Nordic News, Business and Life in Asia
Two zoos in Finland are vying to bring giant pandas to the country. Hosting pandas is a complicated undertaking, and involves a fair amount of international diplomacy–along with huge expenses. …
Race is on to bring giant pandas to Finland Read More
Plenty of countries have national birds, national anthems, national dishes — but a national font? There Sweden is all on its own. Yes, Sweden recently introduced its own font, called …
Sweden hopes to project a new image with its official font Read More
The Danish national dish competition has reached its final stage. There are now just eight dishes left in the running following the regional votes. Almost 19,000 Danes voted for their …
Denmark’s national dish competition down to final eight Read More
With national fertility rates continually dropping, the Danish school system’s sex education curriculum will no longer just teach teens how to prevent getting pregnant, it will also encourage young people …
Danish students to be taught to have babies Read More
Scientists already know that ecologically sustainable fuels can be produced with microbes. The species of blue-green algae that plagues Finland has proven itself a superstar in its ability to produce …
Finnish scientists produce fuel from slimy algae Read More
Norwegians are asking in bigger numbers than ever before to be cremated instead of buried, revealed a recent study. Norstad, which conducted the research for funeral company Jolstad, found that …
Cremation surges in popularity among Norwegians Read MoreShow caution if you buy salt in China’s Henan province. A large amount if industrial salt has allegedly entered the marked and is being sold as table salt. More than 20 …
20 tons of poisonous salt being sold as edible salt in China Read More
With more and more people paying with credit cards and their smartphones, Denmark’s central bank Nationalbanken says it no longer pays to print banknotes or mint coins. By the end …
Denmark’s central bank to stop producing paper money, coins Read More
Prime Minister Alexander Stubb has made headlines in the international media in recent days. In his latest encounter on Monday, he spoke to US broadcaster CNBC, pointing the finger of …
Finnish PM: Apple products kill Nokia, paper industry Read MoreLEGO just announced on October 9, it will NOT renew its contract with Shell, accused by the Greenpeace of destroying the Arctic. Greenpeace said: “This is a massive victory for …
Greepeace stunt forces Lego to dump Shell co-promotion Read More
Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, Finland-based maker of Angry Birds, announced on October 2, the company would shed 130, or about 16% of workforce. In his blog post, Hed …
Rovio, creator of Angry Birds, announces lay-offs Read More
1864 is the most expensive TV production in Danish history. Stars of TV and screen were out in force on October 1 for the press premiere of 1864, the most …
Denmark’s most expensive TV drama unveiled Read More
Denmark’s ecological footprint per capita is the fourth largest in the world, according to the latest Living Planet Report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The Danes …
WWF: Denmark is world’s 4th least friendly to nature Read More
‘Daisy – a princess in Denmark’, a comic book biography of Queen Margrethe II, was officially launched on September 16 at the French Embassy in the centre of Copenhagen. According …
Comic book on Queen Margrethe’s life story released Read More
A two-minute video made by two Danish PhD students David Pedersen and Andreas Jørgensen from the Danish Technical University (DTU) has become one of the most watched ever on the …
Danish students’ NASA video of Moon orbitting Earth goes viral Read More
Denmark’s food minister launched on September 11 a nationwide vote to elect an official dish that represents Denmark the best. “I hope that the vote about Denmark’s national dish will …
Danes to vote for one national dish that defines their food culture Read More
According to OLAF, the European anti-fraud office, Denmark was implicated in 66 fraud cases involving applications for EU funds in 2013. The combined total of the cases came to 19 …
Denmark among biggest cheaters in EU farm subsidy scheme Read More
Stamps designed as a tribute to homoerotic artist and gay icon Touko Laaksonen — also known as Tom of Finland — went on sale on September 8. According to the …
Finland’s homoerotic art stamps set new sales record Read More
In 2001 The Danish Cyclists’ Federation launched the campaign ”Bike to School” (BTS). BTS is a recurring cycle campaign for school children of all ages. It’s purpose is to get …
127,000 Danish kids cycling to school in September Read More
When TV-news reports on flooding, the speaker is often accompanied by pictures of armies of people building dams of sandbags to save their homes. This might become images of the …
Innovative Danish dam uses water to fight flooding Read More
The share of foreign criminals in Norwegian prisons has been quadrupled in 14 years. Norwegian prisons are not frightening enough, police and attorneys say. The share of foreign citizens who …
Surprise! Norwegian prisons do not deter would-be criminals Read More
Back in 1974 one thousand Volvo 144s were sold to North Korea. 40 years has passed but the payment has never arrived. According to Newsweek this bizarre trade debt is actually …
North Korea owes EUR 300 million for Volvos delivered in the 70’s Read More
Earlier in August, construction of the 12,000-square-meter LEGO experience center in Denmark began with the laying down of the first bricks on what is being called a place for people …
LEGO Building Experience Center in Denmark Built with Giant Bricks Read More
Congratulations to ADEPT, 3XN and BIG for being shortlisted in the award competition at this year’s World Architecture Festival. A leading international festival World Architecture Festival 2014 will take place …
Danish architects nominated for prestigious award Read More
