For decades the rap on Scandinavia has been as follows: rich, egalitarian, boring. Copenhagen has always had a bacchanalian streak, however, and now one of its restaurants, Noma, has climbed over the backs of Spain's El Bulli and England's The Fat Duck to claim the No. 1 spot in Restaurant Magazine's survey of the 50 best restaurants in the world. Famed Danish chef Bo Bech, who runs the rival restaurant Paustian, told Jyllands-Posten: "I hope people will wake up now. Everyone knows there's good food in Spain, England and France, but the best now comes from Scandinavia. Let's appreciate that."

Norway and Russia have finally settled on a dividing line in the Barents Sea. Read my deadline story in The New York Times here. Norway's prime minister and Russia's president announced today that they will divide, roughly in half, a vast economic zone that has been under dispute the past 40 years. That opens the way for more offshore oil and gas production -- the same activity that most scientists say has caused the Arctic ice cap to recede from the Barents Sea in the first place, making it attractive as a business opportunity, though not a particularly green one. 

Three Danish professors (two of law and one of religion) argue in a new book that the Danish legal system should flex to accommodate Islamic residents who follow Sharia law, especially in cases related to family and marriage. That view drew rapid condemnation from Syrian-born Naser Khader, a champion of personal freedoms who is also a member of parliament. "Danish law, the cornerstone of our democracy, is based on individual rights and individual freedom," he wrote today in Berlingske Tidende. "Sharia is based on a totalitarian ideology, and permits repression."

Guests with strong thighs who pitch in to generate electricity at one of Copenhagen's largest hotels are rewarded with a $36 meal voucher. All they have to do is pedal a stationary bicycle for 15 minutes. "It will be exciting to see how many guests help out with their pedal power, and how much electricity they produce," Allan L. Agerholm, the director of Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, said in a press release.

The most generous government on earth in 2009 was the center-right coalition in Sweden. The OECD has released it annual ranking of nations according to the percentage of their GNI (Gross National Income) spent on official development aid. Following Sweden in the new ranking are Norway, Luxembourg and Denmark. That's three out of the four top spots for Scandinavia. If only aid could save the world.  

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who became stuck in New York when Iceland's volcano blotted out aircraft lanes over the Atlantic yesterday, has made it to Madrid and will probably complete the trip north by car -- all the while staying in touch with his staff and cabinet by way of the new iPad he picked up in New York, according to Aftenposten.no. 

Gunnar Wetterberg, a Swedish historian and trade union official, has called for the Nordic countries to form a tightly integrated union -- or "ice bloc" -- similar to the 15th century Kalmar Union of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. He made the proposal Monday at a seminar of the Nordic Council, a loosely organized talking shop of political officials from the former Kalmar nations as well as Iceland and Finland. "The EU comes nowhere close to what Nordic union could achieve," said Wetterberg.

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The Northern Lights blazed across the Norwegian heavens early this morning, reaching far south of their usual range and thrilling even Oslo residents who happened to be outside in the wee hours, celebrating the arrival of spring.