1. Denmark may increase the minimum period for life imprisonment to 20 years

In Denmark, the minimum period for a life sentence could be extended to at least 20 years. This is part of a new agreement supported by a majority of the parties in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.

Today, a person sentenced to life imprisonment must serve at least 12 years before they can be conditionally released.

The agreement also contains a number of other measures to increase criminal penalties.

2. EU climate targets for 2040

Next week, the European Commission will present its proposal for climate targets for 2040.

Among other things, the Commission is expected to propose that EU countries should be allowed to pay for climate measures in other countries if they themselves have difficulty reaching their targets.

Several Swedish EU politicians are critical of this proposal. One of them is Social Democrat Heléne Fritzon.

She says the system of climate credits is essentially about trying to buy one’s way out of reducing emissions, and that this is not the right approach.

For example, EU countries could invest in wind turbines in an African country where coal is still being burned for energy, and then count the resulting emission reductions as their own.

Despite the difficulty of calculating the effects of such investments, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra recently told Swedish Radio’s Ekot that he supports the idea.

He says this is part of the climate problem and the reason for taking action. The focus, he says, should not be ideology but actual impact, and if these measures have an impact, more should be done.

Hoekstra is supported by the largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP. Swedish Moderate politician Jessica Polfjärd is a member of the group.

She says the EU must act at a global level when it comes to reducing emissions because only about six percent of global emissions come from the EU.

She therefore sees it as positive if the EU can help other countries reduce their emissions as well.

However, the new Commission has been criticized for lowering its climate ambitions in several areas.

Green Party politician Per Holmgren says that transferring Europe’s emissions reductions to countries far away is completely the wrong approach.

He argues that if Europe starts by dealing with some of the easier emissions reductions in parts of Africa or elsewhere, the more difficult emissions will be left behind for others to deal with sometime in the future.

All emissions must be eliminated as quickly as possible, he says.

The latest information is that on July 2 it will become clear both how much the Commission believes emissions must be reduced by 2040 and how this should be achieved.

3. Two people killed in severe storm in France

In France, two people have died and around 20 people are being treated in hospitals after severe storms with unusually strong winds.

Images and videos show flooded roads and metro stations, including in the capital, Paris.

More than 100,000 French households were without electricity during the morning.

Train services have been suspended in several regions because of damage to railway lines.

4. Hospital managers in Skåne have companies selling services to Region Skåne

Several managers at hospitals in Skåne have, alongside their employment, positions in companies that have sold services to Region Skåne.

Magnus Dahlberg is the head of negotiations at Region Skåne.

He says this can be problematic in several ways, particularly because it can damage public confidence.

According to the rules, employees who have companies of their own should normally not be able to have the region as a customer.

However, an investigation by P4 Malmöhus and P4 Kristianstad into managers involved in healthcare companies found five who had sold various training courses to the region for nearly 200,000 kronor.

Olle Lundin, a professor of administrative law, says this could raise suspicions that people are acting for their own financial benefit.

He describes a situation in which someone could suggest that a particular course is needed and then convince a manager to purchase it.

Magnus Dahlberg says every secondary occupation must be assessed individually.

At the same time, he says it sounds unusual that employees would invoice Region Skåne for services that could be included in their duties as employees.

Two of the managers are deputy members of companies that have invoiced millions of kronor for physiotherapy.

One company has sold lunches worth a few thousand kronor. Another has provided entertainment worth 55,000 kronor.

Olle Lundin refers to an opinion from the Swedish Labour Court and says that simply having one’s employer as a customer in a secondary business activity can itself damage public confidence.

The journalists contacted the managers and three responded. All three say they did not participate in their companies’ sales of services to the region. Two of them also say they are not involved in the businesses beyond their formal roles.

5. Police shot and killed a wolf in Malmö

In Malmö, police shot and killed a wolf yesterday evening after it had entered residential areas.

Police told the newspaper Sydsvenskan that the wolf was stressed after people tried to chase it and that it had attacked a dog.

6. Thailand tightens rules on cannabis sales

Thailand is tightening its rules on cannabis sales, three years after the drug was decriminalized.

This week, a law was signed banning the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes. Cannabis will now only be permitted for medical purposes.

The background is a sharp recent increase in the number of cases in which tourists have attempted to smuggle cannabis out of the country, according to the Associated Press.

7. Weather in Sweden

Today will be sunny in almost the entire country.

Some showers are expected in the northernmost parts of Norrland.

During the evening, cloud cover will increase over southern Sweden, and rain is expected in Skåne and along the west coast.

Temperatures will range from around 20–25 degrees Celsius in the south to 15–20 degrees in the north.