Denmark

People demonstrate in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, June 30, 2023.

Student loans can be ‘simple’ and ‘automatic.’ Other countries offer lessons to the US.

In the US, interest on student loans started accruing again on Sept. 1. Soon, more than 40 million borrowers will have to resume their payments. The US is an outlier when it comes to high tuition and the debts that students take on.

Student loans can be ‘simple’ and ‘automatic.’ Other countries offer lessons to the US.
three white women outside laughing on a campus

Denmark pays students to go to college. But free education does have a price.

Denmark pays students to go to college. But free education does have a price.
The common house is the heart of the Hallingelille ecovillage community in rural Ringsted, Denmark.

A ‘green road’ leads displaced Ukrainians to shelter in ecovillages

A ‘green road’ leads displaced Ukrainians to shelter in ecovillages
Students at the International People's College head off to class.

Danish folk high schools offer lessons in peace in times of war

Danish folk high schools offer lessons in peace in times of war
At Copenhagen's central train station, Ukraine's flag wave side by side with Denmark's flag in a sign of solidarity seen all over the city.

Denmark welcomes Ukrainians under special law — with an expiration date

Denmark welcomes Ukrainians under special law — with an expiration date
"The Glass Castle," by Dmytro Moldovanov, seen at "The Muses are Not Silent" exhibition at Ukraine House in Denmark, Copenhagen, May 17, 2023.

'The muses are not silent': Ukraine House in Denmark offers space for arts, cultural exchange and dialogue

Ukraine House in Denmark opened its doors on Feb. 24 this year, on the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion in Ukraine, with the aim to promote Ukraine's cultural heritage and organize creative Danish-Ukrainian collaborations.

'The muses are not silent': Ukraine House in Denmark offers space for arts, cultural exchange and dialogue
scientists on lake

Geologists edge closer to defining the Anthropocene

The Anthropocene Working Group is voting on a so-called Golden Spike, a sedimentary layer somewhere on Earth that best exemplifies the global impact of humans on planet Earth. It's the last, big task in formally defining the Anthropocene, which is being proposed as a new age in geologic time.

Geologists edge closer to defining the Anthropocene
French Barkhane force soldiers who wrapped up a four-month tour of duty in the Sahel board a US Air Force C130 transport plane, leave their base in Gao, Mali, Wednesday June 9, 2021.

Trust the process: Part II

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the function of ad-hoc organizations that are formed to address a specific crisis — and then often get dissolved when the crisis ends.

Trust the process: Part II
Peter Møller, attorney and co-head of the Danish Korean Rights Group, holds documents at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022.

Danish Korean adoptees seek truth about their adoption circumstances

“We have reason to suspect that a lot of the information about us, at least the information we know, is incorrect," said Peter Knudsen, who is one of 50 cosigners on an application filed to South Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission last week to clarify their origins.

Danish Korean adoptees seek truth about their adoption circumstances
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson talks during the parliamentary debate on the Swedish application for NATO membership, in Stockholm, Monday, May 16, 2022. 

In historic shift, Sweden will join Finland in requesting NATO membership

The historic shift comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In historic shift, Sweden will join Finland in requesting NATO membership
Shchedryk Children’s Choir of Kyiv performs at the 2019 Summa Cum Laude International Youth Choir Festival.

Kyiv children’s choir’s world tour was canceled amid war. This conductor is finding other ways to share their music.

Shchedryk Children’s Choir from Kyiv was poised to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with a world tour. Then, Russia invaded Ukraine, canceling all plans. Conductor Saul Zaks is now on a mission to make sure the world hears the choir’s "magical" sounds.  

Kyiv children’s choir’s world tour was canceled amid war. This conductor is finding other ways to share their music.
Protestors clash with riot police during a demonstration against the reinforced measures of the Belgium government to counter the latest spike of the coronavirus in Brussels, Belgium

Europe sees widespread protests against COVID-19 restrictions

Protests against COVID-19 restrictions, some of them turning violent, rocked Europe over the weekend. Also, Sudan's top military commander reinstates Abdulla Hamdok, but as interim prime minister, until new elections are held. And, two of 17 missionaries kidnapped in October have been released in Haiti.

Europe sees widespread protests against COVID-19 restrictions
Vials of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in Jackson, Miss.

Moderna to build manufacturing plant in Africa

Moderna announces plans to build a manufacturing plant in Africa, capable of producing up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines per year. Also, Germany and Denmark repatriate women and children from the Roj prison camp in northeastern Syria that’s held suspected ISIS members. And Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Moderna to build manufacturing plant in Africa
A Syrian grocery shop in Istanbul sells brands that are familiar to Syrian customers, such as canned meats and condensed milk.

Syrian refugees and migrants in Turkey face a difficult decision to return home 

Millions of Syrians are wrestling with the tough choice to return to Syria after 10 years of civil war. In Turkey, the COVID-19 pandemic hit some Syrians so hard that they returned home, only to regret it.

Syrian refugees and migrants in Turkey face a difficult decision to return home 
Tronco, or multiple foot stocks used to to constrain enslaved people

The Netherlands hosts a new slavery exhibit, as historical debates continue 

“Slavery,” a new exhibit at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, tells the stories of 10 individuals who were involved in slavery under Dutch colonial rule.

The Netherlands hosts a new slavery exhibit, as historical debates continue