Swedish News

Time to put the studded tires on in Sweden? New research may help infertile. Happiest Princess in the world... Another Swedish crime novel: “Three seconds” becomes Hollywood film.  

  • Sweden: Time to put the studded tires on
    Seriously. SMHI (the Swedish Meteorological Institute) has issued a class 1 warning, and that is: Do not leave in a car without studded tires. Winter has come early to Sweden, and the start of the week looks like treacherously icy roads can be expected. The combination of rain and sub-zero temperatures is the reason for such road conditions in many parts of the country. "Those who still don't have switched to studded tires should strongly consider leaving the car at home," says Tobbe Lundell at the Transport Administration to newspaper Expressen. The time between autumn and winter is seen as the most difficult time for Swedish roads. Suddenly and without warning roads become treacherously icy. Many are unprepared for the sudden switch. On Sunday SMHI issued a class 1 warning for slippery road surfaces, starting tonight. This is expected to continue during Monday morning. Temperatures will fall quickly in combination with widespread rainfall, mainly in the southern parts of Sweden. It provides for icy and wet roads in the southern and eastern parts of central Sweden, and in the most southern parts of the country. The forecast for both Monday and Tuesday shows mostly sunny weather, thanks to a temporary weak high pressure ridge. This means that the road condition will become better already during Monday. But on Wednesday is a new area of precipitation across the country expected, and for the rest of the week the weather becomes unstable again. Studded tires, or dubbdäck in Swedish, are against the law in some countries (Germany and Poland among others) because of the enormous wear and tear they cause on roads. In Sweden they are prohibited locally, such as on Hornsgatan in Stockholm.

  • New research may help infertile
    A Swedish research team at Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm has for the first time sorted out what is happening at the molecular level when a sperm is placed into an egg at the moment of conception. The results could mean a breakthrough in research on why some people can’t have babies. But it could also lead to new contraceptives, according to researchers at the fertility unit at Karolinska. The findings are published in the journal Cell.

  • Happiest Princess in the world
    Victoria has been elected “happiest princess in the world” by Danish paper Billedbladet. Billedbladet followed the Swedish Crown Princess during her Elsinore visit and were quick to call her “glowing”. But the Danes aren’t the only ones with eyes on Victoria, British Hallomagazine published an article about the Crown Princess during the Bernadotte celebrations and they wrote: “She radiates happiness all the time, they couldn’t look more in love.” And everyone agrees: Victoria and Daniel’s love is contagious. It makes everybody happy.

  • “Three seconds” becomes Hollywood film
    It is just about to be released in book form on the American market, “Tre sekunder” (Three Seconds) by author duo Anders Roslund and Börge Hellström, and already there’s talks about turning it into a Hollywood movie. Roslund and Hellström, back in Sweden after having spent time in the US marketing their book, have revealed the Hollywood plans. Their agent Niclas Salomonsson has negotiated the contract. “It was tough,” said Börge Hellström. The question most readers of “Tre sekunder” are asking now is: Who will play detective Ewert Grens? “We said Brad Pitt but more as a joke,” says Anders Roslund. “But Brad Pitt is soon 50.” Anders Roslund (born 1961) is a former news reporter and culture journalist for Rapport News, and Börge Hellström (born 1957) is one of the founders of Kriminellas Revansch i Samhället (KRIS), an organization fighting to prevent crime. The duo made their debut with the crime novel “Odjuret” (“The Beast”) in 2004, which made a big splash in Sweden and sold in enormous quantities. A recurring theme in their novels is the question of who the real civtim and who the criminal is when a crime has been committed. “Odjuret” was awarded the Glasnyckeln (the Glass Key award) in 2005. The award is a literature award given annually to a crime novel by an author from the Nordic countries.
    “Three Seconds” ISBN-10: 1402785925