High-Ranking Swedish Diplomat, Questioned Over Spying Charge, Found Dead
A high-ranking Swedish diplomat who was recently detained and questioned on suspicion of espionage has died, his lawyer confirmed on Friday. The diplomat, whose identity has not been disclosed, had been held by Sweden's security service, SAPO, from Sunday until his release on Wednesday, though he remained under investigation.
"I heard the tragic news this morning and my thoughts go out to his family," the diplomat's lawyer, Anton Strand, told Reuters.
He also revealed that the diplomat had denied any wrongdoing and filed a complaint against the police over their handling of the case. According to Mr Strand, the diplomat had also sought medical help after his release from custody.
Police confirmed to a Swedish daily that an investigation into the death has been opened, but said that "there is no suspicion a crime has been committed."
The diplomat, believed to be in his 50s, had recently returned to his home in central Stockholm after an extended period abroad.
Public broadcaster SVT reported that SAPO was investigating a possible link between the diplomat and the sudden resignation of Sweden's national security adviser, Tobias Thyberg, who quit just hours after taking office last week. Sensitive images of Mr Thyberg from the dating app Grindr had been anonymously leaked to the government shortly before his exit.
Images shown on Swedish television revealed that the door to the diplomat's apartment had been forcibly opened at the time of his arrest. The diplomat had filed a report alleging use of excessive force during the arrest, though SAPO maintained the arrest had been peaceful.
Mr Strand confirmed to the BBC, "I have ensured his formal report about abuse during the arrest has arrived at the special investigations unit. An investigation has started regarding this."
Prosecutor Per Lindqvist called the death "very regrettable," adding that the preliminary investigation into suspected espionage was not yet complete.
Sweden's Foreign Ministry issued a statement confirming the death but declined to provide further details, citing concern for the family.
"We can regrettably confirm that an employee of the foreign service has passed away," the ministry said, as per The Independent.
Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the day had been "difficult" and her thoughts were with the diplomat's family, friends, and colleagues. Former Foreign Minister Carl Bildt described the "tragically deceased ambassador" as "extremely gifted and competent."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
27 minutes ago
- First Post
Wrongfully deported man returned to US to face migrant-smuggling charges
Abrego Garcia's homecoming represented a watershed moment in a case cited by critics of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown as evidence that the government was violating civil liberties in its quest to increase deportations read more Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the US legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. File Photo/Reuters Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man wrongfully deported from Maryland to El Salvador by the Trump administration, has been flown back to the United States to face criminal charges for transporting illegal aliens within the country, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Friday. Abrego Garcia's homecoming represented a watershed moment in a case cited by critics of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown as evidence that the government was violating civil liberties in its quest to increase deportations. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Abrego Garcia, 29, a Salvadoran whose wife and young child in Maryland are US citizens, appeared in federal court in Nashville on Friday evening. His arraignment was set for June 13, when he will enter a plea, according to local media reports. Until then, he will remain in federal custody. If convicted, he would be deported to El Salvador after serving his sentence, Bondi said. The Trump administration has said Abrego Garcia was a member of the MS-13 gang, an accusation that his lawyers deny. Officials on Friday portrayed the indictment of Abrego Garcia by a federal grand jury in Tennessee as vindication of their approach to immigration enforcement. 'The man has a horrible past, and I could see a decision being made, bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that it was the Justice Department that decided to bring Abrego Garcia back. According to the indictment, Abrego Garcia worked with at least five co-conspirators as part of a smuggling ring to bring immigrants to the United States illegally, then transport them from the US-Mexico border to destinations in the country. Abrego Garcia often picked up migrants in Houston, making more than 100 trips between Texas and Maryland between 2016 and 2025, the indictment alleges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It also accuses Abrego Garcia of transporting firearms and drugs. According to the indictment, one of Abrego Garcia's co-conspirators belonging to the same ring was involved in the transportation of migrants whose tractor trailer overturned in Mexico in 2021, resulting in 50 deaths. Abrego Garcia's lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, called the criminal charges 'fantastical' and a 'kitchen sink' of allegations. 'This is all based on the statements of individuals who are currently either facing prosecution or in federal prison,' he said. 'I want to know what they offered those people.' The indictment also led to a high-level resignation in the federal prosecutor's office in Nashville, with news that Ben Schrader, chief of the criminal division for the Middle District of Tennessee, had resigned in protest. A 15-year veteran of the US Attorney's Office, Schrader had grown increasingly uncomfortable with the administration's actions, and the indictment of Abrego Garcia was 'the final straw,' a person familiar with the situation told Reuters. Schrader declined comment. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Schrader had posted notice of his resignation on LinkedIn last month, around the time the indictment was filed under seal, but he did not give a reason. Abrego Garcia was deported on March 15, more than two months before the charges were filed. He was briefly held in a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, despite a US immigration judge's 2019 order barring him from being sent to El Salvador because he would likely be persecuted by gangs. Bondi said Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had agreed to return Abrego Garcia after US officials presented his government with an arrest warrant. 