Soothsayers are enjoying unpredicted good fortune in Finland as the economic downturn and an increasingly hectic pace of life sends citizens searching for answers. Read the full story

As youth unemployment soars in Sweden, more youngsters are fleeing across the border to Norway in an attempt to find work. A quarter of Swedes aged between 15 and 24 now find themselves outside the labour market in their home country, with the ongoing economic crisis only making matters worse. Read the full story

The accused Glitnir bank fraudster, Jon Asgeir Johannesson has resigned as the director of the UK high street fashion retailer House of Fraser due to the USD 2 billion lawsuit against him, Financial Times reports.

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Eimskip, the largest shipping company in Iceland, announced yesterday that its 57 unsecured creditors have agreed to swap their loans for equity, according to The Financial Times. This has reduced the debt of Eimskip from EUR 1.6 billion to about 100 million. This makes Eimskip the first big Icelandic company in financial peril to secure a plan for recovery after the economic crisis last year. Read the full story

Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde visited Ireland last week with bad news for the ‘Celtic Tiger’, saying its economy will shrink more than Iceland’s this year. Read the full story

The regional government of Flanders in Belgium has confirmed that it will acquiesce to Volvo’s recent appeal for help.

Volvo Cars CEO Stephen Odell met Kris Peeters, Flemish First Minister, on Monday for talks on how the government could provide requested loan guarantees to the car maker which operates a factory in Gent, The Local reports. Read the full story

The worst of the Icelandic kreppa (economic crisis) is potentially over already and better prospects can already be anticipated by the New Year. According to mbl.is, this is among the key points in an economists’ report published this week by the Icelandic Ministry of Finance introducing a national economic forecast for 2009-2014. Read the full story

Copenhagen’s City Council has put its support behind a plan to convert part of Amager into a comprehensive recreation site. The development is expected to cost the city around 564 million kroner, and will even include an artificial ski slope at Klovermarken. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE:

At a meeting held on 3 February, the Government of Iceland approved a proposal from the Prime Minister to conclude a contract with the international corporate advisory firm Hawkpoint to work under the supervision of Icelandic authorities on reaching a settlement between the old and new banks. Read the full story

Geir H. Haarde, the Icelandic Prime Minister, said at the end of a parliamentary debate on economics, that all deposits with the three nationalised banks are insured. Rumours that something unnatural is going on in the banks are simply preposterous, and none of the new banks are going to go under, he assured MPs. Read the full story