High North News - English

Matsentralen Nord-Norge får 200.000 kroner i tilskudd for å etablere flere matstasjoner og utleveringssteder i Nordland.

Det kommer fram i en pressemelding fra Nordland fylkeskommune.

Matsentralen henter overskuddsmat fra grossister og produsenter, og fordeler maten videre til organisasjoner som deler ut mat til mennesker som trenger en håndsrekning i hverdagen.

– Dette handler om noe så grunnleggende som å ha nok mat på bordet. For mange er ikke det en selvfølge. Vi ser at det er et stort lokalt engasjement for å få på plass slike ordninger flere steder i Nordland, sier fylkesrådsleder Marianne Dobak Kvensjø (H).

Matsentralen Nord-Norge er én av åtte matsentraler i Norge. Nå ønsker de å bygge opp tilbudet i flere steder i landsdelen.

– I en tid der matprisene og renta øker, opplever mange at hverdagsøkonomien blir vanskeligere og vi vet at flere og flere sliter med å få pengene til å strekke til. Derfor er det viktig å støtte tiltak som gir konkret hjelp til folk, sier Kvensjø.

The Norwegian Ministry of National Heritage has preserved the airship mast in Vadsø, Northern Norway.

The 35-meter-high mast was built in 1926 and plays an important role in Norwegian polar history. It was erected for Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth and Umberto Nobile's expedition with the airship Norge over the North Pole.

The expedition - officially named the "Amundsen–Ellsworth–Nobile transpolar flight" - was the first successful flight over the North Pole.

Vadsø was one of the stopovers for the airship on its way from Italy to Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, and further over the North Pole to Alaska.

"Norway has a rich polar history, and the airship mast in Vadsø is a unique cultural monument that tells an important part of this story. 100 years ago, the eyes of the world were focused on Vadsø and Roald Amundsen's expedition. Now we are securing this unique cultural heritage for future generations, says Minister of Climate and Environment Andreas Bjelland Eriksen (Labor) in a press release.

The Europe Forum 2026 will be held in Kiruna from 7 to 8 May.

Europaforum is Sweden's largest annual conference on EU issues. On 7–8 May, politicians, decision-makers and civil society actors from local, regional, national and EU levels will gather in Kiruna, Northern Sweden.

This year's conference focuses on how the situation on the ground affects EU policies in the areas of competitiveness, security, industrial transition and sustainable development. The program includes panel discussions and seminars.

Iceland has moved up five places on the World Press Freedom Index, a list compiled by the organisation Reporters Without Borders, ranking the countries of the world with the greatest press freedom.

The global situation has, however, worsened, and the average score of countries has never been lower since the organisation began assessing press freedom in 2021.

The organisation’s report assesses press freedom in 180 countries. For the first time since measurements began, the situation is assessed as difficult or very serious in more than half of all countries. The average country score has never been lower than this year.

The situation is best in Norway, followed by the Netherlands, Estonia, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Finland and Israel are in seventh place. These are the only countries that fall into the highest category, where press freedom is greatest.

This is the tenth year in a row that Norway is on top of the list.

Norway's role in the High North was central when General Alexsus G. Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), visited Norway last week.

“Norway holds a unique geostrategic position and plays a central role as NATO’s eyes and ears in the Arctic. We could not do our job without Norwegian support,” said Grynkewich.

After meetings in Oslo with the Norwegian chief of defense, prime minister and minister of defense, the general travelled to Bodø, Northern Norway, to visit NATO's new combined air operations centre. There he received first-hand briefings on how Norwegian and allied air forces operate together in the High North.

ALSO READ: CAOC Bodø Completes First Major Exercise as a Fully-Fledged NATO Headquarters

On Sunday, the Swedish Armed Forces' first military surveillance satellite was launched into space. The new capability will contribute to increased Swedish and allied situational awareness, not least in the north.

"Our expansion in the space domain has progressed at record speed. We now have a national capacity and our own systems in place in space. This gives us a better picture of our area of operations, including areas that are difficult to monitor, such as the Arctic, says Flotilla Admiral Anders Sundeman, Head of Space in the Swedish Armed Forces.

Sundeman also points out that this strengthens Sweden and NATO's ability to detect and combat threats at long distances.

The satellite will take high-resolution images from low Earth orbit and is the first of around ten military satellites that Sweden will launch into space in the coming years.

The launch was carried out by SpaceX at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA.

In the first quarter of 2026, 60 companies in Northern Norway went bankrupt, which is the second lowest number in 20 years. The bankruptcy rate was only lower in the pandemic year of 2021, with significant support measures for the business sector. This is reported by the Knowledge Bank at SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge.

The decline is 9 percent compared to the first quarter of last year and comes after a drop in the bankruptcy rate of 25 percent in 2025. Three sectors stand out with the largest decline in the number of bankruptcies: the construction industry, retail trade, as well as accommodation and catering.

The Alaska State Senate has passed HB 78, legislation to restore a defined benefit retirement system, by a 12–8 vote.

After nearly two decades of advocacy, this vote marks a significant milestone for public employees across the state.

"For too long, the lack of a stable, secure retirement has made it harder to keep experienced educators in our classrooms and attract new ones to our state", NEA-Alaska states in a post on Facebook.

NEA-Alaska is an affiliate of the National Education Association.

The bill will reinstate a pension system for state and local government employees in Alaska.

Germany's Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär is visiting Andøya in Northern Norway on 28 April.

The theme of the visit is German-Norwegian cooperation in space activities and polar research.

The German delegation will visit the ALOMAR observatory of the Leibniz Institute for Atmospheric Physics (IAP) and the MAARSY radar facility.

Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth (Labour) and Bär met in Tromsø first,o sign the mandate for a new working group tasked with following up bilateral cooperation. Launch capabilities, surveillance, and secure communication will be priority areas.

“Space has become more important to us than many people realize. It concerns everything from secure communication to maintaining situational awareness in our surrounding areas. Through closer cooperation with Germany, we will help strengthen Europe’s ability to utilize and protect critical space capabilities,” said Myrseth.

“Today, Norway and Germany take the next step towards a powerful and soverein space partnership. We drive Europe in the global space race to become a true space power. A multilateral power united by joint values, such as freedom, peace, democracy and justice. Together, we take action and responsibility for Europe’s sovereignty in space,“ said Dorothee Bär (Christian Social Union).

The new working group will, among other things, explore cooperation on satellite launches, space-based surveillance, and secure communication.

Space plays an increasingly important role in our daily lives. Satellites are used for communication, surveillance, and navigation, among other purposes. They are also vital for emergency preparedness and security, for example through the EU programme Secure Connectivity, which Norway recently joined.

In a survey conducted on behalf of Norwegian telecompany Telenor, 59 percent of respondents in Northern Norway said they are concerned that the mobile network could be put out of service as a result of sabotage.

"No one can promise that the network will never go down. But Telenor has built a network, a system and an organization that is ready to handle most challenges and crises", says Birgitte Engebretsen, CEO, Telenor Norway, in a press release.

Both the Intelligence Service, the Police Security Service and the National Security Authority point to sabotage of infrastructure as a scenario to be prepared for that could hit Norway at any time. Over the past five years, Telenor has invested 14 billion in modernizing and securing its networks.