Stockholm - The Swedish government unveiled a 28-billion- kronor (3.4 billion dollars) package Thursday aimed at securing the long-term viability of Swedish-based vehicle makers.

The government was to reserve 3 billion kronor for a research and development institute "to develop vehicles customers want," Deputy Prime Minister Maud Olofsson said.

There was demand for vehicles with lower emissions that could run on new fuels and electrical vehicles, she said.

Some 5 billion kronor was to be used for "rescue loans" for companies that were part of the vehicle cluster.

Stockholm- Swedish defence group Saab on Wednesday questioned some of the assessments made by Norway in its recent decision to select a US-made jet fighter over the Sweden's JAS Gripen.

Norway last month said it would buy the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) when it replaces its aging fleet of 48 F-16 jet fighters.

The US jet fighter fulfilled all criteria set up by Norway and also had a lower price tag than the JAS Gripen, Oslo said.

Saab is vying to supply jets to other countries and has some concern that the Norwegian assessment will impede those efforts.

Stockholm - Ball-bearing maker SKF that also makes seals and lubrication systems said Wednesday it planned to shed 2,500 jobs worldwide, citing lower demand from the car industry and other industrial sectors.

The group has some 42,800 employees.

SKF, which has headquarters in the Swedish west coast city Gothenburg, said the cuts would mainly impact plants in the United States, France, Italy, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina.

Stockholm - Members of the committees that select Nobel prizes for chemistry, physics and medicine said Tuesday they had second thoughts about the propriety of having accepted Chinese state- sponsored trips to China.

The ministry of education in China on two occasions, most recently in January 2008, paid for the trips and hotel costs, Swedish radio news reported.

Stockholm  - The 2008 Nobel laureates are being kept busy with lectures, news conferences and receptions in the run-up to Wednesday's award ceremony in the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

German researcher Harald zur Hausen of the University of Dusseldorf, awarded for discovering the human papilloma virus which causes cervical cancer, Monday met with students at the German School in Stockholm.

On Sunday, he and co-medicine laureates Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier of France, who discovered the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, delivered their Nobel lectures.

True to tradition, the award ceremonies are held December 10, the anniversary of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's 1896 death in San Remo, Italy.