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The latest political development in Sweden that makes a new election more likely, the Kremlin comments on yesterday's confrontation between a British destroyer and Russia's military and why the Dutch Prime Minister wants to bring Hungary "to its knees" but first... Half of the 891 COVID-19 cases in Israel in the last month involve: "fully vaccinated people"... Effective Sunday Israel reinstating its indoor mask order. The recent uptick in COVID-19 cases many of them identified as "Delta Variant" cited... French Premier Jean Castex visiting the Department of Landes in southwestern France where COVID-19 cases are said to be surging with...

At a press conference following the mass stabbing attack by an Afghan migrant in Vetlanda, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven claimed the incident was not a migration issue. Prime Minister Löfven made his remarks in response to a tweet from the populist Sweden Democrats, who said that the government should enforce a ban on migration that creates a social, economic, or cultural burden on the country. “This is not a migration issue that the Sweden Democrats want to make it. Now we have a very serious incident in Vetlanda. Where innocent people are hurt, where their relatives are deeply worried,”...

Sweden’s Covid-19 experiment is over. After a late autumn surge in infections led to rising hospitalizations and deaths, the government has abandoned its attempt—unique among Western nations—to combat the pandemic through voluntary measures. Like other Europeans, Swedes are now heading into the winter facing restrictions ranging from a ban on large gatherings to curbs on alcohol sales and school closures—all aimed at preventing the country’s health system from being swamped by patients and capping what is already among the highest per capita death tolls in the world. The clampdown, which started last month, put an end to a hands-off approach...

The case has attracted the attention of prominent figures, from Justin Bieber to President Donald Trump. Trump, who caused a stir in U.S.-Swedish diplomatic relations after publicly offering support to the Grammy-nominated artist, celebrated the temporary release. “It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!” the U.S. president said in a tweet. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven heard an appeal from Trump in July, but said he couldn’t interfere in a legal case. Robert O’Brien, a U.S. special presidential envoy sent to monitor the court proceedings, stressed that Washington was “grateful that I got to attend and observe the...

"Don't know how to take it don't know where to go go my resistance running low. And everyday the hold is getting tighter and it troubles me so" ABBA-"Under Attack" "Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has begun the final day of the general election campaign by warning about extremism and fascism...." "SD leader Jimmie Akesson said Sweden had been 'an extreme country in many ways, not least when it comes to immigration'"..... BBC News-9/8/2018 "It is you Social Democrats, you Moderates and you in the Swedish media that continue to create problems for our country....People have been killed, and will...

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has begun the final day of the general election campaign by warning about extremism and fascism. Neither his centre-left Social Democrats nor the main centre-right party is likely to win a majority. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) is expected to win around 20% of the vote, becoming the second biggest party in parliament. Mr Lofven said an SD vote was "dangerous" and "counterproductive". He said it was "like trying to quench fire with alcohol", according to the Omni news site. Immigration has been a central issue of the election campaigns. The nationalist SD doubled its...

Sweden’s prime minister has promised to “go in hard” against masked men who set alight up to 80 cars in Gothenburg and other towns on Sweden’s west coast, in what police say appeared to be coordinated attacks. “I am really furious, what the hell are they up to?” Stefan Löfven on Tuesday morning. “Society will always act hard against this and we must continue to do so … We will do what needs to be done to take care of it and go in hard against this crime.” Sweden goes to the polls on 9 September with violent crime high...

For the first time since World War II, Sweden is preparing to distribute a civil defense brochure to some 4.7 million households, warning them about the onset of war. The booklet will serve as a manual of “total defense” in case of a war, and provide details on how to secure basic needs such as water, food, and heating, the FT reported. The manual also covers other threats such as cyber attacks, terrorism, and climate change. “All of society needs to be prepared for conflict, not just the military. We haven’t been using words such as total defense or high...

Amid rapidly-deteriorating relations between the two countries, Sweden's prime minister has come under fire for declaring that the recent spate of stabbing attacks in Israel are not terrorist attacks. Speaking to the Swedish TT news agency, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said of the Palestinian attacks, which have claimed the lives of 22 people and left hundreds more wounded in just over two months: "No, it is not classified as [terrorism]." "There is an international classification regarding what constitutes or does not constitute [terror]. As far as I know, the [stabbing attacks in Israel] are not defined as terror." ...

