What Are Icelanders Talking About?

The latest flare-ups from social media

History was made last week when all five suspects in the notorious Guðmundur and Geirfinnur case had all charges against them dropped. This case, arguably the most famous criminal case in Icelandic history, saw the five convicted of murder in 1974, despite their being no bodies, no witnesses and no material or circumstantial evidence connecting them to the disappearance of the two men the case is named after. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir issued an apology on behalf of the Icelandic government and will soon explore if reparations will be paid for the prison time the men served and the damage done to their reputations and families.

What time is it in Iceland? Turns out, the answer isn’t so simple. A workgroup under the auspices of the Ministry of Health has proposed that Iceland abide a different time zone than GMT, citing the deleterious effects on health that sticking with a timezone far to the east of us has, including a lack of sleep, depression and decreased attention span. No need to be in a hurry to reset your clocks, though; the measure will likely not even be voted on until the 2019-2020 parliamentary session.

Iceland often gets praised for its parental leave policies, which give parents a combined nine months off to care for their newborns. That may soon change—for the better. A new bill from the Social Democrats would like to see parental leave extended to 12 months, partly in response to the lack of available spaces in daycare around the country. Although it’s an opposition party bill, it may actually pass, very likely to the delight of expectant parents across Iceland.

Lastly, allegations of sexual assault have been levied against Sigur Rós drummer Orri Páll Dýrason, made by artist Megan Boyd. In two lengthy Instagram posts, she said that the two met at a club in 2013, and that he later assaulted her as she slept. Orri announced shortly thereafter that he was quitting the band, saying that he will fight, but intends to do so out of the public eye.