Swedish News:

A changing skyline in Stockholm. Sweden and the U.S. fight crime together. Swedish prosecutors delayed again. The Swedish police force requests expansion.  

  • The proposed Tellus Tower high-rise complex will change the skyline in Kista, just north of Stockholm. Image by fastighetsvarlden.se
  • A changing skyline in Stockholm
    After the Armed Forces put the kibosh on plans for a 240-meter-high building (78 floors) to be built in southern Stockholm because it would disrupt national defense systems, the city changed the building site. The City of Stockholm and the real estate company SSM have developed a new site for the skyscraper that is already being called northern Europe's tallest residential building. Tellus Tower will instead be built in Kista, just north of Stockholm where it will also be directly connected the Telefonplan metro station. There are plans for three additional buildings, that altogether will accommodate 1200 new apartments. The first should to be ready for occupancy in 2020.

  • Sweden and America will now cooperate in fighting serious crime like terrorism by making it easier to exchange fingerprints.
  • Sweden and the U.S. fight crime together
    Sweden and the United States will strengthen their cooperation to combat crime by exchanging fingerprint data with each other. The Swedish government Sweden has drafted legislation that will result in a deal with the United States on sharing fingerprint data to fight crime. The law would let authorities in both countries run fingerprint searches in each other's databases. "We are exchanging fingerprints with the United States to strengthen our work against serious crime," Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said in a statement.

  • The Swedish warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange is upheld. Assange photographed in the Ecuadorian Embassy, London (June 2013). Image: Wikimedia commons/Flickr
  • Swedish prosecutors delayed again
    Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has been living in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012 after he sought refuge there to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault against two women while he was there on business in 2010. Sweden has requested opportunities to question Assange, but Ecuador has rejected the current letter of request "for formal reasons." Assange denies the accusations and says he fears Sweden would extradite him to the U.S. where he could go to trial. In December 2015, Ecuador agreed to let Assange be questioned in its embassy in London, but now Ecuador is rejecting Sweden’s request to question him and time has run out for Swedish prosecutors to question him over some of the claims. Ecuador suggested that its own officials conduct the interview and have asked Swedish prosecutors for a list of questions. This is under consideration.

  • More than 4000 new employees are wanted on the Swedish police force to combat terrorism and manage border controls and deportations as well as asylum accommodations in 2016.
  • Swedish police request expansion
    As many as 4,100 new employees are wanted as refugees continue to migrate into Sweden and the terror threat increases. The request was made in a letter to the Ministry of Justice on January 25, proposing an increase of 1,500 to 2,500 more officers and 1,600 new civilian employees by 2020. Swedish Radio reports that police need a greater presence in areas that are socio-economically disadvantaged, to combat terrorism and manage border controls and deportations as well as asylum accomodations. An increased terror threat also requires more investments in facilities, equipment, vehicles and training, estimating a they will need an extra SEK 1.8 to 2.8 billion ($210 to $327 billion) from 2017 to 2019. Minister for Home Affairs Anders Ygeman told Swedish Radio that he was "cautiously positive" about the new demands.