https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Norway in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Arctic sea ice is vanishing faster than ever, and scientists expected polar bears in Svalbard would grow thinner. But a surprising new study reveals they are gaining body fat, defying predictions despite rapid climate change in the region. https://www.thelocal.no/20260130/norways-polar-bears-bulk-up-despite-melting-arctic Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:48:56 +0100 norways-polar-bears-bulk-up-despite-melting-arctic It's a pretty risky business trying to take a blood sample from a polar bear -- one of the most dangerous predators on the planet -- on an Arctic ice floe. AFP journalist Olivier Morin went to Svalbard with the Norwegian Polar Institute to see how it's done. https://www.thelocal.no/20250722/a-close-encounter-with-a-polar-bear-in-arctic-svalbard Tue, 22 Jul 2025 17:29:36 +0200 a-close-encounter-with-a-polar-bear-in-arctic-svalbard Norwegian PM Jonas Gahr Støre said on Thursday that the Svalbard Archipelago was firmly under Norway’s control after Donald Trump said he wants to annex Greenland. https://www.thelocal.no/20250109/norways-pm-issues-informal-hands-off-over-svalbard Thu, 09 Jan 2025 17:53:40 +0100 norways-pm-issues-informal-hands-off-over-svalbard The Norwegian government called offa plan to sell the last privately owned piece of land on the strategic Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Monday in order to prevent its acquisition by China. https://www.thelocal.no/20240701/norway-calls-off-sale-of-last-private-land-in-arctic-svalbard Mon, 01 Jul 2024 14:35:10 +0200 norway-calls-off-sale-of-last-private-land-in-arctic-svalbard The last piece of privately owned land in the strategic Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic is up for grabs, a property likely to entice China but which Norway does not intend to let go without a fight. https://www.thelocal.no/20240517/can-norway-stop-a-strategic-part-of-svalbard-from-being-sold-to-china Fri, 17 May 2024 17:16:09 +0200 can-norway-stop-a-strategic-part-of-svalbard-from-being-sold-to-china Coal brought fortune to Norway's Svalbard archipelago, but that bonanza became a curse for the remote group of islands due to climate concerns. Now, Svalbard is trying to clean up its act. https://www.thelocal.no/20231026/norways-coal-mining-arctic-archipelago-svalbard-begins-green-new-chapter Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:18:31 +0200 norways-coal-mining-arctic-archipelago-svalbard-begins-green-new-chapter Norway has installed solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter, in a pilot project that could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy. https://www.thelocal.no/20230919/norway-brings-solar-panels-into-service-near-the-north-pole Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:01:17 +0200 norway-brings-solar-panels-into-service-near-the-north-pole Norway rescued a Russian in need of emergency medical assistance on board a scientific vessel stuck in ice near the North Pole in a spectacular helicopter operation, its rescue services said Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.no/20230607/norway-in-helicopter-rescue-operation-of-russian-near-north-pole Wed, 07 Jun 2023 14:00:52 +0200 norway-in-helicopter-rescue-operation-of-russian-near-north-pole Eleven French tourists and four crew members were rescued by helicopter after their ship ran aground in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic, local authorities said Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.no/20230523/tourists-rescued-after-norwegian-ship-ran-aground-in-svalbard Tue, 23 May 2023 17:08:27 +0200 tourists-rescued-after-norwegian-ship-ran-aground-in-svalbard Norway's highest court confirmed on Monday the Norwegian state's exclusive right to natural resources on the continental shelf around the strategically important Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic. https://www.thelocal.no/20230320/norways-high-court-confirms-norwegian-control-of-arctic-resources Mon, 20 Mar 2023 16:19:32 +0100 norways-high-court-confirms-norwegian-control-of-arctic-resources Foreign residents angered by a change to voting laws on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard confronted prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre during his visit to the region on Wednesday.  https://www.thelocal.no/20230302/norways-prime-minister-confronted-by-foreigners-in-svalbard-over-voting-laws Thu, 02 Mar 2023 12:28:36 +0100 norways-prime-minister-confronted-by-foreigners-in-svalbard-over-voting-laws Norway's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it had found a "solution" to allow Russian cargo, which was blocked due to sanctions, to reach the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, easing a dispute with Moscow. https://www.thelocal.no/20220706/norway-says-solution-found-in-svalbard-cargo-dispute-with-moscow Wed, 06 Jul 2022 18:15:05 +0200 norway-says-solution-found-in-svalbard-cargo-dispute-with-moscow With its ghost towns and armed men taking on a vast wilderness, one could almost mistake the Svalbard archipelago for the Wild West. https://www.thelocal.no/20220706/how-is-norways-arctic-archipelago-of-svalbard-policed Wed, 06 Jul 2022 12:50:54 +0200 how-is-norways-arctic-archipelago-of-svalbard-policed Russia's top lawmaker on Tuesday said parliamentary deputies should consider denouncing a landmark Arctic border treaty with Norway as tensions rage between the two countries. https://www.thelocal.no/20220705/russian-deputies-urged-to-denounce-arctic-treaty-with-norway Tue, 05 Jul 2022 17:22:15 +0200 russian-deputies-urged-to-denounce-arctic-treaty-with-norway The Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard is seen as a strategic and economic bridgehead not just for Moscow but also for Beijing. https://www.thelocal.no/20220623/natos-arctic-achilles-heel-in-norway-eyed-up-by-china-and-russia Thu, 23 Jun 2022 15:43:55 +0200 natos-arctic-achilles-heel-in-norway-eyed-up-by-china-and-russia Home to polar bears, the midnight sun and the northern lights, a Norwegian archipelago perched high in the Arctic is trying to find a way to profit from its pristine wilderness without ruining it. https://www.thelocal.no/20220527/arctic-norways-tricky-quest-for-sustainable-tourism Fri, 27 May 2022 16:01:14 +0200 arctic-norways-tricky-quest-for-sustainable-tourism Norway’s National Museum has preserved some of the country’s most treasured artefacts digitally and stored them in a former mine on Arctic archipelago Svalbard. https://www.thelocal.no/20201111/norway-digitally-freezes-national-treasures-and-stores-them-in-arctic-archive Wed, 11 Nov 2020 17:58:39 +0100 norway-digitally-freezes-national-treasures-and-stores-them-in-arctic-archive A polar bear has killed a man on Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, local officials said Friday, the sixth fatal attack in almost 50 years in the region. https://www.thelocal.no/20200828/polar-bear-kills-man-on-arctic-norwegian-archipelago Fri, 28 Aug 2020 11:44:38 +0200 polar-bear-kills-man-on-arctic-norwegian-archipelago Norway's Arctic archipelago Svalbard on Saturday recorded its highest-ever temperature, the country's meteorological institute reported. https://www.thelocal.no/20200726/norways-svalbard-records-highest-ever-artic-temperature Sun, 26 Jul 2020 12:50:07 +0200 norways-svalbard-records-highest-ever-artic-temperature A "doomsday vault" nestled deep in the Arctic received 60,000 new seed samples on Tuesday, including Prince Charles' cowslips and Cherokee sacred corn, increasing stocks of the world's agricultural bounty in case of global catastrophe. https://www.thelocal.no/20200225/norways-arctic-doomsday-vault-stocks-up-on-60000-more-food-seeds Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:35:35 +0100 norways-arctic-doomsday-vault-stocks-up-on-60000-more-food-seeds