SEVERANCE CHECK: Mysterious Atlantic cable cuts linked to Russian fishing...
Photo of four-kilometer-long cable that disappeared — and was found again — before it was placed in the sea by LoveOcean/Institute of Marine Research Norway Few took notice when a 4.2-km subsea cable...
View ArticleCOMMENTARY: Svalbard’s strategic impact after Russia’s full-scale invasion of...
Photo by The Norwegian Armed Forces Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has altered Russia’s security perspectives dramatically, also with concern to the Arctic, write Turid Austin...
View ArticleARRESTING ADVENTURE: Son of Putin associate detained for flying drone in...
Photo courtesy of Andrey Yakunin Andrey Yakunin, 47, was detained by Norwegian police earlier in October for flying a drone in Norwegian airspace. He is now in custody in Tromsø while the investigation...
View ArticleFIRE DESTROYS 12 APARTMENTS, 55 PEOPLE DISPLACED: Cause unknown, officials...
Photo by Wolfgang Jürgen Lempe (Editor’s note: Story updated at 5:34 a.m. Tuesday with additional details, photos and videos) A fire early Monday morning near the center of Longyearbyen destroyed 12...
View ArticleJUNE KNOW, IT’S HOTTER THAN EVER: Record-high average temperature of 6°C at...
Photo courtesy of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute Various headlines about things such as Svalbard warming five to seven times as fast as the rest of the planet were prominent in worldwide media...
View ArticleGETTING SMASHED IN RECORD TIME? ’Stem’ of giant snow champaign glass on...
Screenshot of snow “glass” on Operafjellet on May 28 from Svalbardposten website If the record-breaking pace of snow melt in Svalbard has people steamed, right now it seems at least one of them will be...
View ArticlePRIDE OF SVALBARD ON SYTTENDE MAI: Annika Bengtsson wins citizen-of-year...
Photo by Arild Olsen / Longyearbyen Lokalstyre A day of traditional Syttende Mai festivities celebrating Norway’s independence and honoring Svalbard’s top citizens also was a day this year where...
View ArticleROYAL COUPLE GOES TO THE DOGS IN SVALBARD: Crown Prince Haakon and Crown...
Photo of Crown Prince Haakon, center, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit at Arctic Husky Travellers kennels by Sara Svanemyr, The Royal Court It’s about as royal a three-day trip as any random tourist...
View ArticleTRANSPOLAR TRASH TRAVELS: Plastic pollution in remote Arctic wilderness areas...
Photo of catamaran being pulled by Polarstern icebreaker during plastic pollution survey courtesy of Alfred Wegener Institute Sparsely populated areas of the Arctic shows a similar level of pollution...
View ArticleWOMAN DIES IN SNOWMOBILE ACCIDENT ON LONGYEARBREEN: Visitor in private tour...
Map by the Norwegian Polar Institute A Trondheim woman visiting Svalbard was killed Sunday afternoon in a snowmobile accident during a group trip on Longyearbreen, according to officials. Kristin...
View ArticleBARENTSBURG LEADER BLASTS ’FAKE NEWS’ ABOUT UKRAINE: Calls to expel Russia’s...
Russians, Ukrainians and Norwegians in Svalbard may be continuing their neighborly co-existence despite the invasion to the south, but the head of the Russian settlement of Barentsburg (and Russia’s...
View ArticleRandom weirdness for the week of March 29, 2022: Yet another UFO visits...
UFO (hey, it’s unidentified to us) over seas of Svalbard via Google Earth We’re not sure why it qualifies as news, even for a British tabloid, since UFOs and their occupants have a sizeable presence in...
View ArticleRAINBOW DISCONNECTION: Greenpeace’s (in)famous ship Esperanza is retiring...
Photo of Greenpeace ship Esperanza during a “seizure” of a Statoil rig near Bjørnøya courtesy of Greenpeace They staged Svalbard’s first-known political protest by seizing the coal pier at the Svea...
View ArticleMARCHING ON HIGH: New temperature record for month as Ny-Ålesund hits 5.5C on...
Photo by Ine-Therese Pedersen / Norwegian Meteorological Institute Surely there are upsides to mountainsides and streets being filled with tons of flowing slush during a torrential rain. But for...
View ArticleGAS PAINS: Fuel in Longyearbyen tops 10 kroner a liter in wake of Ukraine...
(Editor’s “call it karma” note: As this story was being written Svalbard Auto posted a notice on Facebook that its payment terminal is out of order, so gas cannot be purchased at all during...
View ArticleWOMEN’S TIME TO SHINE: Sun returns to main part of Longyearbyen after nearly...
Photo by Eva Grøndal Every year on this date there’s “sun” ritual unique to Longyearbyen, even if it features chants, songs and other traditions seen in cultures for thousands of years. But on this...
View ArticleUNITY FOR UKRAINIANS – AND NEARLY FOR LOCAL RUSSIANS: Svalbard residents from...
Photo by Kristin Woxholth Nazarii Khomych says her mother is making food for Ukrainian soldiers, her father is helping protect their city, and the threat of immediate danger is also present for other...
View ArticleRUSSIAN MISSILE TEST NEAR SVALBARD, CONCERN IN AREA’S RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN...
Photo from the frigate Admiral Gorshkov firing a test missile Saturday just east of Bjornøya from video by the Russian Defense Ministry Among Russia’s many military maneuvers while preparing to invade...
View Article12 SNOWMOBILERS RESCUED FROM SEA ICE NEAR MOHNBUKTA: Tour group stranded on...
Photo of student researchers snowmobiling at Mohnbukta prior to this weekend by Richard Hann/UNIS A group of 10 snowmobilers plus two Longyearbyen residents trying to help them were recused by...
View ArticleA FUTURE-FOCUSED 10 FOR VALENTINE’S DAY: Svalbard seed vault gets 20,000+...
Photo courtesy of the Global Crop Diversity Trust As Valentine’s Day offerings go it was an eclectic bouquet, with the more than 20,000 seed samples ranging from rare Alpine-grown wheat from the 1920s...
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