Iceland to keep hunting up to 2,130 whales over 5 years

February 23, 2019

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2,130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the government.

The five-year whaling policy was up for renewal when Fisheries Minister Kristjan Juliusson announced this week an annual quota of 209 fin whales and 217 minke whales for the next five years. While many Icelanders support whale hunting, a growing number of businessmen and politicians are against it due to the North Atlantic island nation's dependence on tourism.

Whaling, they say, is bad for business and poses a threat to the country's reputation and the expanding international tourism that has become a mainstay of Iceland's national economy. "We risk damaging the tourism sector, our most important industry," legislator Bjarkey Gunnarsdottir said, referring to the international criticism and diplomatic pressure that Iceland faces for allowing the commercial hunting of whales.

The Icelandic Travel Industry Association issued a statement Friday saying the government was damaging the nation's "great interests" and the country's reputation to benefit a small whaling sector that is struggling to sell its products.

"Their market for whale meat is Japan, Norway and the Republic of Palau," the tourism statement said. "Our market is the entire globe." Iceland's Statistics Agency says tourism accounts for 8.6 percent of Iceland's economic production. In 2016, tourism produced more revenue than Iceland's fishing industry for the first time.

Iceland has four harpoon-equipped vessels, owned by three shipping companies reported to be running them at a loss or small profit. Last year, the industry killed 5 minke whales and 145 fin whales, according to the Directorate of Fisheries.

Since commercial whale hunting resumed in Iceland in 2006, whaling companies have never killed their full quota. As a result, it's considered unlikely that all 2,130 whales will be killed under this policy.

The International Whaling Commission imposed a ban on commercial whaling in the 1980s due to dwindling stocks. Japan in December said it was pulling out of the IWC due to its disagreement with that policy. Iceland is still a member of the IWC.

Iceland's Northern Lights: Beautiful sight, risky drives

January 13, 2019

AKUREYRI, Iceland (AP) — Police in Iceland have a warning for visitors: Beware our roads in the winter. Spending a clear winter night under an Arctic sky lit up by spectacular streaks of color from the Northern Lights is an often-cited "bucket-list" experience among the reasons more people are visiting Iceland, especially its northern region.

The remote region on the edge of the Arctic Circle is one of the best places in the world to spot the colorful phenomenon. But police say many foreign visitors lack the experience and expertise to handle Iceland's wintry road conditions. They are increasingly worried about visitors scanning the sky for the Northern Lights and not looking at the road, which may be icy, twisty or narrow — or all three conditions at once.

"The weather in Iceland changes every five minutes, so to speak, and road conditions change accordingly," said superintendent Johannes Sigfusson of the Akureyri Police Department, the largest in the northern region. "In a matter of minutes, a dry road can turn icy and slippery.

"The risk is compounded in the middle of the night, when an inexperienced driver is deprived of sleep and with one eye on the sky." Of the 18 people who died in traffic crashes in Iceland in 2018, half of them were foreigners, continuing a trend that started the year before, when more foreigners than residents died for the first time on this volcanic island in the North Atlantic.

The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, occur when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth's magnetic field and causes atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow. The lights appear quite suddenly and the intensity varies — the most amazing are bright green with streaks of purple and yellow.

Northern Lights sightings depend on a mix of luck and effort. The Icelandic Met Office operates a 9-scale Northern Lights forecast every day, based on solar winds in the past three days, that pinpoints the best spots in the country each night to try to see the lights. But traveling away from city lights is most often necessary, and that has led some drivers to take hazardous mountain roads.

Police say they have encountered sleep-deprived drivers cruising into the night, as well as vehicles driving without lights on to prevent light pollution. Police say some accidents even happen on main roads, when tourists hit the brakes quickly because of a sudden Northern Lights sighting and then get hit from behind.

It doesn't help that, in Icelandic winters, the sun in Akureyri can rise as late as 11:39 a.m. and set as early as 2:43 p.m., meaning that tourists are spending most of their day driving in the dark. Authorities note that the capital, Reykjavik, Akureyri and other areas have tourism companies that offer nightly Northern Lights bus tours near-daily in the winter so tourists can leave the driving to professionals.

Iceland's road infrastructure also lags behind its boom in international tourism. The national Road No. 1, which runs for 1,337 kilometers (830 miles) as it connects coastal towns and villages on this volcanic island of 350,000 people, still has narrow lanes and many one-lane bridges.

Last month, an SUV carrying seven British tourists plunged off a one-lane bridge on Road No. 1 in southern Iceland, killing three people and critically injuring the others. In the winter, tourists from warm countries — who may never have driven in snow and ice — have been more likely to get into accidents, according to the Icelandic Transport Authority.

"Driving on Icelandic winter roads it is tough. Definitely," said Jeremy Tan, a financier from Singapore who was about driving his rental car half way around Iceland. "Dark roads and strong winds are something that I am not used to."

He was parked at Godafoss, a landmark waterfall in northern Iceland, hoping that the clouds might pull the curtains on a winter Northern Lights show. The Icelandic Met Office's Northern Lights forecast for that night listed their strength as "moderate" but Tan was prepared to wait, with warm cloths and snacks for the night.

But midnight passed without any signs of green, purple or yellow dancing lights above the horizon. The accuracy of aurora forecasting could soon improve, however. The Chinese Polar Research Institute is opening Iceland's first-ever aurora research station in a remote valley about a half-hour drive from the northern town of Akureyri. The futuristic three-store building, set to go into operation later this year, is part of China's broad ambitions in the Arctic.

Gunnlaugur Bjornsson, astrophysicist at the University of Iceland, is among the local scientists involved in project. Speaking to The Associated Press, he said much was still unknown about the Northern Lights and the vast electromagnetic system that unleashes them.

"Weather prediction is difficult. Aurora prediction is even more so," he said. "We just have to wait and see, like with the earthquakes."

Wired Icelanders seek to keep remote peninsula digital-free

September 06, 2018

HORNSTRANDIR, Iceland (AP) — The passenger boat arrives at the bottom of Veidileysufjordur, a short inlet with a long name, to drop off backpackers for a multi-day trek. A weather-beaten group that's completed the trip waits to board, eager to get back to a part of Iceland where they can reconnect with the world via Wi-Fi.

By boat, that will take about a half-hour. No roads lead to the Nordic country's northernmost peninsula, a rugged glacial horn that reaches for the Arctic Circle. Making a phone call requires walking up a mountain for a cell signal so weak, clouds seem capable of blocking it.

