A large plot of private land in Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago may soon be sold for about €300 million ($330 million), but the deal has raised concerns in Oslo over national security.

The property, known as Søre Fagerfjord, covers roughly 60 square kilometers (23 square miles) and is the last privately owned land in Svalbard. 

A group of international and Norwegian investors has offered to buy the land, but officials in Norway worry it could give foreign powers a strategic foothold in a sensitive Arctic region.

The land is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the main town of Longyearbyen and has been in Norwegian hands for over a century. It was listed for sale last year, and the government quickly made it clear that any sale must be cleared in advance due to security laws.

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One of the sellers even called it a «strategic foothold in the High Arctic,» which has only fueled concerns. 

Svalbard is becoming more important as melting sea ice opens up new shipping routes and increases global interest in the region.

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A white rainbow over the Arctic Sea at Svalbard, Norway.  (Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The buyers describe themselves as environmentalists from NATO countries who want to protect the land.

 «The consortium includes both Norwegian and international investors who have a long-term perspective of protecting this territory from environmental changes,» said Birgit Liodden, a shareholder and climate activist. 

She added that about half the money from the sale would go toward environmental projects in Svalbard. So far, the group has not discussed the sale with the Norwegian government.

In the area surrounding Nordenskjøld Land National Park in Svalbard, a lone polar bear is exposed on the rocks where a decade ago a glacier stood. (Mark Fitzsimmons, Sony World Photography Awards 2023)

Still, Norwegian officials are cautious. In 2024, they blocked a similar attempt by Chinese investors. Trade Minister Cecilie Myrseth warned at the time that such actions could harm regional stability and threaten national interests.

Svalbard is governed by a 1920 treaty that gives over 40 countries, including Russia, China and the U.S., equal rights to live and do business there. 

Russia, which operates a settlement on the islands, has accused Norway of breaking the treaty by increasing its military presence, something Norway denies.

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The sellers’ lawyer, Per Kyllingstad, said the buyers only want to protect nature and that the sale should not be blocked.

President Donald Trump has been unafraid to publicly blast Democrats and the liberal media during his first 100 days in office, continuing a similar trend from his first term.

In one high-profile skirmish, Trump publicly berated Maine’s Democrat. Gov. Janet Mills for defying his executive order barring biological males who identify as transgender from competing in women’s sports.

«Your population doesn’t want men playing in women’s sports, so you better comply because otherwise you’re not getting any federal funding,» Trump told Mills during a meeting of the nation’s governors at the White House in February. Mills argued she would «see [him] ion court» over the matter, to which the president responded: «I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one.»

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«Enjoy your life after governor,» he added, «because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.»

A second notable clash with Democrats came during Trump’s joint address to Congress in March. Several Democrats held up anti-Trump signs, shouted and moaned in the middle of Trump’s speech, and some ultimately walked out. Progressive Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas had to be escorted out of the House chamber because he would not stop disrupting the president’s speech and was subsequently censured by members of his own party over the stunt.

«I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or make them stand and smile or applaud,» Trump said during his address, looking toward the Democrats’ side of the House chamber. «I could find a cure to the most devastating diseases. A disease that would wipe out entire nations, or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history… and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.»

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«It’s very sad,» Trump added. «And it just shouldn’t be this way.»

The press has not been spared from public lashings by Trump during his second term, either. 

In one notable back-and-forth, Trump was asked by a reporter in the Oval Office whether he thought he had the legal authority to mass deport illegal aliens. In response, the president flipped the script on the reporter, asking in return: «Did Biden have the authority to allow millions of people to come into our country?»

In another testy back-and-forth with reporters, this time aboard Air Force One, Trump did not mince words with a reporter from Bloomberg who questioned Trump about his tariffs.

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«I think your questions are so stupid,» Trump told the reporter aboard Air Force One after he was asked if there was any «pain in the market at some point you’re unwilling to tolerate?» 

«I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,» Trump shot back. «And we have such a horrible, we have been treated so badly, by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen.»

Trump’s public lashings of Democrats and the media have also included new nicknames for the president’s political opponents. 

One of those targets, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., garnered himself a new nickname this term: «Watermelon-Head.» The nickname follows Trump’s first-term nickname he gave to Schiff: «Pencil neck.»

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«Adam ‘Schifty’ Schiff – can you believe this guy?» Trump said at a dinner hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee earlier this month. «He’s got the smallest neck I’ve ever seen – and the biggest head: We call him Watermelon-Head.» Trump went on to ponder how Schiff’s «big fat face» could «stand on a neck» the size of the president’s finger. 

«It’s the weirdest thing – it’s a mystery; no one can understand it.»

