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Sinéad O’Connor’s Surprise TV Performance
Sinéad O’Connor and her daughter made surprise TV appearance in Iceland as backing vocalists for John Grant on RÚV’s New Year’s edition of chat show „Sunnudagsmorgunn“. Hosted by Gísli Marteinn Baldursson, former Independence Party city councellor, the show usually airs on Sunday…
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A Good Year For The Króna
The exchange rate of the Icelandic Króna against some of the major currencies is higher now than it was a year ago. On Friday, the buying rate of the Euro was 158 ISK but was 168 ISK same date last year. And…
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AWP Releases First Batch of “Glitnir Files”
Media organisation Associated Whistle-Blowing Press have released the first batch of documents from Glitnir bank, indicating that the bank paid part of CEO Bjarni Ármannsson’s private expenses. AWP was founded by two former journalists of WikiLeaks Central, a news portal for WikiLeaks,…
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Walter Mitty Tour Boycotts Film Location In The East
Residents in Seyðisfjörður are surprised why the Walter Mitty tours that went on sale last week don’t include East Iceland, where a large portion of Ben Stiller’s new movie was filmed. As reported, Iceland plays a huge role in The Secret Life…
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Walter Mitty Tours To Iceland
Icelandic travel operators intend to follow up on the publicity Iceland gets in Ben Stiller’s new film by offering special Walter Mitty tours around Iceland. As reported, most of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was filmed in Iceland. In the film,…
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The End Of RIFF?
An Independence Party councillor opposes to the city council’s decision to stop sponsoring RIFF, saying it might ruin the film festival’s chances of any funding. Reykjavík’s city council has approved its budget for 2014 which includes that rather than sponsoring the Reykjavík…
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Mother And Child Held Captive On Christmas Eve
A man held his one year old child and its mother captive in her home on Christmas Eve. After a three hour siege he was overpowered by police on Wednesday morning. The man is in his early thirties and lives in Norway,…
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Prices Of Alcohol And Tobacco On The Rise Again
Levy on tobacco and alcohol will increase at the beginning of the New Year, for the seventh time since the 2008 crash. Levy on snuff will by then be five times higher than it was five years ago. The national budget for…
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Warning: Seriously Bad Christmas Weather Coming Up
Horrendous weather is predicted at the beginning of Christmas, on the 24th and the 25th in most of Iceland. People are advised not be out and about during those days. The Weather God is not feeling very Christmassy this year, as there’s…
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Shortage Of iPads For Christmas
iPads are sold out at most vendors’ and 1,500 people are on a waiting list for a new iPad, which seems to be THE Christmas present this year. The cheapest iPad tablet cost around 50,000 ISK whereas the most expensive one cost…
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More Daylight Overshadowed By Xmas Blizzard
Despair not, Saturday was the shortest day of the year and from now on the days will get longer. However, foul Christmas-weather is ahead. The time of Winter Solstice 2013 occurred on December 21st at 17:11 and henceforth, the days will get…
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Police Tell Asylum Seekers “Go Home”
An asylum seeker from Afghanistan was told by police “Go home, you don’t belong here” when he was arrested during police search for Tony Omos, the asylum seeker who was deported on Wednesday. Yusuf Mahdavi is a 23 year old refugee who…
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Rabbits Reaching Too Far
The City of Reykjavík is being pressured by municipalities in the Capital Area to take action against rabbits trespassing by crossing the city borders. Rabbits were the subject of a meeting in the City Environment and Planning Committee on Wednesday. The Committee…
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Naming Committee Put To Shame Again
A three year old boy won a case against the Naming Committee in the District Court of Reykjavík on Thursday, giving him the right to be named after his grandfather. This is the second time this year that the District Court rules…
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The 2013 Christmas Comes Straight From The Farm
Icelanders seem to have ditched the supermarkets for this Christmas, as there’s never been more demand for direct-from-farm food products. The traditional smoked leg of lamb, hangikjöt (which even has its own Facebook page), is at the top of the list. The…
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Ásgeir’s Glasgow Concert Gets Rave Review
Icelandic musician Ásgeir gets four stars out of five in The Guardian for his concert in Glasgow on Sunday evening, where he‘s likened to both Múm and Mumford & Sons. Ásgeir (formerly Ásgeir Trausti) has been touring the UK since November and…
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The Christmas Black Market Booming
This is the season for black market trade with rock ptarmigan, the game bird essential for some people’s Christmas feast, which sells these days for 2,500 to 4,500 ISK a piece. It’s indeed illegal to sell ptarmigans as hunters are instructed to…
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Hunt For Rare Z Bank Notes Is On
Collectors are now on the hunt for the new 10,000 ISK bank note, after discovering some of them have rare serial numbers which make the bills worth keeping rather than spending. As reported, the Central Bank put a new 10,000 ISK bank…
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Majority Of Icelanders Never Buy Whale Meat
Only 3% of Icelanders eat whale meat regularly, according to a new survey carried out by Capacent for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). That’s based on whether people had bought whale meat six times or more in the past 12…
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Search For A Man Who Fell Overboard Continues
ICE-SAR units in East Iceland are searching for a man believed to have fallen overboard a foreign tramp steamer shortly before it sailed into the harbour of Reyðarfjörður. The tramp steamer, Alexia, contacted the Coast Guard around half past six on Sunday…
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Ministry The Only Possible Source Of Leak
A document containing personal information about an asylum seeker, which was leaked to the media last month, is nowhere on record at the Directorate of Immigrants or The Police Commissioner. In fact, none of the staff there remember ever having seen it.…
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Two Lottery Players Split A Record High Jackpot
Christmas has arrived early for at least two people, who split the National Lottery‘s record high jackpot, each getting nearly 70 million ISK. The jackpot had rolled over for eight weeks, which had never happened before and it had been estimated that…
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Ben Stiller Hopes To Return To Iceland
A special screening of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was held in Smárabíó on Thursday night, for those involved in the making of the film in Iceland; Ben Stiller sent his regards. Director Ben Stiller was not present but a video…
