by Mingming Shi
1) Marc Lanteigne, Chief Editor at OtC, authored an Interlude article for the blog which looked at the offbeat connections between the Arctic, including Russia’s widening policies in the far northern region of this world, and the recent discovery in the skies of the planet Venus of a gas associated with life on Earth.
2) As the CBC reported, US President Donald Trump was about to issue an approval for a railway link between Alaska and the Canadian province of Alberta. The rail line would mainly be used to transport natural resources such as oil, iron ore and other raw materials, but also possibly passengers. According to the subsequent news reports, the permit has been authorised, and the railway may be completed in 2025.
3) Four foreign visitors in Iceland were arrested and fined 250,000 ISK (about US$1800) per person, before being sent back to their home country, due to their violation of the current quarantine regulations in Iceland, according to RÚV. Iceland, like many other countries in Europe, are currently struggling with a uptick of new coronavirus cases since the beginning of the autumn.
Over the Circle 