Google is giving almost €1 million to a Finnish city to finance solar power and other energy upgrades, but the agreement setting out the donation is currently secret. The deal with Kajaani, in northern Finland, should become public only after it has been signed. The €870,000 donation will come from Tuike Finland Oy, Google’s Finnish subsidiary, according to the agenda for the Kajaani City Board meeting on 6 October. City Manager Terho Savolainen has proposed that the board approve the agreement. What Google’s €870,000 donation will pay for…

Norway's emergency sardine stockpile is set to lose 100,000 tins of sardines after seafood company King Oscar ended a storage agreement with the state that had been in place for more than 20 years. The agreement was terminated in 2025 because the company said the compensation it received no longer covered its storage costs, according to documents obtained by Norwegian business newspaper E24. The tins are owned by the Norwegian state, while King Oscar had been paid to keep them in its warehouses. The Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries…

Anonymous sperm and egg donation in Denmark should no longer be available, according to the Danish Council on Ethics (Det Etiske Råd). In a recommendation published on 30 September, 14 of the 15 participating council members backed removing the anonymous option, while the government has invited parliamentary parties to discuss the issue as part of wider talks on fertility policy. 14 of 15 members want anonymous donation to end Denmark is one of the few countries where people receiving fertility treatment can choose between an anonymous and a non-anonymous sperm or egg donor.

Religious symbols for prosecutors in Danish court hearings should be banned, according to Justice Minister Nicolai Wammen, who wants prosecutors to follow rules similar to those already applying to judges and some other judicial officials. Wammen, a Social Democrat who has served as justice minister since June, said the change is needed to protect public confidence in the neutrality of court proceedings. His position was reported by TV 2 on Thursday. “Neither Muslim nor other visible religious symbols must be allowed to weaken citizens’ confidence that what happens in Danish courtrooms is objective.”

King Haakon VIII opened the Storting for the first time as king on Friday, five weeks after succeeding his father, King Harald V. The ceremony marked the formal opening of Norway’s 171st Storting and another milestone in the country’s recent royal transition. The King was joined in the parliamentary chamber in Oslo by his daughter, Crown Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who is now first in line to the Norwegian throne. Queen Mette-Marit had also been expected to attend, but withdrew because of a respiratory infection. The Royal Court said she remains in rehabilitation following her lung transplant.

Armand Duplantis will skip the 2027 indoor season, choosing to focus on recovery and preparation for next summer. The decision means the Swedish pole vault star will not compete at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Valencia and that his Mondo Classic meeting will not be held next year. The decision was announced by the Swedish Athletics Federation and reported by TV4 and Yle. Why Duplantis is skipping the 2027 indoor season Duplantis said he wants to give his body more time to recover after a demanding year and to prepare properly for the outdoor season.

A DTU cyberattack disclosed on Friday, 2 October, may have affected personal data linked to up to 200,000 current and former users of the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), including students, employees, guests and partners. The university said in an official notice that hackers gained access to DTUBasen, its identity and access management system, and downloaded a large amount of data. DTU has contained the attack, but says it cannot yet determine exactly which information was extracted or how many people are affected. Hackers gained access to DTU's user database…

Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterna) leader Magdalena Andersson has been given a second exploratory mandate to try to form Sweden’s next government, only four days after she returned the first one. Speaker Andreas Norlén announced on Friday that the new round will formally begin on Monday 5 October. Andersson must report back by 12 October, although she can ask for more time if meaningful negotiations are still under way. This time, however, there is an important difference: the process will end with a parliamentary vote on a candidate for prime minister. …

Finnish police have opened a preliminary inquiry into suspected intrusions at MPs' homes, after Parliament reported a series of cases involving lawmakers from different political parties. The Helsinki Police Department is working with the National Bureau of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi) to establish what happened. The inquiry is still at an early stage. Police have not yet opened a formal criminal investigation, meaning authorities are first assessing whether there are grounds to suspect that crimes have been committed. Fewer than 20 suspected cases have been reported According to information obtained by Yle…

Sweden’s Speaker has become one of the most visible figures in the country’s difficult government formation. Andreas Norlén meets the parties, decides whether to give someone an exploratory mandate and will eventually choose which candidate for prime minister to put before the Riksdag. That is an unusually important role for someone who comes directly from party politics. Andreas Norlén was elected to the Riksdag for the Moderate Party (Moderaterna) and was re-elected Speaker on 28 September with 200 votes against 146 for the Social Democratic candidate Johanna Haraldsson. Once elected, however, he is expected to act with political impartiality.

