Sweden joins race for self-driving cars

STOCKHOLM — A hundred self-driving Volvo cars will roll onto public roads in and around the Swedish city of Gothenburg in 2017, the Chinese-owned car maker said Monday.

The pilot initiative, called “Drive Me”, has a 500 million kronor (56.3 million euros, $76.2 million) budget and is a joint venture between the manufacturer and several public institutions, such as the Swedish Transport Administration and the city of Gothenburg.

“We aren’t the world’s biggest country, we aren’t the world’s largest car maker, but we make up for that by being smarter and working together in a simpler way,” Volvo Cars chief executive Haakan Samuelsson said at a news conference in Stockholm promoting the public-private partnership.

The first driver-less cars will have a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour (43.5 miles per hour) on some 50 kilometers of selected roads including commuter routes with heavy traffic.

The project will begin in 2014 with customer research and technology development.

Self-driving cars receive data through a 360-degree camera system, GPS and other sensors which act as eyes and ears to navigate safely and avoid collisions.

The “non-drivers” participating in the project will receive training to properly use the cars, which are expected to respond to everyday traffic situations and to park themselves.

The introduction of self-driving cars raises legal questions particularly around liability, which today always lies with the driver.

“We need to look at the legislation,” Infrastructure Minister Catharina Elmsaeter-Svaerd said.

Other car makers — and even US tech giant Google — are also competing to be the first to bring self-driving cars to the public.

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan announced plans to have its first models ready by 2020.

source: interaksyon.com

World Bank will not provide loans to Greece - president

STOCKHOLM - The World Bank will limit its work in Greece to offering expertise, and will not provide loans, the bank's president, Jim Yong Kim, said on Tuesday.

"We will not lend money to Greece" because "this is not a country that qualifies, for example, for an IBRD loan," Kim told a press conference in Stockholm.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an arm of the World Bank which extends loans to governments, but Greece is classed as a "high income" country, rather than the "middle income" states to which it typically lends.

Hungary, another high income country, was made an exception to the US-based bank's rule in 2008 when it received a loan that was part of an aid plan coordinated by the European Union and the IMF.

The World Bank said in November that Greece had requested its expertise on the issues of how to improve its business climate, and how to boost growth.

On Tuesday, Kim suggested that Greece could benefit from the bank's experience in another area: "We have a lot of experience in assessing whether particular social sector expenditures are actually achieving the desired outcome," he said.

"For example we worked in Korea during the crisis in the 1990s, we worked in Indonesia. We worked in many countries that have had very similar experiences with the ones that countries in Southern Europe are going through," he added.

"We're hoping to be helpful whenever we can. But again, we're an organisation that works on request. People have to come to us."

source: interaksyon.com

Swedish hospital looking for 'TV-series' hot nurses

A hospital is looking for attractive nurses who are "TV-series hot."

Or not. The Stockholm South General in Sweden ran an advertisement that said: "You will be motivated, professional, and have a sense of humour. And of course, you will be TV-series hot or a Soder hipster."

"Throw in a nurse's education and you are welcome to seek a summer job at Sodersjukhuset's (Stockholm South General) emergency department," the ad said.

However, Jorgen Andersson, the nursing manager, later told the news site The Local, an English-language Swedish newspaper, that the ad was only meant to catch people's attention.

While the hospital wanted to hire competent nurses, it also wanted to stand out with their ad campaign, Andersson said.

The hospital hasn't received any negative feedback, a report of the news site Emirates 24/7 said on Wednesday.


"We hope we piqued your curiosity and you want to come and meet us, so we can tell you more about your future as a nurse," a statement of the hospital said.

Last year, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said job opportunities in Sweden may be opened for Filipino nurses.

article source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/249094/pinoyabroad/swedish-hospital-looking-for-tv-series-hot-nurses