Gunmen use helicopter to raid cash depot.
Gunmen deploying from a helicopter brandishing automatic weapons staged a spectacular raid Sept. 23 on a cash depot in Stockholm, breaking into the building through the roof and flying off with bags of cash, police and officials said. The daring pre-dawn heist stunned police in the Swedish capital, who were unable to deploy their own helicopters to the scene because they believes thieves placed explosives at their hangar. The security company that owns the facility, G4S PLC, said the thieves had made off with "an unconfirmed sum of money. It said it would offer a large reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves and the return of the loot. The company did not give an exact amount for the reward. Police detained one person in a Stockholm suburb in connection with the robbery, but wasn't officially declared a suspect, police spokesman Christian Agdur told reporters. Shortly after 5 a.m., the helicopter swooped down toward the cash depot and hovered over the building as the robbers hoisted themselves onto the roof in what police said was a carefully planned operation. "What we know is that they forced down some kind of wall to get in," Agdur said. "We don't want to comment on how they did it." There were 21 staff members inside the building during the heist, but no one was injured, police said. Investigators said the robbers wore masks and were believed to have carried automatic weapons and used explosives during the 20-minute raid. Witnesses reported hearing loud bangs during the heist. Witness Björn Lockström told broadcaster TV4 he saw a gray helicopter hovering above the building for about 15 minutes. "Two men hoisted themselves down," he said. "I saw when they hoisted up money, too." Witnesses saw a police commando team trying to enter the cash depot in the Västberga neighborhood with a battering ram. Police later found an abandoned helicopter near a lake north of Stockholm, about 15 miles from the cash depot. Police spokeswoman Towe Hägg said the chopper was reported stolen and police believed it was the one the robbers used. A bomb squad examined the suspected explosives left at the police hangar, preventing their helicopters from taking off. "We've found what we believe is a live bomb to hinder our response," police spokesman Rikard Johansson said. Britain-based G4S PLC is one of the world's largest security companies. The Vastberga facility stores cash that is transported to banks and other businesses in Sweden. G4s declined to say how much money was in the cash depot when it was attacked.

Green interior design.
The main thread when it comes to the fall trend in interior design is green. Ecology and recycling is about as trendy as it gets. Add to that lighter woods, strong colors, and neo-classical shapes. The message is: Create something personal by pulling in humor and play with different styles. Don’t throw out the old chairs you’re tired of. Paint them. Re-use instead of buying new. When it comes to furniture production, Norrgavel was one of the first ecological players, they received the Nordic Swan (an eco label) already in 1999. Today we can sleep, eat, paint, cook and dress ecologically. And don’t fear color! Even in the most frugal of rooms, a little color will add warmth. Keep the woods light for fall - think birch. And add a bit of neo-classicism by dusting off old family portraits and add beautiful pillows and throws.

Flammable bras.
The bras issued to women who join the Swedish military catch fire easily and are prone to coming undone, making them inappropriate for the battlefield, claims a conscripts’ rights group. “Yes, the hooks in the back get unhooked during war training,” admits Paulina Rehnbinder, press secretary at Värnpliktsrådet. “They are made for aerobics, not for fighting.” She adds that many female draftees are worried about the bras not having been tested for flammability. New bras are coming, however. “We hope to have them by 2010,” Rehnbinder concludes. There have been women in the Swedish military for the past 30 years.

More from Anna Anka.
Recently we told you about a new reality TV-series in Sweden about Swedish Hollywood wives. The star of the show is Anna Anka, wife of crooner Paul Anka. Her provoking comments about Swedish men being sissies and Swedish women being frumpy, have now caused a furious debate in Sweden. There have been cheers from men who agreed that the Scandinavian push for gender equality had gone too far. “Swedish dads are tragic with all their diaper-changing and equality,” Anka said. Anka’s intervention coincided with reports of a man using a pump on his nipples to stimulate lactation in the hope of being able to breastfeed. “The emasculation of men has gone too far,” said another commentator. “The Vikings used to go to foreign lands, fight and bring back the bacon. Today they are a bunch of salad-eating, tight-pants-wearing homo sapiens.” Anka moved to America in 1995. She had a brief role, in a bikini, in the film Dumb and Dumber, before being hired as Paul Anka’s personal trainer. They had a son, Ethan, in 2004, and were married three years later but Anka does not appear to have always practiced the wifely support and submissiveness that she preaches. True to her Viking roots, perhaps, she hurled a chunk of ice at her husband during a dispute in their California mansion last year. The missile gashed his skull, requiring stitches, and led to her spending the night in jail. “It was a stupid little event, it was nothing,” she said later.

Best-dressed Swedes.
Swedish lifestyle magazine Café recently awarded the prize for best-dressed man in Sweden 2009 to The Hives singer Pelle Almqvist. Almqvist’s style is a combination of rocker and chic. The best-dressed woman, according to the same magazine, is actress Josephine Bornebusch, known from the TV-comedy “Parlamentet”.

Reinfeldt rejects congressmen's plea to scold Aftonbladet.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has rebuffed demands by two members of the US Congress that he publicly condemn the Aftonbladet newspaper over a story alleging Israeli soldiers harvested the organs of dead Palestinians. “The fact that the political authorities may not pass judgment on freedom of the press and freedom of expression, is a linchpin of our country,” Reinfeldt wrote in a September 7th letter to Robert Wexler and Elton Gallegy, both members of the US Congress’s subcommittee on Europe. The two later took pains to emphasize with the congressmen’s concerns about the how the article, which was published in August in the Aftonbladet newspaper, could be used to fuel anti-Semitic views. “We of course share the anger over the fact that anti-Semitic tendencies have emerged in the public debate,” writes Reinfeldt. “The Swedish Government works systematically to counter all such tendencies.” The letter comes after congressmen Wexler and Gallegy wrote to Reinfeldt requesting that he “unequivocally repudiate and reject the heinous allegations expressed in this article”. “As you know, too often, Jewish communities have suffered at the hands of extremists, who have justified acts of violence on the basis of similar charges as those found in Aftonbladet,” wrote the congressmen. Reinfeldt defended his non-action by referring to Sweden’s constitution and its free-speech traditions, admitting that they may be hard for others to appreciate. “I can understand that citizens of other countries are unaware of the Swedish regulations on an issue that, to them, seems clear cut,” Reinfeldt said in his response. “I am certain that, as members of the United States Congress, you can understand the careful considerations required of my colleagues in the Government and myself so as to respect the separation of powers and responsibilities as laid down in the constitution.” Late last week, Aftonbladet was cleared of any racism charges by Sweden’s Chancellor of Justice, Göran Lambertz, the country’s top legal official.