Iceland: Experts Predict Feared Volcanic Eruption Could Destroy Town near Reykjavik

THE GUARDIAN: Town of Grindavik could be heavily damaged by volcano expected to erupt within hours or days, experts say

An Icelandic town home to about 4,000 people near the capital Reykjavik could be heavily damaged by a volcano expected to erupt within hours or days, according to experts.

The town of Grindavik on the south-western coast was evacuated in the early hours of Saturday after magma shifting under the Earth’s crust caused hundreds of earthquakes in what is believed to be a precursor to an eruption.

“We are really concerned about all the houses and the infrastructure in the area,” Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management said on Saturday. » | Agence France-Presse | Sunday, November 12, 2023

Iceland to Get its First Mosque

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: The Muslim Association of Iceland now admits that foreign donors will be paying for the mosque's construction costs. The former mayor of Reykjavik says he believes it is outrageous for the city to give Muslims a site at no cost at a great location in the center of the city, and asks why political and feminist groups are so tolerant of a religion that he says degrades women.

The Reykjavík City Council has approved a building permit for the construction of the first mosque in Iceland.

The mosque will be built in Sogamýri, an upscale district near downtown Reykjavík on a highly desirable plot of land that was granted to Muslims free of charge, courtesy of Icelandic taxpayers.

Members of the city council -- which is led by Reykjavík Mayor Jón Gnarr, who identifies himself as an anarchist -- say they hope the prime location will make the mosque a prominent landmark in the city.

Critics of the mosque, however, say the project is being financed by donors in the Middle East who are seeking to exert control over -- and radicalize -- the growing Muslim community in Iceland.

Although reliable statistics do not exist, the Muslim population of Iceland is estimated to be approximately 1,200, or 0.4% of the total Icelandic population of 320,000. Most Muslims in Iceland live in the capital Reykjavík, where they make up about 1% of the total population of 120,000.

The Muslim community in Iceland may be small in comparison to other European countries, but its rate of growth has been exponential: Since 1990, when there were fewer than a dozen Muslims in the country, their number has increased by nearly 10,000%. Much of this growth has been due to immigration, but in recent years native Icelanders have also been converting to Islam in increasing numbers. » | Soeren Kern | Friday, September 27, 2013

Iceland's Voters Oust Austerity Government
Poll count shows voters have rejected austerity government to return centre-right parties that ruled over financial collapse five years ago.

Verwandt »

Le maire de Reykjavik se travestit
20 MINUTES: Le nouveau maire de Reykjavik, le comédien Jon Gnarr, s'est rendu à la Gay Pride de Reykjavik travesti en femme avec rouge à lèvres, perruque blonde et sac à main jaune fluo.

Lorsque le maître de cérémonie a appelé l'anticonformiste élu islandais à venir sur scène jeudi soir, il est apparu vêtu d'une ravissante robe à fleurs recouvrant une poitrine généreuse en expliquant que «le maire n'avait pas pu venir». Père de cinq enfants, Gnarr, 43 ans, était devenu début juin à la surprise générale maire de la capitale islandaise après avoir remporté les élections avec un parti baptisé «Le Meilleur parti». Il avait promis d'être «avant tout un maire amusant». (+ vidéo) >>> | Vendredi 06 Août 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Reykjavik mayor attends gay pride in drag: Reykjavik's comedian-turned-politician mayor, Jon Gnarr, opened the Icelandic capital's gay pride festival this week in drag, in a blond wig and with bright red lipstick. >>> | Friday, August 06, 2010

Iceland's New Poor Line Up for Food
THE TELEGRAPH: "I don't tell my children where I get the food, I'm too ashamed," said Iris Aegisdottir, an Icelander who has been going to a food bank every week for a year to feed her three children.

Protesters outside the Icelandic parliament in Reykjavik demand that the government do more to improve conditions for the recently poor. Photograph: The Telegraph
The crisis that brought down Iceland's economy in late 2008 threw thousands of formerly well-off families into poverty, forcing people like Iris to turn to charity to survive.

Each week, up to 550 families queue up at a small white brick warehouse in Reykjavik to receive free food from the Icelandic Aid to Families organisation, three times more than before the crisis.

Rutur Jonsson, a 65-year-old retired mechanical engineer, and his fellow volunteers spend their days distributing milk, bread, eggs and canned food donated by businesses and individuals or bought in bulk at the supermarket.

"I have time to spend on others and that's the best thing I think I can do," he said as he pre-packed grocery bags full of produce.

In a small, close-knit country of just 317,000 people, where everyone knows everyone, the stigma of accepting a hand-out is hard to live down and of the dozens of people waiting outside the food bank in the snow on a dreary March afternoon, Iris is the only one willing to talk.