But internet service soon could be reaching the Hornstrandir Nature Reserve, one of the last digital-free frontiers in what might be the world's most-wired nation. The possibility has most hikers, park rangers and summer residents worried that email, news and social media will destroy a way of life that depends on the absence of all three.

"We see a growing appreciation for the lack of online connection," Environment Agency of Iceland ranger Vesteinn Runarsson, who patrols the peninsula's southern end on his own. "Looking to the future, we want to keep Hornstrandir special in that way."

The area has long resisted cell towers, but commercial initiatives could take the decision out of Icelanders' hands and push Hornstrandir across the digital divide. Companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX are racing to deliver high-speed internet service to every inch of the world by putting thousands of small satellites into low Earth orbit. Their success would have global implications, bringing the benefits and downsides of internet communication to places that are off the grid because of poverty or war, or where internet access is reserved for the wealthy.

That's also true for sparsely populated communities and far-flung destinations in Canada, Russia, Alaska and elsewhere in the vast Arctic region, where broadband service generally is prohibitively expensive. Yet in Iceland, the prospect of constant connectivity has called up an old debate on whether Hornstrandir's wilderness should stay unwired.

Despite or because of its remoteness, Iceland ranks first on a U.N. index comparing nations by information technology use, with roughly 98 percent of the population using the internet. Among adults, 93 percent report having Facebook accounts and two-thirds are Snapchat users, according to pollster MMR.

Many people who live in northwestern Iceland or visit as outdoor enthusiasts want Hornstrandir's 570 square kilometers (220 square miles), which accounts for 0.6 percent of Iceland's land mass, to be declared a "digital-free zone." The idea hasn't coalesced into a petition or formal campaign, so what it would require or prohibit hasn't been fleshed out.

The last full-time resident of the rugged area moved away in 1952 — it never was an easy place to farm — but many descendants have turned family farmsteads into summer getaways. Alexander Gudmundsson, who vacations in the home where his great-grandmother grew up, doesn't have to look far down the family tree to see the effect of digital devices: his teenage daughter refused to come to Hornstrandir this summer because it would mean not having online access.

"But once the kids are here, all they do is play outside," Gudmundsson said. Northwest Iceland's representative in parliament is less sentimental about the value of isolation. Since her election last year, Halla Signy Kristjansdottir has urged the Ministry of Transport to fund cell towers for the safety of sailors and travelers whose mobile devices currently are useless in and near Hornstrandir.

"I don't see anything romantic about lying on the ground with a broken thigh bone and no cellphone signal," Kristjansdottir said in an interview. In a written response to the lawmaker, Minister of Transport Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson noted that huts along the hiking trails are equipped with radiophones for emergencies. He defended the absence of digital connectivity in Hornstrandir as a factor in "advancing visitor's experience."

Police and rescue workers have suggested creating an illustrated map that marks the mountain summits with the strongest signals. The Environment Agency of Iceland estimates that 3,000 people trek through Hornstrandir every summer, moving from one fjord to the next. Some are rewarded with sightings of the arctic fox, Iceland's only native land mammal. The few structures — abandoned farm houses and a decommissioned U.S. Air Force radar station — were abandoned decades ago.

When The Associated Press visited in August, the travelers interviewed there unanimously favored making the reserve a digital-free zone, though their notions of what that meant varied. "If phones worked here, I am sure many people would go as far as carrying battery packs to charge their devices," said Mikko Ronkkonen, a hiker from Finland who had just completed an eight-day trip.

When Runarsson, who works as a police officer during the winter, wanted to ask the ferry captain about the next arrival, he took a short cairn-marked trail to the higher ground known locally as Telephone Mountain.

He walked in circles, as if searching for something on the ground. "One bar. Two bars," he murmured with his eyes fixed on his phone. The bars quickly disappeared as the mountain shrugged off the faint signal.

"Maybe the clouds are interfering," Runarsson said without a hint of frustration. "No phone calls today, I guess."

Opposition erupts as Iceland eyes banning most circumcisions

February 25, 2018

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelandic lawmakers are considering a law that would ban the circumcision of boys for non-medical reasons, making it the first European country to do so. Some religious leaders in Iceland and across Europe have called the bill an attack on religious freedom. It is seen as a particular threat by Jews and Muslims who traditionally embrace the practice.

Under the proposed law, the circumcision of boys — removing the foreskin of the penis, usually when the child is a newborn — would be viewed as equal to female genital mutilation and punishable by up to six years in prison.

"This is fundamentally about not causing unnecessary harm to a child," said Silja Dogg Gunnarsdottir, lawmaker for the centrist Progressive Party, who introduced the bill this month. The proposed law calls circumcision a violation of human rights "since boys are not able to give an informed consent of an irreversible physical intervention."

Circumcision is not common in Iceland, a small Atlantic Ocean island nation of 340,000 people that is overwhelmingly Lutheran or atheist, with an estimated 100 to 200 Jews and about 1,100 practicing Muslims.

The bill has eight co-sponsors but is considered unlikely to get a majority in the 63-seat Iceland parliament. It does not have the formal backing of any government ministers but has drawn the support of 422 Icelandic doctors who favor outlawing the 4,000-year-old religious practice.

They issued a joint statement Wednesday saying circumcision violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also the physicians' Hippocratic Oath that says: "First, do no harm." "In Western societies, circumcision of healthy boys has no significant health benefits," the doctors' statement read, citing a 2013 paper in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal.

The American academy itself says the health benefits of the practice outweigh the risks but not by enough to recommend universal male circumcision. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says doctors should educate infant boys' parents about the health benefits of circumcision, which it says reduces the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

Physician Eyjolfur Thorkelsson said the 422 signatures (a quarter of the country's practicing physicians, based on numbers from the Icelandic Medical Association) were collected in just 48 hours. Since 2006, only 21 boys under the age of 18 have been circumcised at Icelandic hospitals or private clinics, according to Iceland's Directorate of Health. The agency could not say how many were for religious reasons.

Thorkelsson said the surgical procedure is painful, and its possible complications are well known to Icelandic doctors since most go abroad for training at hospitals in northern Europe or the United States where circumcision is more common.

"For many doctors, it's an uncomfortable request from parents," he said. This view is not accepted in Jewish and Muslim communities. During Friday services at a prayer space above a home goods store, Imam Salmann Tamimi warned his multinational congregation about the proposed law.

"Circumcision is harmless if it's done at a hospital," he said. "This bill is appealing to people's emotion, not evidence." He said circumcision was important to Muslims but even more so to Jews. "This is an attack on all religion and especially Judaism," he said.

