The number of recorded cases in the country went up from 951 in 2011 to 1,098 in 2012, a 16 percent rise, revealed new figures from the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control.

The infection has been rising in the Scandinavian country since the mid-nineties, particularly among young people and gay men. The institute’s Inga Velicko described the large figures as a ‘worrying development’.

The disease is much more prevalent among males, mainly due to the fact that it can spread more easily among men having sexual relations together. However, there has also been a rise in the number of cases recorded among heterosexual couples.

Gonorrhea, if not treated, can lead to sterility, and many carriers, particularly women, see no symptoms from the infection. It can be cured with antibiotics, but researchers are worried that as the bacteria strengthens, the antibiotics may lose their effectiveness.

World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Gonorrhea and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections Magnus Unemo said that the increase was part of a global trend and has been happening for roughly five years. He added that the concerns over Gonorrhea rising, and there are now international recommendations for how best to treat the infection.

WHO estimates that there are 106 million cases of the infection worldwide.

In Helsinki alone, a total of 78 intoxicated young people required first aid treatment on May Day eve, and 14 of those young people needed to be sent to hospital. These figures are average for Helsinki May Day festivities.

Mirja Silajärvi, Helsinki city youth department director, said in a YLE interview that the youngest inebriated partygoer her department encountered on May Day eve was only 13 years old.

Silajärvi also said, however, that chilly weather emptied Helsinki’s streets at a relatively early time this year. She said the popular Helsinki gathering spot of Kamppi was completely deserted before 02:00 on 2 May.

The Aseman Lapset association,  Helsinki parish’s Saapas groups, and the Red Cross all helped the Helsinki city youth department’s May Day eve assistance operation.

Those who participated in the assistance operation patrolled Helsinki’s city centre streets from 17:30 on 30 April to 03:00. The operation also included drivers who patrolled Helsinki’s suburbs during this typically lively night.

Most of the 220 calls Helsinki emergency services fielded on May Day eve involved intoxication or physical injuries caused by fighting or falling. The emergency services of Finland’s capital took 175 calls during last year’s May Day eve and answer an average of 150 calls on weekend nights.

In a Pressan interview, public relations spokesperson Magnea Guðmundsdóttir said that a record number of visitors are expected this summer. In 2012, about 600,000 people visited the Blue Lagoon, while the million mark is expected to be surpassed by 2015.

Tourists will also be charged a fee to walk around the lagoon, which was previously free for visitors who did not enter the water.  Magnea Guðmundsdóttir justifies the change by saying that  it will protect the sustainability of the lagoon while making the swimming experience more enjoyable for visitors.

This man-made lagoon, with regulated temperatures of 37-39 degrees Celsius, is one of Iceland’s most popular attractions. It is also one of Iceland’s most recognizable landmarks as its picture often adorns guidebooks and brochures about the country.

Online booking forms and further details about these changes are available at the official Blue Lagoon website.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority plan to report Norwegian food company Kuraas to the local authorities after finding that kebab meat they sold to restaurants, which they claimed to be halal, actually contained between five and 30 per cent pork.

“We will file a complaint against the producer,” said Catherine Signe Svinland, who is an adviser at The Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Catherine added, “In a halal product, there should be no pork at all and when we find such quantities we don’t believe it’s an accident but it is in fact fraud.”

In response to these claims, Kuraas have said that they never intended to mislead consumers. The group’s marketing manager, Kenneth Kuraas, has argued that an error in the labeling process may be to blame, “Pork ending up in these products is simply due to routines not being followed.” He added, “Our theory is that it happened when the meat was labeled.”

Regardless of the reason why the mistake occurred, the Kurass company recognizes that eating pork is not allowed in Islam, and so they have sent a letter to the Islamic Council, an organisation that represents Muslims in Norway, apologizing for the error.

In a separate case recently, chicken sausages that were labeled as halal and served to students in nurseries and schools throughout London were also found to contain traces of pork.

“We have been rethinking our position in the community and how we can help make a positive contribution. In October, we supported the breast cancer initiative Bleika Slaufan (Pink Ribbon) and we wanted to do the same for Mottumars,” explained Þórarinn Þór, Reykjavik Excursions’ Marketing Director.

Mustache March is an annual event whereby men grow mustaches for amusement in order to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other forms of male cancer, as well as to raise money for related charities.

Þórarinn continued, “For Bleika Slaufan, we painted one of our coaches pink to help raise awareness. This time we have decorated nine of our tour coaches with the Mottumars emblem – a large mustache – and we will be contributing a percentage of every ticket sold in airport transfer throughout the whole of March.”

Health experts are concerned that the phenomenon could lead to negative side effects among young people, notably high blood pressure, which is commonly linked to heavy use of energy drinks. Moreover, they could prove dangerous for those already living with the condition.

Researcher and physician Boye L Jensen from the University of Southern Denmark said in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten news agency, “Moderate levels of caffeine are generally not dangerous for healthy people even though its consumption may lead to a temporary spike in blood pressure. But for people who unknowingly live with elevated blood pressure, caffeine will make it rise even further, and if combined with further physical exertion such as hard work or exercise, this could increase the risk of suffering from blood clots and strokes.”

Meanwhile, some politicians continue to back school-sponsored bans on energy drinks, and one has even proposed that the products be regulated much in the way alcohol is sold.

MP Per Clausen from the Enhedslisten party told Jyllands-Posten, “There may be a number of people, including adults, who are not entirely sure what energy drinks contain. This should be taken up by schools and I praise those that have taken responsibility and banned unhealthy substances. But I want to underline that as far as children and energy drinks are concerned, it’s the primary responsibility of parents.”

She said, “There are a number of people who self-medicate against ADHD, as is the case with cancer and AIDS patients who also benefit from [cannabis],” The Copenhagen Post reports.

The report also said that the majority of home growers are only producing small amounts of cannabis – less than 50 plans – which contrasts substantially from the larger production facilities that have been the target of law enforcement in recent months.

Under Danish regulations, growing cannabis is unlawful, although the sale of cannabis seeds remains legal.

Vibeke Asmussen Frank, who co-authored the report, said in an interview with the Berlingske news agency, “Most of the people grow cannabis for their own use. But people generally grow more plants than they need because you don’t know how much you get from your production beforehand.”

“There are too many Danes who smoke cannabis for them to be part of a marginalised group, and we are not surprised over how widespread growing cannabis actually is,” he added.

Serup, who was commissioned by the ministry to study 65 different types of ink, said that his team had only conducted tests on about a third of the substances when the ministry opted to publish false findings on its government website.

He told the media, “The ministry disliked our report and our results. Their claims do not reflect our medical knowledge so they tried to manipulate us and make us change the report,” the Copenhagen Post reports.

He went on to say that the testing revealed that the inks could not cause cancer, but that improper hygiene and handling were the most likely causes of medical problems relating to tattoos.

The news comes amid a parliamentary effort to regulate inks and register tattoo artists in the Scandinavian country. The proposals are backed by environment minister Ida Auke and the legislation has so far seen 13 types of ink outlawed in Danish tattoo parlours.