What’s on in Sweden: September 18 – 24

What's on in Sweden: Beer festival & Tom Jones (UK) In Stockholm; International Book Fair in Gothenburg; Hello Saferide in Malmö

In-form Ibrahimovic ready for Inter return

Barcelona and record signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic go into Wednesday's Champions League group opener at Inter Milan in high spirits after collecting maximum points from the first two league outings.

Chinese artist gets emergency brain surgery in Munich

Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist, architect and activist behind Beijing's “Bird’s Nest” Olympic stadium had emergency brain surgery in Munich on Monday night for injuries sustained in a beating by the authorities.

Schavan withholds nuclear energy study

Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan has been withholding a study on nuclear energy for months because it contains results too controversial to reveal ahead of Germany's election, daily Financial Times Deutschland revealed on Wednesday.

Terror suspect Swedes still detained: Pakistan

Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Wednesday confirmed that four Swedish citizens are sitting in prison in the capital Islamabad, three weeks after their arrest in the north of the country.

Beyond the insults: Swedish Model 2.0

As Sweden takes a battering in the US health care debate, Swedish Institute chief Olle Wästberg examines two of the insults most frequently flung: that Sweden is rampantly socialist, and that it's the poster child for neo-liberal market excesses.

Research exposes breadth of Germany’s executive gender gap

Research conducted by the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) has found that women are still struggling to reach the top positions in Germany’s leading companies.

German scientists discover a new type of dinosaur in Niger

German scientists have discovered a new kind of spiny-tailed dinosaur after uncovering its skeleton in the deserts Niger.

Borg caught up in tax payment blunder

Sweden’s Minister of Finance Anders Borg had some explaining to do on Wednesday when it was revealed he failed to follow new tax rules that he himself had introduced back in 2007.

Drunken erotic online chat from bathtub sparks call to police

A woman in Aachen was compelled to call the police after her drunken female friend slumped into a bathtub while the two were having an erotic chat online, the authorities reported on Wednesday.

Eight soldiers injured by Taliban attacks

Eight German soldiers were injured – one seriously - on Wednesday morning in two attacks by Taliban insurgents in the northern Afghan region of Kunduz, the Defence Ministry reported in Berlin.

More freedom proposed for Sami reindeer herders

Sweden’s indigenous Sami population should be granted more freedom to pursue economic activities other than reindeer herding, according to findings presented on Wednesday by a government appointed working group.

Teen gangs suspected in Stockholm robberies

Police in Stockholm are tracking a criminal gang of 14 to 17-year-olds suspected of carrying out a number of violent robberies in the city’s southern districts.

Riddargatan 12, Riddargatan 12

Gaming addiction poses ‘pandemic’ threat: expert

Computer gaming addiction is reaching “pandemic” proportions around the world, according to a Swedish organization poised to take a leading role in helping young people cope with the problem.

Bystanders did nothing to stop S-Bahn murder

Some 15 people stood by without intervening at the Munich S-Bahn station where two teenagers beat a 50-year-old man to death over the weekend, police said on Wednesday.

Merkel chugs through Germany on whistle-stop tour

Chancellor Angela Merkel rode a 1920s luxury train as she campaigned across Germany on Tuesday, retracing the steps of the country's first post-war chancellor ahead of the September 27 election.

Cockroach surprise for Swedish property mogul

A Stockholm-area investment executive received a package of live cockroaches in protest of his firm’s perceived negligence in upgrading run-down apartment buildings in Malmö’s Rosengård neighbourhood.

Geely withdraws reported offer for Volvo

Chinese automaker Geely, which had previously indicated its intentions to own 100 percent of Volvo Cars, has scrapped plans to put together a bid for Ford’s troubled Swedish subsidiary.

Heart surgery for Toronto’s Swedish goalie Gustavsson

Swedish rookie goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has surgery on Tuesday to fix a heart problem, but is expected to back in uniform with the National Hockey League’s Toronto's Maple Leafs within a few days, the team said.

Aachen couples have highest national divorce rate

A new study by Men’s Health magazine shows that the key to a long-lasting marriage in Germany could simply lie in the town in which couples live.

Reinfeldt calls for end to banks’ bonus culture

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt took aim at bonuses common at large banks when he opened the Swedish parliament on Tuesday, saying big bonuses "must come to an end".

Wolfsburg’s Grafite scores hat trick in Champions League debut

VfL Wolfsburg got off to a winning start on their Champions League debut in Group B as Brazil striker Grafite scored a hat trick to seal a 3-1 win over Russian side CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night.