Tag Archives: Sweden

From the Hollywood Reporter: “And just because this attack didn’t happen, folks, doesn’t mean we don’t stand in solidarity with all the people who did not suffer.” The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert was sure to honor the imaginary victims of the “Bowling Green Massacre,” and he’s back to do the same with the faux terror incident in Sweden. After President …

The Hill reports: Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt responded to President Trump’s remarks on Sweden again — this time with statistics on the country’s crime rates. In a tweet Monday morning, Bildt said the counties Trump made the speech at in Florida experienced higher murder rates last year than the whole country of Sweden did. The largest mass shooting …

The Hill reports: President Trump sought to explain his reference to a nonexistent terrorism incident in Sweden at a rally Saturday night, pointing to a story from Fox News. “My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden,” Trump tweeted Sunday. Trump confirmed speculation that a …

The New York Times reports: Swedes reacted with confusion, anger and ridicule on Sunday to a vague remark by President Trump that suggested that something terrible had occurred in their country. During a campaign-style rally on Saturday in Florida, Mr. Trump issued a sharp if discursive attack on refugee policies in Europe, ticking off a list of places that have …

But only because the US hasn’t yet formally asked. ABC News reports: Ecuador’s Foreign Minister says WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should receive guarantees that he will not be extradited to the US if he faces justice in Sweden after four years of living in the South American nation’s embassy in London. Mr Assange, who enraged Washington by publishing a flood …

The Telegraph reports: “Isn’t that something…?” Bob Dylan isn’t exactly making a big deal out of being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. But at least the 1960s trailblazer is finally acknowledging his becoming the first musician to be granted admission to the world’s most elite literary club. When I ask him about his reaction to hearing the news a …

The Guardian reports: It still seems unlikely a full public Abba reunion will ever happen, but the Swedish quartet are pushing themselves back towards the spotlight. Four months after they performed together for the first time in more than 30 years – at a private gala event in Stockholm in June – they have announced that they will launch a …

NBC News reports: The arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over a rape accusation will not be dropped, a Swedish appeals court ruled Friday. Assange, 45, has always maintained extradition from the U.K. to Sweden could lead to him being sent to the U.S. over WikiLeaks’ huge dump of secret documents. However, the European warrant was upheld. “After reviewing …

Pink News reports: Far right activists admitting interrupting Pride in Stockholm, claiming that “traditional family values” are “threatened”. Nordisk Ungdom, or Nordic Youth, admitted to attempting to interrupt the Pride event on Saturday. Speaking to Göteborgs-Posten, spokesman Fredrik Hagberg confirmed that the group had attempted to counter protest during the festivities leading to a scuffle. He said: “We were there …

The Independent reports: Look who’s back – ABBA reunited on stage last night to celebrate Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson’s 50th anniversary as friends. The four musicians celebrated by throwing a private party in Stockholm, with an exclusive guest list. And they’ve almost broken the internet – with the majority of fans waiting with bated breath for video footage of …

From the New York Times: Eurovision has finally made its way onto American television. The popular European song contest, now in its 61st season, will air the season’s Grand Final live on Logo on May 14. More than 200 million viewers tuned into the show last season, making it the most watched live entertainment program in Europe, according to Eurovision. …

Music Times recaps: Galantis has released the music video for its funky track “Peanut Butter Jelly.” Taken from their debut album Pharmacy, Galantis takes you to a supermarket, “Galantis Pharms,” where people are infected with the groove and have no choice but to strip and dance. Things start to get a little out of hand towards the end as people …

Eurovision reports: This morning, SVT revealed Stockholm as the Host City for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The capital city’s Globe Arena will stage the contest for the second time in its history. The Semi-Finals will be held on 10 and 12 May, the Grand Final on 14 May 2016. Information about ticket sales is expected later this year. The …

TIME Magazine reviews: The song moves with a sense of urgency, its cadence reminiscent of Pharrell’s “Come Get It Bae.” But it swaps out that track’s funky beat for a backbone of marching piano and trumpet solos worthy of the Gatsby era. Had it been released a couple of years earlier, it would have been a shoo-in for the soundtrack …

Yesterday’s Eurovision 2015 final opened with last year’s winner Conchita Wurst making a dramatic entrance from below the audience and then flying over their heads to the main stage. At the end of the night, the early voting lead swung back and forth between Russia and Sweden, the latter of whom was declared the winner when their lead could not …

Via The Local Sweden: A Swedish peace society has come up with a new way of fighting off Russian submarines in the Stockholm archipelago: a subsurface sonar system called ‘The Singing Sailor’, which sends out Morse code and features the message “Welcome to Sweden. Gay since 1944”. In a video published on their website on Monday, they demonstrate their new …

Via the Guardian: The official dictionary of the Swedish language will introduce a gender-neutral pronoun in April, editors at the Swedish Academy have announced. “Hen” will be added to “han” (he) and “hon” (she) as one of 13,000 new words in the latest edition of the Swedish Academy’s SAOL. The pronoun is used to refer to a person without revealing …

700K views for the sign language interpreter at Sweden’s Eurovision contest. The winning entry is here. (Tipped by JMG reader Daddy Ray)

Via the BBC: Ikea is to close down an online magazine in Russia over fears it could flout the country’s law banning the promotion of gay values to minors. In a statement, the furniture giant said some articles in Ikea Family Live could be viewed in Russia as gay “propaganda”. The controversial law was approved by President Vladimir Putin in …

Via Addicting Info: Pastor Marty McLain, who describes his religious belief as deriving from a literal interpretation of the Bible, was given the opportunity to see how secular Scandinavia is by a documentary series called The Norden. The concept is simple: find narrow-minded Americans and throw them into countries like Norway, Sweden and Denmark and watch them have panic attacks. …