Melting ice is opening a trade route through the Arctic. China has begun the first regular service, part of its polar ambitions.

© Pablo Robles/The New York Times

Empowered by an international court order, Norway captured the vessel as part of a global effort to seize Russian assets. The Russians called it “piracy.”

© Emile Ducke for The New York Times

For decades, Denmark implanted intrauterine devices in women in Greenland in an effort to keep down the island’s population. On Thursday, the government passed a compensation bill.

© Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix Foto