Climate-goals in the EU, dangerous mosquitos, and new developments in connection with the great bush fire that raged this summer. These are a few of the topics brought to you in this week’s edition of News of the Week.
The government change their mind concerning sick-leave
Before the election in September, Socialdemokraterna stressed the importance of removing the demand of businesses to pay for a second week of sick-leave completely. However, Swedish media reports that the government, together with Vänsterpartiet, have agreed that it would be better to introduce a cost ceiling for businesses paying for sick-leave, Swedish media reports. A decrease in paying for sick-leave will make it more attractive to hire new people, and will benefit smaller companies mostly.
A new controversial list
After the controversial list containing names and personal details of “travelling people” that was found in the records of the police authority in Malmö, the Swedish Commission on Security and Integrity Protection make routine inspections at several police stations in the country. After one such inspection, a new list was found in Västra Götaland, containing personal details of people participating in demonstrations in connection with deportations, Svenska Dagbladet reports.
Dangerous mosquito found in Copenhagen
Last week, a certain type of mosquito was found in Copenhagen, according to Svenska Dagbladet. The mosquito could infect humans with a sickness called “West Nile Fever.” However, the mosquito must first have been infected with the sickness by migratory birds. If you are stung by a mosquito carrying the West Nile Fever, it can develop meningitis, which can be lethal, but most people survive. It is the first time that the sickness has been found this far north.
Corporation under suspicion
The great bush fire that raged in the woods of Västmanland this summer was caused by a machine used for top-soil preparation, and it is not unusual that such work can cause bush fires, Dagens Nyheter reports. According to the same newspaper, the corporation that was working in the woods when the fire started is now under suspicion of carelessness. The people working with the machine tried to put the fire out when it had started but failed, and had to contact the emergency services.
The Prime Minister was voted down
According to Dagens Nyheter, the individual countries of the EU disagree about how strict the climate-goals should be, and which climate-goals should be obligatory. Resulting from a vote in the Advisory Committee on EU Affairs in Sweden, the government’s suggestion was voted down, and, as a result, Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén will have to go into the EU meeting with a suggestion created by Alliansen. Thus, Sweden will adopt a less strict position than Prime Minister Löfvén had intended to.
The Municipal Council of Lund changes colour
Before the Municipal Council’s meeting, S, V, MP, and Fi had already decided to cooperate, and had thus become the biggest coalition-bloc on the Council, although they did not have a majority of the seats. Even if the results of the voting indeed means that the Municipal Council becomes red-green-pink, the voting in itself offered unexpected turns. SD nominated a member of Nya Moderaterna as a candidate, to show that they are willing to cooperate with conservative parties.
