Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

Victims in Malmö school attack were targeted at random, court hears

The 18-year-old student at Malmö Latin who has admitted to killing two female teachers at the school told a court on Tuesday that he attacked at random.

“I was going to do everything at random,” said the attacker, who has not been named.

“The idea was to just attack the first person I saw. Of course, there were certain people I was hoping not to meet,” he told the court.

The 18-year-old has admitted to attacking and killing two teachers at Malmö Latin school on March 21st.

The attacker said he first began thinking about carrying out an attack the day before, on March 20th.

He told the court he had previously considered taking his own life but that a setback in his bid to get a driving licence pushed him to take action.

The court hearing in Malmö will continue throughout the week.

As the minor mental examination already carried out on the 18-year-old has concluded that he may be suspected of having a serious mental disorder, his lawyer Anders Elison expects that his client will undergo a major forensic psychiatric examination before being sentenced.

Swedish vocabulary: slumpmässigt - at random

Crime most important election issue for Sweden's voters

For the first time since the 1970s, crime is top of the list of voters' most important issues in the run-up to September's election.

This is according to a new report from the SOM Institute at Gothenburg University, newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) reports.

This is the first time crime has come top since regular election-year surveys began in 1979.

According to the report, 41 percent of those questioned said that law and order are the most important issues in society, as well as the most important political issues.

"This issue has risen like a rocket and increased from election to election." Patrik Öhberg, political scientist at the SOM Institute, told Swedish public service radio Ekot.

"This is the first election campaign in modern times where it's so high up on the agenda that all parties, whether they want to or not, have to discuss the issue," he said.

Swedish vocabulary: valfråga - election issue

Tetra Pak pulls out of Russia

Food packaging giant Tetra Pak said yesterday it was selling its operations in Russia and pulling out for good, as Western sanctions made it impossible to maintain a normal supply chain.

The Swedish-Swiss group had already suspended new investment and projects in the country after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February.

But the company continued to serve Russian clients packaging essential food items, in line with its commitment to the principle that people have a right to access safe food.

However, this has now become untenable, the company said. "This is due to the cumulative impact of the restrictions on exports to Russia leading to an unsustainable supply chain, as a result of which the company is left with no other option than to exit the country," Tetra Pak said in a statement.

The company said it will divest its Russian operations to local management, helping ensure continuity to customers providing essential food items, while minimising the impact on employees.

Tetra Pak, which had been present in Russia for 62 years, had employed around 750 people there, a spokeswoman told AFP.

Founded in Sweden in 1951, Tetra Pak now employs more than 25,000 people in more than 160 countries.

It is now part of the Swiss-based Tetra Laval group which also includes a beverage packaging unit and a division providing milk production equipment to dairy farmers.

Swedish vocabulary: nödvändig - essential