NordenBladet —Sweden has seen a record number of gun fatalities in 2022, with a total of sixty people being shot dead, a record number. In recent years, Sweden, especially in Stockholm, has been struck with many shootings, with authorities blaming this increase on criminal gangs.
Gunnar Strommer, the country’s Justice Minister, “Deadly gun violence has increased and unfortunately has hit a new, bloody record this year.”
For reference, in 2021, 45 people were fatally killed in Sweden. Strommer explained that the country would set up a special council to help abolish gang crime in the country.
According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, the county has gone from a country with the lowest incidences of gang violence to one of the highest over the past two decades.
NordenBladet – On 21 December 2022, it was resolved at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (publ) (”SBB”) that all SBB’s shares in the subsidiary Amasten Fastighets AB (publ) (under name change to Neobo Fastigheter AB (publ)) (the “Company”) are distributed to Class A and Class B shareholders of SBB.
NordenBladet —According to the Swedish Museum of Wrecks, the wreckage of the 17th-century warship Applet – the long-lost sister ship of the warship Vasa – has been found by Swedish maritime archaeologists.
Maritime archaeologist at the museum, Jim Hansson, explained, “Our pulses raced when we saw how similar the wreck was to Vasa.”
The Applet was launched in 1629 by the same shipbuilder as the famed warship, Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage off the island of Vaxholm, just outside Sweden’s capital, Stockholm.
Hansson explained that the construction and the dimensions seemed “very familiar” to Vasa. Despite parts of the ship’s side having fallen off, the hull was preserved up to the lower gun-deck.
First discovered in December 2021, a study in spring 2022 revealed details that had been seen only on Vasa, such as technical details, measurements and wood samples.
“With Applet, we can add another key piece of the puzzle in the development of Swedish shipbuilding,” notes Hansson.
NordenBladet —Statistics Sweden has announced that the number of childbirths in the spring of 2022 in the country has hit the lowest birthrate in two decades.
The figures have shown that between January and April of 2022, 1.57 children were born per mother compared to 1.69 children during the same period in 2021. This number is 2,483 fewer babies than last year, which also is the lowest level recorded in the past two decades.
Gunnar Andersson, a demography professor at Stockholm University, notes, “It is a surprisingly sharp drop in the statistics.”
Andersson followed up by stating, “In the short term, there can be random variations such as observed in January. However, the level has since been significantly lower than previously.”
In the late 1990s, an average of 1.5 children were born per mother.
NordenBladet – SAS suffered a loss of SEK 1.9 billion in the third quarter. The loss is largely due to the pilot strike, which cost the company SEK 1.4 billion.
SAS presented the results for the period 1 May to 31 July on Friday morning. The company records a loss of SEK 1.9 billion. The result last quarter was minus 1.6 billion Swedish kroner.
In the wake of the corona pandemic, large parts of the airline industry have struggled to rebuild their business. For SAS, this has meant that they had to cut 4,000 flights out of a total of 75,000 in this year’s summer programme. Then came the strike.
– I truly apologize to all our customers and partners who were affected by the traffic disruptions, writes SAS’ CEO Anko Van der Werff.
SAS Scandinavia’s pilot associations went on strike between 4 and 19 July. Around 4,000 flights were cancelled, and more than 380,000 passengers were affected by the strike, reports SAS.
The loss is even greater than analysts predicted ahead of the week’s results.
There was generally a stable demand for travel in the summer quarter, and SAS experienced an increasing number of passengers wanting to travel when the restrictions around the world were removed.
NordenBladet —On Sunday 20th August, a bomb was found and subsequently disarmed by the Swedish police bomb squad located at the popular Stockholm Culture Festival in Sweden’s capital.
The device was found in a bag in a park, one of the venues of the annual festival in Stockholm.
Speaking in a statement, Swedish Police stated, “The police assess that the bag, which was found on Sunday, at Kungstradgarden contained an explosive charge.”
Erik Akerlund, local police chief at the Norrmalm police in Stockholm, explains, “It is only after a full examination at the national forensic center that we will be able to say whether the dangerous object was functional.”
The intended target of the attempted terror attack has been unnamed by Police.
NordenBladet —In an attempt to fight organized crime, anonymous mobile phone pre-paid SIM cards will be banned in Sweden from 1st August.
As of tomorrow, pre-paid SIM cards in Sweden will require registration with information including the owner’s name and personal identity number. These new requirements are due to pre-paid SIM cards presenting dangers for law enforcement due to their anonymous nature.
