sweden

Government moves to get rid of permits for dancing

STOCKHOLM>> Sweden’s center-right coalition government wants to cut red tape when it comes to dancing by abolishing a decade-old requirement for restaurants, nightclubs and other venues to obtain permits before they let patrons shimmy and sway.

The proposal made Thursday means that venues no longer would need a license to organize dances. Instead, as a general rule, they would have to register only with the police, which can be done verbally and does not cost anything.

Applying for a permit incurs a fee of at least $67 for the establishment. As it is now, owners can lose their liquor and business licenses if police officers come by and find out that a venue did not have authorization to let patrons dance.

“It is not reasonable for the state to regulate people’s dance,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said in a government statement. “By removing the requirement for a dance permit, we also reduce bureaucracy and costs for entrepreneurs and others who organize dances.”

In 2016, the Swedish parliament voted unanimously to do away with the permits but the requirement still exists in law and is enforced. Swedish broadcaster SVT said that for the past 20 years, lawmakers from every party except the Social Democrats have favored abolishing the permits.

Hong Kong

Disc jockey who broadcast for six decades dies at 98

HONG KONG>> Ray Cordeiro, who interviewed music acts including the Beatles during a six-decade career on Hong Kong radio that earned him the title of the world’s longest-working disc jockey, has died, his former employer announced. He was 98.

Cordeiro died Friday, according to Radio Television Hong Kong, where he worked until 2021.

Cordeiro, who was born in Hong Kong in 1924 of Portuguese descent, was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest-working DJ.

He joined Hong Kong’s public broadcaster in 1960 after working as a prison warden and bank clerk. — The Associated Press