Sweden

Six weeks after the election, the effort to form a government has stalled as the Center Party leader confirmed there is no majority for a middle-ground coalition. The Social Democrats, still without a deal, are facing internal criticism for a lack of post-election preparedness and public irritation from their potential partners in the Left and Center parties. Some political scientists have begun suggesting that the country’s parliamentarism itself is no longer working as intended.

Public safety officials are tracking a new online movement that celebrates mass murderers, which police have linked to a recent rise in local violence. In Örebro, a suspicious object triggered an immediate evacuation of residents, while in Stockholm, a sawn-down power pole caused hours of traffic jams. Elsewhere, authorities have chartered a plane to deport a group of about ten Somalis, several of whom have criminal convictions.

Economists expect interest rates could triple next week as the central bank attempts to manage inflation. The pressure on household budgets is already visible in Ulriksdal and Djurgården, where leasehold rents have doubled, leading to at least one eviction by the bailiff. Outside the capital, a truck carrying pigs overturned into a ditch, and a customer discovered larvae crawling inside a bag of popular candy.