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The leaders of the parties with the highest support according to a Prósent poll for Morgunblaðið. From the left: Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir for the Liberal Reform Party; Kristrún Frostadóttir for the Social Democratic Alliance; and Bjarni Benediktsson, for the Independence Party.

New poll: The battle for the top is heating up

yesterday, 16:30 GMT The Social Democratic Alliance takes the lead in a new poll by Prósent for Morgunblaðið with only two days until the election.

Steinunn Þórðardóttir, Chairman of the Icelandic Medical Association and Ástráður Haraldsson, State Mediator.

“A big step forward for doctors”

yesterday, 15:00 GMT “This was finally achieved and we left the negotiating table very amicably last night,” says Steinunn Þórðardóttir, chairman of the Icelandic Medical Association, but agreements were reached in the wage dispute between doctors and the state and at other times last night.

Work on the construction of a new Grindavíkurvegur road began yesterday.

Building a new road through the glowing lava

yesterday, 12:14 GMT The construction of the new Grindavíkurvegur Road has begun. Contractors began work on it at four o'clock yesterday. This is the fourth time this section of road has been laid over lava since the eruption started in November last year.

In the presidential election, about 42,000 people voted early.

25000 have voted early

two days ago Early voting has been increasing day by day and already over 25 thousand Icelanders have voted in the governmental election that will be held next Saturday.

Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has signed a regulation on the allocation of deep-sea redfish quotas, contrary to the advice of scientists.

Allocating quotas despite advice

two days ago The government has issued a 3,800-tonne quota for deep-sea beaked redfish in the current fishing year despite scientific advice that such fishing should not be conducted to protect the stock.

The northernmost crater is still active

26 Nov The central and southern craters have most likely completely extinguished the eruption of the Sundhnúkagígar series.

Helga Árnadóttir, director of sales, marketing, and service at the Blue Lagoon.

Bus stop to be located near the Blue Lagoon

26 Nov The Blue Lagoon expects a bus stop to be near the lagoon when it opens. Buses would arrive and depart there regularly.

The material for the new electricity mast in Svartsengi.

A new electricity mast will be erected

26 Nov Work on preparations to erect a new electricity mast within the Svartsengi defense walls has begun. The aim is to bring the line into operation as soon as possible and conditions permit. The new electricity mast will raise the conductors by 12-14 meters.

David Walliams visited the school yesterday and spoke to students and teachers on a lighter note.

David Walliams makes surprise visit to Áslandsskóli School

26 Nov “Do you have any stories about teachers at the school that could be included in my next book about the worst teachers in the world?” asked British author and comedian David Walliams when he made a surprise visit to Áslandsskóli School in Hafnarfjörður yesterday and spoke to students and teachers. Yesterday was the first day at the school after a temporary teachers’ strike.

Work is underway to expand and widen the defense walls at Svartsengi.

Working on cooling the lava around the clock

25 Nov Work was done all night on cooling the lava at the eruption sites at Sundhnúkagígar crater row as well as on expanding and widening the defense walls, so that red-hot lava does not get over them.

The work of raising the defense walls was ongoing throughout the night and will continue for the next few days.

Defense walls raised by 3 to 4 meters

25 Nov The raising of the defense walls from the place where the Blue Lagoon parking lot used to be to the Njarðvíkur pipeline is well underway and was ongoing throughout the night. It is expected that two defense walls will be raised by 3-4 meters.

Steinunn Þórðardóttir, chairwoman of the Icelandic Medical Association.

Doctors' strike called off at the last minute

25 Nov The first round of doctors' strikes, due to start at midnight, was called off late last night after an agreement was reached on the main points of a new collective agreement. However, individual points in the agreement still need to be finalized and negotiations were planned to continue into the night.