"The EU should play a clear and constructive role in Arctic cooperation. It would therefore be positive if the European Commission became a permanent observer in the Arctic Council," says Helena Ödmark from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Researchers, Yevgeny Aksenov, Sheldon Bacon, Andrew Coward and George Nurser at the National Oceanography Center are running high-resolution computer simulations. These studies will help scientists understand how ocean climate has been altered due to the change in water flow from steadily increasing arctic temperatures.

The development of infrastructure and field operations in the Yamal Peninsula has reached a level, which makes possible a launch of the Bovanenkovo field ahead of schedules, Gazprom deputy Aleksandr Ananenkov said when visiting the gas-rich area this week.

The Russian ICBM Bulava program is in trouble. On Wednesday, December 9th, a failed missile launch was visible over Northern Norway. So far, seven out of 13 tests have failed.

Oil spill covered 100 square meters of land after an explosion in an oil-gathering line in the Yamalo-Nenets Okrug last week.

A strange spiral light in the sky was visible in the eastern sky over large areas of Northern Norway this morning. Norwegian space and defense experts believe that this was a failed Russian missile launch from the White Sea.

OPINION: When U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, he knows that his most important peace task the coming days will be to bring round a treaty to reduce arsenals of nuclear weapons together with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. A renewed START agreement is of major importance also for us in the Barents Region.

The first joint Norwegian-Russian report on the Barents Sea Ecosystem raises concerns about sea mammals’ reproduction due to the ongoing climate changes.

Russia will by year 2030 have boosted its gas production by up to 42 percent and its oil production by almost 10 percent. The production of alternative energy is to increase too, and will by 2020 amount to 4,5 percent of the country’s energy generation, the new Russian energy strategy reads.

It doesn’t seem like anyone took much notice, but last week marked the 50th anniversary of an exemplary international success — the signing of the Antarctic Treaty that turned the global Deep South into a demilitarized zone “forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.”