STOCKHOLM: Plans by a far-right group to publicly burn copies of the Qur'an sparked violent clashes with counter-demonstrators for the third day running in Sweden, police said on Sunday.
Litter bins, a bus and a car were all set on fire in a series of incidents in the southern city of Malmo overnight, police said in a statement.
“The situation calmed down toward 3:00 am (0100 GMT),” police spokeswoman Kim Hild told SR public radio, adding that no officers were hurt, but a number of members of the public were slightly injured.
Nearly 20 complaints had been filed, including for vandalism.
There have been similar clashes in recent days over plans by the anti-immigration and anti-Islamic Stram Kurs (Hard Line) movement led by Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan to burn copies of the Qur'an in public.
The clashes on Saturday broke out after a rally by the group’s supporters on Saturday.
Three police officers had to be taken to hospital after a riot broke out in the city of Linkoping in eastern Sweden on Thursday. Two people were arrested at that protest.
And on Friday, nine police officers were injured in similar clashes in Orebro in central Sweden.
In the wake of the string of incidents, Iraq’s foreign ministry said that it had summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in Baghdad on Sunday.
It warned that the affair could have “serious repercussions” on “relations between Sweden and Muslims in general, both Muslim and Arab countries and Muslim communities in Europe.”
Paludan plans to hold further rallies at two other cities in Sweden, but the demonstrations have not received the go-ahead by police.
New clashes over anti-Islam rally in Sweden
https://arab.news/r6a6r
New clashes over anti-Islam rally in Sweden
- Litter bins, a bus and a car were all set on fire in a series of incidents in the southern city of Malmo overnight
- Iraq’s foreign ministry said that it had summoned the Swedish charge d’affaires in Baghdad on Sunday
Germany orders worldwide recall of BMWs over fire risk
BERLIN: Germany’s BMW must recall more than 330,000 cars worldwide because of concerns over a fire risk, the KBA transport regulator said Friday, ordering a second recall for the brand in less than a month.
Some 337,000 cars, 29,000 of them in Germany, covering five different models are “potentially concerned” by the safety issue, which concerns incorrect routing of the dashboard wiring, said the KBA.
The recall concerns the i5, 5, M5, i7 and 7 models built between June 2022 and December 2025, said the regulator in the details of the recall posted on its website.
So far, no incident has been registered regarding this safety risk, it added.
Contacted by AFP, a BMW spokesperson confirmed the numbers for the Germany recall but could not confirm the international figures posted by the KBA.
Earlier this month, BMW said it would recall hundreds of thousands of cars worldwide over a potential risk of engine starters sparking a fire.
In late 2024, BMW recalled 1.5 million vehicles because of a faulty braking system, which forced it to revise its 2024 outlook downwards.
