SAS cancels May departures
Scandinavia's SAS airline plans to cancel flights in May, on top of the 1,000 departures already cancelled in April, in order to handle coming and anticipated shortages of jet fuel. It has not yet listed the exact routes affected.
"We are making adjustments to selected routes, mainly where there is the possibility of rebooking, in order to maintain flexibility for our customers," the airline's press manager, Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, said in a press release.
SAS said it was taking early action to prioritise summer holiday travel, so that those who had booked can plan their journeys this summer without having to worry.
"Affected customers will be informed directly with clear information and an offer of alternate departures as soon as possible," the airline said.
In April, the airline said its cancellations were quite marginal, given that it has 800 flights a day.
Swedish vocabulary: justeringar – adjustments
Green Party denies 'buying' independents' votes
Both the Green Party and the two former Sweden Democrat MPs who voted for transitional arrangements in the citizenship law last Wednesday have denied striking any kind of agreement before the deal.
Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson claimed in a party leader debate on Sunday that the Green Party had "bought" the votes of Elsa Widding and Katja Nyberg, two former Sweden Democrats now serving in the parliament as independents.
"These are completely baseless lies," Hirvonen told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
Hirvonen said she had spoken to Widding before the parliamentary session to ask how she was considering voting, but said that no deal had been done.
"I asked Elsa Widding how she was planning to vote. We spoke a little about the Council on Legislation. She had not read their recommendations, so I sent it to her. Then she wrote her blog about how she was thinking. It was only then that I got an idea about what she had decided."
Hirvonen said that she had also spoken to independents who were former Social Democrat and Left Party MPs but had not spoken to Katja Nyberg, the other former Sweden Democrat independent had had no idea how she would vote.
Swedish vocabulary: grundlös – baseless
Gothenburg forest fire still raging after three days
A forest fire in the Delsjö area to the south of Gothenburg is still raging, three days after it broke out on Saturday, with no forecast on when it will be extinguished, the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper has reported.
Local fire services say that the wildfire is under control but has yet to be put out, with some 15 people on site keeping it under country. According to the fire services, the steep and rugged terrain has made it difficult to get equipment and water to the area, and the extinguishing work has therefore been delayed.
"It's still burning inside the area. It's flaring up," P-A Lindfeldt, emergency response leader at the local fire services, told GP.
An area of around 20 hectares is affected by the fire.
Swedish vocabulary: skogsbrand – forest fire
Two convicted for Bromma climate action
Two climate activists have been fined and given suspended sentences for vandalism after a paint protest at Bromma Airport in September 2023. Fifteen other activists were found innocent in a judgement from the Solna district court.
A man around the age of 45 and a woman in her 50s were sentenced to pay fines and 76,500 kronor in damages to the Grafair airline, after launching a protest stunt at the terminal for private jets and throwing red colour at a building, onto an airplane and over several cars.
The airline operator Swedavia said that they had been forced to ground an ambulance flight as a result of the action, but according to the newspaper ETC, that claim was unfounded.
Swedish vocabulary: att inte stämma – to not be correct
Sweden signs joint declaration against 'illegal migration'
More than 30 European countries, including Sweden, signed a joint declaration against 'illegal migration' on Monday during a meeting of the European Political Community (EPC) in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.
The declaration, signed by 33 different countries includes an agreement to combat human trafficking, secure solid national and international frameworks, speed up the return of migrants to their home countries, manage migration in the early stages and combat exploitation.
According to the declaration, leaders of the countries agreed on "how to best prepare and coordinate measures" to avoid a similar situation to the 2015 refugee crisis.
Countries like Germany, France, the UK and Italy signed the agreement, as well as Denmark, Norway and Finland. Spain, which traditionally has a more positive view of migration, was not part of the declaration.
The countries also agreed in the declaration to work together when it comes to surveillance, security and returns, as well as humanitarian help with the UN's refugee organisation UNHCR.
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