Swedish PM Stefan Löfven loses no-confidence vote

Premier is first in country's history to be ousted by opposition MPs and has a week to decide next move

Sweden's parliament has backed a no-confidence vote in the centre-left prime minister, Stefan Lofven, making him the first premier to be ousted by opposition MPs in the country's history and giving him a week to resign or call snap elections.

The vote, called by the nationalist Sweden Democrats barely a year before a general election, plunges Sweden back into political uncertainty four years after the last inconclusive poll produced a deadlocked parliament and led to months of negotiations to form a coalition.