Speaking to SVT, Fredrik Joelsson of the police fraud unit in Västerås comments, “[The new rules] make it more difficult for criminals and easier for the police and other law enforcement agencies.”
Joelsson points out that phone numbers in criminal investigations are almost always without a registered owner.
Joelsson also notes that professional criminals will still find ways to bend the rules, including methods using fake bank Ids and apps.
NordenBladet – The City of Stockholm has chosen to give Sverigetaxi with TaxiKurir as a subcontractor continued confidence to run school transport and service transports until February 2024 in subarea South-west Stockholm (Hägersten, Älvsjö och Skärholmen). The new agreement can be extended for a further two years. Contract start at the beginning of October 2022.
Sverigetaxi and TaxiKurir have since many years of confidence to carry out different types of publicity procured important trips for The City of Stockholm.
“We are proud and happy to have once again renewed confidence to continue to develop cooperation with The City of Stockholm. School and transportations of elderly people trips are a daily test of punctuality and service and drive us forward in our sustainability and quality work,” says Magnus Klintbäck, CEO of Cabonline Stockholm.
For more information, please contact:
Magnus Klintbäck, CEO Cabonline Stockholm, magnus.klintback@cabonline.com
Cabonline’s press office, +46 70 456 58 07, press@cabonline.com
About Cabonline:
Cabonline is the leading taxi company in the Nordic region with 2,600 connected transporters and approximately 4,600 vehicles in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Cabonline contains a series of well-known brands, such as Flygtaxi, TaxiKurir, Norgestaxi, TOPCAB, Kovanen, Taxi Skåne, Taxi Väst, Umeå Taxi, Sverigetaxi and Taxi 4×27. Through Cabonline, transporters have access to attractive customer agreements, support from industry-leading technological development and utilization of economies of scale, efficient service and shared infrastructure. The Group revenue in 2021 was approximately 4.5 billion. For further information: cabonline.com/en
NordenBladet – With tensions rising in Europe, Crown Princess Victoria has participated in two meetings focusing on foreign and security policy issues.
The first meeting, on February 16th 2022, was attended by Jan Eliasson and Joakim Vaverka from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and Peter Wallensteen from Uppsala University. The meeting was held digitally and the invited participants were informed about current crises and conflicts around the world, including the regional security situation in the Middle East and the civil war in Tigray. Finally, the participants talked about the United Nation`s stabilization effort in Mali.
Later in the afternoon, the Swedish Crown Princess gave an personal audience to Patrik Oksanen, strategic advisor at the Swedish National Defence College. At the presentation, Patrik Oksanen informed Crown Princess Victoria about the security policy situation in the Baltics and Russia.
In recent weeks, drones have been seen flying above the royal palace as well as key buildings including nuclear plants. Sweden has mobilized large forces on the strategically important island of Gotland after Russian landing craft were deployed in the Baltic. Swedish Police said on 31 January that they had arrested a Russian citizen who flew a drone above Drottningholm Palace on 30 January. The man is suspected of violating the Swedish “Protection Act.” The Swedish Royal Court, Sweden’s Security Police and the Swedish Armed Forces was quickly informed.
Earlier in January, drones were spotted flying over both the Royal Palace in Stockholm and Drottningholm Palace. However, it is not known if King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia were in either palace when the drones were seen. Due to an increased level of uncertainty regarding Russia, Sweden has decided to upgrade its military, and Crown Princess Victoria visited the Gothenburg garrison in September 2021 to attend the re-establishment of Älvsborg’s amphibious regiment.
NordenBladet —Sweden’s highway network is set to build the world’s first permanent electric road in the country by 2025, which will allow electric vehicles to charge as they drive.
According to a report by World Highways, the electric road is to be built in Örebro county, roughly 100km west of Stockholm.
The aim of the road is to encourage the use of electric trucks across the two-lane E20 highway between Hallsberg and Örebro, which stretches to 21km. The road was chosen due to the amount of freight transported between northern and southern Sweden across it.
The decision to build the road came after several pilot projects to assess whether electric roads would be able to charge electric vehicles.
One of these pilot projects took place in the Swedish city, Lund, in June 2020. This project was developed by a partnership between the Swedish company Evolution Road and Lund University that was able to transmit 300kW worth of power to a vehicle through a retractable pick-up that drags along a metal rail embedded in the road.
