Historic Swedish church inches closer to new home
Kiruna's entire town centre is being relocated because of the giant LKAB iron ore mine that dominates the region, whose ever deeper burrowing over the years has weakened the ground, increasing the risk of collapse in some parts.
Kiruna Kyrka, an imposing 672-tonne Swedish Lutheran church from 1912, is being moved five kilometres (three miles) on remote-controlled flatbed trailers, moving at a snail's pace of half a kilometre an hour to the new Kiruna town.
The complex and costly logistical operation began on Tuesday and was scheduled to be completed today.
The journey has so far gone smoothly for the 1,200-tonne convoy, but was expected to proceed more slowly today due to some tricky narrow passages and 90 degree turns, officials said.
The move has generated widespread interest, with large crowds thronging the streets of the town of 18,000 people and Swedish television broadcasting the entire journey live.
King Carl XVI Gustaf was due to take part in festivities in Kiruna, including an attempt to break the world record for the number of people attending a "kyrkkaffe", a church coffee break.
The town's relocation process began almost two decades ago and is expected to continue for years to come. The new town centre was officially inaugurated in September 2022.
The relocation of the church alone is expected to cost US$52 million (RM220 million) and is being paid for by LKAB.
Designed by Swedish architect Gustaf Wickman, the church, which measures 40 metres (131 feet) tall, is a mix of influences and includes designs inspired by the region's Indigenous Sami people on the pews.
The neo-Gothic exterior features slanting roofs and windows on each side, while its dark interior has elements of national romanticism as well as an Art Nouveau altarpiece and an organ with more than 2,000 pipes.
The church's handblown glass windows were removed ahead of the move, replaced with plywood painted to look like windows.
The belltower, which stood separately next to the church, will be moved next week. - AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
13 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Gamers feel the pain: PS5 price jumps RM211 in wake of Trump's tariff war
SAN FRANCISCO: Sony on Wednesday said it is bumping up the price of PlayStation 5 video game consoles by US$50 (about RM211) in the United States due to a "challenging economic environment." Tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump hike the cost of goods brought into the US, leaving companies like Japan's Sony to decide whether to pass that on to consumers. "Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment," Sony Interactive Entertainment vice president of global marketing Isabelle Tomatis said in a post. After initially being threatened with a 25 per cent hike, Japan negotiated a 15 per cent tariff with the Trump administration. "As a result, we've made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the US." The new price for PS5 will be US$550 (about RM2,324), with a "Digital Edition" priced at US$500 (about RM2,113) and a Pro version for US$750 (about RM3,169), according to Tomatis. In May, Sony warned it was considering tweaking prices in the US, estimating that tariffs could wind up costing the company about US$680 million (about RM2.87 billion) in the fiscal year. American companies are feeling the crunch, too. New York-based cosmetics giant Estee Lauder recently estimated the impact of the new tariffs at around US$100 million (about RM422.6 million) for the 2026 financial year and plans to adjust its prices to offset the additional cost. US snack giant PepsiCo could increase prices of its soft drinks about 10 per cent to mitigate effects of US tariffs, particularly those on imported aluminium used to make soda cans, according to trade magazine Beverage Digest. Meanwhile, California-based energy drink maker Monster Beverages is considering raising prices due to a "complex and dynamic customs landscape," according to chief executive Hilton Schlosberg. The Commerce Department this week said the US broadened its steel and aluminum tariffs, impacting hundreds more products that contain both metals such as child seats, tableware and heavy equipment. Since returning to the presidency, Trump has imposed tariffs on almost all US trading partners. Though the impact of Trump's tariffs on consumer prices has been limited so far, economists warn that their full effects are yet to be seen. Some businesses have coped by bringing forward purchases of products they expected will encounter tariffs. Others have passed on additional costs to their consumers, or absorbed a part of the fresh tariff burden.--AFP
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
NZ central bank cuts rates to three-year low
