Iceland’s Regional Development Institute has released figures it claims show the economy outside Reykjavik is now more diverse than it was in 2004 and that growth has exceeded that within the capital region. Read the full story

Last week saw officials from Slovenia and Norway sign an agreement to distribute funds to promote social and economic development in Slovenia. Read the full story

Telecommunication market analysts have labelled Nokia’s three-year attempt to come up with a suitable rival to the iPhone a failure. Read the full story

A new study of children in the Finnish city of Espoo has uncovered new standards for national physical growth curves. The report showed that today’s children are not only larger at birth than their parents, but that they are growing faster and have bigger heads. Read the full story

Norway has announced its support for the discharge and rehabilitation process of Nepalese Maoist army personnel. Norway has recently been encouraged by the Nepalese government’s renewed commitment in conjunction with the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to speed up the rehabilitation process, which is seen as crucial to establishing and maintaining security within the region. Read the full story

Norway has joined a coalition along with Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Switzerland, the US and UK, who have pledged to donate 10 percent of their supply of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus to developing countries. The initiative was proposed by US President Barack Obama and has the full support of the Norwegian Government, according to the Norway Post. Read the full story

The countries of the Nordic group are set to invest over EUR 14 million for climate projects in developing countries. The investment, which is part of a pool of over EUR 1 billion in total, will be managed via the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). Read the full story

Norway and Scotland have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work jointly on developing their aquaculture industries. It is hoped that the trade disputes in the past between the two nations will be put aside to help boost each other’s prosperity. Read the full story

For the past week, an international entourage of industry leaders, politicians, and officials from the United Nations have been meeting in Stockholm for the annual World Water Week summit. The purpose of this event was to improve access to clean water in communities across the globe in a bid to slow the high number of deaths each year in poor developing nations. Read the full story

Norway’s government has voted to forgive 90 percent of the debt Liberia owes it, in a move designed to help the country keep up the pace of positive change achieved in recent years. This amounts to USD 35 million, with the remaining 10 percent to be placed under a more manageable repayment plan. Read the full story