From Iceland — On The Front Page Today

On The Front Page Today

Published February 21, 2011

Morgunblaðið, Fréttablaðið and DV are all on the same page about what’s big news today: they feature a large photo of President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson to go with a headline story about how he refused to sign the Icesave deal (AGAIN) yesterday.
Morgunblaðið’s headline story reads, “The Nation Votes Again,” as there will now be a second referendum on the Icesave deal.
Below there’s a picture of Ólafur who looks like he is signing to the Brits and the Dutch, ‘peace out suckers, I’m not signing this!’ (Well, not really, but kind of). He is likely at Sunday’s press conference giving his second reason for not signing the Icesave deal, which is that “more than 40,000 voters, about one fifth of the electorate, have formally requested that a referendum be held on the new bill.”
Also on the front page, “[Janelle Monáe] rose to stardom as an android,” “It’s the right time to trim trees,” and “Brim and The Good Heart were victorious at the Eddas.”
Meanwhile, Fréttablaðið’s headline reads, “Vote for the agreement or court.” The photo shows Ólafur leaving the press conference after informing the nation that he would not sign the Icesave bill and would instead put the decision to a referendum. The caption mentions that he has a smile on his face.
In a related story, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir suggests that if there is a referendum on the Icesave deal, perhaps they can kill two birds with one stone and have people vote for the Constitutional Assembly at the same time (hopefully they won’t totally botch the elections again).
At the same time, DV reports, “The President sends Icesave to the nation, WHAT NEXT?” There’s a story about someone who “scratched and cut herself.” There’s a “big agreement between schools and pre-schools,” “four subsidiary companies of Stím are bankrupt,” “Logi Geirs hit Einar Bárðars,” and “the bookstore [Mál og Menning] was technically bankrupt in 2009.” (Thanks for the heads up!).

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