News in Brief
A roundup of the main news stories from the past weeks
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News In Brief: March
So: there’s good news and bad news. March picked up where February left off with a series of protests in front of parliament calling upon the government to allow the public to vote on whether or not to continue EU accession talks.Some of these…
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News In Brief: February
With the month-long winter holiday of Þorri arriving at the end of January, many food producers sought to mix up their traditional Þorramatur (Þorri food) provisions, which Icelanders are expected to eat 200 tonnes of this year. While creative, it remains to…
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News In Brief: November
With the holiday season upon us, it’s time for a little old fashioned Icelandic hospitality. It seems that visitors from the UK are the most susceptible to our charms, with 53,000 British tourists visiting Iceland in October alone. Iceland has welcomed an…
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News In Brief: Late October
With Iceland Airwaves now over, maybe you’ve just returned home from your first trip to Iceland and you’re trying to remember that one place that you saw that one great band, or maybe you’re just jonesing for another glimpse of our damp,…
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News In Brief: Late September
Happy, happy, joy, joy! Earlier this month Iceland was named the Most Peaceful Country by the 2013 Global Peace Index, again. The report ranks countries based on factors in three major categories: conflict, societal safety and militarisation. Iceland’s overall status shot it…
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News In Brief September
The world is a crazy place. Turbulence in the Middle East has led Iceland to offer asylum to about a dozen refugees from Iran and Afghanistan. Live on CNBC, Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð blamed the 2008 economic crash on “European regulations.” And…
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News In Brief: Early September
It’s back-to-school month! A time for the re-emergence of the alarm clock, of brown bag sack lunches, and of making new friends. On September 4, Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð met with President Obama in Sweden to discuss the Nordic region’s relationship with…
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News In Brief: Late August
As summer nears its expiration, it’s time to start turning inward. Put the kettle on the stove and light up that fire, home is about to become a lot more home-y. Icelanders are not the only ones trying to get cosy, as…
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News In Brief, Issue 12 2013
Word on the street is, Jesus was probably gay. And it’s Reykjavík Mayor Jón Gnarr‘s word, so it’s probably true. At a conference in Belgium in connection with the World Outgames, Jón gave a speech on international human rights, emphasising the responsibility…
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News In Brief: Late July 2013
Iceland and fish are seen together so commonly in sentences that they might as well get married already, which is probably what raised such alarm when Iceland’s women’s football team Instagrammed a photograph of Sigurwin, the team goldfish, being held in a…
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News In Brief: Early July 2013
RYAN GOSLING. There, we got that out of our systems. EDWARD SNOWDEN. Okay, that one’s out too. Well, to be honest, Snowden was never really allowed in the system, as the proposal to grant Snowden Icelandic citizenship was vetoed, which means it…
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News In Brief: Late May
The month of May swept in with bad weather and grizzly news, as whale hunting resumed and the first minke whale of the season was shot. International animal welfare groups expressed outrage over Iceland’s whaling practices and called for the EU and…
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News In Brief
March sure came in like a lion and went out like a lamb, eh? In fact, it’s almost difficult to remember just how much the weather was making the news just a few short weeks ago considering how absolutely gorgeous it’s been…
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News In Brief
January started off on a sensational note with international media reporting that Iceland was the thing to fear in 2013. Two different shows on America’s Public Broadcasting Service depicted Iceland as a ticking time bomb ready to explode this year. While Iceland…
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News In Brief: November
The month of October began on a peaceful note with the LENNONONO Awards given in Reykjavík. These awards, which recognise efforts made for the cause of world peace, were this year presented to late peace activist Rachel Corrie, author John Perkins, noted…
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News In Brief: Late September Edition
September began weirdly, as the media widely reported on a brutal attack of a six-year-old boy by a group of older boys, which allegedly left the victim hospitalised. The event was so unheard of in Iceland that it naturally gained a lot…
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News In Brief: Early September
Good news for those who are bound to the bus when it comes to travel: municipal bus service now extends across the country. If you live in the capital area, you can now take the bus as far afield as Akureyri, and…
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News In Brief: Late August
As this summer’s whale watching season continues, the renowned think-tank Centre for European Reform has strongly advised that EU officials demand that Iceland stop whaling as a condition to joining the EU. Strong words, to be sure, probably based on the fact…
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News In Brief: August Edition
Bad news if you plan to live in a retirement home in Iceland: the nursing home Hrafnista was denied an alcohol licence, which means that the facility cannot sell even beer or wine to folks that are well over the drinking age…
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News In Brief: Late July Edition
The downtown nightclub Nasa came back into the news, with the future of the building that housed it undergoing more twists and turns in a struggle between city officials and a grassroots movement to save the site. A petition was started, with…
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News In Brief: Early July Edition
June ended on a somewhat predictable note as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was re-elected for his fifth term in office. If he serves it to completion, he will be head of state for twenty years. Ólafur said that he considered his re-election an…
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News In Brief: Late June Edition
We’re now in mid-June and things are going famously. Tom Cruise arrived to take part in the filming of the movie ‘Oblivion,’ which will be shot in the north of the country, near Mývatn. Upon his arrival, he spent the first few…
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News In Brief: Early June Edition
June began on an optimistic note as the Pig Farmers’ Society of Iceland announced that it was going to create two organic, free-range pig farms, a welcome change from an organisation that said last year that it would be prohibitively expensive to…