Swedish News:

Not just another giant Christmas goat. Sweden is represented at world climate summit. Renowned photographer died in Stockholm fire. 

  • The Gävle Julbock (Christmas goat), standing 13 meters (42 feet) high in Gävle’s city center, was burned down within hours after its 50th year anniversary celebration on Nov. 27, 2016.

  • Not just another giant Christmas goat
    We're well into the season of Advent now, which means the city of Gävle, Sweden has inaugurated another giant Christmas goat (Gävlebocken). The 13-meter-tall (42 feet) straw goat sculpture was built in the main square of Gävle, on the east coast of Sweden. Erected in the town's main square every year since 1966, Gävlebocken famously undergoes a battle against the weather and local arsonists – many people take pride in the giant animal, while others take pride in attempting to burn it down … both following the tradition of seeing if it will survive until Christmas Day. Click here for more on the straw goat's record breaking history and follow the live webcam at www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken

  • "... one of the most important meetings we will ever have," said Sweden's Prime Minister at the climate summit in Paris. Here, he speaks in Malmö on May 1, 2013. Photo Jens Ohlsson, courtesy of Socialdemokraterna.

  • Sweden is represented at world climate summit
    King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven are with 150 other world leaders at the COP21 climate summit in Paris. The first meetings of the two week summit are aimed at forging an agreement to limit emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. "This is one of the most important meetings we will ever have," said Löfven at a press conference in which he also pledged to continue his country's track record of investing in renewable energy. "Sweden has been working for this for decades and I am proud to lead a government that gives priority to the climate issue," he added. The Nordic country recently launched an initiative called Fossil-Free Sweden as it attempts to become one of the world’s first fossil-free nations by 2030.

  • A violent fire on Sveavägen in Stockholm on Nov. 29 claimed the life of renowned Finnish-Swedish photographer Claire Aho.

  • Renowned photographer died in Stockholm fire
    A violent fire on Sveavägen in Stockholm on Nov. 29 became a very large and complex rescue operation. Nine people, including two children, were taken to the hospital after the fire, where one of them died. On Nov. 30 that person was identified as the famous photographer Claire Aho. Aho was born in Helsinki, Finland but moved to Stockholm in the 1970s where she worked as a photographer for several newspapers and with Nordic Museum. Her prolific output spanned advertising, editorial, reportage and fashion for a range of commercial applications, and she was the only woman who photographed the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952. Claire Aho was 90 years old.