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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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Icelandic search and recue teams have been busy all night, especially in the Suðurnes region in the southwest and in the capital region. In Suðurnes 20 search and rescue teams have responded to almost 150 calls for assistance since last night.
Search and rescue teams assist snowbound drivers in Reykjavík in December. Courtesy of ICE-SAR.
The Suðurnes teams got recruitment from the capital region where search and rescue teams have also been busy, responding to approximately 100 calls for assistance last night which started to arrive shortly after midnight, as stated in an ICE-SAR press release.
Streets in Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær and along the coastline are impassable, but to a lesser extent in upper Reykjavík suburbs, although some streets in Árbær are closed.
Highways leading south and eastwards out of the capital region are also closed: Reykjanesbraut (towards Keflavík International Airport), Hellisheiði (towards Hveragerði) and Þrengsli (towards Þorlákshöfn).
Search and rescue associations in Varmaland and Akranes in the west and Eyrarbakki and Þorlákshöfn in the south were also called last night, among other reasons to assist drivers stuck in snowdrifts, and in Ísafjörður in the West Fjords to assist with road closures and to prevent a boat from sinking in the local harbor.
Avalanche risk was declared in the West Fjords last night, in an industrial area in Ísafjörður and near two private homes in Hnífsdalur, Morgunblaðið reports.
Power outages were experienced in Bolungarvík in the West Fjords and in Kópasker and Þórshöfn in northeast Iceland as well as the surrounding rural area.
Roads are widely closed, as are schools. Commuters are asked to pay close attention to weather forecasts and warnings on vedur.is and road conditions on vegagerdin.is.
Click here to read about the last blizzard to hit the country.
ESA
The first archeological research in Iceland this year will begin at Hafnir in Reykjanes, southwest Iceland, on Monday. Archeologists will continue their study of a hut which may originate from 770-880 AD and predate the historical settlement of Iceland in 847.
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A small glacial burst occurred in the volcano Katla, which lies underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap in south Iceland, on April 28 and lasted a few days. The activity was registered by seismic monitors and increased conduction was measured in the river Múlakvísl until May 7.
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Kexland (“Biscuit Land”) is a new events organizer and tour operator based at the hip KEX Hostel in Reykjavík, where its plans were presented on Wednesday. These include a guided tour and exercise at the capital’s swimming pools with comedian Dóri DNA.
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American disco queen Donna Summer, who died of cancer at age 63 on Thursday, worked closely with Icelandic musician Þórir Baldursson in Germany from 1973 to 1976. He remembers her with warmth, describing her as a wonderful person.
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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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