Rabbi Avi Feldman of the Chabad Jewish Center, who last month became Iceland's first permanent rabbi since World War II, says he hopes the bill does not become law. In a statement to the AP, he said circumcision is a core Jewish practice that serves as a bedrock of Jewish life.

He was hopeful that the "rights for people of all faiths will be preserved and respected." Parliament is to continue the first reading of the bill in the next week. Legislator Gunnarsdottir said many male "victims" of circumcision had reached out to share their stories and seek support since she introduced the bill.

"It's important for us as a society to discuss this," she said. "The experience of many men who have had this done to their body without consent confirms that."

New gold rush: Energy demands soar in Iceland for bitcoins

February 11, 2018

KEFLAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland is expected to use more energy mining bitcoins and other virtual currencies this year than it uses to power its homes. With massive amounts of electricity needed to run the computers that create the precious bitcoins, large virtual currency mining companies have established a base in Iceland, a chilly North Atlantic island blessed with an abundance of renewable energy from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.

The relatively sudden growth of the new industry has prompted Smari McCarthy, a lawmaker for Iceland's Pirate Party, to suggest taxing the profits of bitcoin mines. The initiative is likely to be well received by Icelanders, who are skeptical of speculative financial ventures after suffering a catastrophic banking crash in 2008.

"Under normal circumstances, companies that are creating value in Iceland pay a certain amount of tax to the government," McCarthy told The Associated Press. "These companies are not doing that and we might want to ask ourselves whether they should."

The energy demand has developed because of the soaring cost of producing virtual currencies. Computers are used to make complex calculations that verify a running ledger of all the transactions in virtual currencies around the world. In return, the miners claim a fraction of a coin not yet in circulation. In the case of bitcoin, a total of 21 million can be mined, leaving about 4.2 million left to create. As more bitcoin enter circulation, computers need to get more powerful to keep up with the calculations — and that means more energy.

The serene coastal town of Keflavik on Iceland's desolate southern peninsula has over the past months boomed as an international hub for mining bitcoins and other virtual currencies. Local fishermen, chatting over steaming cups of coffee at the harbor gas station, are puzzled by the phenomenon, which has spawned oversize construction sites on the outskirts of town.

Among the main attractions of setting up bitcoin mines here, at the edge of the Arctic Circle, is the natural cooling for the computer servers and the competitive prices for Iceland's abundance of renewable energy.

Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, a business development manager at the energy company Hitaveita Sudurnesja, said he expected Iceland's virtual currency mining to double its energy consumption to about 100 megawatts this year. That is more than households use on the island nation of 340,000, according to Iceland's National Energy Authority.

"Four months ago, I could not have predicted this trend — but then bitcoin skyrocketed and we got a lot more emails," he said at the Svartsengi geothermal energy plant, which powers the southwestern peninsula where the mining takes place.

"Just today, I came from a meeting with a mining company seeking to buy 18 megawatts," he said. At the largest of three bitcoin "farms" currently operating within Keflavik — called "Mjolnir" after the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder — high metal fences surround 50 meter-long (164 foot) warehouse buildings stacked with computer rigs.

The data centers here are specially designed to utilize the constant wind on the bare peninsula. Walls are only partial on each side, allowing a draft of cold air to cool down the equipment. "What we are doing here is like gold mining," said Helmut Rauth, who manages operations for Genesis Mining, a major bitcoin mining company. "We are mining on a large scale and getting the gold out to the people."

Genesis Mining, founded in Germany, moved to Iceland in 2014 when the price of bitcoin fluctuated from $350 to $1000. Today, one bitcoin is valued at about $8,000, according to tracking site Coindesk, after peaking at almost $19,500 in December.

The currency took a hit in January when China announced it would move to wipe out its bitcoin mining industry, following concerns of excessive electricity consumption. Rauth said bitcoin should not be singled out as environmentally taxing. Computing power always demands energy, he argues.

"How much energy is needed for credit card transactions and internet research? Cryptocurrencies have the same global impact," he said. In the capital, Reykjavik, some are more skeptical about bitcoin.

The last time Iceland was an international hub for finance, the venture ended with a giant bank crash, making the country one of the symbols of the 2008 global financial crisis. The political turmoil following the crash swept the upstart Pirate Party into Iceland's parliament, where it currently holds 10 percent of seats.

Pirate Party legislator McCarthy has questioned the value of bitcoin mining for Icelandic society, saying residents should consider regulating and taxing the emerging industry. "We are spending tens or maybe hundreds of megawatts on producing something that has no tangible existence and no real use for humans outside the realm of financial speculation," he said. "That can't be good."

Icelandic language at risk; robots, computers can't grasp it

April 22, 2017

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — When an Icelander arrives at an office building and sees "Solarfri" posted, they need no further explanation for the empty premises: The word means "when staff get an unexpected afternoon off to enjoy good weather."

The people of this rugged North Atlantic island settled by Norsemen some 1,100 years ago have a unique dialect of Old Norse that has adapted to life at the edge of the Artic. Hundslappadrifa, for example, means "heavy snowfall with large flakes occurring in calm wind."

But the revered Icelandic language, seen by many as a source of identity and pride, is being undermined by the widespread use of English, both for mass tourism and in the voice-controlled artificial intelligence devices coming into vogue.

Linguistics experts, studying the future of a language spoken by fewer than 400,000 people in an increasingly globalized world, wonder if this is the beginning of the end for the Icelandic tongue. Former President Vigdis Finnbogadottir told The Associated Press that Iceland must take steps to protect its language. She is particularly concerned that programs be developed so the language can be easily used in digital technology.

"Otherwise, Icelandic will end in the Latin bin," she warned. Teachers are already sensing a change among students in the scope of their Icelandic vocabulary and reading comprehension. Anna Jonsdottir, a teaching consultant, said she often hears teenagers speak English among themselves when she visits schools in Reykjavik, the capital.

She said 15-year-old students are no longer assigned a volume from the Sagas of Icelanders, the medieval literature chronicling the early settlers of Iceland. Icelanders have long prided themselves of being able to fluently read the epic tales originally penned on calfskin.

Most high schools are also waiting until senior year to read author Halldor Laxness, the 1955 winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, who rests in a small cemetery near his farm in West Iceland. A number of factors combine to make the future of the Icelandic language uncertain. Tourism has exploded in recent years, becoming the country's single biggest employer, and analysts at Arion Bank say one in two new jobs is being filled by foreign labor.

That is increasing the use of English as a universal communicator and diminishing the role of Icelandic, experts say. "The less useful Icelandic becomes in people's daily life, the closer we as a nation get to the threshold of giving up its use," said Eirikur Rognvaldsson, a language professor at the University of Iceland.