A Telenor Group study has revealed that young mobile Internet users in Malaysia and Thailand are among the most smartphone-savvy in the world. Known as ‘digital frontrunners’, with ages ranging …
Telenor study: Thais, Malaysians among savviest smart phone users Read More
Ali Khan and his family, originally from Thailand, have established several Lai Thai-restaurants across Sweden. The robot restaurant, Asia Taste, will open in September 2014. It will serve Asian food …
Thai/Asian restaurant in Sweden served by robotic waiters Read More
The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award Committee hereby has the pleasure of announcing that the winner of its 2014 award is the British-Indian author Sir Salman Rushdie. Sir Salman Rushdie …
Salman Rushdie receives Hans Christian Andersen Award Read More
Seventeen-year-old blogger Anniken Jørgensen raged against Aftenposten and H & M after she was featured in web series about textile industry in Cambodia. In a post on his blog titled …
Young Norwegian blogger decries Cambodia’s sweatshop conditions Read More
Sweden is among the top ten countries where most vacationers have been naked or topless on the beach. The majority of the Swedes also say they welcome nudity among other …
Swedes welcome beach nudity and toplessness Read MoreA coalition of government, non-profit and marine industry groups have announced the launch of a new trial incentive program to slow ships down in the Santa Barbara Channel in an …
Slowing ships down for cleaner air and whale protection Read More
Sweden’s government is pushing a new measure to tackle racism issues in the country — it plans to completely remove the word “race” from all legislative documents. Shortly after Sweden …
Sweden to Eliminate Mentions of Race From Laws to Twart Racism Read More
A Swedish woman picked up more than she bargained for when she discovered a pile of unattended Ikea bags in her local church. Instead of opening the bags to find …
Ikea bags stuffed with 80 sets of human remains found in church Read More
Months after a girl took the company to task for its female toy figures, Lego has released the Research Institute, a play set created by a “real-life geophysicist, Ellen Kooijman,” …
Lego releases female-scientists set in response to young critic Read More
The announcement came at a press conference at the space agency NASA headquarters in Washington on July 31. – Today we take probably an important step towards Mars. The spacecraft …
Norwegian radar tech part of next NASA mission to Mars Read More
A new data transfer record of 43 terabits per second has been set in Denmark. The world data transfer record has been shattered by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) …
Danish scientists break world data transfer record Read More
Putting immigration back at the top of political debate, a Danish opposition politician has urged tougher rules on Muslim immigrants to the western European country, calling for easier rules on …
Danish party pushes for cap on Muslim immigrants Read More
A 19-year-old female passenger from Norway en route to Amsterdam from Detroit fell asleep mid-flight, only to wake up and discover the man seated next to her had his hands down …
Feds: Man fondled sleeping passenger on Detroit-Amsterdam flight Read More
Statistics Denmark has made a 2014 portrait of the average Danish family. According to the statistics, Mr and Mrs Denmark are named Peter and Anne Jensen. In average, a Danish …
The Average Dane is a Jensen… Read More
Last year 1,600 people in Sweden took their own lives – the highest number since 1989. Statistics for 2013 from Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) found that …
Swedish suicide rates hit 25-year high Read More
The Norwegian police have received permssion from the Government to make use of military resources if needed, in order to handle the present terror threat against Norway. According to NRK, …
Norwegian police to tap military resources to counter terror threat Read More
In what might potentially be the first step toward developing a lasting cure for HIV, Danish researchers on Tuesday revealed what has been hailed as a breakthrough discovery that exposes …
‘Kick And Kill’ HIV Cure Sees Major Breakthrough Read More
The road to Thai cuisine Chefdom for 39-year-old Morten Boejstrup Nielsen was not strewn with rose petals. Having completed training at a Copenhagen culinary school, Nielsen, originally from Nordjylland, went …
Danish chef joins rank of Thai cuisine innovators Read More
Swedish weather agency SMHI has issued its first ever warning for high temperatures with the many areas set to bask in plus 30C heat. “For a Class 1 warning it …
‘First ever’ heat warning issued for Sweden Read More
Danish researchers at Aarhus University have made a major discovery that may be a step towards finding a cure for AIDS. At the 20th International AIDS Conference on Tuesday in …
Danish researchers make AIDS breakthrough Read More
The way Danes still call their money ‘kroner’ (literally meaning ‘crowns’) is a reminder of their feudal past, but just like the late great kings, all the coins may soon …
Denmark moving towards cash-free future Read More
Pigs could be feeding on insects such as maggots and fly larvae by 2020, according to pig feed specialist Mick Hazzledine. Speaking at the Bpex Innovation Conference 2014, held at …
Norwegian expert touts insects, maggots as animal feeds Read More
A new co-operation between the Roskilde Festival and the voluntary food waste movement Stop Spild Af Mad (Stop Wasting Food) is expected to save 30 tonnes of food from been …
Roskilde Festival supports food waste reduction initiative Read More
The Danish Arts Foundation has announced the selection of Danh Vo to represent Denmark in next year’s Venice Biennale, reports Kunstkritikk. The Vietnamese-born artist, who was selected by the country’s …
Vietnamese-born artist to represent Denmark at 2015 Venice Biennale Read More
The Swedish company Crunchfish AB is launching the camera app GoCam on iOS as part of their vision to bring touchless technology to the world. It is touchless, easy to …
Swedish firm launches hand-free selfie camera app Read More