Swedish News

Record traffic at Swedish airports this summer. Lena Olin hit with tax demand. Chinese berry pickers in protest in Sweden's north. Swedish blueberry jam with a twist 

  • Record traffic at Swedish airports
    Swedish air travel has recovered significantly faster after the financial crisis, and the ash cloud, than the analysts had foreseen. International traffic even offered a new record for July this year, with a total increase of 13 %.

  • Lena Olin hit with tax demand
    Swedish movie star Lena Olin is in trouble with U.S. tax officials after allegedly failing to hand over more than $200,000 in back payments. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed a tax lien against the “Alias” star and her husband, Lasse Hallström, at the Los Angeles County Recorder of Deeds last month. The Detroit News reports that the couple owes $207,000.

  • Chinese berry pickers in protest
    Chinese berry pickers who recently arrived to north-Sweden, have started a long protest march towards the city Storuman. The berry pickers have not gotten any payments yet from their China-based staffing company. Around 200 Chinese berry pickers went along in the protest march starting in the village Långsjöby (in Lapland) towards the small city of Storuman. Some of them held up home made placards with the words 'SOS' and 'HELP'. Ture Rönnholm, saw the protest marsh passing by just outside his home. “From what I have heard, they have been cheated in some way. I don't know if it is by the enlister in China or by the travel agent,” said Ture Rönnholm to Swedish taabloid Extressen. Rönnholm handed out food to the protesting berry pickers. Finally the local municipality arranged a bus transport for them to a village called Stensele. The municipality have arranged so that they can live temporarily in a school where they will have access to showers, toilets and kitchen facilities. The Chinese berry pickers feel cheated and fear that their trip to Sweden will be a net loss for them. The police will at this point not get involved in the issue. “We have come to the conclusion that this is not a police matter. It is instead a matter between the berry-pickers and those who arranged for their time here. It might possibly become a matter for the social authorities in Storuman,” remarked police officer Dan Andersson.

  • Swedish blueberry jam with a twist
    Make summer last a little bit longer by using the fresh berries and fruit for jam. It’s easy to make your own, and if you spoon it into a pretty glass jar (we like IKEA’s SLOM for $2.99), label it nicely and tie a pretty ribbon around it – it’s also the perfect gift. This particular recipe is for blueberry jam with basil and lime.
    Ingredients: 5 cups blueberries, the juice of 3 limes, the ground peel of 2 limes, 2 Tablespoons finely chopped basil, 2.5 cups granulated sugar.
    Bring berries and the juice of the limes to a boil and let cook for 10 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and add the lime peel and the basil. Stir in the sugar, a little at a time. Again bring the mixture to a boil (on low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove froth if any. Scoop up the jam in clean, warm jars.