During the Indo-Sweden health week, Indian health authorities will offer up its proficiency in Ayurveda and yoga to Sweden.

Swedish Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health Maria Larsson and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad kicked off Indo-Swedish Health Week on Monday.

Mr. Azad stated that countries such as France, Brazil, Chile, Canada, United States and Argentina have already asked for trainers and trained manpower in this field.

Manchester scientists and experts in Sweden have finally debunked the peanut allergy myth. They have developed a blood test which is much more accurate than current testing methods, and have cited that peanut allergies have probably been overestimated.

The team also hopes to work to further diversify the peanut test so the severity of the allergic reaction whether, it is mild or catastrophic, can be known, thereby enabling parents to seek the appropriate advice.

The test detects antibodies to the peanut protein RH2 and reveals 95 per cent accuracy in diagnosing peanut allergy, revealed the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Stockhom, Jan 3 - Hunters benefited from good snow cover Saturday and shot 14 of the 27 wolves allowed to be culled under the first licensed wolf hunt in Sweden for over four decades.

The first wolves were shot in the western provinces of Varmland and Dalarna, media reported.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in December announced the quota of 27 wolves, slightly more than 10 percent of the Scandinavian wolf population.

A new study has suggested that the risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases brought on by obesity might just be much more than previously estimated.

For the sake of study, the new research measured the Body Mass Index and rate of mortality among over a million pairs of Swedish sons and their parents, who were over 50 years of age. More focus was on the children, as BMI of parents could be linked to the illnesses that they suffer from, instead of the extra weight alone.

Stockholm/Brussels, Dec 10 - Sweden plans to contribute 765 million euros to a EU development fund to combat climate change, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt announced in Parliament in Stockholm.

The Swedish prime minister announced the plan Wednesday.

Talks at a summit of EU leaders Thursday in Brussels are to include the ongoing world climate summit in Copenhagen. The EU is lining up billions to help poor, developing countries take measures against global warming.(dpa)

Stockholm, November 30 : Archaeologists looking at the remains of human settlements in the north of Sweden have suggested that the Polar ice cap during the last Ice Age might not have been as extensive as previously thought.

People may have lived in the northern region of Tornedalen as far back as 11,000 years ago, said researcher Olof Ostlund, speaking to the Norrlandska Socialdemokraten newspaper.

The 2 settlements were found in the area around Kaunisvaara, where a new mine is about to be built.

Carbon dating of the finds show that they are much older than previously thought, and mean that previous theories that the area would be covered by the huge polar ice cap are wrong.

Stockholm  - Swedish opera singer Elisabeth Soederstroem, 82, died Friday in Stockholm from the effects of a stroke, her husband Sverker Olow said.

The soprano made her debut in 1947 in a Mozart opera and in the decades that followed performed in productions around the world, including at New York's Metropolitan Opera. She remained a permanent member of Stockholm's Royal Opera from 1949-80.

Soederstroem's career including hailed performances at the Salzburg festival. (dpa)

Stockholm - Former South African president Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel were Friday named winners of a children's rights prize in a vote involving over 7 million children worldwide.

"We are extremely honoured to have been voted as the Decade Child Rights Heroes," Mandela and Machel said in a statement issued by organizers.

"For both of us this award is very, very special given the place children occupy in our hearts and lives," they added.

Stockholm - The Swedish parliament Thursday voted overwhelmingly to keep Sweden's military contingent in Afghanistan for another year.

Sweden has some 430 troops in northern Afghanistan, and the contingent was likely to increase to some 500 next year. The decision set a ceiling of 855 troops.

The Swedish contingent with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is based in Mazar-e-Sharif.

Stockholm  - A 2005 Norwegian law requiring women to comprise at least 40 percent of board members in Norwegian companies has boosted the country's share of women executives to the highest in Scandinavia, a new survey said Thursday.

According to the study by the Oslo-based Nordic Gender Institute (NIKK), Norway tops the list of Scandinavian countries with 36 per cent female board members at both Norwegian-listed and foreign companies.