Sweden's Migration Minister Morgan Johansson has urged refugees in northern Germany to stay put, after declaring that the Nordic nation is now unable to guarantee beds for all asylum seekers. [...] The move comes just a day after Prime Minister Stefan Löfven released a written statement calling on the European Commission to push other member states to do more to help tackle the refugee crisis. ...

The acting party leader of the Sweden Democrats has hit out at Stefan Löfven and the Alliance parties for backing out of next year's planned election, and stated the nationalist party is now the main opposition as a result. In the wake of the announcement, dubbed the 'December agreement' on Saturday morning, Mattias Karlsson has reacted with fury and plans to call for a vote of no confidence in the current Prime Minister. "He doesn't deserve to govern Sweden," Karlsson told the TT news agency. The December agreement was thrashed out over the Christmas period and effectively means a minority...

Sweden's minority, center-left government teetered on the brink of collapse on Tuesday after just two months in office when a far-right party announced it would vote against the 2015 budget, effectively dooming it to defeat. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrat party, which holds the balance of power in parliament, said it would support an alternative budget proposed by the center-right Alliance opposition bloc, leaving the government isolated.

A political crisis erupted in Sweden Tuesday when the extreme-right Sweden Democrats, the country's third largest party, vowed to block the new leftist-green government's budget, a move that could trigger new elections. "The Sweden Democrats will work towards taking down every government and every budget proposal that supports increased immigration at today's levels," the populist party's acting leader Mattias Karlsson said in a press conference. The party -- which holds the balance of power in parliament -- said its decision was in reaction to the minority government's pro-immigration policies. It pledged instead to support a rival budget proposal from the...

The left-of-center government of Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has been forced to call new elections less than three months after taking office.  Unable to pass a budget through the Rikstag (parliament), Lofven faced a choice of either resigning or calling snap elections, slated for March 22, 2015.  Although the budget was the trigger, most observers believe that immigration policy is at the root of the fall.  David Crouch of the U.K. Guardian explains: Sweden’s far right plunged the country into unprecedented political upheaval on Wednesday by forcing the government to gamble on fresh elections in the spring after the...

With its slogan “Out with the racists, in with the feminists,” the party has broadened traditional feminist values to also fight discrimination on the basis of race, sexual identity and physical disabilities.

Sweden's new Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Loefven unveiled what he called a "feminist" government including Green Party ministers for the first time in the Nordic country. ... Sweden is in a serious situation -- unemployment has become entrenched at high levels, school results have collapsed and the welfare system has major shortcomings ...

Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden's Social Democrats look set to reclaim power after eight years in opposition, according to an early exit poll which predicts the far right will make historic gains in Sunday's general election. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats could double their seats in parliament as some in the nation of 10 million known for its liberal asylum rules express frustration with a growing influx of refugees. .... An electoral gain for the Sweden Democrats and their dapper 35-year-old leader Jimmie Aakesson would confirm a Europe-wide trend of soaring popularity for populist right-wing parties. The eurosceptic Alternative for Germany, which...

Sweden's Social Democrats and their centre-left allies are poised to return to power after defeating the centre-right government, in a general election that also resulted in strong gains for the anti-immigration party. With all but two voting districts tallied on Sunday, the Social Democrat-led bloc won 43.8 percent of the vote while the ruling centre-right coalition, led by the Moderate Party, gained 39.3 percent. But the anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats were celebrating large gains as the party won 12.9 percent of votes cast - more than doubling the 5.7 percent of votes won in the 2010 election. "Sweden friends, party...

Background: The anti-Islamist party of the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) recently made huge success in national elections. Despite the fact that Swedes drive around in $35 000 Volvos and build even larger homes for themselves than other rich people like Americans and Australians do, something obviously is rotten in this neighbor state of Denmark and it's not surströmming (google it!). Sooner, it's a failed policy on immigration. Anyhow, this is the analysis of former (Socialist or at least Social Democratic) PM Persson who once expressed doubts about the numbers of non-Western immigrants Sweden has let in. The article: "Former Swedish Prime...

A new law will come into effect in Sweden after Christmas 2014, that will allow people to be prosecuted for criticizing immigration or politician’s unwillingness to tackle the issue. The Constitutional Committee’s report has been voted for in parliament, seen in a letter from the Parliamentary Offices. Member of Parliament Andrew Norlén, member of the Constitutional Committee, has been pushing the issue and he says it will rapidly become a deterrent. ... Without freedom of speech there can be no democracy. If you are not allowed to say certain things then parties that support your ideas cannot exist and Sweden...