Norway’s Epstein hearing is putting the country’s Foreign Ministry under scrutiny over how it handled personal networks, conflicts of interest, sensitive information and public funding. The two-day parliamentary hearing began on 30 September and brings together former ministers and senior officials to examine whether existing safeguards were strong enough. The hearing, formally focused on “control and culture in the Foreign Service”, comes after revelations about Norwegian figures’ connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But the scope is broader than Epstein himself. The Storting is examining how the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Utenriksdepartementet)

The shortage of qualified teachers in Denmark is becoming increasingly visible in international comparisons: nearly one in five teachers in Danish public primary and lower-secondary schools is not fully qualified, while the country also has the highest teacher attrition rate among the OECD systems with comparable data. According to the OECD’s latest Education at a Glance 2026, 18.9% of teachers in Denmark are not fully qualified, compared with an OECD average of 9.1%. Denmark ranks 29th out of 31 countries and participating education systems for the share of fully qualified teachers.

The Sweden election has entered another phase of government negotiations, with the Social Democrats reopening contacts with the Left Party and signs that the Centre Party may be more willing to discuss cooperation across the red-green majority. But the central disagreements remain unresolved, and Speaker Andreas Norlén has still not given anyone a new exploratory mandate. After a second round of consultations with the parliamentary parties on Wednesday, Norlén said he needed more time to consider the next step. He has continued informal talks with party representatives and is expected to give an update at a press conference on Friday at 11:00.

Finland's unemployment rate was again the highest in the European Union in August, reaching 10.3%, according to the latest figures published by Eurostat. Spain followed at 10.0%, while Sweden had the third-highest rate at 8.7%. The gap with the rest of the EU remains substantial. The EU-wide unemployment rate stood at 6.1% in August, unchanged from July, while the euro area rate was 6.4%. Eurostat estimates that around 13.6 million people were unemployed across the EU. Finland remains above Spain Finland first moved to the top of the EU unemployment ranking in November 2025, overtaking Spain.

Denmark’s free public schools guarantee free instruction, but a new study finds that school-related expenses are putting significant pressure on poorer families and can limit some children’s participation in class life. Among parents living below the poverty threshold used in the study, 54% said expenses connected with their child’s schooling challenged the family’s finances. The findings come from new research published by Egmont on 30 September. Epinion surveyed 1,739 parents of children attending Denmark’s municipal primary and lower-secondary school system (folkeskolen), including 505 parents classified as living in poverty. The poverty threshold was defined as disposable income below 50% of the median for the relevant family type.

Seven in ten young women in Sweden aged 16–24 reported experiencing anxiety, worry or unease in 2025, according to the new Ung idag 2026 report from the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (Myndigheten för ungdoms- och civilsamhällesfrågor, MUCF). The figure was 71%, compared with 43% among young men. Across all young people aged 16–24, 56% reported anxiety, worry or unease. The figures come from Statistics Sweden’s Survey of Living Conditions, ULF, and are among the indicators used by MUCF to monitor young people’s living conditions.

