Wildfire alert as heatwave hits Sweden
Temperatures are set to reach up to 30C in Skåne and Blekinge, southern Sweden, on Tuesday. Further north, southern Norrland can expect around 20C, reports the TT news agency, citing Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI’s latest forecast.
But the heatwave not going to stick around, with rain heading for central and northern Sweden from Tuesday onwards.
Southern Sweden may escape the rain (which may not be a good thing), but the mercury is set to drop by Friday.
There’s a high or extremely high risk of wildfires in large parts of southern and central Sweden, as well as the island of Gotland.
SMHI is urging everyone to check whether or not there’s a fire ban in their area before lighting a fire.
Swedish vocabulary: a heatwave – en värmebölja
Sweden Democrats vow to throw out new law on legal gender change
A new law making it easy to change legal gender is also set to come into force from July 1st. The law will allow qualified doctors, psychologists, psychotherapists and healthcare counsellors (kurator) to write up a document for patients wishing to change gender, which will then be processed by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).
If the request to change legal gender is granted, the Tax Agency would be responsible for changing their gender in the population register, as well as altering the second-to-last number in the applicants’ personal number – women have even numbers while men have odd numbers.
The law was voted through by parties on both sides of the political aisle, apart from the Sweden Democrats and Christian Democrats.
The far-right Sweden Democrats want to tear up the law after the 2026 election, three MPs write in an opinion piece for Svenska Dagbladet.
They argue that there are often underlying psychiatric conditions, or even puberty, which should be treated instead.
“Yet Swedish healthcare has so far had a one-sided focus on confirming the person’s, at the time, perceived identity and based on that recommend life-changing and often irreversible interventions,” write the MPs.
They also call for preschools to stop any gender theory work, and financial compensation for anyone wrongly treated for gender dysphoria.
Swedish vocabulary: to tear up – att riva upp
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Majority of regions fall short of HPV vaccine target as deadline nears
Women born between 1994 and 1999 only have today left to get vaccinated for free against cervical cancer – as part of an ambitious project to try to eradicate the disease by 2027. Cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and is the third most common form of cancer among women aged 20 to 49.
But just over a week ago, several regions didn’t meet the target of vaccinating 70 percent of the group before June 30th.
According to the statistics, only six out of 21 regions had reached the target by June 22nd. In twelve regions, between 60 and 69 percent had been vaccinated and three regions – Stockholm, Skåne and Gotland – were lagging behind at 50-59 percent.
In total, 63 percent of the age group had received the shot by June 22nd.
Sweden has since 2021 offered women born between 1994 and 1999 free vaccination with Gardasil9, which protects against nine HPV types. The long-term goal is to achieve herd immunity, stopping the virus from spreading altogether. Some regions have also been offering the HPV vaccine to men up to the age of 26 to accelerate progress.
It will still be possible to get vaccinated after June 30th, but potentially at a cost of 6,000 kronor, although some regions have said they will continue to offer the vaccine for free.
Swedish vocabulary: herd immunity – flockimmunitet
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Swedish police set sight on 700 gang criminals based abroad
Swedish police have identified 700 gang criminals who are operating in Sweden, despite being based abroad.
They include people who may have fled Sweden to escape the police, or to avoid getting killed themselves. They previously often moved to Spain, but today many of them are based in countries such as Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
“You can sit in Erbil in Iraq and order a murder in Borås,” deputy police chief Stefan Hector told TT.
Swedish police have stepped up their collaboration with their counterparts in other countries, as part of the Interpol system.
“Red alerts mean that you are wanted abroad and you should then be remanded in absentia. So we share red alerts and especially highlight those who are particularly dangerous,” said Hector.
In 2024, police arrested 86 people following international warrant. That figure has already hit 124 so far in 2025.
“It’s not all organised crime. But among these people there are ‘high value targets’, people who are very valuable to organised crime,” said Hector. “We will pursue the perpetrators wherever they go.”
Swedish vocabulary: a collaboration – ett samarbete
