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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 musician and the country’s main expert on the Eurovision Song Contest Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson is urging director of national broadcaster RÚV Páll Magnússon to have Iceland drop out of the contest this year because of human rights violations carried out in Azerbaijan in connection with preparations for hosting this year’s event.
Authorities in the capital Baku have been accused of carrying out forced evictions to make space for the construction of a concert hall for the contest, ruv.is reports.
Páll Magnússon said on Rás 2 yesterday that the option is being considered but that Iceland could perhaps make a stronger statement by participating and bringing attention to the situation.
“People have pointed out that the only reason for these human rights violations being in the spotlight in western countries is that they are being conducted in connection with Eurovision, otherwise Azerbaijan authorities would have carried them out unnoticed,” Páll Magnússon stated.
His namesake is of a different opinion. “Experience has shown that officials won’t listen unless they’re pushed up against the wall,” asking whether anything has changed in regards to human rights violations in China after the Olympics were held there in 2008.
“We have to say stop somewhere. If that means the end of Eurovision, so be it. Human rights come first, Eurovision second,” Páll Óskar continued.
Páll Magnússon expected the matter to be discussed at a joint meeting of the Nordic national broadcasters shortly.
Páll Óskar urged the director to get his counterparts to drop out of the contest too for the sake of a Nordic protest against human rights violations in Azerbaijan.
The national Eurovision final, where Iceland’s entry will be chosen, will take place in Iceland on Saturday.
Click here to read to more about Eurovision and here to read more about Páll Óskar.
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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