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As the 12th General Assembly of the Northern Forum is getting closer, there is a steady flow of participants' registrations. This year's event is attracting more participants of different regions - for example, this year the event will be attended by the State of Alaska representatives, Mayor of Akureyri City, representatives from Russian Federal authorities and representatives of Arctic businesses and business administrations. This is a very short insight on two of the participants, registered at the moment.

Magadan Oblast of Russia has recently stated its decision to resume its full membership with the Northern Forum. This was announced by the Governor Vladimir Pecheniy’s letter. 

Magadan oblast has been one of the original members of the Northern Forum since its day one, where it was among founding regions. In spite of objective reasons, Magadan had to withdraw its membership in the latter years – until now.

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Acting Executive Director of the  Northern Forum Mikhail Pogodaev has taken part in 5th International meeting of the Arctic Council members representatives, observers and foreign scientific circles in Arkhangelsk. The meeting is chaired by Russian Security Council Secretary General Nikolai Patrushev. Sakha Republic delegation to this meeting also includes Deputy Prime Minister Pyotr Alekseev, Chair of state Arctic committee Alexei Kiselyov and an advisor for Head of Sakha Republic Eduard Klimov.

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The Northern Forum Infectious Diseases working group opens an international Symposium on New Priorities in Tuberculosis Control in Circumpolar Regions of the Arctic. The event is happening in Yakutsk right now.

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Conservative leader Stephen Harper brought his election campaign north on Friday with a promise to finance a $14-million road improvement project on Highway 5 in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

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Across the Bering Strait, Robert Soolook can easily see the looming hulk of the neighboring Russian island where some of his relatives used to live before they were forced to relocate to the Soviet mainland at the start of the Cold War.

Iceland considers that cooperation of all Arctic nations with Russia is necessary, despite the Ukraine situation - said the Icelandic Ambassador to the United States Geir Haarde. Mr. Haarde's opinion was that one should "not mix drinks" in the Arctic relations - i.e. set aside discontent over the other regions' issues; as Russia is the biggest Arctic state, it should not be excluded from the Arctic issues. "Issue of relations with Russia in this context is uneasy. Yet, despite these problems we think that one should not "mix drinks" - we should keep cooperation in the Arctic separated from the other problems" - said Mr. Haarde during a round table on Arctic relations.

 

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In her first major break with President Obama over environmental policy, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she opposed drilling in the Alaskan Arctic because it is too dangerous. 

The center opens by the end of 2015 in Arkhangelsk. The center will be established on the basis of six institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences located in the Arkhangelsk region

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"Kochevie - 2015" (Nomadic festival)

Celebration of the Indigenous Peoples of Yakutia 

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During the WW2 the Soviet Union was receiving Lend-Lease wartime supplies from the Allied nations in exchange for fur and other products, meant to be returned in postwar time. These supplies have included thousands of warplanes, tanks, ammunition and nutrition. Airplanes, hence their size, were delivered by air via the safest way - across the Bering Straits, This flyway was later called AlSib - Alaska-Siberia. This route connected several airbases along the way - starting in Great Falls, MT (USA) and ending in Krasnoyarsk (USSR). The American part of the way had a final point in Nome, AK. There is Nome, the American pilots handed over controls to Russian pilots, who took the airplanes further to the Soviet Union.

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Reindeer herders from cooperative "Harp" from the Nenets Autonomous Okrug sold 14 thousand reindeer hides in this year to Finnish partners