Sweden

According to Ticket – the largest private travel agency in the Nordics – the US is the only top-ten country where travel bookings are declining for 2026, -21% on 2025; figures could change ahead of this summer's planned World Cup in the country

The Administrative Court has stopped all planned licensed wolf hunting in 2026 in all five counties where hunting was supposed to begin on January 2; hunters associations oppose the decision and Minister for Rural Affairs doubts about its application

54 children under 15 have been suspected of bombings in Jan-Nov 2025, tripled compared to 2024; according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority, in 2024, the figure was 21, in 2023 17 and before only one child per year, a worrying development

An anchovy shortage is possible this Christmas due to bad conditions for fishing last year, as they are stored in barrels for months; to meet the expected demand many brands will sell anchovy-seasoned herring fillet and 2025 fishing season opened well

56% of Sweden's municipalities exceed the limit for air pollutants set by the EU's air quality directive, which is to be implemented in law next year, according to an analysis conducted on data from SMHI's modeling of air quality

Several youths in Vallentuna were poisoned by isopropanol after drinking alcohol bought from a "vodkabil" that they got in touch with via Snapchat; according to Poison Information Centre the substance, used to clean electronics, is dangerous if ingested

Up to 300 tons of wheat have leaked out in Åhus harbor after a grain silo burst, amid initial concern that someone might have been caught under the grain

The 'cultural canon', or the list deemed to define what it means to be Swedish, was unveiled; part of the election manifesto of the right-wing and nationalist parties, it includes Pippi Longstocking, IKEA and the Nobel Prize, but not the Abba

Kiruna church is on its way to the new city center, the most spectacular event of the transformation forced by crack formation in the ground resulting by LKAB's mining; the 40x40m building weighs 627 tons and the gigantic moving convoy rolls on 220 wheels

A month after a law came into effect making insulting a public official a criminal offense, over 170 police reports have been filed from police officers, security guards, public employees and 10 preliminary investigations are underway

An average of one drowning per day in the past two weeks has been reported by the Swedish Lifesaving Society, amid a growing number of people taking to swimming and bathing by summer temperatures and good weather

A begging ban at national level will not be implemented as it 'not needed', one of the reasons being the number of beggars is 'discrete'; the ban was proposed by Moderate Party and Sweden Democrats and decided upon after nine months of investigation