Swedish News:

Insurance company made him a dad. Late for a flight, made a bomb threat. The jellyfish are taking over. Actress Gunnel Broström has died. 

  • Insurance company made him a dad
    Tobias Wallin from Malmo got the shock of his life when he opened the letter and saw he was registered as the father of a child that’s not his. He tried getting Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency) to change the error, but without success. “It felt strange,” Tobias says. In January of this year, Tobias became a father to a daughter. “A few days after we came back from the hospital, I saw that I had my daughter registered as mine, but also another child,” he says. Tobias said he called the insurance company but received a reply that he had applied for parental leave for the child that wasn’t his. Meanwhile, he suspected the real father sat and waited for that letter somewhere. “I reported Försäkringskassan to datainspektionen (the Data Inspectorate) because they were having problems dealing with sensitive information,” Tobias says. Datainspektionen is responsible for reviewing personal information in Sweden, and there it was discovered that an officer at Försäkringskassan had made a mistake regarding parental benefits, filling in Tobias “personnummer” (the Swedish equivalence of the social security code) instead of that of the real father. Finally Försäkringskassan changed their information and Tobias is no longer the father to any child but his daughter. “This was a bizarre situation,” he concludes.

  • Late for a flight, made a bomb threat
    A man who was about to miss a flight out of Arlanda airport got the not so bright idea to call in a bomb threat, hoping it might delay the flight enough for him to make it in time. The airplane was thus thoroughly searched and also quite delayed but when it finally took off—for the island of Malta—the man was not onboard. Instead he was taken by police to be sobered up and is now suspected for false alarm. He may look forward to paying hefty damages for his threat.

  • The jellyfish are taking over
    Beware, the jellyfish are invading the Swedish west coast! If you're not careful you might get stung by one during a summer swim. Marine biologist Emma Norén at Havets hus in Lysekil believes the jellyfish (“maneter”) might have pulled closer to the coast as the water there is still cold. “They are very controlled by temperature,” she says. “Now that the weather’s been bad and the water has been cold, they come closer to the coast. They aren’t great swimmers either, so they are likely to follow the currents when windy.” Norén says it’s not dangerous to get stung by the jellyfish along Sweden’s west coast, but that it may hurt quite a bit to accidentally touch a lion’s mane jellyfish (“röd brännmanet”). Human skin, however, is too thick to get stung by the transparent moon jellyfish (öronmanet”). “It can sting us in our eyes and our noses,” she says. “Which is why it’s a good idea to use swim goggles.” Norén adds that a baby or a small child can get stung on their bodies and the best way to avoid that is to let them wear a physical barrier such as a T-shirt rash guard, when they are in the waters along the west coast.

  • Actress Gunnel Brostrom has died
    The actress Gunnel Brostrom has died. Bostrom starred in some 30 movies in Sweden, among them Gunnar Olsson's “En äventyrare” in 1942, Ingmar Bergman’s “Smultronstället” (“Wild Strawberries”) in 1957 and Vilgot Sjöman’s “Jag är nyfiken blå” (“I Am Curious (Blue)”) in 1968. As a stage actress, she was engaged at the Dramaten Theater in Stockholm and Göteborg’s Stadsteater. She also worked as a producer of documentaries, and as a director at Sveriges Television (the Swedish Television). In 1964, she was the recipient of the prestigious Thalia Award, given by the daily Svenska Dagbladet. Gunnel Broström was married to journalist and author Gustaf Olivecrona, with whom she has two children. Gunnel Broström was 90 years old.