Unabomber is Netflix’s most-watched film, with the crime drama directed by Danish filmmaker Janus Metz recording 16.4 million views worldwide in its first days on the streaming platform. The film, released on 25 September, debuted at number one on Netflix’s global English-language film ranking for the week of 21 to 27 September. It was watched for 27.4 million hours, according to Netflix data. It also attracted more views than the most popular non-English-language film during the same period, making Unabomber the platform’s most-watched film overall for the week. Unabomber reaches 16.4 million views…

The Global Innovation Index 2026 places Sweden, Finland and Denmark among the world's ten highest-ranked economies for innovation, while Norway and Iceland remain notably further down the table. The annual ranking, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 29 September, puts Sweden second, Finland eighth and Denmark ninth. Sweden remains one of the world's innovation leaders Sweden retains second place globally, behind Switzerland and ahead of the USA, according to WIPO's 2026 ranking. Its position is unchanged from 2025. The Global Innovation Index 2026 top ten is:

Vegetarian meals in Finnish schools have quadrupled in popularity in the municipality of Kontiolahti after a simple change: every pupil can now freely choose between a meat-based and a meat-free lunch every day. Since the system was introduced during the previous school year, the municipality says it is preparing four times as much vegetarian food as before, while food waste has barely increased, according to Yle. At schools in Kontiolahti, in eastern Finland, pupils can choose the vegetarian dish, the meat dish or take some of both. They can also return for another serving.

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf urged the country’s newly elected MPs to listen to one another and seek common solutions as he formally opened the new parliamentary year. The King delivered his traditional speech during the ceremonial opening of the Riksdag on Tuesday, as Sweden’s new Parliament begins work after the election and negotiations over the next government remain unresolved. SVT reported on the King’s address during the ceremony. The King asked MPs to listen even when they disagree Carl XVI Gustaf began his speech by noting that Sweden had held an election and that the members of the new Riksdag had now received a mandate to represent the Swedish people.

The marina pontoons intended for the Toppila marina in the Finnish city of Oulu have been seized and put up for auction without the city knowing about it, adding another complication to a project that was already running behind schedule. The unusual situation emerged after a local resident alerted the City of Oulu to the online auction on Monday. According to Yle, the steel pontoon structures had been seized from Toppilan Terwa Marina Oy, the company responsible for developing the marina. Yle’s report on the Toppila marina case Oulu city surveyor…

Half of Danes aged 15 to 25 now consider using sunbeds fashionable, twice the share recorded a decade ago, according to new figures from the Danish Cancer Society (Kræftens Bekæmpelse). The proportion has risen from 24% in 2015 to 50% in 2026, TV 2 Kosmopol reports, pointing to a significant shift in how young people perceive tanning. The trend does not mean sunbed use has returned to its previous highs. A new Danish Cancer Society survey found that around 14% of people aged 15 to 25 had used a sunbed at least once in the previous year…

Denmark and Germany have agreed to ban bottom trawling in Flensburg Fjord’s inner waters from 1 January 2027, extending restrictions intended to protect the seabed and the fjord’s marine environment. The agreement means that mussel dredges and other bottom-contact fishing gear will no longer be permitted for mussel fishing in the inner part of the fjord. The measure required cooperation between Copenhagen and Berlin because fishing there is governed through joint Danish-German rules. Bottom trawling in Flensburg Fjord will end in 2027 The ban on bottom trawling stems from…

Two boys aged 12 and 13 were recruited for a Malmö grenade attack, after accepting an assignment through TikTok and Signal that would have paid them SEK 30,000 (€2,640). The boys were arrested by police before they could throw two live hand grenades through the window of a building in Rosengård, according to Swedish public radio P4 Malmöhus. Malmö District Court (Malmö tingsrätt) has now found that the two boys committed serious offences involving explosives and prepared an act of public destruction. Because they were only 12 and 13 at the time, however, they cannot receive a criminal sentence.

NATO has condemned a Russian nuclear threat over Kaliningrad after Moscow warned that it could use its entire military arsenal, including nuclear weapons, if Alliance members attempted to isolate the Russian exclave from the rest of the country. Russia issued the warning in an informal document sent to NATO, according to TV 2 Norge, which cites the German news agency DPA. The document accuses NATO of escalating the military and political situation around Kaliningrad, a Russian region on the Baltic Sea located between Poland and Lithuania. According to the Russian message, any attempt by NATO countries to isolate the region could trigger a military response.