He has embarked on a three-year study of 5,000 people that will be the largest inquiry ever into the use of the language. "Preliminary studies suggest children at their first-language acquisition are increasingly not exposed to enough Icelandic to foster a strong base for later years," he said.

Concerns for the Icelandic language are by no means new. In the 19th century, when its vocabulary and syntax were heavily influenced by Danish, independence movements fought to revive Icelandic as the common tongue, central to the claim that Icelanders were a nation.

Since Iceland became fully independent from Denmark in 1944, its presidents have long championed the need to protect the language. Asgeir Jonsson, an economics professor at the University of Iceland, said without a unique language Iceland could experience a brain drain, particularly among certain professions.

"A British town with a population the size of Iceland has far fewer scientists and artists, for example," he said. "They've simply moved to the metropolis." The problem is compounded because many new computer devices are designed to recognize English but they do not understand Icelandic.

"Not being able to speak Icelandic to voice-activated fridges, interactive robots and similar devices would be yet another lost field," Jonsson said. Icelandic ranks among the weakest and least-supported language in terms of digital technology — along with Irish Gaelic, Latvian, Maltese and Lithuanian — according to a report by the Multilingual Europe Technology Alliance assessing 30 European languages.

Iceland's Ministry of Education estimates about 1 billion Icelandic krona, or $8.8 million, is needed for seed funding for an open-access database to help tech developers adapt Icelandic as a language option.

Svandis Svavarsdottir, a member of Iceland's parliament for the Left-Green Movement, said the government should not be weighing costs when the nation's cultural heritage is at stake. "If we wait, it may already be too late," she said.

In world first, Iceland to require firms to prove equal pay

March 08, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Iceland will be the first country in the world to make employers prove they offer equal pay regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality, the Nordic nation's government said Wednesday — International Women's Day.

The government said it will introduce legislation to parliament this month, requiring all employers with more than 25 staff members to obtain certification to prove they give equal pay for work of equal value.

While other countries, and the U.S. state of Minnesota, have equal-salary certificate policies, Iceland is thought to be the first to make it mandatory for both private and public firms. The North Atlantic island nation, which has a population of about 330,000, wants to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022.

Social Affairs and Equality Minister Thorsteinn Viglundsson said "the time is right to do something radical about this issue." "Equal rights are human rights," he said. "We need to make sure that men and women enjoy equal opportunity in the workplace. It is our responsibility to take every measure to achieve that."

Iceland has been ranked the best country in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum, but Icelandic women still earn, on average, 14 to 18 percent less than men. In October thousands of Icelandic women left work at 2:38 p.m. and demonstrated outside parliament to protest the gender pay gap. Women's rights groups calculate that after that time each day, women are working for free.

The new legislation is expected to be approved by Iceland's parliament because it has support from both the center-right government and opposition lawmakers. The government hopes to implement it by 2020.

Iceland has introduced other measures to boost women's equality, including quotas for female participation on government committees and corporate boards. Such measures have proven controversial in some countries, but have wide support across Iceland's political spectrum.

Viglundsson said some people had argued the equal-pay law imposes unneeded bureaucracy on firms, and is not necessary because the pay gap is closing. "It is a burden to put on companies to have to comply with a law like this," he acknowledged. "But we put such burdens on companies all the time when it comes to auditing your annual accounts or turning in your tax report.

"You have to dare to take new steps, to be bold in the fight against injustice."

China's Arctic ambitions take shape in remote Iceland valley

November 16, 2016

LAUGAR, Iceland (AP) — In a remote valley near the Arctic Circle where the wind whips the coarse yellow grass, China and Iceland are preparing to look to the sky — and a shared future. Construction workers are building a research facility to study the Northern Lights, whose spectacular streaks of color light up Iceland's winter skies. Funded by China's Polar Research Institute, the facility will house Chinese, Icelandic and international scientists when it opens next year.

This cement shell is a concrete achievement in the burgeoning relationship between the rising Asian superpower, population 1.37 billion, and this tiny North Atlantic island nation of 330,000 people. It may seem a lopsided friendship, but both countries perceive benefits. Beijing wants an Arctic ally as climate change opens up new sea routes and resource-extraction opportunities, while Iceland seeks heavyweight friends to anchor it against stormy economic waves.

"It is better to be a friend to everyone when you are small than be an enemy to anybody," said Reinhard Reynisson, director of the nonprofit company building the Aurora Observatory. Reynisson speaks with the confidence of a country that has weathered earthquakes, volcanoes, famine and financial meltdown since it was settled by Vikings in the 9th century. But China's growing interest has also aroused suspicions among some Icelanders, who are wary of big powers trying to grab their resources, whether fish, energy or land.

"We are a very small country, we are only 300,000 people, so we don't look at our independence as an automatic thing," said Asgeir Jonsson, an economist at the University of Iceland. "It's something that you have to protect and look after.

"In our history, we have a long story of fighting with the bigger powers around us over fish and the resources that we have. That has left its mark on the population." Iceland was nudged in China's direction by financial calamity. When the global credit crunch hit in 2008, Iceland's banks — whose debts had ballooned to more than 10 times the country's GDP — collapsed. Iceland's currency nosedived, unemployment soared, and Iceland was forced to go the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for bailouts. It also began looking for new economic partners to help it rebuild — and China was willing.

In 2010, the two countries agreed currency swaps between Iceland's krona and China's yuan, and in 2013 they signed a free trade agreement — the first between China and a European country. With Iceland's support, China was granted observer status in 2013 at the Arctic Council, whose core members are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Russia, the United States and Iceland.

It also attends annual Arctic Circle Assemblies hosted by Iceland — gatherings of politicians, officials, scientists and businesspeople to discuss the future of the region. "China's got a broad range of Arctic interests — economic, scientific, political, strategic," said Anne-Marie Brady, editor in chief of the Polar Journal and a global fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington. "But the main thing it wants at the moment would be to make sure it has a seat at any decision-making table and has access to any rights that are up for grabs. So it's great to have a friendly state like Iceland."

Some of the plans discussed by the two countries have been grandly ambitious, such as making a deep-sea port in a northern Iceland fjord to create a major shipping hub on the Northern Sea Route. It remains unbuilt, but the economic relationship between the two countries is growing steadily.

Iceland has granted the China National Offshore Oil Company permission to explore in Iceland's waters, and Beijing has tapped Icelandic expertise in geothermal power, a major industry in volcanic Iceland and a potential source of clean energy for China.

