Hagan The ghostwriter who collaborated with Julian Assange on his abortive 2011 autobiography has broken his silence to describe his months working with the WikiLeaks founder, which culminated in the acrimonious collapse of one of the highest profile and most lucrative book deals of recent times. Three years after he was first introduced to the Australian, Andrew O'Hagan has now spoken out about how...
Neill Princess Madeleine, fourth in line to the throne of Sweden, has given birth to a daughter, the Swedish court said on Friday. 31-year-old Madeleine – whose full title is Madeleine Therese Amelie Josephine, Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Halsingland and Gastrikland – married US-British banker Christopher O...
The UK and Netherlands ranked joint second and Australia ranked fifth in first LGBT Military Index ...
s style was influenced by Swedish laws that allowed cost of outfits to be deducted against tax The glittering hotpants, sequined jumpsuits and platform heels that Abba wore at the peak of their fame were designed not just for the four band members to stand out – but also for tax efficiency, according to claims over the weekend. Reflecting on the group's sartorial record in a new book, Björn Ulvaeus...
m not sure I've heard her right. Saga Norén is based on what? "A goat." She nods. "Charlotte, who was the first director, said, 'I want her to be like a small goat.' "I also had a picture of a cowboy – no, a cowgirl," Helin continues. "A cowboy-girl. I thought about Clint Eastwood. I imagined that Saga had seen Dirty Harry. Then I realised, no, she doesn't like fiction at all....
Crime writer behind hit novels and TV series says he will document battle with disease, which may already be in advanced stages Richard Orange ...
s happiness, its restaurants, or TV dramas; Sweden's gender equality, crime novels and retail giants; Finland's schools; Norway's oil wealth and weird songs about foxes; or Iceland's bounce-back from the financial abyss, we have an insatiable appetite for positive Nordic news stories. After decades dreaming of life among olive trees and vineyards, these days for some reason, we Brits are now projecting...
s Better Together campaign may be well ahead in the polls, but it is under fire from critics who say its message of doom and gloom is failing to inspire even the most ardent unionist with a positive vision of the country's future inside the UK. In contrast, the alternative destinies being mooted by the campaign for an independent Scotland are vivid and appealing. They include the recurring theme of...
t suffered because their homes are built in passive-house style. "Taking this route works very well for us as a municipality, since we want to become CO2-neutral, and homes account for 30% of energy use", explains Henrik Johansson, the city's environmental coordinator. Passivhaus, the building technique pioneered in Germany, is now catching on across northern Europe. In Sweden alone, several cities...
s status as a social democratic paradise The Estonian capital of Tallinn lies 50 miles across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki. One day in 1988, I went there by ferry. The Russian-owned boat was crowded with Finns in search of cheap vodka in Soviet Estonia. After two hours in the Soviet Union's territorial waters, a Finnish passenger lurched up to me and announced: "Last week I taste...
licence database and the shared IT system used in the Schengen zone. He was taken into Danish custody after being extradited from Sweden following a one-year jail term for computer hacking. But he has widespread support in Denmark. A petition submitted to the Danish government calling for his release and the restoration of some privileges gathered more then 50,000 signatures. Addressed to the Danish...
s coolest female detective is becoming as famous as Morse's Jag. In pictures: TV and film detectives' iconic cars For avid viewers of The Killing , it was Detective Inspector Sarah Lund's Faroe Isle jumper that was the object of their unbridled envy. Fans of its Nordic noir rival, The Bridge , however, appear to be obsessing over something rather more turbo-charged. As the second series of the joint...
quality of life. There have been previous attempts to transplant a womb, in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but both failed to produce babies. Scientists in Britain, Hungary and elsewhere plan similar operations but the efforts in Sweden are the most advanced. "This is a new kind of surgery," Dr Mats Brannstrom said in an interview from Gothenburg. "We have no textbook to look at." Brannstrom, chair of the...
s cold weather during the winter comes from a high-pressure system that keeps warmer, more humid air and low-pressure systems with wind and rain from coming up from the Atlantic Ocean. The weakening of the jetstream that holds this in place has allowed cold air to spill further south into much of the United States and Canada, while bringing above-average temperatures to parts of Europe. The knock-on...
Writer Magnus Falkehed and photographer Niclas Hammarström were abducted as they were leaving Syria in November Two Swedish journalists who were abducted in Syria in November have been released. Sweden's foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday that writer Magnus Falkehed and photographer Niclas Hammarström had been released and were receiving assistance from Swedish diplomats in Beirut. The two freelance...
Nordic Playlist shares music from throughout the region with fans wherever they are. By Alex Hern Alex Hern ...
s world, wrote the Lithuanian poet and essayist Tomas Venclova, is a world "moved away from God a great distance, such a distance that perhaps even God cannot easily overcome it". It is, said Venclova, a "concentration camp zone, where space is turned into emptiness, and time turned into disappearance". Other writers had been there before her. But Russian poets such as Brodsky or Derieva mobilise furiously...
s Beatrice Ask posts spoof article on Colorado marijuana overdoses to support anti-drug claims Sweden's justice minister is facing ridicule for posting a spoof article about marijuana-linked deaths on her Facebook page along with comments about her zero-tolerance against drugs. Beatrice Ask of Sweden's ruling Conservative party posted a link to the Daily Currant's satire article, which jokingly – and...
media relations training, told the Stockholm-based paper, Expressen : "Both volunteers, actors and media professionals are welcome to apply for the roles." The pay, at 1988 kronor (£187) per day, is hardly generous. But there are perks: free meals, free travel and the possibility of spending the night in a "private room" at the Enköping army base in eastern Sweden. Don...
Lars Jon Allas, whose family has herded for generations, says mine dust can carry kilometres and kills the lichen reindeer eat during winter Kim Paul Nguyen ...