Economic insecurity and gender equality appear closely linked among young men in the Nordic countries, according to a new regional study that finds more sceptical attitudes towards equality among men who feel financially insecure. The State of Nordic Men 2026 report, produced by Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice for the Nordic Council of Ministers, is based on responses from 4,547 women and men aged 18 to 45 in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Among men aged 18 to 24, one in three questions whether men and women should be treated equally…

Nature-based mental health treatments for stress, anxiety and depression will be studied by a new Danish centre backed by DKK 100 million (€13.4 million) in funding over the next ten years. The centre, called Arboria, has been established by the Danish 15. Juni Fonden, which says its aim is to build stronger evidence around interventions that use natural environments as part of mental health support and determine which approaches can eventually be integrated into healthcare, municipal services and workplaces. According to the foundation's announcement, Arboria will collect research and practical experience, test different approaches and develop models that can be used by public authorities, health services and private organisations.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says Europe needs to rearm faster and more effectively if it wants to close its military capability gaps by 2030, as shortages of ships, air defence systems, ammunition and other equipment continue to expose the limits of European defence readiness. Speaking in Brussels on Monday ahead of a meeting of EU defence ministers, Kallas warned that the gap between Europe's defence ambitions and the military assets currently available remains substantial. The meeting focused on support for Ukraine, hybrid threats, the Middle East and European defence capabilities.

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo has signed a global licensing agreement worth up to €1.165 billion (DKK 8.7 billion) with Swedish biotech company Nanexa, gaining access to technology designed to make injections for obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases last significantly longer. Under the agreement announced by Nanexa, Novo receives an exclusive global licence to use the Swedish company's PharmaShell technology for certain peptide-based medicines across as many as five development programmes. The aim is to develop formulations that could be administered once a month or once every three months…

AI use in Norway is continuing to rise rapidly, with 69% of people aged 16 to 79 saying they used generative artificial intelligence in the previous three months and nearly half of businesses with at least ten employees now using some form of AI technology. The new figures, published by Statistics Norway (Statistisk sentralbyrå, SSB) on 25 September, show that generative AI use among individuals increased from 54% in 2025 to 69% in 2026, a rise of 15 percentage points in one year. AI use is spreading across age groups…

Denmark’s seabed extraction has more than doubled in 15 years, as seven municipalities in eastern Jutland warn that marine habitats are being lost much faster than they can be restored. In 2025, an average of around 35,000 cubic metres of sand, gravel and small stones were extracted from Danish waters every day, according to figures reported by TV 2. That is roughly enough material to fill 14 Olympic swimming pools each day. A separate analysis by marine think tank Tænketanken Hav found that annual extraction of sand, gravel and small stones from the seabed increased by around 80% between 1990 and the 2020-2024 average.

The Sweden election has entered a more complicated phase. Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterna) leader Magdalena Andersson has returned the exploratory mandate she received to try to form Sweden’s next government, saying that there is currently no basis for her to continue. Andersson announced the decision on Monday morning, ten days after Speaker Andreas Norlén asked her to explore whether she could form a government tolerated by the new Riksdag. According to SVT, she said the decisive development was the decision by the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) to support Norlén in the election for Speaker.

Five North Sea reefs off Denmark are a step closer to being protected from bottom-contact fishing gear after countries with fishing interests in the area agreed on a Danish proposal to restrict the practice. The agreement, reached on 24 September through the regional cooperation between North Sea countries, covers five Danish Natura 2000 sites: Store Rev, Gule Rev, Thyborøn Stenvolde, Jyske Rev and Lønstrup Rødgrund. The proposal has now been sent to the European Commission, which must give its final approval before the restrictions can enter into force. Denmark’s Environment Ministry said the process is expected to take around six to nine months, meaning the ban is not yet operational.

