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Eruption and Falling Ash Update
The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management has issued an update, in English, on the eruption and falling ash situation in the Eyjafjallajökull area. “Eyjafjallajökull glacier and the foothills around the area is closed to the public,” the statement says in…
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Two Floods Broke Out Overnight
Two floods caused by lava melting glacial ice broke out near the Markarfljót river last night. However, one of these floods appears to be smaller than the one which broke out yesterday evening. While people were forbidden to travel into the area…
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Eruption News Roundup
As ash begins to fall, the Environment Agency of Iceland has issued a number of tips for people to have in mind. They advise that people avoid areas where ash is falling if at all possible. If they must go into the…
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Flooding Reaches Peak, Another on the Way
RÚV is now reporting that flooding caused by the new eruption has reached its peak. At the time of this writing, 700 people have been evacuated from the area near the eruption, but it is not expected to get worse than it…
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Volcano Cam International Hit
About a million people from 150 different countries have taken a look at the volcano at Fimmvörðuháls, all through a website with a webcam pointed at the eruption. Vísir reports that according to a statement from Mila, the company operating the website,…
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Mountain Name Needed!
Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Katrín Jakobsdóttir has confirmed with RÚV that a committee is being formed to come up with a name for the new mountain created by the volcano at Fimmvörðuháls. The minister told reporters that a special work group…
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Tourist Industry Profits from Volcano
It is reported that the tourist industry in Iceland is raking in tens of millions of crowns every day from the volcano at Fimmvörðuháls. RÚV reports that Torfi G. Yngvason, the director of Arctic Adventures, likens the volcano to a gold mine.…
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Satellite Images of the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
NASA took some superb photos of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption which started over a week ago. One such image, which can be seen here, shows that even from space, lava fountains are visible. The ash and steam rising from the lava create plumes…
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Charity Gives Priority to Icelanders Over Foreigners
The food kitchen Fjölskylduhjálp has apparently been giving Icelanders priority over foreigners in terms of who gets food first, inspiring strong criticism from city council. The newspaper Fréttablaðið broke the story, revealing that food lines had been divided up between Icelanders and…
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Paul Ramses and Family Receive Residence Permit
Kenyan asylum seeker Paul Ramses has finally received a residence permit on the grounds that he cannot return to his home country for fear of his life. The wait for the permit has taken two years, but that’s hardly when Ramses’ troubles…
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Amnesty International: Stop Sending Refugees to Greece
Amnesty International (AI) has issued a statement calling European countries to stop sending asylum seekers to Greece. AI contends that refugees sent to Greece are too poorly treated, and that “they do not have adequate access to legal council, interpretters and necessary…
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Russian Military Loves Icelandic Airspace
The Russian air force can’t seem to get enough of Iceland’s skies, it seems, as RÚV reports their military aircraft have buzzed us 62 times in the past four years. It is reported that two Tupolev jets came uninvited to Iceland and…
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Human Trafficking – Change Starts at Home
Human trafficking in Iceland has finally managed to gain more than a passing mention in the media. The subject now appears almost daily in the news, and in turn, the police and government officials have pledged to step up operations against the…
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Broke, Busted, Disgusted
In front of the Icelandic parliament, protesters bang on drums, blow whistles, chant and yell while police stand by, watching. Inside, Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon is addressing his colleagues. It’s a historic day. After months of negotiations, Icelandic authorities have…
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The Other Unemployed
The Directorate of Labour puts the national average unemployment rate at 6%. For immigrants, the figure is closer to 12%. When focus shifts, as it naturally does in a troubled economy, from creating jobs to saving jobs, legal loopholes – and in…
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Iceland’s New Government: What Happens Next?
The elections are over, and the result pretty much the entire world expected came to be. But what will this really mean for Iceland’s future? As we, at the Grapevine staff, watched and liveblogged the results as they came in, political pundits…
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The Break-Up
Dear Geir: Our relationship, I’m afraid to say, has run its course. I guess I’m partially to blame. Maybe I should have gotten to know you better before I asked you to move in. But you’re the type I’ve always dated, and…
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Protests at Parliament Continue Through the Night
Protests in front of the Icelandic parliament continued through the night last night and bonfires were lit (watch video), one of which consisted of a Christmas tree from Norway, fishing palettes and several park benches from the area. Police guarding the the scene used…
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The Ghost Town on the Coast
On March 15th, the US State Department made an announcement that brought a decades-long chapter in Icelandic history to a close and left its future even more uncertain: effective October 2006, the NATO base in Keflavík will be reduced to little more…
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Flight of the Valkyries
Without warning or introduction, two young women marched onto the stage and took their positions behind the two standing drums, dressed in semi-military garb. Their faces frozen expressionless, and their movements robotically coordinated, they martially pounded out the rhythm behind Tanz Mit…
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Going the Way of Styx
Not too long ago, a movement known as “progressive rock” began. Starting from the margins of music culture, bands such as Genesis, King Crimson and Yes became considered cutting edge, arbiters of musical innovation, attracting legions of fans. But it wasn’t long…
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SPENCER TUNICK: BODY PUBLIC
Akureyri Art Museum, until 30 April Spencer Tunick is best known for his treatment of the nude. Or in his case, nudes, often hundreds of them. Since 1994, he has taken numerous photographs of group nudes in Chile, New York, Australia and other…
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Mayoral Candidates for Reykjavík
Independence Party Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson Current position: Independence Party leader for City Council, board member of Reykjavík City Harbour, board member of the National Power Company. Platform highlights: Improving children’s education and the living conditions of the elderly, lowering taxes, developing downtown…
