Sweden Today:

Union Workers strike at Gothenburg’s busiest port / Hunting for the oldest ice on earth / Incentive to open homes to immigrants doesn't help / Former justice minister dead at 74 / Elderly Swede helps needy children in Sri Lanka 

  • Union workers strike at Gothenburg’s busiest port
    (Gothenburg) The Swedish Dockworkers Union has begun a strike after being unable to reach an agreement with the port owners over disputed working conditions. The strike began on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to last through the week until Friday evening. APM Terminals, who owns the port, said the strike would have consequences for trade as the port is the busiest for shipping traffic.

  • Hunting for the oldest ice on earth
    (Environment) Swedish experts from Lund and Stockholm universities have joined a team of European scientists searching for the oldest ice on earth to better understand the climate system and thus improve models and methods of prediction. The team is heading to eastern Antarctica where they will use radar to drill three kilometers into the surface to capture 1.5 million years of the earth’s history. Clues contained in the tiny bubbles of air trapped in the ice could help solve mysteries of the earth’s climate over years.

  • Incentive to open homes to immigrants doesn't help
    (Stockholm) Sweden’s capital city hoped to inspire its residents to open their homes to provide a room for one of the more than 6,000 newly arrived immigrants in Stockholm. The city’s mayor, Karin Wanngård, hoped many people would open their hearts and their homes, but few people are signing up despite the financial encouragement: The city offered to pay residents approximately SEK 4,000 ($435) per month for a room, SEK 8,000 ($870) for a flat, and SEK 12,000 ($1,305) for a home, if they shared housing with immigrants.

  • Former justice minister dead at 74
    (National) Former Justice Minister Gun Hellsvik has died at age 74 after a brief illness. Hellsvik was justice minister under Carl Bildt’s administration in the 1990s but began her political career in Lund in the 80s. She served as chairman of the municipal government there from 1983 until 1988 and served for Bildt from 1991 to 1994.

  • Elderly Swede helps needy children in Sri Lanka
    (Lifestyle) Siri Karlsson, 98, of Åtvidaberg, has been sewing for children in need since her retirement at age 65. With a passion for sewing and helping others, she contacted the Sri Lanka Association flea market to inquire about interest in handmade dresses for the orphanage, and over the years she has sewn 2000 dresses for the children. “It's so fun to sew cute dresses for children who have nothing,” she told SVT.