Latest news - Iceland Monitor

Protestors outside the Hólmsheiði prison today.

Australian woman goes to jail in Iceland for biting violent ex-husbands tongue

yesterday The mother of an Australian woman who was sentenced by the Icelandic state court to prison for biting a part of her husbands tongue has written a letter to the Ministry of Justice to ask that her daughter be pardoned.

Geologist Haraldur Gunnarsson at Eystri-Hagafellsjökull, a glacier that has retreated by 700 metres in the space of one year.

Toes of Icelandic glaciers retreating

yesterday Are Icelandic glaciers going to vanish? Glaciologist Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir says that glacier toes in Iceland are retreating and that glacial lagoons are being formed in front of many of the places where they are measured which makes access difficult.

Yellow weather warnings still active

yesterday Despite the storm having subsided there are still yellow weather warnings for South West Iceland. Hellisheiði has been reopened but roads in Snæfellsnes are difficult to pass.

Bjarni Benediktsson presenting the government's tax and wage plan last night.

Unions disappointed with government's tax proposals

yesterday Minister of Finance Bjarni Benediktsson presented the government's tax and wage proposals last night. The proposals have been strongly criticised by the four unions leading the current wage negotiatons.

Table mountain is a popular mountain to climb and offers amazing vews of Cape Town.

Icelander rescued on Cape Town's Table Mountain

yesterday An Icelandic tourist was rescued from a deadlock in Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa this week. The rescue operation took some 13 hours.

Mislingasmit hefur verið staðfest hjá einum farþega sem var í flugi FI455 með Icelandair frá London til Keflavíkur 14. febrúar.

Measles on Icelandair flight

19 Feb Passengers and crew on an Icelandair were notified by the state infectiologist of Iceland that there was a possibility of measles infection on board. The same announcement was sent to passengers of Air Iceland Connect from Reykjavik to Egilsstaðir on February 15th.

Chefs at Dill, one of Reykjavik's most touted restaurants.

Dill lose their Michelin star

19 Feb The much celebrated Dill restaurant in Reykjavik lost its Michelin star last night, a star they acquired last year, the first ever Icelandic restaurant to do so.

Bad weather for travel tonight

19 Feb There will be a storm in Iceland tonight in most parts of the country with snowfall and bad visibility. Winds could reach up to 40 m/s which means bad weather for travelling.

Glaciers in Iceland have retreated rapidly for more than two decades and glacier downwasting is one of the most obvious consequences of a warming climate in the country.

Icelandic students to go on climate strike on Friday

19 Feb A strike for climate will take place in Austurvöllur square in the Reykjavik city centre this Friday, February 22nd - and every Friday after that - between 12-13.

Holyoake says he has gradually become a great fan of Iceland and that he has acquired a number of friends and acquaintances here.

British investor Mark Holyoake withdraws from Iceland Seafood

18 Feb British investor Mark Holyoake stepped down from the board of Iceland Seafood International earlier this month. He acquired a controlling stake in the company in 2010 and has been involved in its development and acquisition of foreign fisheries companies ever since. He says that the timing is right to withdraw from the board, despite the fact that he will continue to hold a large share in ISI.

Gísli Matthías Auðunsson, chef at Skál and Slippurinn in the Westman Islands.

SKÁL receives a Bib Gourmand Michelin award

18 Feb Tiny restaurant Skál, situated at Hlemmur food hall in Reykjavik has just received a Bib Gourmand award from Michelin.

Ólafur Darri in his role as sullen detective Andri.

See the second series of Trapped with English subtitles

18 Feb Icelanders have been glued to their sofas for Sunday nights watching the thrilling series of Trapped 2 (Ófærð) starring Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as detective Andri investigating a series of chilling murders in a remote town in North Iceland. Now Rúv national television is offering a service in which you can watch the episodes with either Icelandic or English subtitles.

Þota, who will turn one years old in April, survived six days underneath a thick layer of snow.

Border collie survives six days trapped in an avalanche in West Iceland

18 Feb Was it luck or simply a miracle? Dog Þota was caught in an avalanche in Hnappadalur, Snæfellsnes. Her owners searched for her for days but finally Þota returned to her farm after being buried underneath the avalanche for six days.

Ekkert ferðaveður er víða á Norðausturlandi.

Storm in North East Iceland and bad driving conditions in may parts of Iceland

18 Feb Bad weather rages in North East Iceland with strong winds and snowfall, to continue until one pm. Road conditions in many parts of Iceland are bad today following a storm in the night and people intending to travel need to check road conditions carefully beforehand.

Sigurður Pálmi fékk lykilinn að Hallveigarstíg 1 í byrjun mánaðar.

Danish low-cost supermarket to open in central Reykjavik

17 Feb Entrepreneur Sigurður Pálmi Sigurbjörnsson is opening a new Danish supermarket, Super1 to replace the Bónus store formerly in Hallvegarstígur in downtown Reykjavik.