Last year, Chinese automaker Geely — owner of Volvo Cars— announced it was investing $45.5 million in Carbon Recycling International, an Icelandic company that operates the world's first renewable methanol plant. Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is working with Icelandic mobile phone firms and a state-owned Chinese firm has signed a deal to fund a new aluminum smelter in northwest Iceland.

The Chinese Embassy in Reykjavik says bilateral trade, "though still small in terms of volume, is growing rapidly." In the first nine months of 2016, Iceland's imports from China were worth $330 million and its exports $77 million, a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent.

In an email to The Associated Press, the embassy said China could benefit from Iceland's "cutting-edge technologies in renewable energy, life-science (and) carbon-fiber industries," as well as its fresh fish, meat, dairy products and mineral water. In return, China can provide Iceland with a wide range of Chinese-made goods.

Chinese tourists — whose numbers rose from 26,000 in 2014 to an estimated 60,000 this year— are helping to drive a tourism boom that has been the savior of Iceland's economy since the financial crisis.

Cozying up to Beijing also gets tiny Iceland noticed by much larger nations. Brady notes that Iceland's politicians have become adept at "playing the big powers off each other." "They are getting a lot more attention from the United States in recent years because of their perceived very good relationship with China," she said. "And yet what the ordinary people think about that is often quite different from their government. ... the population has some misgivings about this close relationship."

Those misgivings reached a peak five years ago, when multimillionaire Chinese businessman Huang Nubo tried to buy a 300 square kilometer (120 square mile) chunk of remote northeast Iceland to build an eco-resort. Strong public opposition led the Icelandic government to block the purchase in 2011 — in part because no foreign buyer had ever bought so much land.

Suspicion lingered when the Aurora Observatory was announced for a sparsely populated region 250 miles (400 kilometers) northeast of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. Pascal Heyman, a former official at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said in 2014 that the Chinese might want to use the equipment to keep an eye on NATO airspace.

Iceland is one of the best places in the world to observe the aurora borealis, or northern lights. The colorful phenomenon is caused when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth's magnetic field. Scientists hope the observatory will help them learn about the interaction between the sun and the Earth's magnetic field, which could help predict space weather.

The observatory is behind schedule — in part due to a shortage of building contractors in booming Iceland — but is due to open next fall. It will include a visitors' center, and local people have begun to capitalize on the upcoming economic opportunities, opening Aurora guesthouses and thermal baths.

Reynisson said the initial local skepticism about China's intentions has faded. "Now you might hear someone say, 'They will never finish it' — not that they are spying on us or doing something totally different from what is said to be done," he said. "Why build a station here in the valley to spy on us? Much easier to rearrange some of their satellites to spy on us."

Lawless reported from Reykjavik, Iceland.

Iceland left-green alliance fails to form government

24 November 2016 Thursday

Iceland's Left-Green movement said Wednesday it had failed in its bid to form a new coalition government, three weeks after snap elections triggered by the Panama Papers scandal.

Allied with the anti-establishment Pirate Party, the Social Democrats and the Bright Future party, the Left-Green had been in talks since Sunday in a bid to forge a governing coalition with the center-right Reform Party.

"It is evident that not all the parties are convinced to continue these negotiations so I have decided to stop them and I don't think that there is ground to continue," Katrin Jakobsdottir, the leader of the Left-Green movement, the second largest party, told state broadcaster RUV.

Jakobsdottir said she had informed the president of her decision.

It was not yet known what would happen next.

Asked if she would now return the power to form a government to the president, she replied: "I'm going to sleep on it."

Pirates co-chairman, Birgitta Jonsdottir, had said prior to the start of the talks on Sunday that she was optimistic the five parties would reach consensus on major issues.

"The people want very much to see improvement in both the work in the parliament and the image of the parliament", Jonsdottir said at the time.

Since its independence in 1944, Iceland has only seen one center-left government, which emerged from the 2009 election after the 2008 financial collapse.

Led by the largest election winner Independence Party, the center-right coalition failed to find common ground over a range of divisive issues including relations with the European Union, institutional reform and fishing.

The October 29 snap vote, prompted by a massive tax scandal ensnaring several Icelandic officials, saw the Pirates become the third largest party with 10 seats.

The Panama Papers, released in April, fueled the resignation of former prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and prompted the snap vote.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/europe/180611/iceland-left-green-alliance-fails-to-form-government.

Pirate Party make gains as center-right hangs on in Iceland

October 30, 2016

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — The radical Pirate Party made gains but not a breakthrough in Iceland's election, as returns Sunday showed that voters favored the incumbent center-right Independence Party over the upstart advocates of direct democracy and digital freedom.

No party emerged with a majority of parliament seats from an election dominated by public discontent at the establishment after years of financial crisis and political turmoil. With almost all votes from the balloting Saturday counted, the Independence Party had 29 percent support and the Pirate Party 14.5 percent, putting them in third place behind the Left-Green movement at 15.9 percent.

The result should give the Independence Party about 21 seats in Iceland's 63-seat Parliament, the Althingi, with the Left-Greens and Pirates winning 10 each. It's a better performance than expected for the Independents, who have governed in coalition since 2013.

The Pirates' result fell short of what some polls had suggested — and what the party's fleet of energetic volunteers and supporters had hoped. Founded four years ago by an assortment of hackers, political activists and internet freedom advocates, the Pirate Party drew international attention as its support surged.

Like Spain's Podemos or the movement behind Bernie Sanders in the U.S. presidential race, it drew in throngs of mostly young supporters fed up with the status quo. Pirate lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir said the results were in line with the party's own prediction of between 12 and 15 percent — up from the 5 percent it secured in 2013.

"We're just amazed that we'll possibly maybe triple our following from last time, and it's only three years," Jonsdottir said. The election result looks set to trigger a period of intense political negotiations. It was not immediately clear whether the Independents had the support to assemble a coalition government with other parties of the center and right.

As early results came in overnight, Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson said he was pleased. "These are very positive indicators for us, we are leading in all constituencies, we are gaining new seats in Parliament, so we are very happy," he said.

Saturday's election was called after then-Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned in April during public protests over his offshore holdings, revealed in the Panama Papers leak. The tax-avoidance scandal outraged many Icelanders, who suffered years of economic upheaval after the country's debt-swollen banks collapsed during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The chief victim of voters' wrath was Gunnlaugsson's Progressive Party, which lost more than half its seats in the Althingi. New parties made gains among weary voters. A kingmaker in government negotiations could be Vidreisn, or Renewal, a liberal party formed this year that advocates Iceland joining the European Union. It will take about seven parliament seats.

