Stockholm

Hunter survives moose attack in northern Swedish town

Stockholm  - A 76-year-old Swedish man said he was "lucky" to have survived a kick from a moose cow in the northern town of Gallivare, reports said Sunday.

"It was pure luck that the hoof just grazed my chest, it it had impacted fully I would have been crushed to death," Mauritz Henriksson told the Expressen newspaper.

The seasoned moose hunter said he had been walking his four elk hounds on Saturday evening when they started to bark furiously.

Two of the dogs pulled free and raced off, after apparently picking up the scent of a moose in a neighbour's yard.

Swedish premier: Financial crisis a challenge for climate talks

Stockholm  - The global financial crisis has made efforts to agree on a new global treaty on climate change more challenging, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in an interview published Sunday.

"A lot of the political energy that existed a few years ago has disappeared," Reinfeldt told the Stockholm daily Svenska Dagbladet.

The financial crisis means that "there are fewer shoulders to push the process. Many use estimates that aim to make their own country do less," Reinfeldt said.

Sweden in July 2009 takes on the rotating presidency of the European Union, one of the players in upcoming talks on a global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

Drunk barred entry to Stockholm casino shoots at customers

Drunk barred entry to Stockholm casino shoots at customers Stockholm  - A highly inebriated man shot and injured two female customers and a security guard at the Cosmopol casino in the Swedish capital Stockholm, police reported Thursday.

The man had been denied entry to the casino shortly before midnight because he looked drunk. He then pulled out a pistol, fired numerous shots in the direction of the entrance and fled.

The two women, aged 47 and 28, received injuries to the arms and legs, while the guard was shot in the stomach. All three were taken to hospital.

Government approves funds for Swedish royals

Sweden FlagStockholm - The Swedish government has approved an increase of funds for Sweden's royal family for their official duties next year, reports said Friday.

Business daily Dagens Industri reported that the overall budget for the Court Administration and Palace Administration was 112.1 million kronor (14.6 million dollars), up 2.7 million kronor (353,000 dollars) compared to 2008.

Roughly half the total sum - 57.4 million kronor - is allocated for the Court Administration.

Unrest in southern Swedish city after closure of Islamic centre

Stockholm - Several cars and other vehicles were torched, while homemade explosives and stones were thrown at police in overnight clashes with youths Friday in the Swedish city of Malmo.

There were no injuries and some 20 people were briefly detained.

The troubles were described as the worst in protests linked to the recent closure of a basement used as a mosque in the Rosengard district. Most of the population in the district are immigrants.

The protests became violent after police on Monday evicted youths who for three weeks had occupied the basement, which also was being used as an Islamic centre.

Swedish prosecutor investigates Nobel committee for corruption

Sweden FlagStockholm - A spokesman for Sweden's public prosecutor said Thursday that it had launched an investigation into members of the Nobel committee for receiving free gifts of trips to China.

The prosecutor had launched preliminary investigations based on the suspicion of passive bribe-taking, the spokesman said on SR radio.

The investigation was prompted by media reports earlier in the week that a leading member of each of the juries for the medicine, physics and chemistry prizes had travelled to Beijing on a state- sponsored trip.

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