Crown Princess Victoria participates in cancer benefit gala dinner in Monaco. Ask a Nobel Laureate a question. Swedbank’s big losses. Actress Susan Sarandon to Stockholm. Theater producer Lars Schmidt has died.
Victoria’s success in Monaco.
Crown princess Victoria participated in a cancer benefit gala dinner in Monte Carlo. The glamorous Swedish princess came dressed in a creamy white gown and wore her hair up, looking a bit like a dark Grace Kelly. “I like Monaco a lot,” she said. “It’s wonderful to be here.” Prince Albert welcomed Victoria (as well as Hollywood star Kevin Costner). “It’s wonderful to have her here,” he said about the Swedish princess. The dinner took place at the royal opera in Monte Carlo.
Ask a Nobel Laureate a question.
Now you can ask Nobel Laureate John Mather (he received the prize in Physics, 2006) a question on youtube – but you have to be speedy, Mather’s deadline is October 30. To ask a question:
http://www.youtube.com/thenobelprize#p/c/7F1D3BAC17534A53
Swedbank’s big losses.
No, it doesn’t look too good for Swedbank. It has reported an operating loss of 2.6 billion SEK (the equivalent of $373.6 million) for the third quarter, a worse result than analysts expected for the Swedish bank with heavy exposure in the Baltic region. Compare that with the 3.1 billion SEK profit for the same quarter last year. According to a survey by the Reuters news agency, analysts had on average expected Swedbank to lose about 2.2 billion SEK. Credit losses rose to 6.1 billion SEK, compared to 812 million SEK during the third quarter of 2008. In the crisis-hit Baltic region, where Swedbank dominates along with banks Nordea and SEB, Swedbank posted third quarter credit losses of 3.3 billion SEK and operating losses of 2.4 billion SEK.
Susan Sarandon to Stockholm.
Oscar-winning American actress Susan Sarandon is one her way to Sweden to receive a special prize at the Stockholm Film Festival. The prize, Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award, last year went to actress Charlotte Rampling. Sarandon, who won an Oscar for her role in “Dead Man Walking” in 2005, has also been nominated for several Oscars. She is known for films like “Thelma & Louise” and “The Witches of Eastwick” as well as for her social and political activism for a variety of liberal causes.
Lars Schmidt dies.
Legendary international theater producer Lars Schmidt has died at age 92. Schmidt, who was born in Uddevalla in 1917, introduced the modern musical to Sweden with pieces like “Oklahoma”, “Kiss me Kate” and “My Fair Lady”, but he also produced regular plays, especially contemporary American plays by authors like Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. Schmidt spent much of his life abroad. At one point he had four theaters in Paris where he lived. Schmidt was for two decades married to Ingrid Bergman. Schmidt always spent his summers on his island Dannholmen in Bohuslän.
