Weather forecast
The week in Sweden got off to a windy start, and it's set to continue.
National weather agency SMHI has issued a class-one (the least serious kind on a scale from one to three) for harsh winds in Sweden on Monday, including the Baltic Sea, but also western and central regions Gothenburg, Bohuslän, north-western Västra Götaland, Värmland and Örebro counties, warning of winds of around 75 km/h up to 86 km/h.
Ferry operator Wasaline said Monday ferry departures from Umeå in Sweden and Vasa in Finland had been cancelled due to the weather, and in western Sweden no trains were expected to run between Uddevalla and Strömstad until 6am on Tuesday.
Swedish vocabulary: windy – blåsigt
It's going to be a stormy week in Sweden. Photo: Stina Stjernkvist/TT
New leader for the Left Party
The Left Party formally elected its new leader, Nooshi Dadgostar, at its party conference over the weekend. The party and Dadgostar's predecessor Jonas Sjöstedt has threatened to put forward a vote of no confidence in Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's government if he decides to push ahead with a new labour law proposal.
In her first speech as leader on Sunday, Dadgostar called it "the biggest labour market fight in decades". "The labour movement built Sweden. And we'll continue doing it."
The Social Democrats last week presented a compromise on the contested proposals to change Swedish laws around hiring and firing, but the future remains unclear and the political row is still threatening to bubble to the surface. The stance that Dadgostar takes could be decisive in the future of the government, which could be brought down as the three right-of-centre opposition parties would likely support any no confidence vote.
Swedish vocabulary: vote of no confidence – misstroendevotum / misstroendeförklaring
Nooshi Dadgostar, right, and outgoing leader Jonas Sjöstedt. Photo: Lars Schröder/TT
Millions of households could lose major TV channel this week
Sweden's largest commercial broadcaster TV4 could be turned off for around 2.1 million customers in Sweden by Wednesday, unless it secures a deal with telecom firm Com Hem. Their current deal ran out on Friday, but the two telecom and media giants have extended it until November 4th as they enter the final stretch of negotiations.
Com Hem says it won't accept that TV4 has increased the price of the new deal, but has declined to comment how large an increase it is, writes Swedish news agency TT.
Swedish vocabulary: negotiations – förhandlingar
TV4 is Sweden's largest commercial broadcaster. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
Stockholm halts Covid-19 home test kits
So many Stockholmers have been ordering home test kits for Covid-19 that regional health authorities have decided to temporarily pause the scheme while they work their way through a backlog of 16,000 tests.
This only affects tests for people who order their home test kits themselves via Sweden's healthcare website 1177.se, not other testing such as that of patients and staff in the healthcare sector, nor elderly care.
The Karolinska University laboratory is in charge of coordinating tests in Stockholm, and they expect to be able to reopen the possibility to order home test kits on Thursday.
Swedish vocabulary: home test – hemtest
File photo of Covid-19 testing. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT
Coronavirus rules in Stockholm and Gothenburg
Sweden's two biggest cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg, are entering their first full week of tighter local coronavirus recommendations today after they were introduced on Thursday last week.
With no sanctions or strict limits, it is unclear how the new rules are going to affect life in those regions, and cities seem to be making different decisions. In Norrköping and Linköping in the Östergötland region, which was also handed tighter recommendations on Thursday, libraries, museums and swimming pools have closed to the public. In the city of Stockholm, they generally remain open for now, and in neighbouring Botkyrka (a separate municipality, but also in the Stockholm region) swimming pools have closed but libraries remain open.
In Gothenburg, council-owned gyms, pools and ice skating rinks have closed to the public, but are being kept open for sports clubs so that children can continue practising. Some individual venues are also keeping closed for the time being, including for example Moderna Museet (the museum of modern art) in Stockholm and Malmö.
Swedish vocabulary: closed – stängd
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