Stockholm - A church brochure illustrated with what appeared to be a cannabis leaf has raised eyebrows in the northern Swedish city of Umea, reports said Wednesday.

The brochure also contained a headline saying the activities were for people who were "curious" and wanting "to try it out," the Vasterbottens-Kuriren newspaper reported.

The Hedlunda Church distributed the brochure in its neighbourhood areas in western Umea in August inviting people to attend activities ranging from children's choir practice to the scouts.

Stockholm  - A jury Wednesday named winners from Germany, India, Somalia and the United States as recipients of the 2008 Right Livelihood Awards, often called the Alternative Nobel Prize.

Two of the award winners were from the North and have worked to create ties with the so-called developing world, Ole von Uexkull of the Right Livelihood Foundation said.

Four of the five prize winners were women, he noted.

Stockholm - Irma Rosenberg, first deputy governor of the Swedish central bank, said Tuesday she would not seek a new six-year term and leave the bank at the end of the year.

Rosenberg, 63, is a member of the six-strong board of governors that sets interest rates.

She joined the board of governors in January 2003 and said that rather than seeking a new term she wanted "to spend more time with family and friends and on leisure activities."

The 11-member general council of the central bank, composed of members of parliament, will have "plenty of time" to find a successor, council chairman Johan Gernandt and vice council chairman Leif Pagrotsky said in a joint statement.

Stockholm  - The main stock exchanges in Europe's Nordic region recovered some ground in late morning trading Tuesday.

Although the Stockholm bourse dropped almost 3 per cent just after opening, continuing Monday's slide, it settled and was almost flat in late morning trading.

The Stockholm index closed at a low of 5.4 per cent on Monday, before the US House of Representatives voted against a 700-billion- dollar rescue plan.

Shares in the four main Swedish banking groups regained territory Tuesday, including Swedbank, which had been hammered Monday.

The benchmark indexes in Copenhagen and Helsinki were also up Tuesday after Monday's losses.

Stockholm - Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said Tuesday its pre-tax profits for the third quarter 2008 were up 4 per cent, noting that production and transport costs had increased.

H&M pre-tax profits for the third quarter stood at 4.58 billion kronor (678 million dollars), compared to 4.4 billion kronor for the corresponding business period 2007.

The group posted sales of 20.87 billion kronor, excluding value added tax (VAT), for the third quarter, up 12 per cent on the corresponding business period 2007. Third quarter sales had however, been "affected by a weaker retail business in most markets."

Stockholm - Nordic telecommunications group Telia Sonera on Friday said it had bought "controlling interests" in two mobile operators in Nepal and Cambodia, respectively.

The move, worth 3.2 billion kronor (484 million dollars), was part of Telia Sonera's "strategy to expand into new high-growth emerging markets," chief executive Lars Nyberg said in a statement.

By gaining a majority in the holding company Telia Sonera Asia Holding, Telia Sonera will control Spice Nepal, the second largest mobile operator in Nepal, and 100 per cent of the shares and votes in Cambodian start-up mobile operator Applifone.