McConnell Moves to Prevent Homeland Security Shutdown. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took steps Monday to prevent a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security by splitting off legislation attacking President Obama's immigration actions from the funding fight. The Kentucky Republican is seeking to fast-track legislation to eliminate two new immigration programs launched by Obama late last year, while allowing a 2012 initiative targeting younger immigrants to continue as designed. The Hill

What is Russia Up To in the Arctic? The M�ger� air defense monitoring base is inside a mountain at the end of an unmarked country road two hours south of Oslo, Norway. With only a rudimentary sentry box, a simple draw gate and a lone soldier guarding its entrance, the installation looks more like the set for a movie about the Nazi occupation of the country than a key link in the country's state-of-the-art defenses. At the end of a long, narrow tunnel into the mountain, in a cavernous room filled with computers and radar monitor screens, intelligence specialists stare at blinking icons marking the movement of aircraft around Norwegian airspace. On an all-too-typical afternoon recently, they watched as two nuclear-capable Tu-95 Russian Bear Bombers floated like fireflies across the top right of their monitors. A few desks away, an airman picked up phone and called Bod�, a military base on Norway's northern coast. Moments later, two F-16s rose to eyeball the intruders. Newsweek

Why China is Suddenly so Interested in the Arctic. Officials in China, now the second-largest economy in the world and a major global emitter of greenhouse gasses, now acknowledge that the country is important in the fight against global warming. It and many other Asian nations such as Singapore are also voicing greater concern about environmental changes in the Arctic region, changes they say are beginning to have a major impact back in their own countries. A group of Chinese officials and scientists visited the Norwegian city of Tromso last month for the Arctic Frontiers conference, where 1,400 government officials, scholars and activists from 30 Arctic and non-Arctic countries gathered to discuss climate change and energy matters related to the Arctic. Port News

[Opinion] Building Our Arctic Future. The United States' Arctic infrastructure is severely lacking - as is meaningful policy discussion concerning its development. Amid steadily growing opportunities, activity and vessel traffic in the region, this situation is becoming increasingly untenable. Current Arctic capabilities are unable to accommodate domestic pursuits, ensure their safety and security, protect the environment or uphold international responsibilities. Growing activity in Arctic waters is being spurred by the forces of climate change, which are exposing the region's considerable resources. These include: massive energy reserves, fisheries and sea-lanes that offer significantly reduced shipping distances and costs. Such opportunities are enticing Arctic ventures, and vessel traffic and more ships and cargo translate into a greater need for infrastructure and higher risk of accidents. Unfortunately, however, the Coast Guard reports that "there is very limited infrastructure" in the American Arctic. Arctic Journal

Norway Foreign Minister in Washington.  Foreign Minister B�rge Brende visits Washington for political talks with US authorities from 24 to 27 February. Brende will have meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Deputy National Security Advisor Avril D. Haines and Gen. John R. Allen. He will also meet director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde and the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim. There will also be meetings with members of the US Senate and some of America's foremost experts on Isil, Iraq, Syria, Russia and Ukraine. The Nordic Page

US Corps of Engineers Selects Plan for Alaskan Port. The US Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District has released a draft feasibility report and environmental assessment that selects a plan to establish a deepwater port in Nome, Alaska to support increased vessel traffic and economic development in the Arctic. In 2012, the Corps launched the Alaska Deep-Draft Arctic Port System Study to evaluate potential locations on the northern and western coasts of the state, and determine the feasibility of constructing navigation improvements as part of a larger system of port facilities in the Arctic and sub-Arctic region. Dredging News Online