Sweden charges man with spying on Iranian exiles

Earlier this month, Sweden experienced a political earthquake when the Sweden Democrats (SD), a party with neo-Nazi roots, became the country's second-largest party in parliament. For the first time, the far right was running not as an outsider, but as part of the traditional right-wing coalition.

In an interview with FRANCE 24 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Iraq's Foreign inister Fuad Hussein said he was hoping to host a meeting in Baghdad between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Hussein said that after five meetings between intelligence officials of the two rival powers in recent months, it was time to upgrade and have the two top diplomats meet in person.

The leader of the Swedish Moderates says his party and two others have agreed to form a minority government. The far-right Sweden Democrats will conditionally back the coalition without being part of it.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Sweden has grown more wary of Russian aggression. The Swedish government wants its citizens to be ready for the worst-case scenario and is encouraging them to become "preppers.”

For decades, Iranian Kurdish opposition groups have sought refuge in neighbouring Iraq. But in recent weeks, they have been targeted by dozens of missile and drone attacks launched by Tehran. Authorities there accuse them of supporting anti-government protests that have swept across Iran since the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

A zoo in the Swedish town of Furuvik shot dead three chimpanzees after the animals escaped. The situation was still not under control, with the remaining four primates out of their enclosure.

Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred during a Kurdish demo in Stockholm. Sweden said the act was an attempt to sabotage its bid to join NATO.

Turkey said the move was in response to Sweden's decision to allow a far-right protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Sweden needs Turkey's approval to join the NATO military alliance.

As relations between Iran and the United States continue to deteriorate, FRANCE 24 spoke to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Paris. He warned that "any tension between the US and Iran, any tension between the regional countries, will reflect on Iraq negatively".

The suspected Iraqi immigrant is said to have belonged to an al-Qaeda cell which carried out a series of deadly bombings in Baghdad. Belgian prosecutors said the attacks killed at least 376 people.

Habib Chaab was convicted of "corruption on earth" for allegedly heading a rebel group and carrying out bombings, including one in Khuzestan in 2018. Sweden derided Iran's "inhumane" decision to execute him.

A series of Islamic countries have criticized the burning of pages of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm as part of an authorized protest. Turkish President Erdogan was among them, amid NATO talks with Sweden.