Stockholm - The Swedish government pledged 84 million kronor (10 million dollars) in humanitarian aid for Zimbabwe on Thursday, but said it wants to see more reforms in place before it resumes direct aid to the government.

"Sweden is prepared to give more humanitarian aid but a stronger involvement in the country hinges on reforms taking immediate effect and that they have an impact," International Development Cooperation Minister Gunilla Carlsson said.

Stockholm  - Timing is of the essence - a lesson several big Swedish banking groups as well as private and government-run pension funds and corporations have learned in recent days.

And proposing large bonus payments to top management is simply not on amid daily reports of layoffs and financial turmoil.

Yet the proposals have been made - and in some case executed - to the surprise and anger of critics.

Sto

Stockholm - A Swedish national was in "good spirits" following his release by leftist rebels in Colombia after almost two years in captivity, a Swedish diplomat said Wednesday.

Roland Larsson, 69, was abducted in May 2007 by members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) from his home in the province of Cordoba some 350 kilometres north of the capital, Bogota.

Stockholm - Four Swedish slaughterhouses face action by authorities for failing to secure proper protection for pigs going to slaughter, reports said Tuesday.

Several cases where pigs were scalded to death were documented by the National Food Administration in 2008, Swedish radio news reported.

Food group HK Scan that operates or has interests in the four slaughterhouses in question conceded the mistakes. Scan slaughtered some 1.9 million pigs in 2008.

Sydney  - Sweden's Therese Alshammar broke her own world record Tuesday in the 50-metre butterfly at the Australian swimming championships in Sydney.

Alshammar, 31, clocked 25.44 seconds - 0.02 seconds faster than the world record she set in Barcelona in 2007.

"I'm a bit shocked myself, and I'm very happy," Alshammar said. "I've had a great couple of months in Australia."

She has been in Sydney training with local rival Libby Trickett for the past two months.