Stockholm - Swedish King Carl Gustaf was criticized Friday for saying that he supported culling the wolf population.

"We have to cull the wolf population, otherwise it will explode," the moanrch told Swedish television news during a moose hunt on Thursday.

"They eat a lot, that is a fact," the king added.

The remarks were welcomed by the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management, but were criticized by, among others, the conservation movement WWF.

The king has been chairman of the Swedish branch of the WWF since 1988.

Stockholm - Mobile telephone maker Sony Ericsson on Friday posted a loss for third quarter 2008, citing "challenging business conditions".

The group posted a pre-tax loss of 23 million euros (30 million dollars) for the quarter, compared to a pre-tax profit of 384 million euros for the corresponding business period in 2007.

Group turnover was 2.8 billion euros, down 10 per cent on third- quarter 2007, the joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson said.

Sony Ericsson said it sold 25.7 million handsets in the quarter, flat year on year, but slightly up compared to the 24.4 million handsets sold during the second quarter 2008.

Stockholm - A Swedish lawyer Thursday said he doubted claims by the US military alleging that they have killed a non-Iraqi individual who was the second-in-command of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A US military statement on Wednesday said that the body of Abu Qaswarah, also known as Abu Sara, was positively identified after an October 5 raid in the northern-Iraqi city of Mosul.

Moroccan-born Abu Qaswarah also had Swedish citizenship.

The Swedish Security Service said they had been aware of the 43- year-old, who had been suspected, but never charged, of being active in militant Islamist groups in Sweden.

Stockholm - Sweden is set to establish a fund to help banks that run into problems in future, Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said Tuesday.

The Swedish National Debt Office was to manage the fund that was to be financed by the state and banking sector. The aim was to "stabilize" the bank sector and ensure lower mortgage rates, Odell told reporters.

Stockholm - Market turmoil impacted the net asset value of Investor AB, the investment company with key stakes in leading Swedish blue-chip companies, the group said Tuesday.

For the third quarter 2008, the group reported a loss in its net asset value of 8.8 billion kronor (1.2 billion dollars), compared to a loss of 7.8 billion kronor for the corresponding business period in 
2007.

At the end of September the net asset value was 130 billion kronor compared to 155 billion kronor at the end of 2007.

Stockholm - The 2008 Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded Monday to Paul Krugman of the United States, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced.