The treaty drawn up between the sheets

Barentsburg, Svalbard (AFP) June 23, 2022

The Spitsbergen Treaty is one of the oldest and most unusual international treaties still in force - and possibly the only one ever conceived in bed by two gay men. Drawn up in almost comical circumstances in Paris in 1920, it gives the citizens of 46 countries the right to exploit the Arctic archipelago which is now officially known by its Norwegian name of Svalbard. Before then it was