RVK Newscast 166: New Icelandic Sign Language

Hello from Blue Lagoon! Reykjavík Grapevine journalist Josie Anne Gaitens goes for a wander in the winter landscape and brings you all the latest news on Icelandic Coronavirus restrictions, journalists under investigation and new sign language for queer terms.

The Icelandic Minister of Health, Willum Þór Þorsson, has announced that he intends to lift all domestic and border pandemic restrictions by February 25th at the latest. This comes after two record breaking days of Coronavirus numbers in Iceland, with 2881 new cases recorded yesterday. Read our latest Covid report here.

There has been outcry in Icelandic media over the questioning of four journalists in conjunction with the so called ‘Fishrot Files’ case. The Icelandic Finance minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, criticised the backlash in the news, and questioned whether journalists should be considered above the law. Read our coverage here.

Samtökin 78, the national association for queer people in Iceland, held a competition in partnership with the committee for Icelandic sign language, to create new signs for queer terminology. The submissions were considered by a panel of judges and four new signs were confirmed for the terms asexual (eikynhneigð), nonbinary (kynsegin), a young nonbinary person (stálp), and an adult nonbinary person (kvár). More information can be found on Samtökin 78’s website.

The newscast is made possible with the help of our friends at Einstök Beer.

You can now take walking tours of Reykjavík with Grapevine crew members Valur, Pollý and Bjartmar as your guides. Click here for more details.