Sweden's most popular Christmas soda
(Holiday) Only three living people know the exact ingredients of Sweden’s popular Julmust. Swedes drink about 40 millions liters of the stuff every Christmas holiday, which is about five and a half liters per person. The beverage is manufactured in 20 breweries around the country but more than half of it is produced in Halland. This year 23 million liters of the soda has been shipped; that's an increase of one million over last year. The company which makes the secret ingredient — a recipe for a concentrate or essence — is located in Örebro.

Aron Anderson reaches South Pole in wheelchair
(Lifestyle) Aron Anderson of Stockholm has become the first person in the world to reach the Antarctic in a wheelchair. His wheelchair, equipped with skis, allowed Anderson to trek 10 hours a day for 21 days in temperatures often below -30˚C (-22˚F) to raise money to fight children’s cancer in Sweden. The Pole of Hope has raised more than five million Swedish kronor.

Mischief making in the library
(Lifestyle) Library staff at the Karlskrona City Library discovered a surprise when they received a request to borrow Stephen King’s “Bag of Bones” and noticed that something was not quite right with the book. Upon further inspection, librarian Alexander Bergdahl discovered the entire contents of the horror novel had been cut out and expertly replaced with former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt’s biography — in the Serbian language. Bergdahl reports the switch was “very nicely done.”

Christmas choir serenades commuters
(Holiday) A Christmas choir of 45, accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra, serenaded commuters in Malmö’s Central Station on Dec. 21. Performing Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, the musicians took up a good deal of space in the station but that didn’t seem to upset travel plans as several hundred people stopped to listen to the festive, free entertainment.

International fashion week in Gothenburg
(Culture) Gothenburg has been chosen as the site for Nordic Men’s Fashion Week 2017. Guests from European, American and Japanese fashion will gather in June when 400 fashion insiders are expected to gather. Sweden’s second city was selected to create a common platform among such competitive locations as Stockholm and Copenhagen.