Packed Senate Schedule to Test Bipartisan Relations in Final Week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants to pass the budget deal and the Defense authorization bill, and confirm a new secretary of Homeland Security ... all by Friday. A Senate Democratic leadership aide said last week that Reid also wants to move another batch of nominees, including Janet Yellen, who would become the first woman to head the Federal Reserve. The Hill

Sea Ice: Fuel of the Future? Buried beneath the world's oceans and the Arctic permafrost lies a global energy source that many think might dwarf today's fracking revolution: huge reservoirs of natural gas trapped in ice crystals. They're called methane hydrates and are sometimes known as "flammable ice." If tapping methane hydrates ever becomes feasible, it once again would change the geopolitical map of the planet. Nations like Japan and India that lack their own conventional oil and gas resources suddenly could become energy power players. Anchorage Daily News 

Flying Uranium From Nunavut Scares Saskatchewan Dene. A proposed uranium mine in Canada's eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut is causing concern in the prairie province of Saskatchewan. The Athabasca Denesuline don't want the uranium moving through -- or over -- their traditional territory. At issue is Areva Resources' Kiggavik project near the Nunavut community of Baker Lake. Alaska Dispatch

Arctic Commission Readies Report for Legislature. How does the state of Alaska design policy that will both encourage opportunity and protect that which already exists in the ever-changing and expanding Arctic? That was the none-too-small question on the table for a group of Alaska lawmakers, industry leaders and stakeholders over the last year. The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission was tasked with leading the Alaska Legislature forward with its Arctic policy and is now finishing up a preliminary report, which is due to lawmakers by the end of January. But wrapping all the elements of the Arctic -- including a vast number of unknowns -- is none too easy, as the 26 commissioners were finding when they met this week in Anchorage to work in their final edits and revisions to a draft document. Alaska Dispatch

Ocean Mapping by UNB Group Leads to New Arctic Ship Route. Ocean mapping efforts in Canada's Arctic have uncovered a new passage for increasing shipping traffic to Iqaluit. The isolated region receives most of its supplies through shipping so the discovery of the new shipping highway, due in part to New Brunswick-based researchers, is significant. "It's a much better approach to Iqaluit," says Weston Renoud, a masters student in hydrography at the University of New Brunswick. "It's a deeper and wider approach. This is great for shipping.  CBC News

Warming Arctic Attracting New Plants and Animals: Report. The impacts of a warming climate in the Arctic are changing the ranges of plants and animals in the sea and on the land, according to this year's report on the Arctic by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Released this month, the report sums up the work of an international team of 147 scientists from 14 countries.

Arctic Ownership Race About More Than Santa and Science. Canadian politicians can claim Santa Claus as a Canadian citizen if they want, but they'd be best to make him wait in line like all the other law-abiding immigrants. On the other side of the Arctic Ocean, there is a dour, steely-eyed Russian by the name of Vladimir Putin who doesn't care whether Paul Calandra, the prime minister's parliamentary secretary, and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau want to claim old St. Nick as our own or not. The Russian president just wants to make sure that Canadians and the rest of the world know his country has planted a flag on the North Pole and he's daring us to come and pull it down. CBC News

Russian Submarines Outfitted to Break Thick Arctic Ice. By 2016, Russian submarines will have the ability to cut through thick, Arctic ice without damaging the ship's housing during rapid surfacing, thanks to a new design that puts advanced technology on the boats. The new technology for the submarines will allow subs to quickly surface for Arctic missions or to rescue the crew in case of an accident, according to the Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in charge of the new submarine design. Russia Beyond the Headlines

Regulators Seek Details on Shell Arctic Drill Plan. A federal agency is asking Royal Dutch Shell PLC for more details about possible plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea next year. The application to drill will not be complete until the oil giant provides additional information in its 2014 Chukchi Exploration Plan, Alaska Public Radio Network reported. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management wants questions answered on Shell ships, the Noble Discoverer and the Polar Pioneer, said David Johnston, regional supervisor for the Office of Leasing and Plans. The agency also has air quality questions. Juneau Empire

Finland Backs Plans for Data Cable Along Northern Sea Route. The cable linking Asia and Europe would transform Finland into an important data hub. Finland has voiced its support for a Russian plan to build a 14,900 kilometers long undersea data cable along the Northern Sea Route, linking Asia and Europe. As conceived by Finland, the trans-Arctic cable would join the Finnish fiber optic cable network through Murmansk and continue to Central Europe along the bed of the Baltic Sea. Helsinki Times