Borrowing costs: People walk towards the entrance of the central bank in the New Zealand capital city of Wellington. The RBNZ lifted rates by 525 bps between October 2021 and September 2023 to curb inflation. — Reuters WELLINGTON: New Zealand's central bank has cut its policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to a three-year low of 3%, and flags further reductions in the coming months as policymakers warn of domestic and global headwinds to growth. The New Zealand dollar fell as much as 0.8% to US$0.59, while two-year swap rates slumped as deep as 2.96%, their lowest level since early 2022, as the decidedly dovish stance caught markets off guard. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) said the economy had stalled in the second quarter, and that the committee debated holding rates as well as reducing them by 25 bps or 50 bps. The cut in the official cash rate (OCR) by a quarter point was in line with a Reuters poll, in which all but two of the 30 economists surveyed correctly forecast the RBNZ's decision, after the bank held policy steady in July. The central bank has slashed rates by 250 bps since August 2024 to underpin a fragile recovery, taking advantage of expectations inflation will return to 2% next year and to buffer the economy from a broad shakeup in US tariff policy. 'There are upside and downside risks to the economic outlook. Cautious behaviour by households and businesses could further dampen economic growth' the RBNZ said in its accompanying policy statement. 'Alternatively, the economic recovery could accelerate as the full effects of interest rate reductions flow through the economy.' The central bank forecast in its monetary policy statement that the cash rate will be at 2.71% in the fourth quarter of 2025, below a forecast of 2.92% in May. In the first quarter of 2026 it expects it to average 2.55%, lower than the previously forecast 2.85%. 'If medium-term inflation pressures continue to ease as expected, there is scope to lower the OCR further,' the statement added. A global frontrunner in withdrawing pandemic-era stimulus, the RBNZ lifted rates 525 bps between October 2021 and September 2023 to curb inflation in the most aggressive tightening since the official cash rate was introduced in 1999. The punishing borrowing costs, however, took a heavy toll on demand and tipped the economy into recession last year. While, the South Pacific nation has emerged from the slump, growth remains weak and is being further hampered by a slowdown in the global economy and the government's tight fiscal policy. Adding to the domestic economic stress, unemployment is also rising. New Zealand's annual inflation remains within the RBNZ's 1% to 3% target band at 2.7%. The central bank is forecasting it will increase to 3% in the third quarter. — Reuters
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
LG-backed Alphonso gears up for listing
SEOUL: US-based connected TV advertising company Alphonso, majority-owned by LG Electronics, is gearing up for a Nasdaq listing in the second half of 2025, positioning itself at the centre of LG's push to turn smart TVs into integrated digital platforms. At a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, Alphonso founder and board member Ashish Chordia emphasised the company's role in advancing LG's long-term vision for media-centric home entertainment. 'Alphonso will be instrumental in turning LG's smart TVs into digital platforms where content, advertising, commerce and artificial intelligence seamlessly converge,' Chordia said. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Alphonso specialises in TV viewership data analytics and personalised advertising. LG entered the company in 2020 through Zenith, a subsidiary of LG Electronics, which acquired a 65.7% stake. Since then, Alphonso has launched LG Ad Solutions and rapidly expanded across North America, Europe and Latin America. Leveraging LG's webOS-powered smart TV ecosystem, which now encompasses more than 200 million devices worldwide, Alphonso has strengthened monetisation capabilities through targeted advertising. Its core technology, automatic content recognition embedded in LG smart TVs, enables real-time tracking of viewing behaviour, allowing advertisers to manage campaigns from audience targeting and ad delivery to performance analysis on a unified platform. Alphonso's advertising portfolio spans native home screen placements, commercials streamed via more than 350 live channels and 7,000 video-on-demand titles and cross-device campaigns that extend to mobile, tablet and desktop users. Chordia pointed to successful case studies as evidence of Alphonso's impact. A Lexus campaign tied to the US Open improved positive brand perception by 64% and boosted purchase intent by 37%. Wells Fargo expanded its audience reach by 17.2%, while a pharmaceutical brand increased engagement among Spanish-speaking viewers by 15%. Data analytics firm Experian recorded ad recall levels 13 times higher than the industry average. LG Electronics sees Alphonso as a key driver of its broader strategy to shift from a manufacturing-focused home entertainment business to a media and solutions-oriented division. In January, LG Electronics chief executive officer Cho Joo-wan revealed that advertising and content revenue generated through webOS surpassed one trillion won in 2023. By 2030, the company aims to grow platform-based service revenue more than five-fold, with platform operations expected to contribute over 20% of total operating profit. 'Through Alphonso, this vision will become a reality,' Chordia said, noting that the firm competes with Samsung Ads and Roku in the global connected TV market. 'We will continue to work with LG to accelerate technology investment, platform innovation and global expansion.' Alphonso has already filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. While declining to disclose specifics of the initial public offering timeline or deal size due to regulatory restrictions, the company confirmed that it has met the conditions for a US listing agreed upon at the time of Zenith's investment. — The Korea Herald/ANN