The election was dominated by Iceland's economy — now recovering on the back of a tourism boom, with low unemployment and high growth — and voters' desire for political reform. The Pirates campaigned on promises to introduce direct democracy, subject the workings of government to more scrutiny and place the country's natural resources under public ownership

The party also backs tough rules to protect individuals from online intrusion. Jonsdottir, the Pirates' most prominent voice, is a former ally of WikiLeaks who has called on Iceland to offer citizenship to U.S. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

Opponents argued that the inexperienced Pirates could scare off investors and destabilize the economy. A wind-lashed volcanic island near the Arctic Circle with a population of 320,000, Iceland has become known in recent years for large street protests that ousted one government after the 2008 financial crash and dispatched another in April. It also has strong Scandinavian policies in support of social equality and women's rights.

But Icelanders — infused with a spirit of Viking self-sufficiency — also have a strong conservative streak that led many to mistrust the Pirates and stick with the status quo. As scores of Pirate supporters from Iceland and around the world watched the election results come in at a Reykjavik brewpub, the boisterous mood was tinged with disappointment.

"I'm really sad and I'm really disappointed in our young generation," said 22-year-old student Bylgja Gudjonsdottir. "This is our next generation that is taking the country to the next level. But they keep voting for the criminals we have here," she said.

Iceland votes in snap polls after Panama scandal

29 October 2016 Saturday

Determined to put the Panama Papers scandal and the 2008 bankruptcy behind them, Icelanders will vote on Saturday in a snap election that could see the anti-establishment Pirate Party form a new center-left coalition.

Voters are expected to punish the incumbent government after the Panama Papers revealed a global tax evasion scandal that ensnared several senior politicians and forced former prime minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to resign.

Although the current government of the conservative Independence Party and the centrist Progressive Party survived the scandal, it promised a snap election six months before the end of its term in spring 2017.

"We're loosing support (because of the) big anti-establishment (feeling)," Birgir Armannsson, member of parliament for the Independence Party, told AFP.

The Pirate Party -- founded in 2012 by activists, anarchists and former hackers -- campaigns for public transparency, institutional reform, individual freedoms, and the fight against corruption.

It draws much of its support from younger voters and spokeswoman Birgitta Jonsdottir says it has also "studied the mistakes of Syriza and Podemos", leftist parties in Greece and Spain that tapped into anger about austerity cuts imposed during the eurozone debt crisis.

The results will be known shortly after polling stations close but because no party is expected to have a majority Iceland's fate will only be known after coalition negotiations.

If the Pirate Party does well, it could form the nation's second center-left government since Iceland's independence from Denmark in 1944. The Social Democrats and Greens ruled in a coalition between 2009-2014.

In any negotiations to form a government, the Pirate Party is expected to have leverage over the outgoing Independence Party and the leftist Green movement could for the first time hold the balance of power.

Co-founded by former WikiLeaks spokeswoman Jonsdottir, the Pirate Party has reached a pre-election agreement with three other leftist and centrist opposition parties, including the Left-Greens, the Social Democrats and the Bright Future Movement, to form a coalition government.

Together, they could have more than 50 percent of the votes, according to the latest polls, which also show a high proportion of undecided voters.

"We think that these parties can cooperate very well, they have many common issues. I think it will be a very feasible governmental choice," Katrin Jakobsdottir, leader of the Left-Green movement told AFP.

Anger at 2008 collapse

Although Iceland, a volcanic island with a population of 332,000 people, has returned to prosperity since its 2008 financial meltdown with GDP growth expected to be above four percent this year due to tourism and the recovery of its financial system, the nation's youth distrusts the political elite.

The crisis saw Iceland's three biggest banks and its over-sized financial sector collapse.

The nation was plunged into a devastating economic crisis and forced to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

A string of bankers were jailed, the failed banks were temporarily nationalized and then sold and foreign investors had to accept write-downs on their debt holdings.

Olafur Hardarson, professor of political science at the University of Iceland, attributed the Pirates' rise in popularity to voters' anger at the 2008 collapse.

"They have managed to focus on the anti-politics and anti-establishment feelings of a lot of voters that have been frustrated in Iceland since the bank crash," Hardarson told AFP.

Voter Einar Hannesson, a 42-year-old laborer, said he would be voting for the Pirates because they offered change.

"I want change. I don't like everything that the Pirates are proposing, but if we want change, it's the best party," he said.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/europe/179278/iceland-votes-in-snap-polls-after-panama-scandal.

Iceland celebrates biggest victory with win over England

June 28, 2016

NICE, France (AP) — Aron Gunnarsson, every inch the bearded Viking, ran shirtless toward the Iceland fans and led them in their victory chants. Beating England at the European Championship was more than just Iceland's greatest sporting success. Monday was a moment of national triumph in a country where the team's improbable progress from the group stage had already outshone coverage of Saturday's presidential election.

The Scandinavian nation of just 330,000 people, by the far the smallest country to qualify for a European Championship, inflicted a shattering 2-1 defeating on England - the country that has been the model for Icelandic football for decades.

Defender Ragnar Sigurdsson, who scored Iceland's first goal and made an outstanding last-ditch tackle to deny Jamie Vardy a potential equalizer, said he had "dreamt ... a long time ago" of playing England.

But he sounded a little disappointed with what he'd found. "We didn't feel that they created any chances," he said. "(Harry) Kane had a header opportunity and headed straight to the goalkeeper, there's a lot that we were just heading away and long shots from distance."

It was a victory built on smart positioning in defense, English-style physical play and many, many individual errors from England's players. Iceland's rock-solid 4-4-2 formation was a ghost from the past of England coach Roy Hodgson, who along with Bob Houghton introduced it to Sweden when they coached there in the 1970s and 1980s. One of their disciples was Lars Lagerback, now Iceland's co-coach.

"I learned a lot from them, they changed the training methods and the coaching education in the long run in Sweden and I was really, really benefiting from that," Lagerback said, minutes after Hodgson resigned from the England job. "Respect to a really, really good coach."

Lagerback took Hodgson's gifts and turned them against his old master with devastating effect. In seven games against England with Sweden and now Iceland, Lagerback's teams have never been defeated. In Nice on Monday, Iceland neutralized the English Premier League's top two scorers, Kane and Vardy, with tight marking, positional forethought and superb awareness of where the rest of the team was at all times.

England's left winger Raheem Sterling won the penalty that gave England the lead early on. But he was then kept quiet by right-back Birkir Saevarsson. On the right, Daniel Sturridge had a little more success but found few targets for his often-wayward crosses.

