RSS feed from icelandreview.com 
Click on the picture to watch this audio slideshow about bird watching at Óshólmar, an area at the mouth of Eyjafjardará river just outside Akureyri in north Iceland, the largest Icelandic town outside the capital region. Not many tourists know about this attraction, which is perfect for a walk in the sun.
more
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.
more
The coalition governmental parties in Iceland, the Independence Party (Sjálfstaedisflokkurinn) and the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn), received a slight majority in parliament, 32 MPs in total, after the general elections yesterday.
The last votes were counted around 9 am this morning.
According to mbl.is, the Independence Party received 36.6 percent of all votes and 25 MPs, three more than what the party received after the last elections in 2003.
The Progressive Party, on the other hand, lost five MPs since the last elections, and has now seven MPs in parliament after receiving 11.7 percent of all votes.
The Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) received 26.8 percent of all votes and 18 MPs – the party lost two MPs since the elections in 2003.
The Left-Green Movement (Vinstri graenir) increased their number of MPs the most, by four since the last elections. The party received 14.3 percent of votes yesterday and nine MPs.
The Liberal Party (Frjálslyndi flokkurinn) received 7.2 percent of votes and four MPs, the same as in 2003, but the newcomer, the Icelandic movement (Íslandhreyfingin), received only 3.3 percent of votes and no MP in parliament.
A total of 63 MPs have a seat in Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, and it is requried that the governmental parties have a majority of MPs.
With 32 MPs the Independence Party and Progressive Party could remain in government. But with such little the majority, the Independence Party may decide to work with another party or parties.
The political parties will now discuss how best to form Iceland’s next government during which the Independence Party has the biggest say as the largest party.
The human being will be on display for the first time in its natural environment in the Reykjavík Family Park and Zoo next weekend. Visitors can observe three men and one woman in a cage after 10 am on Saturday and Sunday.
more
The formal Videy island swim took place yesterday and there were three participants, two men and one woman, Thórdís Hrönn Pálsdóttir, who is the first woman to participate in the Videy swim since 1959.
more
The Environment Agency intends to investigate whether the Heath Protection Authority handled the situation in Eskifjördur, east Iceland, in the correct manner when contaminated water from a trawler was carried into the town’s drinking water system.
more
One hundred and forty million cubic meters of ash is estimated to have fallen in Iceland during the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull last spring. That excludes all the ash that fell into the ocean and in other countries.
more
The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book Puffins as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
more
REVIEWS
Hendrikka Waage is an accomplished jewellery designer whose first children’s book Rikka and Her Magic Ring in Iceland, takes readers on an enchanted and educational journey through the country. It’s beautifully illustrated and a good lesson in geography, but the plot could have been better thought through and the moral of the story is a bit too prominent.
more
On the third day of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption we drove from Skógar to Hvolsvöllur in total darkness, a distance of 18 kilometers. It was frightening, the darkness being so impenetrable that we could hardly see out the windows of the car. We could see faint lights from the farm standing right next to the highway.
more
Ásmundur Sveinsson is among the foremost Icelandic sculptors. The current exhibition in the Ásmundur Sveinsson Museum in Reykjavík is entitled “I choose women who thrive…” and features women as symbols in the sculptor’s art. The works in the exhibition are selected from his entire career.
more
