Swedish News:

Victoria – one of the most elegant. Solstickan’s 75th anniversary. Scandinavia – target for young jihadists. 

  • Victoria – one of the most elegant
    The recent royal wedding got the world talking and everyone had their own opinion about which of the guests looked the best or what was the high point of the day (apart from the beautiful bride, of course). Hello Magazine asked their readers to votefor who they thought had trumped in the style stakes and after over 30 000 votes had been cast, the results were: 1. Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco (she received 55% of the votes) 2. Pippa Middleton (the bride’s sister) 3. Charlene Wittstock (who is due to marry Prince Albert of Monaco this July) 4. Princess Letizia of Spain and 5. Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, who according to Hello Magazine looked “lovely in a long-sleeved peach Elie Saab creation.”

  • Solstickan’s 75th anniversary
    Solstickan is a Swedish charity foundation, founded in 1936 for helping children in need. The money for the foundation is gathered through the sales of the Solstickan matchbox, which over the years has become the most well known and purchased matchbox in Sweden. The artwork on the matchbox was made in 1936 by the artist Einar Nerman and is a painting of his own son. For the 75th celebration of Solstickan, sculptor Dan Wolgers has created a sculpture about to be auctioned off for charity. The sculpture features an aged “solsticke-boy” who is “fat and looks a bit worried about the state of things”. “I tried to create the old man Stig, not Stickan, the boy. He is scorched by time and honor and has come out of his disguise and looks straight forward – proud of his achievements,” Wolgers explains. The 75th anniversary will also be celebrated by an exhibition at the Tändsticksmuseet in Stockholm, which will feature the development of Solstickan and Einar Nerman.

  • Scandinavia – target for young jihadists
    Young men from Sweden and Denmark travel to Somalia to participate in al-Shahaab’s “holy war”. Now Säpo (the Swedish Security Police) are putting out a warning that these men might bring terror back home to Scandinavia. During the past five years at least 30 Swedes with Somali roots have gone to train with al-Shabaab, an Islamic movement with two goals: to introduce an extreme interpretation of the Sharia law in Somalia, and to fight the holy war, “jihad”. “The young Swedes are inspired by al-Shabaab’s glorifying and violent rhetoric and descriptions of the conflict in Somalia as part of al-Qaida’s global fight,” Säpo writes in their warning. Some of the Swedes have been killed, some have returned. The ones who have returned could, according to Säpo, contribute to “creating structures that can be used to plan and carry out attacks in Sweden.” This is incomprehensible to Abdul Maxamed and his friend Yonis Ali, two young Somalian men living in Sweden. “I remember what it was like in Somalia. All the violence. We played soccer in the streets, when suddenly somebody started shooting. It was terrible,” says Yonis Ali, who is 17 and goes to school in Malmö. He has lived in Sweden the past three years, and his Swedish is perfect. He also remembers al-Shabaab’s recruitment tactics: “Most are forced to join, but some of my friends did it voluntarily,” he says. “Al-Shabaab says they want to fight for religion and to free Somalia. People don’t have enough information, and they are lured into it.” Abdul Maxamed is 21 and came to Sweden as a 3-year old. Like Yonis, he believes al-Shabaab attracts people with little or no knowledge in both Somalia and Sweden to a distorted version of Islam, turning them into warriors and suicide bombers. “You can’t force anyone to Islam,” Abdul says. “If you are interested it’s between you and God. Al-Shabaab wants women to carry red stockings when they have their period. What the hell does that have to do with Islam?” Neither Abdul nor Yonis have been exposed to any kinds of recruitment attempts.