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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of the lambing season at Brimnes, a farm in the north of Iceland, in April 2008. Sheep farmer Arnar Gústafsson and his girlfriend Edda Björk take shifts watching over the nearly 300 ewes and helping them give birth 24/7 for about two months or until the last lamb is born. In Iceland, the arrival of lambs is synonymous with the arrival of summer. The lambing season is currently at its height.
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Located just 40 minutes by car and six minutes from Keflavík International Airport, Sandgerdi (“Sandy Hedge”) is a growing town of 1,700 with a storied history and loads to see. Read this special promotion about the hidden secrets of one of Iceland's most charming seaside villages.
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A bomb went off close to the Government Offices of Iceland in central Reykjavík between 6 and 7 am yesterday morning. Tens of people were called to the scene: police officers, members of the special forces and experts in explosive devices.
The Government Office of Iceland. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
A fire truck and an ambulance were sent to the scene around 10 am and were stationed there for approximately an hour and a half, Morgunblaðið reports.
A custom-made robot from the Icelandic Coast Guard shot at the remains of the bomb with a high-pressure water pistol designed to detonate the bomb while preventing a full-blown explosion. Afterwards it was examined by a member of the Coast Guard’s bomb squad.
The police closed Hverfisgata from Lækjargata to Ingólfsstræti until noon and cleared two buildings: Hverfisgata 4 which facilitates the offices of the State Prosecutor, Attorney General and the International Monetary Fund, among other institutions, and Hverfisgata 4A where some of the Prime Ministry’s offices are located.
However, it was not considered necessary to clear the nearby Government Offices where a cabinet meeting was taking place, Fréttablaðið reports.
“This was for real. This was not a case of boys playing with fireworks,” commented Commissioner of the Reykjavík Metropolitan Police Stefán Eiríksson.
The bomb is believed to have comprised of a gasoline container, some sort of percussion cap and a battery. The explosion wasn’t powerful and didn’t cause any damage, although it did pose a threat within its immediate surroundings. It is clear that knowledge of explosives was necessary in order to build the device, the police state.
No one had been arrested as of yesterday evening and the police are calling for witnesses (call: (+354) 444-1000; (+354) 800-5005 or email: abending@lrh.is).
A woman told RÚV yesterday that she had heard two loud explosions at 6:40 am and seen a man, whom she described as short, chubby and middle-aged, run away from the scene and drive off in a small white van.
An employee of the Government Offices also heard an explosion but didn’t know from where the noise came.
According to Morgunblaðið, the police are also investigating why notification of the bomb to the police’s central communication center did not lead to an immediate response.
Click here to read yesterday’s report on this story.
ESA
Magnús Skarphéðinsson, principal of the Icelandic Elf School, has expressed his concern that Independence Party MP Árni Johnsen may be subject to an accident after relocating a boulder allegedly inhabited by elves to his home in the Westman Islands.
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The first music festival this summer, Reykjavík Live, kicks off with concerts in the center of Iceland’s capital tonight and will carry on through May 20. The venues are Gamli Gaukurinn, Glaumbar, Prikið and Frú Berlaug.
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President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and his main rival for the presidential election on June 30, Þóra Arnórsdóttir, are supported by an almost equal number of voters, 41.3 and 43.4 percent, respectively, as indicated in a new survey.
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The West Fjords District Court ruled on Monday that a man found guilty of having drowned a Labrador by tying its front and hind legs, fastening it to car tires and throwing it in the ocean is to pay ISK 100,000 (USD 786, EUR 612) in fine.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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REVIEWS
The Reykjavík Shorts&Docs was held in Reykjavík from May 6 to 9 in Bíó Paradís, and what an enriching experience it was to attend the festival.
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Shedding light on Iceland’s thousand-year history, as manifested in remains ranging from Viking graves to enchanted sites, Mannvist is a fundamental piece of writing. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its author, archaeologist Birna Lárusdóttir.
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“The House Project” currently on display in Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art, is a new artwork by Hreinn Friðfinnsson consisting of a photography series of the three houses. His work is described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of every day human experience.”
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