Swedish News

Here’s your new job, Prince Daniel. Shortage of neurologists in Sweden. Mankell demands script back. More drowning accidents than usual.  

  • Here’s your new job, Prince Daniel
    He may be on honeymoon now, but soon a new job will be waiting for Prince Daniel and his schedule has already been prepared. Daniel will join the rest of the royal family in Örebro on August 21, that will be his first assignment. As the husband of Sweden’s Crown Princess, Daniel is now an official representative of Sweden and has a heavy load of responsibilities and assignments of various kinds to look forward to. On August 21 it will be 200 years since Jean Baptise Bernadotte was chosen as the heir to the throne of Sweden at a session of the Riksdag in Örebro. “The royal family, including Daniel, will participate in the festivities in Örebro,” says Annika Sönnerberg, Information Officer at the Royal Swedish Court. Our new prince will also participate in the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Karolinska Institute at the end of August. Sten Hedman, a royal expert, says he believes the King has a clear strategy for Prince Daniel: “The King will most certainly put a great deal of his workload on Victoria and Daniel. From now on we will see the newlyweds represent our royal house more often than not. I also think he will let them take over some of the more tiresome foreign travels. It will give a great signal to everyone – something fresh and new.”

  • Shortage of neurologists in Sweden
    There is a serious shortage of neurologists in Sweden. Today there are only 271 practicing neurologists, unevenly distributed around the country. The National Association for Neurologically Handicapped has demanded that at least 300 new neurologists be hired. A neurologist is a doctor specializing in the nervous system.

  • Mankell demands script back
    Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell demands that Israel returns his belongings, among them a script, that were confiscated when Israel boarded the convoy Ship to Gaza on May 31. When Israel boarded Ship to Gaza, which was trying to break the blockade against Gaza, the belongings of the 600 activists onboard were confiscated. The eleven Swedes among the activists have all acted differently trying to retrieve their things. Most are using lawyers in Israel, but Mankell wrote to the Ambassador of Israel to Sweden, Benny Dagan, via the daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. In his letter Mankell asks to have his belongings returned to him, among them a backpack that contains the script to the third part of an upcoming TV-series about Mankell’s deceased father-in-law, film director Ingmar Bergman. In his letter, Mankell says he gives Israel until August 1, if he hasn’t received his belongings by then he’ll “raise his voice again”. Mankell adds that those who died during Israel’s attack, and those who claim they wanted to die as martyrs then were wrong “it was the wrong circumstances for that,” he writes, claiming that all involved were in agreement that a non-violent strategy was the best way to break the blockade. Mankell also writes in his letter that the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity by the Hamas for four years, ought to have been released a long time ago.

  • More drowning accidents than usual
    More people than normally have drowned so far in July. One explanation is that the unusually warm weather makes more people go for a swim. So far 14 people have drowned and two more are missing. Last year 18 people drowned during the whole month. Alcohol is behind some of the accidents; another reason is people swimming alone.