Swedish News:

Where are the women? Marathon craze. Burglaries in Sweden. Like father like son? Moderates reporting theater group. 

  • The number of burglaries is increasing in Sweden.
  • Where are the women?
    Eighty-nine of Sweden’s 290 municipalities—that’s 30 percent—have never had a woman at the post as municipal chairman. This according to an investigative report by SVT

  • Not many Swedish women are climbing. 30% of Sweden’s 290 municipalities have never had a woman as municipal chairman.
  • Marathon craze
    Running marathons is becoming more and more popular in Sweden. Stockholm marathon, which took place on May 31, attracted 16,000 runners, ranging from the world’s elite to ordinary people, with a record number of 11,952 men and 4,123 women completing the race. Benjamin Bitok from Kenya won, finishing at 2 hours 13 minutes and 21 seconds. The best Swede, Daniel Woldu, came in 9th place at 2 hours 25 minutes and 50 seconds. The best woman was a Swede, Isabellah Andersson, finishing at 2.32.28.

  • Do you inherit your profession? According to a Swedish study, one in ten people has the same profession as one of his or her parents. Above: Actor Benjamin Wahlgren, son of singer/entertainer Pernilla Wahlgren, and seen with his grandparents actors Hans Wahlgren and Christina Schollin. Benjamin Wahlgren won the popular TV contest ”Let’s dance” (the Swedish equivalent of the American ”Dancing With the Stars”) earlier in the spring. Benjamin Wahlgren’s great-great-grandfather Gustavo Scenna came to Sweden from Italy in 1900; he was also an artist—a flutist in a Göteborg orchestra.
  • Burglaries in Sweden
    A total of 7,127 burglaries were reported in Sweden during the January-April period of this year. Last year, the equivalent period had 6,360 reports. While the number of burglaries are increasing in the country, they’ve gone down in Västra Götaland county by 12 percent. Thomas Petersson, policing controller in Västra Götaland, believes the decrease has to do with a number of important arrests. ”We’ve had some luck here lately,” he says. ”We’ve managed to lock up a hefty league in Älvsborg, a person who had conducted several burglaries in Skaraborg, and a league in Fyrbodal.” Petersson adds that burglaries are usually serial crimes, and after the person or persons are caught, it usually makes a huge difference in the statistics. In Stockholm county there were 1,916 burglaries in 2013 as compared to 2,119 this year. In the county of Västra Götaland, there were 1,171 burglaries in 2013 and 1,027 this year, and in Skåne county there were 1,380 burglaries in 2013 and 1,716 this year.

  • The Moderate Party of Stockholm has reported a theater group, Nationalscen, believing the group has defiled them and that they are guilty of breach of the Trade Mark Regulation.
  • Like father like son?
    According to a survey, one out of ten Swedes has the same profession as his or her parents. The top list of occupations that are most commonly inherited include some that many seem ”born into”—a company, a farm or a fishing business. But among those occupations which require a university education, there are also those who ”inherit” the doctor’s profession. ”The medical profession has a lot to do with pride and values, as a doctor you want to do something for humanity, and values are something you pass on to your children,” said Frida Wikstrand, associate professor at Malmö University. According to the study, there are three factors that more than others determine why we pick an education or profession: 1. Gender—the perception we have of ourselves as male or female, and our idea of what women and men work with; 2. The status of that profession or education—this has much to do about the social class to which we belong. Children of parents with an academic background choose higher education to a greater extent than children from non-academic homes; 3. Interest—We choose that in which we’re interested, and that in turn may be colored by class and gender.

  • Benjamin Bitok from Kenya won Stockholm Marathon on May 31. Photo courtesy of ladepeche.fr
  • Moderates reporting theater group
    The Moderate Party in Stockholm has reported the theater group Nationalscen. The party is of the belief that the group has defiled them and that they thereby are guilty of breach of the Trade Mark Regulation, according to Swedish Television. The theater group spred leaflets ahead of the EU election with a logo similar to that of the Moderates, and with a quote that read ”the Swedes are mentally handicapped”, which is taken from Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s (of the Moderate Party) 1993 book ”Det sovande folket” (The sleeping people).