Confidence fills the offices of Sweden’s upstart Pirate Party thanks to their recent victory in the EU elections. Now, the youthful political party is focusing its sights on Sweden’s government. Read the full story

In a sign that Russia might not take an aggressively autonomous approach to staking its claim of the Arctic’s riches, it has been announced that Russia and Norway will work together to map the floor of the Barents Sea. The joint mapping project will begin later this month, according to a report by DN Energi.

This is a positive sign, as the nations which border the Arctic need to reach a consensus at some point over how to divide the seabed. The Norway Post reports that Russia and Norway will map the uncharted underwater territory around the Svalbard archipelago as well as in the Barents Sea. Read the full story

The Vestnorden Travel Mart is a joint project of the Greenlandic, Faroese and Icelandic tourist boards. The honour of holding the event rotates between the countries and this year Greenland is in charge of presenting the show, which will be in Copenhagen on 16 and 17 September. The choice of location on the European mainland ensures that buyers and exhibitors are all able to reach the venue easily. Read the full story

Hundreds of layoffs and huge pay cuts are in store for employees of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) after the company posted losses of more than 1.3 billion kroner from the first six months of 2009. The Nordic airline now feels it has no other option but to make drastic cuts in its workforce. Read the full story

In a first of its kind, Sweden is set to extradite a Rwandan man who has been accused of active participation in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Sylvere Ahorugeze, a 53-year-old former director of Rwanda‘s civil aviation authority, is to be returned to Rwanda in the coming weeks after the Swedish government decided to grant Rwandan prosecutors their request for extradition. Read the full story

Put a Nobel Prize winner, a renegade artist, and a few thousand music fans who don’t mind rolling around in the mud as their favourite bands play on stage and you’ve got the makings of something special. This year’s Roskilde Festival truly put the ‘human’ into their traditional mix of humanitarian awareness, art and rock music with a unique piece of artwork.
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A recent proposal approved by a European Parliament subcommittee would prohibit all EU nations from importing any seal products. This would be an economic blow to Canada, which holds the world’s largest yearly commercial seal hunt, as well as Greenland, which has a heritage of seal hunting. Read the full story

It seems that Denmark will no longer be the odd man out when it comes to the issue of hijabs in the national police force. Norway had previously been progressing towards making it legal for Muslim women in their national police force to wear a hijab, or traditional headscarf, while on duty. But now the government is backtracking on the controversial issue. Read the full story

Tours of beautiful Krabi and the Andaman Sea region of southern Thailand have been in demand from Scandinavian travellers for over 30 years, and the region remains as idyllic as ever, despite the recent troubles further north in Bangkok. Read the full story

The nations that make up Scandinavia are some of the most ardent in Europe about abstaining from joining the common European currency. But Finland’s Minister of Sport and Culture, Stefan Wallin, recently wrote an article in the regional newspaper Turun Sanomat stating that he feels a Nordic region with a single currency would be better positioned to weather global economic turmoil. Read the full story