Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Sweden's parliament will vote on Wednesday on approving Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson as the country's first woman prime minister, the Riksdag speaker said on Monday, amid uncertainty over whether she can cobble together enough support.

Andersson, currently finance minister, has been locked in negotiations with the Left Party to secure their backing to take over from Stefan Lofven, who handed in his resignation as prime minister earlier this month. 

STOCKHOLM, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson has been given more time to try to form a new government, and is hopeful of striking a deal with the Left Party to become the country's first female prime minister.

Andersson is negotiating with the Left Party over support in a potential confirmation vote. Parliament's speaker said in a statement that Andersson now had until Nov. 22.

"The conversations were constructive so in that sense it is worth asking for more time. I think we can reach an agreement," Andersson told a news conference.

STOCKHOLM, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Swedish centre-left Prime Minister Stefan Lofven formally resigned on Wednesday, opening the way for Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson to become the country's first woman premier if she can win parliament's approval.

Lofven, a former welder and union negotiator, has headed a minority coalition with the Greens since 2014 and said earlier this year that he would step down ahead of the next general election, due in September 2022. 

STOCKHOLM, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson moved a step closer to becoming Sweden's first woman prime minister on Thursday when the ruling Social Democrat party elected her as its leader in place of Stefan Lofven.

Lofven, the current prime minister, wants to step down before national elections due in September 2022. 

His minority coalition with the Green Party has struggled to survive since coming to power in 2014 and Andersson would need backing from the Greens as well as the Left and Centre parties to also succeed Lofven as leader of the country.

Stockholm, Oct 11 (AP-PTI) A US-based economist won the Nobel prize for economics Monday for pioneering research that showed an increase in minimum wage does not lead to less hiring and immigrants do not lower pay for native-born workers, challenging commonly held ideas. Two others shared the award for creating a way to study these types of societal issues.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Economists David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens won the 2021 Nobel economics prize on Monday for pioneering "natural experiments" to show real-world economic impacts in areas from minimum wage increases in the U.S. fast-food sector to migration from Castro-era Cuba.

Unlike in medicine or other sciences, economists cannot conduct rigidly controlled clinical trials. Instead, natural experiments use real-life situations to study impacts on the world, an approach that has spread to other social sciences.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The 2021 Nobel Prize for literature is being announced Thursday, an award that has in the past honored poets, novelists and even a songwriter, Bob Dylan.

The Swedish Academy will announce the recipient in Stockholm at about 1 p.m. (1100 GMT; 7 a.m. EDT). Winners are famously hard to predict. This year’s favorites, according to British bookmakers, include Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o, French writer Annie Ernaux, Japanese author Haruki Murakami, Canada’s Margaret Atwood and Antiguan-American writer Jamaica Kincaid.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry Wednesday for finding an “ingenious” and environmentally cleaner way to build molecules that can be used to make everything from medicines to food flavorings.

The work of Benjamin List of Germany and Scotland-born David W.C. MacMillan has allowed scientists to produce those molecules more cheaply, efficiently, safely — and with significantly less environmental impact.

“It’s already benefiting humankind greatly,” said Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, a member of the Nobel panel.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The 2021 Nobel Prize for physics is being announced Tuesday, an award that has in the past honored discoveries about fundamental forces of nature and cosmic phenomena.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences will announce the recipient at about 11:45 a.m. (0945 GMT; 5:45 a.m. EDT).

It is common for several scientists who work in related fields to share the prize. Last year, the prize went to American Andrea Ghez, Roger Penrose of Britain and Reinhard Genzel of Germany for their research into black holes.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel Prize in the field of physiology or medicine has been awarded to U.S.-based scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian.

They were cited for their discovery of receptors for temperature and touch.

The winners were announced Monday by Thomas Perlmann, secretary-general of the Nobel Committee.

Patrik Ernfors of the Nobel Committee said Julius, 65, used capsaicin, the active component in chili peppers, to identify the nerve sensors that allow the skin to respond to heat.