"It was very difficult for me to come here in the beginning. But now I try not to care so much anymore," said the weary-looking 41 year-old, who lost her job in a pharmacy last summer, as she wrung her hands nervously.

The contrast is brutal with the ostentatious wealth that was on display across the island just two years ago, as a hyperactive banking sector flooded the small, formerly fishing-based economy with fast cash.

Back then, the biggest worry for many Icelanders was who had the nicest SUV, or the most opulent flat.

But today visible signs of poverty are quickly multiplying in the Nordic island nation, despite its generous welfare state, as the middle class is increasingly hit by unemployment, which is up from one to nine per cent in about a year, and a large number of defaults on mortgages. >>> Marc Preel, in Reykjavik for AFP | Thursday, April 08, 2010

Read more on Iceland >>>

Référendum : Les Islandais rejettent en masse l'accord Icesave
20MINUTES.ch: Les Islandais ont rejeté par référendum samedi l'impopulaire accord financier Icesave, selon des résultats officiels partiels annoncés par la télévision publique islandaise.

Le gouvernement a reconnu dans un communqué [sic] la victoire du «non».

D'après les résultats après dépouillement de 18 000 bulletins, sur 230 000 électeurs, le «non» l'emporte à 98%. >>> ats | Samedi 06 Mars 2010

Iceland Votes on Bailout


NZZ ONLINE: Isländer stimmen über Milliarden-Zahlungen ab: Nein zum Abkommen mit Grossbritannien und den Niederlanden erwartet >>> sda/dpa | Samstag, 06. März 2010

Britain Threatens to Freeze Iceland Out of EU as Loan Payback Vetoed
TIMES ONLINE: Britain warned Iceland that it would be frozen out of the European Union after its President abruptly vetoed the repayment of a £3.6 billion loan.

The Treasury expected Reykjavik to rubberstamp the terms of repayment for the loan extended by Britain and the Netherlands at the height of the financial crisis. The loan meant that 400,000 savers with deposits in Icesave did not lose their money.

President Ólafur Grimsson stunned the world’s financial community by refusing to sign the repayment schedule into law. Instead, he said that the matter would be decided in a referendum among Iceland’s 243,000 voters.

The decision threatened to bring down the Icelandic Government, took its financial system to the brink of collapse and sparked the worst row with Britain since the Cod Wars of the 1970s. Fitch, the international rating agency, downgraded Iceland’s credit rating to junk status.

Lord Myners, the financial services minister, said that if the decision was allowed to stand Iceland would be frozen out of the international financial system and would not be able to join the European Union. >>> Suzy Jagger and Jill Sherman | Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Isländer wählen erstmals eine linke Regierung
WELT ONLINE: Erstmals in der Geschichte des Landes hat eine linke Koalition die Mehrheit im isländischen Parlament errungen. Ministerpräsidentin Johanna Sigurdardottir begrüßte den Sieg ihres Bündnisses aus Sozialdemokraten und Linksgrünen. Ihre höchste Priorität ist es, Island schnellstens in die EU zu bringen.

Die Siegerin: Johanna Sigurdardottir bleibt Ministerpräsidentin von Island. Bild dank der Welt
Die isländischen Wähler haben in der ersten Parlamentswahl nach der Bankenkrise im vergangenen Herbst die damals gebildete Linkskoalition bestätigt. Das geht aus ersten Teilergebnissen hervor.

Nach Auszählung von 82 Prozent der Stimmen erreichte die sozialdemokratische Partei von Ministerpräsidentin Johanna Sigurdardottir zusammen mit den Linksgrünen 52,7 Prozent und damit 34 von 63 Sitzen im Althing, dem Parlament in Reykjavik. Beide Parteien hatten Anfang des Jahres eine Minderheitsregierung gebildet.

Der jetzige Wahlsieg bringt erstmals seit der Staatsgründung vor 65 Jahren eine linke Koalition an die Macht. Die traditionell dominierenden Konservativen sind die klaren Wahlverlierer: Sie erhielten dem derzeitigen Auszählungsstand zufolge 23,9 Prozent der Stimmen – bei der letzten Wahl waren es noch 36,1 Prozent gewesen.

Als Hintergrund gelten vor allem die katastrophalen Auswirkungen der Finanzkrise. Die Selbstständigkeitspartei hatte bis zum Rücktritt ihres Ex-Parteichefs Geir Haarde als Ministerpräsident im Januar 18 Jahre ununterbrochen regiert. >>> dpa/AP/Reuters/cn | Sonntag, 26. April 2009