'The grand jury found that over the past nine years, Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring,' she told a press conference. In a court filing on Friday, federal prosecutors asked a judge to keep Abrego Garcia detained pending trial. Citing an unnamed co-conspirator, prosecutors said Abrego Garcia joined MS-13 in El Salvador by murdering a rival gang member's mother. The indictment does not charge Abrego Garcia with murder. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Abrego Garcia could face 10 years in prison for each migrant he is convicted of transporting, prosecutors said, a punishment that potentially could keep him incarcerated for the rest of his life. Tensions with the courts The case has become a symbol of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the judiciary, which has blocked a number of the president's signature policies. More recently, the US Supreme Court has backed Trump's hardline approach to immigration in other cases. After Abrego Garcia's lawyers challenged the basis for his deportation, the US Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the government had cited no basis for what she called his 'warrantless arrest.' US District Judge Paula Xinis has opened a probe into what, if anything, the Trump administration had done to secure his return, after Abrego Garcia's lawyers accused officials of stonewalling their requests for information. That led to concerns among Trump's critics that his administration would openly defy court orders. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In a court filing on Friday, Justice Department lawyers told Xinis that Abrego Garcia's return meant they were in compliance with the order to facilitate bringing him back to the US Sandoval-Moshenberg said Abrego Garcia's return did not mean the government was in compliance, asserting that his client must be placed in immigration proceedings before the same judge who handled his 2019 case. Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic US senator from Maryland who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, said in a statement on Friday that the Trump administration has 'finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States.' 'The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along,' Van Hollen said.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
Ukrainian drone strike damages 10% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet: German official
The United States estimates that Ukraine's audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, according to two US officials read more A satellite image shows destroyed TU 95 aircrafts in the aftermath of a drone strike at the Belaya air base, Irkutsk region, Russia. File image/ Reuters A Ukrainian drone attack last weekend likely damaged around 10% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said. 'According to our assessment, more than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,' German Major General Christian Freuding said in a YouTube podcast reviewed by Reuters ahead of its publication later on Saturday. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The affected A-50s, which function similarly to NATO's AWACS planes by providing aerial situational awareness, were likely non-operational when they were hit, said the general who coordinates Berlin's military aid to Kyiv and is in close touch with the Ukrainian defence ministry. 'We believe that they can no longer be used for spare parts. This is a loss, as only a handful of these aircraft exist,' he said. 'As for the long-range bomber fleet, 10% of it has been damaged in the attack according to our assessment.' The United States estimates that Ukraine's audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two U.S. officials told Reuters, and experts say Moscow will take years to replace the affected planes. Despite the losses, Freuding does not see any immediate reduction of Russian strikes against Ukraine, noting that Moscow still retains 90% of its strategic bombers which can launch ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to dropping bombs. 'But there is, of course, an indirect effect as the remaining planes will need to fly more sorties, meaning they will be worn out faster, and, most importantly, there is a huge psychological impact.' Freuding said Russia had felt safe in its vast territory, which also explained why there was little protection for the aircraft. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'After this successful operation, this no longer holds true. Russia will need to ramp up the security measures.' According to Freuding, Ukraine attacked two air fields around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Moscow, as well as the Olenya air field in the Murmansk region and the Belaya air field, with drones trained with the help of artificial intelligence. A fifth attack on the Ukrainka air field near the Chinese border failed, he said. The bombers that were hit were part of Russia's so-called nuclear triad which enables nuclear weapons deployment by air, sea and ground, he added.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
The Deng doctrine: How China weaponises rare earths to gain leverage in trade war with the US
China has signalled for more than 15 years that it was looking to weaponise areas of the global supply chain, a strategy modelled on longstanding American export controls Beijing views as aimed at stalling its rise. read more China has long indicated its intention to weaponise parts of the global supply chain—a strategy now visibly playing out through tighter control of rare earth exports. Modelled on longstanding US export restrictions that Beijing believes are designed to limit its technological rise, China is now turning similar tools to its own advantage. The recent rush by companies to secure export licences for rare earth materials, culminating in a phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, highlights how Beijing has refined a powerful lever in the ongoing trade war. