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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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The primary proceedings in the case of Sigurjón Þ. Árnason, one of Landsbanki’s two former CEOs at the time of its collapse in October 2008, against the bank over his pension savings are currently ongoing at Reykjavík District Court.
“The claimant is not considered good company today. He has had to endure telephone tapping and custody sentences […]. He is the materialization of Icesave and is considered a rather right-less man in Icelandic society,” commented Sigurjón’s lawyer Sigurður G. Guðjónsson, according to visir.is.
Sigurjón is demanding the recognition and the release of a special pension savings fund he had at Landsbanki, currently at ISK 566 million (USD 4.5 million, EUR 3.5 million).
Landsbanki wants to dissolve the savings at the demand of the Financial Supervision Authority (FME), as the savings arrangement is considered to be illegal.
In that regard, the FME pointed out that a loan was granted from Sigurjón’s private pension fund to himself with two mortgage deeds with his own house as collateral, worth a total of ISK 70 million (USD 567,000, EUR 432,000), in November 2008.
After filing charges against Landsbanki, Sigurjón had an injunction placed on Landsbanki’s actions on this matter but the bank now wants the injunction lifted. Sigurður reasoned that there are now laws against such pension fund loans.
Meanwhile, Landsbanki is suing Sigurjón for damages.
Click here to read more about this case.
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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