logo
Swedish police arrest four over shooting, release teen

Swedish police arrest four over shooting, release teen

RTHK02-05-2025

Swedish police arrest four over shooting, release teen
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday said the shooting looked "like an execution." Photo: AFP
Swedish police arrested four men in connection with a triple murder that shocked the country and have released a teen previously detained over the shooting, prosecutors said on Friday.
Three people aged 15 to 20 were killed in a shooting on Tuesday in broad daylight at a hair salon in central Uppsala, north of Stockholm.
The shooting shocked Sweden amid rising concern over gang violence, though police have not confirmed that the shooting was gang-related.
"Suspicions against the 16-year-old have weakened during his time in custody. He is no longer suspected of a crime," prosecutor Andreas Nyberg said in a statement.
On Thursday, authorities arrested two men suspected of "incitement to murder," while a third man in his 20s was arrested overnight on Thursday to Friday suspected of murder, the statement said.
A fourth man, around the age of 4,5 was arrested on Friday, also suspected of incitement to murder.
Swedish media have reported that at least one of the dead had connections to a criminal gang, though police have not confirmed those reports.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday called the shooting "an extremely violent act," saying it looked "like an execution."
Uppsala is the home base for two of Sweden's most notorious gangs, Rumba and Foxtrot.
Their leaders, Ismail Abdo and Rawa Majid, are both now believed to be orchestrating operations from abroad.
Sweden has struggled for years to rein in gang conflicts, which have led to frequent shootings and bombings across the country that have occasionally claimed innocent victims. (AFP)

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Japan spots Chinese ships near disputed isles for record 216 straight days
Japan spots Chinese ships near disputed isles for record 216 straight days

HKFP

time5 hours ago

  • HKFP

Japan spots Chinese ships near disputed isles for record 216 straight days

Japan spotted Chinese vessels sailing near disputed islets in the East China Sea for a record 216 consecutive days, Tokyo's coast guard said Sunday. The Tokyo-administered islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, have long been a sore point between the neighbours. On Sunday, Japan said it observed four Chinese coast guard vessels sailing in the 'contiguous' zone, referring to a 12-nautical-mile band that extends beyond Japan's territorial waters. Last year, Chinese vessels sailed near the Tokyo-administered island chain a record 355 times, including for a period of 215 consecutive days, a Japanese coast guard spokesman told AFP. Japanese officials regularly protest the presence of the Chinese coast guard and other vessels in the waters surrounding the remote, disputed islands. Relations between Japan and China were strained by Tokyo's decision to 'nationalise' some of the islands in 2012. On Friday, Japan's coast guard and its US and Filipino counterparts staged joint training drills off Japan's southwest shore — the second time the countries' coast guards have held training drills together, and the first in Japan. Territorial disputes with China have pushed Japan to forge deeper ties with the Philippines and the United States. Earlier this month, Tokyo and Beijing traded barbs over close encounters between their military planes over the Pacific high seas.

Trump addresses nation after US bombs Iran
Trump addresses nation after US bombs Iran

RTHK

time10 hours ago

  • RTHK

Trump addresses nation after US bombs Iran

Trump addresses nation after US bombs Iran US President Donald Trump said US forces struck Iran's principal nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. Photo: AFP US forces struck Iran's three main nuclear sites, US President Donald Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more attacks if it did not agree to peace. After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict. "The strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a televised Oval Office address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran's future held "either peace or tragedy," and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military. "If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill." The US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported. Trump said US forces struck Iran's three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites. An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site was attacked by "enemy airstrikes." Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago. (Reuters)

China downplayed nuclear-capable missile test, classified New Zealand gov't papers show
China downplayed nuclear-capable missile test, classified New Zealand gov't papers show

HKFP

time12 hours ago

  • HKFP

China downplayed nuclear-capable missile test, classified New Zealand gov't papers show

