Swedish News:

Increased military pressure. Solar powered water - 'sun water'. No more spanking. Isis casualties from Sweden. 

  • Spanking children — should parents be using corporal punishment? Sweden has outlawed it for 35 years.

  • Increased military pressure
    A new report from the European Leadership Network found that more than 40 military incidents in which Russia has challenged its neighbors have occurred since Russia's invasion of Crimea. Military tension has increased in Sweden as a total of 45 events are listed in the report, including one of the most serious incidents, in March of this year, when a Russian intelligence plane came close to colliding with an SAS plane just south of Malmo, Sweden.

  • Solvatten is improving the lives of many people in developing countries.

  • Solar powered water
    Solvatten, which translated from Swedish literally means “sun water,” is Swedish technology at its best. This year, just four years after it was first established for use, Solvatten's success has increased the quality of life and life expectancy of people in nearly 20 countries — benefiting more than 100,000 users. Solvatten AB, founded in Stockholm in 2006, invented a pioneering portable water treatment unit that allows households to heat up and treat contaminated water using solar energy. Sold and distributed to partners in developing countries around the world, the 11-litre containers, built to last an entire childhood, are placed in the sun for two to six hours to sterilize water, which can then be used for drinking, cooking and other daily hygiene-related tasks.

  • Solvatten. Image source: National Museum of Science and Technology

  • No more spanking
    While America continues to argue over the extent to which corporal punishment can be considered abuse, Sweden recently celebrated its 35th anniversary of banning spanking and corporal punishment of children: They were the first to do so in 1979. Since then, 39 other countries have done the same. The U.S., Canada, Ireland, South Africa and Great Britain are not among them, though most have limitations and restrictions.

  • Isis casualties from Sweden
    Three Swedish men, all in their 20s, from Gothenburg and Stockholm, were confirmed to have been fighting as Isis terrorists in Syria, where they were recently killed. According to Expressen reports, two of them are said to have died in an American bombing raid against the city. The third man died of injuries he reportedly suffered in a previous attack.