Research director Kirsti Niskanen of the Oslo-based NIKK told the Goteborgs-Posten newspaper that Norway had a strong tradition of quotas, but said that legislation was not necessarily the right solution in other countries.

Stockholm  - More than 90 Swedish newspapers united Thursday in publishing a joint appeal on behalf of a Swedish-Eritrean journalist held in Eritrea for eight years without trial.

Dawit Isaak was arrested on September 23, 2001 after the Eritrean government's moved to shut down independent newspapers.

Thursday's publication marked Isaak's brief release on November 19, 2005 - but he was arrested a few days later.

Stockholm - The decision by Israel to expand a settlement in Gilo near Jerusalem on the West Bank will damage the peace process the Swedish presidency of the European Union said Wednesday.

The move was counter to "repeated calls by the international community," the presidency statement said.

"If there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states," the statement added.

Stockholm - Norwegian Oystein Loseth has been named as new chief executive of the Swedish government-owned utility Vattenfall, the group said Monday.

The new chief executive will have to improve Vattenfall's image, tarnished by a fire and a short circuit at nuclear plants it operates in Sweden and Germany, as well as coal-fired plants in Germany and Poland that emit large amounts of greenhouse gasses.

Loseth will succeed Lars G Josefsson by the summer of 2010, and work parallel with Josefsson until then to become familiar with the operations.

"We are pleased to have found in Oystein Loseth an internal candidate who in the best of ways meets our needs," Vattenenfall Chairman Lars Westerberg said.

Phnom Penh  - A Swedish businessman visiting Cambodia has been murdered and his body dumped outside Phnom Penh, reportedly after he met a woman with whom he had corresponded online, national media reported Monday.

The Swedish embassy in Phnom Penh confirmed the victim was Jan Ola Jordansson, 45.

The embassy's counsellor, Karl-Anders Larsson, said he believed Jordansson was visiting the country when he was killed, but had previously lived in Cambodia.

Stockholm - Swedish state-owned utility Vattenfall said Wednesday it was not planning to sell its electricity network in Sweden, partly to raise funds for investments in British nuclear power plants as suggested in a media report.

"No such decision has been taken either by the group management or the board," Vattenfall said in a statement.

Broadcaster TV4 earlier quoted a Vattenfall document suggesting that the sale of the grid would generate 50 billion kronor (7.3 billion dollars).

Stockholm - To the "great surprise" of new Sweden coach Erik Hamren, Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has expressed doubts about his future career in the national team.

Hamren on Monday evening announced Ibrahimovic's decision when he presented his first squad for an upcoming friendly against Italy.

The squad for the November 18 tie was announced in connection with the annual Swedish football gala, hosted this year in the southern city of Malmo.

Stockholm - To the "great surprise" of new Sweden coach Erik Hamren, Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has expressed doubts about his future career in the national team.

Hamren on Monday evening announced Ibrahimovic's decision when he presented his first squad for an upcoming friendly against Italy.

The squad for the November 18 tie was announced in connection with the annual Swedish football gala, hosted this year in the southern city of Malmo.

Stockholm - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt arrived Tuesday in Afghanistan for an unannounced two-day visit.

Sweden currently holds the presidency of the European Union. The visit was partly to follow up on an action plan for Afghanistan recently adopted by the 27-nation bloc.

"It is important that we start a very open and clear dialogue with the Afghan leadership about what needs to be done to turn events into a better direction," Bildt wrote in his personal blog.

Stockholm  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday called the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen that opens in one month's time "a unique opportunity that should not be wasted."

"It is crucial that we achieve an ambitious climate agreement in Copenhagen," Ban wrote in an article penned exclusively for the Stockholm daily Svenska Dagbladet.

Recent study has shown that children who drink full fat have lower chances of becoming overweight as compared to children who drink the skimmed version. It was found that children who consumed full fat milk have lower body mass index than children who consumed low fat milk.

Research team from Gothenburg University in Sweden studied the nutrition, body composition and bone mineralisation of 120 healthy eight-year-olds. Information regarding the dietary habits of the children was also collected from them. The blood samples of the children were also taken.