A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Police hunt for suspects after deadly shooting in Gothenburg

Two young men were shot dead in Gothenburg just before midnight.

Police were called out to the scene in the Biskopsgården suburb at 11.36pm on Monday and found two men with gunshot wounds, close to a large car park. They were taken to hospital but died from their injuries.

Gothenburg police investigated the suspected murder overnight but had arrested no suspects by 6am.

“We are hunting overnight for at least one perpetrator but at the moment don’t have any suspects. We’re not ruling out that more perpetrators are involved but at the moment we’re working on the assumption that there’s just one,” police spokesperson Thomas Fuxborg told the TT newswire.

No further information had been released about the victims at the time of writing.

Seven people died in shootings in the western police region, which includes Gothenburg, last year. Between January and March this year there has been one fatal shooting in the region, according to police statistics.

Swedish vocabulary: a perpetrator – en gärningsperson

UK sanctions Sweden-based criminal gang Foxtrot

The UK is following the US in announcing sanctions against Sweden-based criminal network Foxtrot and its leader Rawa Majid.

There’s already an international warrant against Majid, whose Iranian-backed network has been involved in a series of violent incidents in Sweden in recent years. According to US authorities, they carried out an attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January 2024. 

“The Iranian regime uses criminal gangs across the world to threaten people. The UK has targeted this criminal network and its leader, Rawa Majid, due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime. The UK will not tolerate these threats,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in a statement.

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Foxtrot will have its assets frozen as a result of the decision, and Majid will be denied entry to the UK.

“This forms part of the UK Government’s ongoing response to Iranian hostilities in Europe. Last month, we announced that Iran will be placed on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) and to date, the UK has sanctioned more than 450 Iranian individuals and entities, in response to the regime’s human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme and malign influence internationally,” continued Lammy.

“The UK Government will continue to hold the Iranian regime and criminals acting on its behalf to account.”

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told public broadcaster SVT he welcomed the sanctions.

Swedish vocabulary: to announce – att meddela / tillkännage / uppge

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Swedish government to submit spring budget bill to parliament

Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson is set to submit her spring budget bill to parliament at 8am today, followed by a press conference at 8.30am. 

The spring amendment budget is usually mainly used to tweak or add bits and pieces to Sweden’s main annual budget, which was presented last autumn, but it still contains several important new reforms.

Svantesson has said that there will be 11.5 billion kronor of reforms in the spring amendment budget, including among other things an increase to the ROT tax reduction which currently allows households to claim back 30 percent of the cost of labour on maintenance work such as repairs, conversions and extensions.

Under the new proposal, which is expected to cost the government 4.35 billion kronor, the ROT reduction will be increased temporarily to 50 percent from May 12th until the end of the year in order to kickstart the economy. This will take up 40 percent of the budget.

Swedish vocabulary: spring amendment budget – vårändringsbudget

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Reduced train services between Sweden and Denmark

Train services across the Øresund Bridge railway have been reduced after rail wear was discovered during a planned inspection.

“Safety is the highest priority for the Øresund Bridge and therefore a reduction in speed – in both directions – has been requested until measures are taken to minimise disruption. Train services are reduced,” read a statement on the website for the Øresund Bridge.

“Some materials are unique to the Øresund Bridge and are more difficult to obtain quickly. The Øresund Bridge Consortium is working at full speed to minimise the disruption,” it added.

Southern Swedish public transport operator Skånetrafiken said a “limited” number of buses would replace the trains.

Although trains are still running, services are reduced, so anyone travelling across the bridge is advised to allow plenty of time for their journey. As of Tuesday morning, two trains per hour are expected to run in each direction.

It’s not known how long the repairs will take, but April 22nd has been set as a preliminary end date.

Swedish vocabulary: wear – slitage