Stockholm  - A Swedish courtroom is set on Monday to become the scene of a showdown between lawyers representing big music and film companies and the operators of a popular website that allegedly acts as a hub for illegal file sharing.

Four men face charges as accessories in violating copyright law, helping others "breach copyright laws" and of making illegal gains by selling advertisements on the Pirate Bay website.

The Pirate Bay website was temporarily shut down in June 2006. Its backers said it was a not-for-profit group and did not store copyrighted material, but only offered a search engine for users who exchange music, films and computer games.

Stockholm - Hundreds of mourners Friday paid tribute to the late Swedish heavyweight champion Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson who died at the end of January at age 76.

Johansson's funeral was held in the west coast city of Gothenburg where he hailed from, and was open to the public. The church which seats some 1,000 people was packed, local media reported.

The mourners left the funeral held in the Vasa Church to the famous tune Frank Sinatra song My Way.

Stockholm - The Carnegie Investment Bank AB, taken over by the Swedish state in November, has been sold to two investment groups, the Swedish National Debt Office said Wednesday.

The National Debt Office said it would sell the shares in Carnegie Investment Bank AB and Max Matthiessen Holding AB for a total of 2.27 billion kronor (278 million dollars).

The deal with buyers Altor Fund III and Bure Equity AB included some future repayments of some loans awarded by Carnegie.

Stockholm - The grandson of the founder of Swedish clothes retailer H&M was named the new chief executive of the group on Wednesday.

Karl-Johan Persson is set to assume the position as chief executive on July 1, replacing the retiring Rolf Eriksen. The pair will work closely together in the run-up to to the handover, the group said.

Persson is grandson of founder Erling Persson, and the son of Stefan Persson, the largest H&M shareholder with a 36-per-cent stake. Stefan Persson has been chairman of the board since 1998.

Stockholm - Nordic telecommunications group Telia Sonera on Wednesday posted higher pre-tax income for the fourth quarter of 2008, citing higher sales for its mobile and broadband operations.

The group said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was 8.2 billion kronor (1 billion dollars), up 15 per cent year-on-year.

Sales in the quarter increased 13 per cent to 28 billion kronor.

Chief executive Lars Nyberg said the group had "to be prepared for a potentially drawn-out economic downturn that may affect consumer and corporate behavior."

Stockholm - Nordic Banking Group Nordea on  Tuesday said it would strengthen its capital base by 3 billion euros (3.89 billion dollars), by offering a 2.5-billion-euro rights issue and lowering its dividend.

The announcement was made as the bank released its fourth quarter 2008 results in which operating profits dropped 28 per cent to 781 million euros.

Total operating income in the quarter increased 5 per cent to 2.25 billion euros, while loan losses totalled 320 million euros in the quarter. The losses were mainly attributed to Denmark, but also to other Nordic markets and the Baltic states, Nordea said.