Stockholm - A broad majority in the Swedish parliament Wednesday approved adoption of same-sex marriage legislation after a six-hour debate.

Six of the seven parties in parliament had backed the proposal drafted by the Committee on Civil Affairs to introduce a gender- neutral marriage law.

Only the Christian Democrats, one of the four parties in the ruling centre-right coalition, opposed the move.

Yvonne Andersson said her party wanted to maintain "a several hundred-year-old concept" about marriage.

Stockholm  - Damage to Swedish-funded projects in Gaza during the recent fighting there totalled some 2.3 million dollars, according to a survey published Wednesday.

The estimate was presented in a report commissioned by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Consultant Johan Brisman, who conducted the study, added that "repair costs can be estimated to be between 2 and 4 times that amount."

Stockholm - Swedish home appliance maker Electrolux said Tuesday it would close its washing machine plant in Russia, citing the need to boost competitiveness.

The factory in St Petersburg has some 250 employees and was to close during the second quarter in 2010, the group said.

"The Russian market for household appliances is fiercely competitive. Unfortunately we can not manufacture products at a competitive cost level in the St Petersburg factory," Enderson Guimaraes, head of Electrolux Major Appliances Europe, said in a statement.

Stockholm - Several new incidents of pieces of glass found in chicken were reported in Sweden on Tuesday despite the recent recall of frozen chicken products by a leading producer, according to media reports.

A dozen cases have been reported since traces of glass was first found in frozen chicken breasts a week ago.

In Pitea, northern Sweden, a man eating a chicken dish at a Thai restaurant discovered two small pieces of glass in his food on Monday, the Pitea-Tidningen newspaper reported.

Stockholm - Swedish poultry producer Lantmannen Kronfagel said Friday it has recalled its frozen chicken products, following new discoveries of glass in the food.

"Two of the incidents concern frozen whole chicken, and the other two concern chicken drumsticks," chief executive Jan Henriksen said.

Henriksen said the recall would give the group "time to get to the root of the problem without having to worry about glass turning up in more frozen chicken."

Stockholm  - Five Swedish editors-in-chief Friday launched a joint petition demanding the release of a jailed Swedish-Eritrean journalist held in Eritrea.

"Dawit Isaak has today been jailed for 2,742 days. Without charge and without any sentence," the editors said in their appeal.