Trump gives his joint address to Congress and is interrupted by Rep. Al Green protesting his cuts to multiple government programs. March 4. (AP)

Another Trump nickname to come from his first 100 days did not target a specific person, but Democrats as a whole who have been against his tariff policies. 

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«The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!),» Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social earlier this month. «Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!»

El lunes, los cardenales de la Iglesia católica comenzarán una semana decisiva de reuniones a puerta cerrada en el Vaticano, donde se perfila el futuro de la institución. El cónclave para elegir al próximo pontífice ha sido convocado para el 7 de mayo, y aunque las normas prohíben cualquier campaña formal, las maniobras políticas han comenzado a intensificarse.

La fase previa al cónclave, conocida como congregaciones generales, ofrece a los cardenales electores —aquellos menores de 80 años— la oportunidad de intercambiar impresiones, evaluar posturas y sopesar carismas. En este escenario, los aspirantes al papado deben proyectar liderazgo sin parecer que lo buscan. Como indica un viejo dicho vaticano: “Quien entra al cónclave como papa, sale como cardenal”.

Sin embargo, existen precedentes que contradicen esa máxima. En 2005, el entonces decano del Colegio Cardenalicio, Joseph Ratzinger, pronunció una encendida homilía en el funeral de Juan Pablo II, donde denunció “una dictadura del relativismo”. Su intervención marcó la pauta del cónclave y lo catapultó al papado como Benedicto XVI.

En esta ocasión, fue el actual decano, Giovanni Battista Re, de 91 años y sin derecho a voto, quien ofició la misa fúnebre de Francisco. En su homilía, Re destacó el carisma del pontífice fallecido y su sensibilidad ante los signos de los tiempos. “Fue también un Papa atento a lo que el Espíritu Santo despertaba en la Iglesia”, afirmó, en un discurso interpretado por algunos observadores como un respaldo implícito a un sucesor con un perfil similar.

Durante su elección en 2013, el entonces cardenal argentino Jorge Mario Bergoglio no contó con grandes plataformas ni discursos públicos. Según fuentes vaticanas, su brevedad y agudeza en las intervenciones durante las congregaciones generales fueron decisivas para obtener el respaldo de sus pares.

“Un político nato”, lo describió recientemente el arzobispo Paul Gallagher, secretario para las Relaciones con los Estados del Vaticano, quien añadió: “Le gustaba la política. No le era ajena”.

Los potenciales sucesores enfrentan ahora el desafío de transmitir una visión clara sin cruzar la línea del proselitismo. Algunos de ellos deberán posicionarse frente a una cuestión central: ¿continuar, corregir o superar el legado de Francisco?

Entre los nombres que generan mayor interés figura el del cardenal Luis Antonio Tagle, de Filipinas, considerado por muchos como el “Francisco asiático” por su cercanía al estilo pastoral del papa fallecido. Su perfil ha cobrado relevancia en parte porque una gran proporción de los votantes fue designada por Francisco desde regiones periféricas, alejadas del tradicional núcleo europeo del poder eclesiástico.

También ha ganado protagonismo el cardenal Pietro Parolin, secretario de Estado del Vaticano y figura clave durante el pontificado de Francisco. Este domingo, Parolin presidió una misa especial para jóvenes en la Plaza de San Pedro ante unas 200.000 personas, en presencia de decenas de cardenales. En su homilía, elogió el legado de Francisco y subrayó la necesidad de asumirlo como guía: “Debemos acoger su herencia y hacerla parte de nuestras vidas”, dijo.

Conocedor de la diplomacia y con amplia experiencia en la Curia, Parolin es percibido como un candidato de consenso, capaz de atraer tanto a sectores reformistas como a los más moderados. Su nacionalidad italiana también podría jugar a su favor, ante el creciente deseo en algunos círculos europeos de devolver el liderazgo papal al corazón de Roma.

Mientras tanto, fuera del Vaticano, los fieles —y especialmente los jóvenes— muestran otras prioridades. “Más inclusión”, reclamó en diálogo con The New York Times Lara Cappuccelli, una joven de 19 años llegada desde la región de Piamonte. Como ella, muchos expresan deseos de un papa cercano, que inspire esperanza más allá de los equilibrios internos de poder.

Las reuniones de esta semana seguirán afinando los perfiles de los candidatos y decantando apoyos, en un clima donde cada gesto cuenta y donde el silencio, a veces, puede pesar tanto como las palabras. A medida que se acerca el inicio del cónclave, la Iglesia se prepara para elegir a su próximo líder, en una elección que podría marcar el rumbo institucional y espiritual del catolicismo durante las próximas décadas.