Police chief: ‘Stop-and-search zone won’t stop wave of violence’

The Swedish city of Södertälje has been hit by a wave of violence after police lifted the stop-and-search zone imposed earlier this month. But the local police chief Caroline Aspegren hs told TT that a new stop-and-search zone will not bring the violence to an end. 

“The conflict is so complex that it does not only have to do with the geography inside the stop-and-search zone,” she said. 

Only hours after the zone was lifted, shots were fired at a property in the city, and on Monday evening a hand grenade was thrown into a grocery store, but Aspegren said there were no plans to bring back the zones. 

“A stop-and-search zone in itself is not going to bring an end to the ongoing violent conflict. It is one of several different methods we can use to cool down an ongoing conflict.” 

Swedish vocabulary: våldsvågen – a wave of violence

Record profits for Spotify

The music streaming service saw its operating profits rise to €266m, or 3.1bn kronor, between April and June, its highest quarterly profit yet.

The number of subscribers rose 12 percent to 246 million despite the significant staff reductions the company has pushed through in recent years.  

Shares shot up 7.2 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after the announcement.  

Swedish vocabulary: rörelsevinst – operating profit

Nine more people charged for Lund Gaza protests

Nine new protesters have been charged on suspicion of ‘disobeying law enforcement’ after taking part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Lundagård at Lund University on May 30th this year, Sweden’s public broadcaster SR has reported.  

The people are accused of disrupting the public order and not following police orders. Last week, two people were given fines for their part in the protests. 

Swedish vocabulary: ohörsamhet – disobedience

British footballer in coma after pool accident in Allingsås

A British teen-footballer is in a coma in Sweden after being discovered drowned unconscious at a swimming pool in Sweden.

Sajawal, 16, from Hounslow, West London, was competiting in the Gothia cup youth football tournament at Nolhaga Parkbad in Allingsås, northPool east of Gothenburg, when found unconscious in the pool on Friday.

The teen’s family are now trying to raise £20,000 to airlift him back to the UK from the Sahlgrenska Hospital in Gothenburg, where he is being treated, claiming that the hospital is planning to turn off his life support machine. 

Swedish vocabulary: koma – coma