China tried to mislead foreign governments in 2024 by playing down the importance of a nuclear-capable missile test over the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand diplomats privately warned in documents obtained by AFP. Beijing sent shivers through the South Pacific in September 2024, when its elite Rocket Force fired a dummy warhead into the high seas near French Polynesia. A tranche of classified government briefing notes obtained by AFP shows deep concern within the New Zealand government in the wake of the surprise launch, which China shrugged off as 'routine'. It was China's first long-range missile launch over international waters in more than 40 years, the papers confirmed, serving as a blunt reminder of Beijing's potent nuclear-strike capabilities. 'We are concerned that China is characterising this as a 'routine test',' senior diplomats wrote in a memo to New Zealand's foreign affairs minister. 'It is not routine: China has not conducted this type of long-range missile test in over 40 years. 'We do not want to see this test repeated.' China's military played down the test as a 'legitimate and routine arrangement for military training'. Behind the scenes, New Zealand diplomats privately decried China's 'mischaracterisation'. 'As this is the first time that China has undertaken such an action in the Pacific in several decades, it is a significant and concerning development,' they wrote in one of the briefing documents. AFP applied to access the heavily redacted documents — written between September and October last year — under New Zealand's Official Information Act. They were classified as 'Restricted', which protects government information with diplomatic or national security implications. Nuclear scars China has been seeking to cement its presence in the strategically important South Pacific, showering developing island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads, and gleaming sports stadiums. But rarely has it so obviously flexed its military might in the region, where the United States, Australia and New Zealand have long been the security partners of choice. 'We have again asked China why it conducted the test at this time, and why it chose to terminate the missile test in the South Pacific,' New Zealand diplomats wrote. China's Rocket Force launched the intercontinental ballistic missile with little warning on September 25, 2024. Photos released by China showed a projectile streaking into the sky from a secret location atop a billowing plume of smoke. It appeared to be one of China's advanced Dong Feng-31 missiles, analysts said, a weapon capable of delivering a thermonuclear warhead. The long-range missile splashed into a patch of ocean long designated a nuclear-free zone under an international treaty. Pacific island nations remain deeply scarred by the nuclear tests that shook the region in the decades following World War II. 'This is the first time that we are aware of a test of a nuclear-capable missile terminating within the zone since its establishment in 1986,' the New Zealand diplomats wrote. Forceful reminder China alerted the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and New Zealand before the test. But there was only a vague indication of what it would do, according to a separate batch of Australian government documents obtained by AFP. 'Beijing advised us of a planned activity the evening prior to the launch, but specific details were not forthcoming,' Australian defence officials wrote in November last year. Pacific island nations, however, were not provided with advance notice of the launch, New Zealand diplomats noted. Following the launch, Japan publicly voiced 'serious concern', Australia said the test risked 'destabilising' the South Pacific, and Fiji urged 'respect for our region'. Pacific nation Kiribati, one of China's warmest friends in the region, said the South Pacific Ocean should not be a proving ground for jostling big powers. 'The high seas in the Pacific are not isolated pockets of oceans… we appeal to all countries involved in weapon testing to stop these acts to maintain world peace and stability,' read a government statement at the time. China foreign policy expert Nicholas Khoo said the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test was particularly significant because it took place in the South Pacific. 'Since 1980, China's ICBM tests have taken place within Chinese territory,' he told AFP. 'The test is a reminder to regional states that China is a 'full spectrum' power that has economic and military power. It is a peer with the US.' Harvard University researcher Hui Zhang said it was a forceful reminder of China's nuclear strength. 'The test shows that the Rocket Force has an operational and credible nuclear force that can help ensure China's ability to maintain a strong nuclear deterrent,' he wrote last year for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 'The rare public ICBM test seems to have been specifically aimed at dissuading Washington from using nuclear weapons in a potential conflict across the Taiwan Strait.' China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the 'facts are clear and no one has been misled'. 'The missile test is a routine part of annual military training, in compliance with international law and international norms,' it said in a statement.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store