Elton John hails fans at emotional final farewell show

STOCKHOLM - Surrounded by emotional fans from around the globe, Elton John hailed them as his "lifeblood" as he gave his final farewell concert in Stockholm after more than 50 years of live performances.

"You know how much I like to play live. It's been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you've been absolutely magnificent," he told the delighted audience at the arena in the Swedish capital.

Wearing a tailcoat accented with rhinestones and a red pair of his trademark large glasses, the 76-year-old pop superstar sat down at the piano shortly after 8:00 pm to cheers to open his farewell show with one of his most popular songs, "Bennie and the Jets."

He then continued with "Philadelphia Freedom" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" to a rapt audience, many of whom were wearing sparkling blue or red glasses.

Playing for more than two hours, John interspersed the songs with moments when he would get up and leave the piano to thank not only his fans but also his band and his crew, some of whom have been with him for more than 40 years.

"I want to pay tribute to these musicians... They're really incredible, they've been with me so long, some of them. And they are the best, I tell you, the best," he said.

Shortly after a rendition of "Border Song" which he dedicated to Aretha Franklin, John's "I'm Still Standing" brought the 30,000 fans at the Tele2 Arena to their feet.

Before he took his encore, John screened a message from Coldplay, who were playing in the western Swedish city of Gothenburg, in which singer Chris Martin thanked him for his career and commitment.

'Amazing show'

"It was amazing. I have no words right now because I haven't processed all the show, but it was amazing," said Anton Pohjonen, a 25-year-old bank worker from Finland.

"You almost start tearing up on his account. But then it feels great to be here," added Swedish teacher Conny Johansson, who bought tickets for the show four years ago.

Excited fans were looking forward to an emotional end to the superstar's glittering live career even before the curtain went up.

"It's going to be very emotional tonight," said Kate Bugaj, 25, a Polish student who admitted she had delayed her Master's exams to follow her musical hero's tour.

Describing herself as a "huge fan", she said it all began the first time she watched "The Lion King", the 1994 Walt Disney film which gave John one of his two Oscar music wins.

Fifty-year-old Jeanie Kincer travelled from Kentucky in the United States for the show.

"I wanted to be here for the end because I was too young to be here in the beginning," she said.

To mark the occasion, she was dressed in red shorts with braces and a red, yellow and brown T-shirt -- almost the exact same outfit John wore for his first concert in Stockholm in 1971.

Sweden's daily Expressen called the final show "an important chapter in the history of rock 'n' roll which is about to end".

The star has been winding down his decades-long live career with a global farewell tour.

He played his last concerts in the United States in May and brought the curtain down on Britain's annual Glastonbury Festival last month.

Saturday's farewell concert was the second consecutive evening the Stockholm stadium hosted the legendary British singer-songwriter for the last leg of his final tour, which began five years ago and was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and a hip operation in 2021.

On his "Farewell Yellow Brick Road" tour, John will have given 330 concerts, crisscrossing Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain, before closing in Stockholm.

Overall, the tour has seen him perform in front of 6.25 million fans.

Agence France-Presse

Sweden cracks down on bars as crowds flout corona rules

STOCKHOLM - Sweden, whose softer approach to combating the new coronavirus has garnered international attention, said Sunday it was ordering the closure of five Stockholm bars and restaurants that failed to respect social distancing guidelines.

The Scandinavian country has allowed schools for under-16s, cafes, bars, restaurants and businesses to stay open while urging people and businesses to respect social distancing guidelines.

Restaurants and bars are only allowed to provide table service, with tables spaced one to two meters apart to prevent overcrowding. 

While data suggests most Swedes are voluntarily practicing social distancing, photos have made the rounds worldwide in recent weeks of Stockholmers soaking up the spring sunshine sitting at crammed restaurant terraces, or queuing closely together outside nightclubs.

Authorities had warned last week they would be stepping up inspections to ensure establishments were respecting social distancing guidelines, but some bars and restaurants were again packed at the weekend.

Four of the five bars and restaurants are located in the trendy Sodermalm neighborhood, popular with young partygoers.

"The main problem was overcrowding, both inside the premises and outdoors," Stockholm health official Per Follin told news agency TT.

He said their closure was immediate and until further notice.

Among other restrictions Sweden has imposed are bans on visits to retirement homes and on gatherings of more than 50 people.

It has also urged people to work at home if possible, and recommended people over the age of 70 and in risk groups to limit contacts with others. 

The Swedish approach has received criticism both domestically and internationally as its death toll has leapt much higher than its Nordic neighbors, which have all instituted more restrictive containment measures.

As of Sunday, Sweden, which has 10.3 million inhabitants, reported 2,194 COVID-19 deaths, compared to 422 in Denmark and 193 in Norway, whose populations are about half the size.