The Oslo housing market has barely moved for almost two years. Home prices are now slightly lower than they were in January 2025, but high interest rates and weak purchasing power are making it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to take advantage of the slowdown. Average home prices in the Norwegian capital have effectively remained flat since January 2025 and have actually fallen slightly, according to Eiendom Norge figures reported by Dagens Næringsliv. Over the same period, consumer prices have risen by around 5.5%, meaning that Oslo homes have become significantly cheaper in real terms even though their nominal prices have changed little.

The European Commission has announced almost €710 million in new EU crisis aid for people affected by conflicts, displacement, natural disasters and other emergencies around the world, with most of the funding directed towards Africa. The package was announced on Saturday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York. “Conflicts, extreme weather and rising living costs are disrupting the lives of many around the globe,” von der Leyen said. Most of the EU crisis aid will go to Africa…

Danes report stronger climate concern than their Nordic neighbours, according to a new survey in which 39% of respondents in Denmark named environmental and climate change among the biggest challenges facing society. In Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, the share ranged from 17% to 28%. The figures come from the Nordic Consumer Sustainability Index 2026, conducted by Opinion for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel (Svanemærket). The survey questioned 4,368 consumers across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland in January 2026. The Norwegian Nordic Swan Ecolabel says the survey used nationally representative samples in each country.

AI in Nordic politics is no longer only about campaigns, misinformation or what voters see online. It is beginning to enter the work that happens before political decisions become visible: summarising documents, preparing arguments, drafting speeches and helping public institutions process information. That makes the warning raised in Finland by Left Alliance MP Anna Kontula, chair of the Finnish Parliament’s Committee for the Future, more significant than a debate about whether politicians should use ChatGPT. Kontula told Yle that some Finnish MPs already use AI to summarise material and others use it directly to write speeches delivered in Parliament.

King signs a collective agreement with Swedish trade unions after more than a year of negotiations, bringing the company behind Candy Crush Saga into Sweden’s collective bargaining system and averting planned industrial action. The agreement was announced on 24 September by King, Unionen and Engineers of Sweden (Sveriges Ingenjörer). From 1 April 2027, the Swedish company, legally Midasplayer AB, will be covered by the TechSverige IT collective agreement. The deal came after negotiations that Engineers of Sweden says began in May 2025. The union and Unionen issued strike notices on 15 September after talks had failed to produce an agreement.

Copenhagen will reopen part of the buried Lygte Å, bringing running water back to the surface in Nørrebro after the stream has spent decades beneath the city. The project has secured funding through the Danish capital’s 2027 budget agreement and will be integrated into the redevelopment of the park at Bispeengen. The section at Bispeengen is part of a much larger system of waterways that were gradually buried as Copenhagen developed. The decision does not mean that the entire stream will immediately return to the surface, but it turns years of preliminary work into a concrete restoration project.

Erling Haaland has become the Nordic countries' all-time top scorer in men's international football, reaching 64 goals for Norway and moving ahead of Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimović. The record came as Norway beat Denmark 3-2 in Oslo on Thursday in their opening match of the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League. Haaland scored twice, taking his international tally to 64 goals in 56 appearances. Norway made a fast start. Oscar Bobb opened the scoring before Haaland doubled the lead. Denmark recovered through goals from Mikkel Damsgaard and Rasmus Højlund to make it 2-2.

Denmark will strengthen police and PET with nearly DKK 800 million (€107 million) from 2027 as the government responds to a worsening security environment and growing concerns over Russian hybrid activity. The funding will be included in the government's forthcoming budget proposal and is intended to reinforce both the police and the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (Politiets Efterretningstjeneste, PET). The Justice Ministry has not yet published a detailed breakdown of how the money will be spent. The announcement follows a new assessment published on 24 September by the…

Rural school closures in Denmark are the target of a new DKK 500 million (€66.9 million) government fund intended to help financially strained municipalities keep local schools open through 2030. The measure, announced on 23 September by Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior Pia Olsen Dyhr, is expected to be included in the government's forthcoming finance bill. DR and DK Nyt / Ritzau reported the announcement. Rural school closures have increased across Denmark The funding is primarily aimed at municipalities where declining populations and falling pupil numbers are putting local schools under financial pressure.

