Iceland Roundup: Immigration, Greenland, Obesity, Oil Tanker & Paid Parking

The Reykjavík Grapevine’s Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson (later substituted by Grapevine editor-in-chief Bart Cameron) and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to round up the stories making headlines in recent weeks.

On the docket this week:

In an interview with Heimildin last weekend, Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir discussed many issues, but the attention-grabbing point was her statement that she could work with Miðflokkurinn (Centre Party) on immigration issues;

Iceland’s PM, the U.S. President, and almost everybody else have done little but talk about Greenland over the past week. We try to catch up on that;

According to a survey conducted for 2024 and released last December, it turns out that Icelanders are the most overweight of all the Nordic nations. Of the 80,000 Icelanders categorised as obese with a BMI over 30, more than 20,000, or 25%, are taking GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy. We weigh in on the discussion. (More on that here);

Last Wednesday, the U.S. Navy apprehended an oil tanker, presumably on its way to Russia, within Iceland’s Exclusive Economic Zone, but not within its territorial waters;

A new law has been proposed by the People’s Party to move the required medical exam for renewing Icelandic driving licences from 70 years old to 75;

We discuss the annual choice of “word of the year” in Iceland, which this time was “Gjaldskylda,” or paid parking, a term that has led to numerous misunderstandings on social media.