Yes to new mosque in Skärholmen
The proposed mosque in Skärholmen took one step closer to becoming a reality the other day, when a local assembly said yes to its proposal. Of the many mosques in the county, this one will actually also look like one on the outside. Fikret Tümtürk, chairman of Skärholmen’s Islamic culture organization, is very happy. The place for the intended mosque is a short walk from the city center and the subway. “The best place for us,” he says. The planned mosque will be 3000 square meters and is estimated to cost 80 million SEK ($12,893,718.05). The money is to be collected from Moslems in Sweden and the rest of Europe.

Every 5th Swede willing to sell a kidney
Would you sell one of your kidneys for some SEK 300,000 ($48,340.84)? More than every 5th Swede answered yes to that in a study made by Sifo (an opinion and social research company). More than 750 Swedes today are waiting for a kidney transplant, and around 30 die each year while waiting. In Sifo’s study, 22% said they were willing to donate a kidney, 67% said no and 11% were hesitating. 1000 people were asked and financial background made no difference in how people answered. Sweden has signed the UN declaration that forbids dealing in organs, and Iran is the only country in the world where the state pays for kidney transplants. It is also the only country in the world that has no people waiting in line for a new kidney. According to calculations, a system with paid kidney transplants would be socially and economically profitable after a year in Sweden. The cost for a transplant is an average of SEK 300,000 ($48,340.84), while one year of dialysis costs SEK 600,000 ($96,659.94).

Carl Philip and Sofia move in together
Prince Carl Philip is moving away from the cobblestones of Gamla Stan to the greenery of Djurgården. He’s changing housing not so much perhaps because he wants to get closer to nature, but because he wants more space for his girlfriend. The new place has 5 rooms and a rent of 14000 SEK ($2,246). Officially, Sofia Hellqvist is still living with her parents in Älvdalen, and the couple cannot register that they live together until an engagement has been declared. According to some sources there might soon be another royal wedding in Sweden. “The plan is for Carl Philip to live in Prince Bertil’s Villa Solbacken, but it will take time before that’s renovated. Until then he has to stay at Blockhusudden,” one such source tells Svenskdam.se.