Swedish News

Absolute majority for Alliance. More Swedish students leave with bad grades. Princess Madeleine―a dream woman. Easy apple pie. Dangerous stuff, snuff for pregnant women.  

  • Absolute majority for Alliance
    Presented recently was another election poll showing that the Alliance gets an absolute majority. The center-right party coalition gets 50.5 percent of voter sympathy, while the center-left Red-Greens get 44 percent in support. In the poll from Demoskop, published in newspaper Expressen, the Moderate Party, the Social Democrats and the Greens slope slightly, while the Center Party, the Liberals, the Christian Democrats and the Left Party increase. The Sweden Democrats reach over the parliamentary threshold with their 4.2 percent in support.

  • More Swedish students leave with bad grades
    14,000 Swedish pupils do not qualify for higher education after ninth grade, according to preliminary figures from the National Agency for Education. In Stockholm, figures show that qualification for 'gymnasie' education (high school) has declined in nearly half of all local schools since 2006. The schools with the worst results are located in the outer areas of the city. Close to 12 percent of the country's pupils who finished ninth grade in June did not pass in Swedish, English or mathematics. They are thus not qualified to apply for a national program in high school, according to preliminary statistics from the National Agency for Education. It is the highest percentage since 1998. In June, 6,334 pupils finished ninth grade at 65 local schools in Stockholm. Among these, 87.8 percent got passing grades in Swedish, mathematics and English, and became qualified for high school. The statistics show huge differences between schools, where 31 of the 65 public schools have a lower percentage of high school qualification since 2006, while 19 schools have improved their result. Schools with declining performance scores are located mainly in the outer areas of the city. 
In 19 of the city's compulsory schools, the proportion of qualified is less than 80 percent. All of these schools are located outside the inner city.

  • Princess Madeleine―a dream woman
    Ask Swedish men who their dream woman is and chances are they will answer: “Princess Madeleine.” Along with actress Izabella Scorupco and television chef Tina Nordström, the 28-year-old princess, whose engagement to Jonas Bergström was broken off earlier this year, tops the list of Swedish men’s dream woman, according to a study made by Novus Opinion on behalf of Pfizer. 2112 men ages 20-80 answered questions pertaining to sex, health and women. When asked to name the “manliest Swedish man,” Swedish men voted for hockey legend Börje Salming, closely followed by strongman Magnus Samuelsson and actor Mikael Persbrandt. The study further reveals that Swedish men feel butts and breasts are women’s most attractive features.

  • Easy apple pie
    Almonds and apples were made for each other, and in this pie, courtesy of Allt om Mat, they come together in a most delicious way. It’s an easy apple pie. Serve with whipped cream with a touch of vanilla. Ingredients
    Pie crust: ½ cup butter, 1 cup flour, 1 oz. confectioners sugar, 1 egg.
    Filling: 4 apples, 4 oz. almond paste or marzipan, 3 eggs, 3 oz. milk, 3 Tablespoons sugar.
    Preheat oven to 425° F. Mix ingredients for pie crust and press evenly into a buttered springform pan. Prick with a fork and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and cut the apples into thin wedges. Grate the almond paste and mix with egg and milk. Pour this batter into the pie shell, and push down the apple wedges into the batter. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

  • Dangerous stuff, snuff for pregnant women
    Pregnant women who use 'snus' (moist snuff) are 60 percent more likely to miscarry, according to a new study made at Karolinska Institutet in Solna and Uppsala University. “That snuff increases the risk for stillbirth underscores the importance of abstaining completely from tobacco while pregnant. Using snuff as an aid in quitting smoking is a bad alternative when it comes to protecting your child,” says Dr. Anna-Karin Wikström at Akademiska sjukhuset women’s clinic. The study is the most substantial ever to be made on the effects of snuff and pregnancy, close to 570,000 pregnancies and births in Sweden since 1999 are included. “That smoking increases the risk for stillbirth in the womb has been shown in earlier studies, but ours is the first one to be extensive enough to prove that snuff is just as bad. The risk was even higher if the woman used snuff than if she smoked a couple of cigarettes a day,” Wikström said. A woman who smoked a few cigarettes a day increased the risk of stillbirth by 40 percent. If she smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day, the risk was doubled. Even the risk for premature birth was increased by snuff, according to the study.