Man shot dead in southern Stockholm

Police are investigating after a man in his late 30s was shot dead in Skärholmen, southern Stockholm, at around 6pm on Wednesday.

According to unconfirmed reports to Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, police were alerted to the shooting by the man’s underage son, who was with him at the time. Aftonbladet reports that according to witnesses, the man had told the shooters off about something just before the incident. He does not have a criminal record, so the initial theory was that he wasn’t the intended target.

It’s the latest of a series of shootings in Skärholmen in the past month. A man in his 20s was shot dead on March 1st, and a man in his mid-20s was injured on March 13th, although it is not yet known whether the latest shooting can be linked to previous incidents.

Swedish vocabulary: to investigate – att undersöka

Swedish parliament green lights stop-and-search zones

The Swedish parliament has voted through a proposal to introduce stop-and-search zones, which means police from April 25th will be given the right to stop and search people in temporarily designated areas in public spaces without any concrete suspicion of drugs or weapons.

A total of 151 MPs on Wednesday voted in favour of the bill and 148 voted against. The centre-left opposition, consisting of the Social Democrats, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party, criticised what the government has termed “security zones” (säkerhetszoner).

“There’s a significant risk that the proposal will lead to racial profiling,” Swedish news agency TT quoted Social Democrat MP Mattias Vepsä as telling parliament.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer, of the conservative Moderates, has previously spoken of a need to “trial new tools” in the effort to crack down on gang violence.  

Swedish vocabulary: a bill – ett lagförslag

New stats reveal unemployment still on the rise in Sweden

A total of 354,641 people were registered as unemployed with Sweden’s Public Employment Service at the end of March. That’s an increase by some 19,000 people compared to the same period last year, or in other words an increase of a 6.4 percent unemployment rate to 6.7.

“We’re seeing that unemployment continues to increase and the labour market is growing weaker, following the tougher economic situation which affects several industries,” Public Employment Service analyst Eva Samakovlis said in a statement.

The unemployment rate among foreign-born people fell in the same period, from 15.6 to 15.3 percent.

More than 196,000 foreign-born people were registered as unemployed at the end of March (up from 194,000), of which 100,000 were women (down from 102,000) and 96,000 were men (93,000). More than 151,000 (down from 153,000) were born outside of Europe.

The unemployment rate for native Swedes stood at 4.0 percent (3.5 percent).

Swedish vocabulary: unemployed – arbetslös

Swedish musicians cancel Eurovision performances over Israel’s participation

With less than a month until Eurovision week kicks off, artists and musicians are dropping out of events in Malmö in protest at Israel’s participation.

Last week, Malmö city council unveiled its programme for Eurovision week, including music from 90s dance icon Robin S, a concert by former Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, drag shows and two Abba tribute acts.

Since then, a number of artists who were scheduled to perform during Eurovision week have pulled out, following posts on Instagram by pro-Palestine groups BDS Sverige and Isolera Israel tagging the artists and encouraging them to cancel scheduled shows.

BDS stands for boycott, divest and sanctions, and is part of a global pro-Palestine movement founded in 2005, calling for boycotts of Israeli companies, an end to investments in Israel, and state sanctions.

Israel was originally banned from performing in Eurovision as its original entry, October Rain, was deemed to be too political due to references to Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th last year.

In March, the European Broadcasting Union, which organises Eurovision, announced that Israel would be allowed to participate in the contest after it resubmitted an adapted version of the song.

Swedish vocabulary: to participate – att deltaga