Swedish officials have nonetheless insisted their plan is sustainable in the long-term, rejecting drastic short-term measures as too ineffective to justify their impact on society.

po/jh

Agence France-Presse

H&M suspends Brazil leather purchases over Amazon fires

STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Fashion giant H&M on Thursday announced it was suspending leather purchases from Brazil in response to the Amazon fires that have provoked a global outcry.

The ban comes after US-based VF Corporation, which owns a string of brands including Timberland, Vans and The North Face, announced late last month it would no longer buy leather from Brazil over concerns about the destruction of the world's largest rainforest.

H&M said it was imposing a temporary freeze on orders until it had confidence the leather was not causing "environmental harm."

"Due to the severe fires in the Brazilian part of the Amazon rainforest, and the connections to cattle production, we have decided to place a temporary ban on leather from Brazil," the Swedish clothing retail firm said in a statement to AFP.

"The ban will be active until there are credible assurance systems in place to verify that the leather does not contribute to environmental harm in the Amazon," it said.

The blazes that have engulfed parts of the world's largest rainforest—crucial for maintaining a stable global climate—have sparked a diplomatic spat between Brazil and Europe that threatens to torpedo a major trade deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron has accused his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro of lying to him about his commitments on climate change and vowed to block the EU-Mercosur trade deal involving Brazil that took decades to negotiate.

Bolsonaro last week signed a decree to ban burning throughout the country for 2 months.

H&M was last year among dozens of top fashion industry firms to pledge at UN climate talks to reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. 

The 43 firms agreed to prioritize "climate-friendly" materials and low-carbon transport, and to stop installing coal-fired boilers at manufacturing sites from no later than 2025.

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Rapper A$AP Rocky to face trial in Sweden on assault charge

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky will be tried for assault in Sweden starting on July 30 over his alleged involvement in a street brawl in central Stockholm last month, the Swedish public prosecutor announced on Thursday.

Best known for his song “Praise the Lord”, the 30-year-old performer, producer and model, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was detained about three weeks ago following an altercation with two men on June 30.

Mayers has said he is innocent and that the men provoked him and his two companions who have also been charged with assault. If convicted, they could face up to two years in jail.

Over half a million people, including fellow artists Nicki Minaj and Post Malone, have signed an online petition calling for his release on bail.

Last week U.S. President Donald Trump urged Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to free Mayers and said he would personally vouch for his bail. Sweden does not have a bail system. Lofven has said he will not influence the rapper’s case.

Public prosecutor Daniel Suneson said he had begun criminal proceedings against Mayers and two others for suspected assault causing actual bodily harm, despite claims of self defense and provocation.

“The artist is the one who threw the victim to the ground and then, together with two other suspects, dealt him blows and kicks. A bottle was used during the assault and there are cuts on the arms and (on) the plaintiff’s ear,” Suneson told Reuters.

“Provocation is something that I, as prosecutor, must always take into account, but I still believe that what they have done constitutes a crime,” he said.

Suneson declined to say which of the suspects had wielded the bottle in the fight. Court documents described the plaintiff as a person needing a Persian translator, but did not provide any further details.

TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY

Mayers’ lawyer said the rapper would plead not guilty at the trial when it begins on Tuesday.

“Mayers is extremely marked by the time he has been detained. It is tough to be basically isolated,” lawyer Slobodan Jovicic said at a news conference.

“We have to be humble but I definitely think there are grounds for an acquittal,” he said.

Suneson said he would seek a sentence of less than 2 years. He said he had looked at evidence including text messages and video footage that has not been made public.

Before his arrest, Mayers had uploaded videos on Instagram of the alleged altercation, saying the two men had followed his team and that he had not wanted any trouble.

Mayers, also known by the pseudonym Lord Flacko, was in Stockholm to perform at the Smash hip-hop festival. His detention has forced him to cancel a dozen shows scheduled as part of his Europe tour.

Mayers shot to fame with his 2011 debut mixtape “Live.Love.A$AP”, gaining recognition as much for his experimental approach to music as for his unpredictable fashion style that made him the first person of color to front luxury brand Dior Homme.

His latest album, “Testing”, bagged the No. 4 spot on the Billboard 200 charts on its release last year.

Reporting by Esha Vaish and Johan Ahlander in Stockholm, additional reporting by Edward Baran, Helena Soderpalm and Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Air India plane hits building at Stockholm airport

STOCKHOLM - An Air India plane carrying 179 passengers struck a building at Stockholm's Arlanda airport with its wingtip as it taxied to gate on Wednesday, but no injuries were reported, police said.

"The 179 passengers could disembark from the plane on a mobile staircase and thereafter enter the terminal," police wrote in a statement.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known, police said.