The Frogner borough could disappear from Oslo’s administrative map from 2028. The city government has proposed calling the new borough that will include Frogner Gamle Aker, as part of the capital’s wider reorganisation from 15 to eight boroughs. The proposal was presented by Oslo’s city government on 24 September and must still be approved by the City Council. The eight new boroughs will formally be established on 1 January 2028. Frogner borough would become Gamle Aker The disappearance of the Frogner name concerns the administrative borough, not the neighbourhood itself.

More corporate headquarters in Helsinki could be built in some of the Finnish capital's most prominent locations, including along the waterfront. The city wants to keep several plots available for new headquarters to prevent large companies from moving elsewhere in the metropolitan area, but plans for one of Helsinki's few remaining recreational waterfronts have drawn opposition from residents in Jätkäsaari. Why corporate headquarters in Helsinki are a priority Corporate headquarters are already strongly concentrated in the Helsinki metropolitan area. According to Yle's review of companies listed on the Helsinki stock exchange…

Copenhagen Metro trains on the M1 and M2 lines are being redesigned to carry more passengers as growing ridership increases crowding, particularly during rush hour. The first of 34 original trains has returned to service after a major refurbishment that creates space for around 30 additional passengers, but transport experts say the changes address only the most immediate capacity problem. Copenhagen Metro trains will carry 11% more passengers The first refurbished train entered passenger service on 22 September after returning to Copenhagen from an Alstom workshop in Rotterdam in April and undergoing several months of testing.

More boys than girls now qualify for upper secondary school in Sweden for the first time, according to new figures published by the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) on 24 September. Among pupils who completed compulsory school in spring 2026, 83.6 percent of boys qualified for a national upper secondary programme, compared with 83.4 percent of girls. The difference is only 0.2 percentage points, and Skolverket cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from a single year. Overall eligibility also declined: 83.5 percent of ninth-grade pupils qualified for upper secondary school, down from 84.1 percent the previous year.

Healthy life years in Denmark average 62.4 years, 11 fewer than the 73.4 recorded in Italy, according to Eurostat data for 2024. The figures show that people in a large part of Europe can expect to spend more of their lives without health-related limitations than Danes. Eurostat's Healthy Life Years indicator estimates how many years a person can expect to live without limitations in usual activities caused by health problems. It combines mortality statistics with information on long-term activity limitations reported through European surveys. Healthy life years in Denmark trail much of Europe…

Finland has filled only 29 of the 500 government jobs for young people announced by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government in April. Despite the slow start, the Ministry of Finance says it still expects the target to be reached, as most recruitment is expected to take place during the autumn. The programme announced by the Finnish government in April is aimed at people aged 18 to 25 applying for their first job or traineeship in central government. The government allocated €4 million in the 2026 supplementary budget to finance 500 fixed-term positions lasting up to three months.

Støre met Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian at the United Nations in New York on 23 September, calling for diplomacy over the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz while criticising Iranian attacks on civilian shipping and raising concerns about human rights. According to the Norwegian Prime Minister's Office, Norwegian Prime Minister (statsminister) Jonas Gahr Støre told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that the escalation in the Middle East and around the Strait of Hormuz was having consequences far beyond the region. Støre met Iran's president amid Hormuz tensions The Strait of Hormuz…

Denmark’s National Gallery (Statens Museum for Kunst, SMK), will renovate and redesign 6,700 square metres of exhibition space in Copenhagen over the next three years. The project, financed by private foundation donations worth DKK 70.5 million (about €9.4 million), will also change how the museum presents a collection spanning around 700 years of art history. The museum said the new collection displays will open gradually between 2027 and 2029, while SMK will remain open throughout the works. SMK renovation will bring more of its collection into public view…