First Scandinavian at Amazon
Crime writer Denise Rudberg will be the first Scandinavian to become published by Amazon Publishing, which is amazon.com’s publishing unit, launched in 2009, writes Dagens Nyheter. It is Rudberg’s eleventh novel, "Ett litet snedsprång,” translated into English as ”A Small Indiscretion," that Amazon is releasing. "It’s a great thing,” says Rudberg to DN. "Amazon is a worldwide publishing company. I am super excited and so are they.” Amazon will wait up to eight weeks following the release to decide whether they will also publish the sequel ”Två gånger är en vana.” Rudberg was born in 1971, she studied drama in New York in the 1990s, and has also worked as a nightclub hostess at the Riche club in Stockholm. Along with her friend, fellow crime writer Camilla Läckberg, she hosted the literature series ”Läckberg & Rudberg” on Swedish TV.

Waste not want not
”Den som spar han har” (He who saves has) is a proverb Swedes have lived by lately. According to Statistics Sweden, Swedish households saved more than expected during the last quarter of 2013. And where did the money end up? Actually in people’s bank accounts.

Plants that clean your air
There are toxins and harmful chemicals everywhere we turn, but on Cecilia Drotte’s blog, you get tips on how plants can counteract these problems. Drotte’s posts have been shared by tens of thousands on Facebook. Mother-in-law’s tongue, friendship tree, peace lily and spider plant are but some of the plants that can make the air in your home cleaner. ”My post got a life of its own. I put it out there last Monday, and then it all happened very quickly. I’ve been bombarded with positive comments,” says Drotte. On her blog she writes about how we can live a less poisonous and more eco-friendly life. For instance, the mother-in-law’s tongue (svärmorstunga) cleans the air of benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene. A friendship tree (paradisträd) picks up carbon dioxide and provides us with good oxygen. The peace lily (fredskalla) absorbs most chemicals from the air, but may be difficult if you’re allergic, the spider plant binds formaldehyde. Says Susanne Widell, a researcher at Lund University: ”Plants produce oxygen, which we breathe, and also provide us with good humidity in the air. But they may also produce substances that some people may react to.” Cecilia Drotte’s blog is in Swedish, and you can find it here: http://obesprutat.com/

Increased violence against authorities
Politically extremist groups have stepped up their violence against several Swedish authorities. Not only the Migration Board, but also the Swedish Public Employment Service, and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency have been attacked during the past six months.