Iceland's gameplan was built around shutting down England's stars, but it wasn't all negative. On the break, the Icelanders created the best chances of the game and could have scored another when Gunnarsson turned Jack Wilshere but saw his shot saved by Joe Hart.

All through the game, the vastly outnumbered contingent of Icelanders sang more than England's supporters, who were left in stunned silence for long periods. As England's players slumped onto the grass and the final whistle, Iceland's substitutes and backroom staff charged onto the pitch as if they'd won the final.

"We are a little bit colored by our love for the English football, so probably this game means a little bit more to us, who have been watching English football since we were born," Lagerback's co-coach Heimir Hallgrimsson said.

As for playing host nation France in a quarterfinal on Sunday, Hallgrimsson added: "I will take it." Fresh from beating England, tiny Iceland now feels it can take on the world. "We didn't have so much problems defending (against) the English, and also in ball possession we created a lot of good chances," Hallgrimsson said. "If the players play with the same attitude, we can beat anyone."

Iceland fisheries minister says he's the country's new PM

April 07, 2016

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's fisheries minister emerged from the president's residence Thursday and announced he has become the island nation's new prime minister after days of political turmoil.

Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson told reporters that he had secured President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson's formal backing after his predecessor resigned because of embarrassing links to an offshore account. "This is a good thing" that will allow the center-right governing coalition to continue its policies, he said.

"This is of course an exciting opportunity, but it's under bizarre circumstances," said Johannsson, a 53-year-old who has combined his work as a veterinarian with his political career. "It is me as prime minister, but it's important to be humble. It is a big task ahead to boost the confidence in politics and politicians. "

Johannsson said he doesn't think the offshore accounts scandal brought on by a massive leak of financial documents held by a Panamanian law firm has damaged Iceland's reputation. "We have been in bad cases before and we got through it," he said.

But his coalition faces a stiff challenge in parliament from opposition parties that are demanding an immediate election. The opposition introduced a no-confidence measure Monday aimed at then-Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, who has since resigned, but now propose a vote against the entire coalition government.

Gunnlaugsson has denied doing anything illegal and said he and his wife — also linked to the offshore account — paid all their taxes. He plans to remain in parliament and keep his post as party chairman.

A small group of protesters gathered outside the president's residence Thursday while the new prime minister and other Cabinet ministers were inside — but there was no sign of the rousing protests held in Reykjavik for the last three days.

Johannsson to seek approval to become Iceland's next PM

April 06, 2016

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's fisheries and agriculture minister Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson said Wednesday he will seek the president's approval to become the country's next prime minister after the previous leader resigned because of revelations he had offshore accounts.

Johannsson said Iceland's center-right governing coalition remains intact despite the turmoil that started Sunday after a massive leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm showed it created offshore accounts for Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife. Gunnlaugsson stepped down two days later.

Johannsson is expected to meet President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson on Thursday, but the opposition opposes the move and is planning to pursue a vote of no confidence in parliament. "We will still push forward a proposal to dissolve parliament and hold earlier elections," said Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, a legislator with the Pirate Party, which has high popular support.

Opposition lawmakers have said Gunnlaugsson's offshore accounts revealed a significant conflict of interest with his official duties. They now accuse the government of trying to cling to power. Earlier Wednesday, hundreds of people staged a noisy protest in the rain outside parliament in Reykjavik — the third consecutive day of demonstrations calling for a new government in the North Atlantic island nation.

Gunnlaugsson has denied wrongdoing. His center-right Progressive Party is in a coalition government with the Independence Party. Arni Pall Arnason, leader of the Social Democratic Alliance, said the two parties in the governing coalition are desperately trying to hang on to power without public support.

"What I think the government parties are trying to do is to cling onto power while doing the absolute minimum of changes in order to escape the public," he said. "The government doesn't want to confront the issue or face the public."

Icelandic PM proposes party's vice chairman take over

April 05, 2016

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland's embattled prime minister, facing accusations of conflict of interest because of offshore accounts, stepped aside Tuesday and proposed that the vice chairman of his party take over.

Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has become be the first major figure brought down by a leak of more than 11 million financial documents from a Panamanian law firm showing the tax-avoidance arrangements of the rich and famous around the world.

Sigurdur Mar Jonsson, press secretary of the Icelandic government, said in a statement Tuesday that Gunnlaugsson has suggested Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, his Progressive Party's vice-chairman, takes over as prime minister for "an unspecified amount of time."

Iceland's president has not yet confirmed any changes to the leadership and the situation remained muddled as hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament to demand the ouster of Gunnlaugsson. There were contradictions throughout the afternoon and evening as officials first said Gunnlaugsson had resigned as prime minister, statements that were later contradicted by the press secretary's communique, which indicated he was only stepping down for a period of time. The statement also suggested that Gunnlaugsson would remain as party chairman.

It was not clear if new elections would be held or if the governing coalition would be able to weather the crisis that developed several days ago with the release of the Panama papers. The lack of a clear resolution angered some protesters who blew whistles and banged on pots and pans in front of parliament.

"I'm here because the government still hasn't resigned," said store manager Elfar Petursson. "The finance minister and the interior minister are still sitting in parliament, they refuse to resign, they both have offshore accounts."

Revelations in the Panama Papers about offshore accounts held by Gunnlaugsson and his wife have infuriated many residents who suffered during the financial collapse of 2008 and 2009. Gunnlaugsson has denied wrongdoing and said he has paid taxes and done nothing illegal regarding his offshore holdings.

Opposition lawmakers say the holdings amount to a major conflict of interest with his job. Gunnlaugsson said his financial holdings didn't affect his negotiations with Iceland's creditors during the country's acute financial crisis. Those assertions did little to quell the controversy.

The prime minister sought at first to dissolve parliament Tuesday and call an early election, but President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson said he wanted to consult with other party leaders before agreeing to end the coalition government between Gunnlaugsson's center-right Progressive Party and the Independence Party.

"I need to determine if there is support for dissolving (parliament) within the ruling coalition and others. The prime minister could not confirm this for me, and therefore I am not prepared at this time to dissolve parliament," Grimsson said.

The president met with Independence Party lawmakers later Tuesday to discuss the governmental crisis. Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson, chairman of the Independence Party, criticized the prime minister for unilaterally seeking to dissolve parliament.

"It was a total surprise for us to see that. I don't think it was the rational thing to do. I've never seen it done before in Icelandic politics and I hope that I will not see it again," he said. The impact in Iceland from the leaks has been the most dramatic, but leading officials in Russia, Ukraine, China, Argentina and other countries are also facing questions about possibly dubious offshore schemes used by the global elite.