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Industry experts say China may approve more shipments in the near term but it has no plans to dismantle the new system underpinning those approvals. Instead, China's new export licensing regime, closely mirroring the US model grants the government deeper visibility into global supply chokepoints including critical sectors such as electric vehicle motors and precision systems used in missiles. This level of control offers Beijing a potent means to retaliate in the trade dispute while asserting dominance in strategically vital markets. China sharpens rare earth export controls in trade war playbook As relations between the two countries sour and supply chains fracture, both Washington and Beijing appear determined to shift from broad tariffs to more focused, technical barriers—ones that could have lasting implications for industries worldwide. 'China originally took inspiration for these export control methods from the comprehensive U.S. sanctions regime,' Zhu Junwei, a scholar at the Grandview Institution, a Beijing-based think tank focused on international relations told Reuters. 'China has been trying to build its own export control systems since then, to be used as a last resort.' After a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump said the two leaders were 'straightening out some of the points,' particularly regarding rare earth magnets—key components in electric vehicle (EV) motors and high-tech weaponry. But Trump did not confirm whether Beijing had agreed to speed up export licensing, a sticking point since Washington imposed restrictions on chip design software and jet engines over what it calls China's deliberate slow-walking of approvals. China, which holds a near-monopoly on rare earth magnets, added some of the most advanced types to its export control list in April. The move forces all exporters to seek government licences before shipping these materials, turning a once-obscure division of the commerce ministry—staffed by around 60 people—into a powerful gatekeeper of global manufacturing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The export curbs, part of a broader retaliation package against US tariffs, have had ripple effects well beyond the US. Several European auto parts manufacturers were forced to shut down production lines this week after exhausting their supply of rare earth magnets, underscoring the global reach of Beijing's measures. Though China's commerce ministry has not publicly commented on the issue, analysts say the blanket controls offer Beijing both leverage in its trade war with Washington and a strategic tool to reshape global supply chains in its favour. 'Beijing has a degree of plausible deniability – no one can prove China is doing this on purpose,' Noah Barkin, senior adviser at Rhodium Group, a China-focused U.S. thinktank told Reuters. 'But the rate of approvals is a pretty clear signal that China is sending a message, exerting pressure to prevent trade negotiations with the U.S. leading to additional technology control.' China mines about 70% of the world's rare earths but maintains a near-monopoly on refining and processing, giving it a powerful position in global manufacturing. Even if export approvals accelerate, as U.S. President Donald Trump indicated after a call with President Xi Jinping, Beijing's new licensing system offers it unprecedented visibility into how companies use these critical materials. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD European and U.S. executives warn that by forcing exporters to apply for licences, China's government can now closely monitor supplier chokepoints in sectors ranging from electric vehicles to advanced weaponry, oversight that other governments lack due to the complexity of global supply chains. Hundreds of Japanese companies are expected to need Chinese export approvals for rare earth magnets in the coming weeks, a person lobbying on their behalf told Reuters. Without timely licences, they risk production disruptions, underscoring how Beijing's new trade tools could reshape access to materials essential to modern industry. 'It's sharpening China's scalpel,' said a US-based executive at a company seeking to piece together an alternative supply chain who sought anonymity. 'It's not a way to oversee the export of magnets, but a way to gain influence and advantage over America.' China's export controls deepen as fears grow over weaponisation of supply chain power Fears that China could weaponise its dominance in critical supply chains first emerged in 2010, when it briefly halted rare earth exports to Japan during a territorial dispute. But those concerns have intensified in recent years as Beijing sharpens its trade tools and broadens export restrictions across strategic sectors. As far back as 1992, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping noted, 'The Middle East has oil, China has rare earths.' That sentiment has shaped policy: in 2020, China passed a sweeping Export Control Law allowing it to restrict exports of any items deemed vital to national security, including materials, technology and data. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Since then, China has built up its own sanctions arsenal in response to U.S. restrictions, investing heavily in alternative supply chains while tightening its grip on key exports. In 2022, the United States imposed broad curbs on chip and semiconductor tool exports to China, aiming to slow the country's military and AI advancements. But analysts say Beijing has continued to make headway despite those barriers. In retaliation, China has steadily expanded its export controls. Last year it imposed licensing requirements for gallium, germanium, and certain graphite products—vital inputs for defence, electronics, and green technologies. Shipments of these minerals to the U.S. were banned outright in December. Then in February, China added five more metals to its control list. Now, following a phone call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, attention has turned to whether China will ease its latest rare earth export curbs. But analysts warn of a lack of transparency. 'It's virtually impossible to know what percentage of requests for non-military end users get approved because the data is not public and companies don't want to publicly confirm either way,' said Cory Combs, an analyst at China-focused consultancy Trivium. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The opaqueness of Beijing's process and its expanding powers over chokepoint materials are reinforcing Western concerns that supply chains are becoming geopolitical battlegrounds. With inputs from agencies
