The decision was widely praised by Swedish politicians, several of whom said they would boycott the ceremony in Stockholm if those countries were represented.

The organiser’s decision to include the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors this year drew anger in Ukraine, Sweden and elsewhere.

The artist had last week teased that a new release was in the works, in an Instagram post that just said “Where Do We Go From Here?”, without further explanation.

Proposed legislation prohibits the ‘inappropriate handling of objects with essential religious significance for a religious community’, justice minister said.

Zelensky was in Stockholm – along with his wife Olena Zelenska – where he signed an agreement with the prime minister for production of a Swedish tank, and condemned Russia’s recent attack on the city of Chernihiv.

The country has raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level, after acts against Islam’s holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.

The Scandinavian country’s security service said the situation has deteriorated and the risk of terrorism is now at level 4 on its 5-point scale.

The UK and US issued the warnings following Koran burnings by anti-Islam activists in Sweden that have outraged Muslims. The UK foreign ministry said Swedish authorities had successfully disrupted some planned attacks and made arrests.

PM Ulf Kristersson says those ‘with very weak ties’ to Sweden should not be able to go there and commit crimes.

Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the burning of holy scriptures ‘only serves the purpose of creating division in a world that actually needs unity.’

The rally, organised by environmental activist group Reclaim the Future, tried to block the entrance and exit to the Malmo harbour to protest against the use of fossil fuels.

Iraq’s prime minister has cut diplomatic ties with Sweden in protest over the desecration of the Islamic holy book in Stockholm by an Iraqi asylum seeker.

Readers discuss the French riots, and why global religious leaders must unite.

Joint statement by alliance’s 31 members accuses Beijing of opaquely building up its military power and undercutting rules-based international order.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday blasted as “absurd” the absence of a timetable for his country’s membership in Nato.

Turkey has been holding up Sweden’s application to join the Atlantic alliance, accusing Stockholm of harbouring Kurdish activists Ankara regards as terrorists.

President Tayyip Erdogan said the EU should allow Turkey to join the bloc before his country ‘opens the way for Sweden’ to join Nato.

The US president and Turkish president agreed to meet face-to-face in Vilnius, Lithuania at a coming Nato summit and discuss issues in detail, the Turkish presidency said

‘Yemen is the first Islamic country to ban imports of Swedish goods after its violations and desecration of Muslims’ holiest,’ Houthi-run Al Masirah TV quoted the Houthi trade minister as saying.

Biden is likely to face questions from allies on why the US would send cluster bombs into Ukraine. More than two-thirds of Nato members have banned cluster bombs.

At a summit starting on Tuesday, President Biden and allies will agree to boost defence spending and pour weapons, ammunition and other equipment into Ukraine. But the war-torn country will not start membership talks soon.

The bid is being held up by Turkey, which accuses Sweden of not clamping down hard enough on groups that the Turkish government views as terrorists.

The case launched by UK, Canada, Ukraine, and Sweden says Iran ‘violated a series of obligations’ under a convention on civil aviation by shooting down the plane after take-off from Tehran.

Biden is set to depart on July 9 for the UK, where he will also meet PM Rishi Sunak, the White House said. He will then go to the Nato summit in Lithuania, followed by a visit to Finland for the US-Nordic Leaders Summit.

Move comes after holy book was set alight on Wednesday by two men in Stockholm, and as Saudi-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation calls for collective measures.

The man who burned pages of the Koran outside a Stockholm mosque, sparking protests and a wave of condemnations, said he intended to burn another Koran within 10 days.

The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were both badly damaged by explosions in September 2022. The undersea pipelines carried natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Turkey’s President Erdogan has so far blocked Sweden’s Nato membership, accusing Stockholm of being a haven for Kurdish activists considered ‘terrorists’ by Turkey.

Sweden has the lowest rate of smoking in the EU, with just 6.4 per cent of Swedes aged over 15 smoking daily in 2019.