The leaked documents allege that Gunnlaugsson and his wife SET UP A COMPANYcalled Wintris in the British Virgin Islands with the help of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm. Gunnlaugsson is accused of a conflict of interest for failing to disclose his involvement in the company, which held interests in failed Icelandic banks that his government was responsible for overseeing.

Arni Pall Arnason, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Alliance, said Gunnlaugsson's position was not tenable. "I think it's obvious that we cannot tolerate a leadership that is linked to offshore holdings," he said. "Iceland cannot be the only western European democratic country with a political leadership in that position."

Iceland, a volcanic island nation with a population of 330,000, was rocked by a prolonged financial crisis when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another in 2008. Since then Icelanders have weathered a recession and been subjected to tough capital controls — another reason the prime minister's offshore holdings rankle many.

Icelandic people tell gov't to take more refugees from Syria

September 07, 2015

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — "Future spouses, best friends, our next soul mate." That's how an Icelandic author is describing refugees seeking European shores, in a Facebook campaign that has helped to spark a surge of support for welcoming migrants in her remote North Atlantic island.

As much of Europe hesitates, Iceland — which has just in recent years emerged from the effects of a devastating economic meltdown — seems to be warming to the idea of taking in Syrians fleeing their war-torn homeland. It's a historic shift for an island that has long been reluctant to take in foreigners.

A grassroots movement in support of migrants making the perilous journey to Europe is already having an impact on government policy, with officials reaching out to the United Nations refugee agency to say Iceland is willing to accept more refugees.

Even small towns are involved, with the northern Iceland town of Akureyri expressing an interest in adding Syrian refugees to its population of 17,000 hardy residents. "I think most Icelanders are very interested in helping refugees have a better life," said Akureyri town council chairman Gudmundur Baldvin Gudmundsson. "We have a society that is very good for them and we have experience in taking refugees."

The government said in July that it would take in 50 Syrian refugees over the next two years, but that meager figure — consistent with a policy that has seen just 549 refugees accepted since 1956 — is expected to rise in the face of public pressure. Officials already are making plans to accept more and some citizens are calling for up to 5,000 to be admitted.

The movement started before a photograph of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on a Turkish beach sparked worldwide concern about the fate of the migrants trying to reach Europe. The generous spirit is remarkable because Iceland suffered a disastrous 2008 financial meltdown that saw the collapse of its major banks and a steep fall in living standards.

One driver of the grassroots movement is the "Syria Calling" Facebook page launched last week by Icelandic author and professor Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir. Some 15,000 people have "liked" the page in an apparent endorsement of her call for Minister of Social Affairs Eyglo Hardardottir to let more refugees live legally in Iceland.

"Refugees are human resources, experience and skills," Bjorgvinsdottir wrote. "Refugees are our future spouses, best friends, our next soul mate, the drummer in our children's band, our next colleague, Miss Iceland 2022, the carpenter who finally fixes our bathroom, the chef in the cafeteria, the fireman, the hacker and the television host. People who we'll never be able to say to: 'Your life is worth less than mine.'"

Hardardottir said Thursday her ministry has informed the UN that Iceland is prepared to accept more than the 50 refugees it had committed and asked residents to contact the ministry if they want to volunteer or provide material assistance to newcomers who may arrive with virtually no resources.

"I encourage people to get in touch with the ministry and the Red Cross to ask how they can help," said Hardardottir. "People need jobs, homes, and clothes, for example, and to learn how the banking system works."

Iceland's residents are taking action as well. More than 900 people have signed up as Red Cross volunteers in the last few days to assist Syrian refugees when they arrive in Iceland. "What has happened in the last few days is something very interesting_a bottom up movement," said Red Cross Iceland spokesman Bjorn Teitsson. "The people of Iceland seem to have woken up from a bad dream and are embracing the refugee crisis that the world has to face. We have been very pleased about this positive energy and the will to help."

10,000 Icelanders offer to house Syrian refugees after author's call

By David Hodari
31 Aug 2015

Ten thousand Icelanders have offered to welcome Syrian refugees into their homes, as part of a Facebook campaign launched by a prominent author after the government said it would take in only a handful.

After the Icelandic government announced last month that it would only accept 50 humanitarian refugees from Syria, Bryndis Bjorgvinsdottir encouraged fellow citizens to speak out in favor of those in need of asylum. In the space of 24 hours, 10,000 Icelanders – the country’s population is 300,000 – took to Facebook to offer up their homes and urge their government to do more.

"I'm a single mother with a 6-year-old son... We can take a child in need. I'm a teacher and would teach the child to speak, read and write Icelandic and adjust to Icelandic society. We have clothes, a bed, toys and everything a child needs. I would of course pay for the airplane ticket," wrote Hekla Stefansdottir in a post.

“I think people have had enough of seeing news stories from the Mediterranean and refugee camps of dying people and they want something done now", Bjorgvinsdottir told Icelandic public television RUV.

The Icelandic government is now looking at increasing its refugee quota.

Welfare Minister Eyglo Hardardottir told RUV that authorities were examining offers made on Facebook, and would consider upping the number of refugees accepted under a humanitarian quota.

"I have made it clear that I don't want to name a maximum figure”, she said. “But we (will) explore every avenue available in welcoming more refugees”.

Source: The Telegraph.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/iceland/11835537/10000-Icelanders-offer-to-house-Syrian-refugees-after-authors-call.html.

Icelandic officials say eruption near Bardarbunga

August 29, 2014

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelandic authorities raised the aviation warning code to red Friday after a small fissure eruption near Bardarbunga volcano, but no volcanic ash has been detected by the radar system.

The eruption took place the Holuhraun lava field, north of Dyngjujoekull glacier, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. The event was described as being not highly explosive — and thus not producing much of the fine ash that can affect aircraft engines.

"If this eruption persists it could become a tourist attraction, as it will be relatively safe to approach, although the area is remote," said David Rothery, a professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University in Britain. "This event should not be seen as 'relieving the pressure' on Bardarbunga itself, nor is it a clear precursor sign of an impending Bardarbunga eruption."

Icelandic Air Traffic Control has closed the airspace over the volcano from the ground up to 18,000 feet (5,486 meters). All of the country's airports remain open. In 2010, Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano erupted and sparked a week of international aviation chaos, with thousands of flights canceled. Aviation officials closed Europe's air space for five days, fearing that volcanic ash could harm jet engines.