It occurred at 5:45 pm (1645 GMT), about 50 meters (yards) from Terminal 5, the main terminal for international flights.

Pictures from the scene showed the Boeing aircraft parked on the runway with the very tip of its left wing stuck in the side of a building.

Several police cars and fire trucks were parked by the plane.

According to airport operator Swedavia's website, the flight had originated in New Delhi.

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3 killed by truck driven into crowd in Swedish capital

A truck plowed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday, killing three people and wounding eight in what the prime minister said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Swedish police said no-one had been arrested in connection with the attack. They showed a picture of a man wearing a grey hoodie and said they were looking for him. They did not rule out the possibility that other attackers were involved.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

"I turned around and saw a big truck coming towards me. It swerved from side to side. It didn't look out of control, it was trying to hit people," Glen Foran, an Australian tourist in his 40s, told Reuters.

"It hit people, it was terrible. It hit a pram with a kid in it, demolished it," he said.

"It took a long time for police to get here. I suppose from their view it was quick, but it felt like forever."

Part of central Stockholm was cordoned off and the area was evacuated, including the main train station. All subway traffic was halted on police orders. Government offices were closed.

"Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to the fact that this is a terrorist attack," Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told reporters during a visit in western Sweden. He was immediately returning to the capital.

Many police and emergency services personnel were at the scene, said a Reuters witness who saw policemen put what appeared to be two bodies in body bags. Bloody tyre tracks on Drottninggatan (Queen Street) showed where the beer truck had passed.

The truck had been stolen while making a delivery to a restaurant further up Drottninggatan, Spendrups Brewery spokesman Marten Lyth said. A masked person jumped into the cab, started the truck and drove away.

"We were standing by the traffic lights at Drottninggatan and then we heard some screaming and saw a truck coming," a witness who declined to be named told Reuters.

"Then it drove into a pillar at Ahlens City (department store) where the hood started burning. When it stopped we saw a man lying under the tyre. It was terrible to see," said the man, who saw the incident from his car.

Several attacks in which trucks or cars have driven into crowds have taken place in Europe in the past year. Al Qaeda in 2010 urged its followers to use trucks as a weapon.

In London on March 22, a man in a car ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four, and then stabbed a policeman to death before being shot by police.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in Nice, France, last July, when a truck killed 86 people celebrating Bastille Day, and one in Berlin in December, when a truck smashed through a Christmas market, killing 12 people.

Radio Sweden reporter Martin Svenningsen said he saw three dead people on Friday "but probably more". Police confirmed three deaths and eight people injured.

"Our thoughts are going out to those that were affected, and to their families," Sweden's King Carl Gustaf said in a statement.

The attack was the latest to hit the Nordic region after the 2015 shootings in Copenhagen, Denmark, that killed three people and the 2011 bombing and shooting by far right extremist Anders Behring Breivik that killed 77 people in Norway.

Sweden has not been hit by a large-scale attack, although in December 2010, a man blew himself up only a few hundred yards from the site of the latest incident in a failed suicide attack.

Swedish authorities raised the national security threat level to four on a scale of five in October 2010 but lowered the level to three, indicating a "raised threat", in March 2016.

Police in Norway's largest cities and at Oslo's airport will carry weapons until further notice following the attack. Denmark has been on high alert since the February 2015 shootings.

"An attack on any of our member states is an attack on us all," European Union chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said in Brussels.

"One of Europe's most vibrant and colourful cities appears to have been struck by those wishing it -- and our very way of life -- harm.

Neutral Sweden has not fought a war in more than 200 years, but its military has taken part in U.N peacekeeping missions in a number of conflict zones in recent years, including Iraq, Mali and Afghanistan.

The Sapo security police said in its annual report it was impossible to say how big a risk there was that Sweden would be targeted like other European cities, but that, if so "it is most likely that it would be undertaken by a lone attacker".

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Five arrests, two injured at neo-Nazi rally in Sweden

STOCKHOLM - Five people were arrested and two were injured in Stockholm on Saturday in clashes between police and anti-fascists at a rally by Swedish neo-Nazis, police said.

An AFP photographer said thousands of anti-fascists gathered in central Stockholm to protest against a rally being held by the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR).

Police placed a protective cordon around the NMR rally, which numbered hundreds of people, the photographer said.

Police said they made five arrests among anti-fascists who tried to break through police lines before the demonstration eventually dispersed in the afternoon.

Spokesman Lars Bystroem told TT news agency that a policeman was hit by a demonstrator, and a second individual was injured in circumstances that were unclear.

The NMR, set up in 1997, promotes an openly racist and anti-Semitic doctrine, and press commentators had questioned the wisdom of authorizing Saturday's rally, given the likelihood of violence.

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