with an unexpected reply: “No.” No bailout, no takeover. The town of Trollhattan in southwest Sweden now faces economic catastrophe akin to Detroit’s decline as its...

Family's Search for WWII Hero Scarred Generations

Decades-long quest for Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands, in vain

(Newser) - The fate of Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands of Jews in World War II, remains unknown, despite his family’s generation-spanning search for the Swede who was arrested by Soviets in 1945, at age 32. That quest has lasted 6 decades—and the Wall Street Journal has reviewed thousands of...

Swedish Princess Will Marry Personal Trainer

Swedish couple met at a gym

(Newser) - In what sounds like a real-life Disney movie, the crown princess of Sweden lifted her country out of a glum mood—at least for one day—by announcing her engagement to her personal trainer, the Times of London reports. Crown Princess Victoria's fiancé has undergone a royal makeover: no more...

Saab Seeks Protection From Creditors, Break From GM

(Newser) - Saab applied for protection from creditors today, after parent company General Motors said this week it planned to cut the company loose, Bloomberg reports. In a process much like Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Swedish automaker will restructure and look for funding with the goal of spinning off from GM or...

Alba to O'Reilly: No, You're a Pinhead!

Sweden is neutral; siren says scornful Fox anchor had it wrong

(Newser) - History is on Jessica Alba's side in her ongoing feud with Bill O'Reilly, MSNBC reports. After the Fox anchor ridiculed Alba and called her a "pinhead" for apparently confusing Sweden with Switzerland by telling a reporter to "be neutral, be Sweden about it," Alba fired back with...

Sweden's Advice on US Banks: Be Wise, Nationalize

Taxpayers eventually benefited from early '90s move to recapitalize busted system

(Newser) - One option to save US banks: follow Sweden’s lead and nationalize them. Sweden’s banks were essentially bankrupt in the early 1990s, but a center-right government took them over, and taxpayers ultimately reaped the benefits, the New York Times reports. Troubled assets were isolated into a single “bad...

Jumbo Hostel: In This Plane, It's Safe to Crash

Swede converts jumbo jet into hostel

(Newser) - Once, jumbo jets were simply a way from point A to point B—but a new Swedish hostel makes a grounded plane a destination in itself, Wired reports. The 25-room, 85-bed Jumbo Hostel, situated by the Stockholm airport, opens next week. For $45, you can stay in a dorm; if...

Swedes Launch Nobel Prize Bribery Probe

Drug firm accused of influencing this year's pick in medicine

(Newser) - Swedish prosecutors are investigating claims of corruption in the awarding of this year's Nobel Prize in medicine, the Toronto Star reports. German scientist Harald zur Hausen won part of the prize for discovering the link between human papilloma viruses and cervical cancer. The discovery could make a fortune for drug...

Veg Group to Ikea: Keep Rudolph Off Menu

(Newser) - A British vegetarian group is calling on Ikea to stop selling reindeer salami in its in-store cafes, citing cruel hunting practices, the Independent reports. In Sweden, reindeer are herded by snowmobile and helicopter then shipped hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses, which the group says causes “considerable physical and mental...

Ford May Sell Off Volvo
 Ford May Sell Off Volvo 

Ford May Sell Off Volvo

Company's US sales off 28% in '08; Swedish government in talks

(Newser) - Ford is looking to cut costs wherever it can, and that might mean selling off its Volvo unit, the Wall Street Journal reports today. US sales for Volvo dropped off 28% in the first 10 months of 2008, and Ford, bleeding cash, plans to trim down and focus on its...

World Narrows Eyes at Exec Pay
 World Narrows Eyes at Exec Pay 

World Narrows Eyes at Exec Pay

Germany's bailout plan imposes broader curbs than US version

(Newser) - As governments worldwide implement bailouts for ailing financial institutions, the movement to curb executive compensation at those firms, and others, is gathering steam. Golden parachutes and pay practices that encourage excessive risk-taking are extremely unpopular in the public eye, the Wall Street Journal reports, and governments are finding restrictions necessary,...

Bipolar Risk Rises With Father's Age

Kids with dads over 30 have greater chance of developing disorder

(Newser) - Children born to fathers older than 30 have an 11% higher chance of developing bipolar disorder than kids with younger dads, and the risk increases with the father’s age, new research reveals. The rate climbs to 37% of offspring of fathers aged 55, Reuters reports, compared to the overall...

Stories 421 - 440 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser