Iceland Weekly News Roundup

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ A Silicon Factory near Húsavík, North-East Iceland, PCC are laying off 30 people and at least temporarily closing down production. We talk about how this is not the first such factory in Iceland to go belly up.✨ Socialist Party infighting continues. We half-heartedly explore the Icelandic Socialist Party’s journey towards self-destruction.✨Moomins in Akureyri. A new set-to-be-open soon Moomin themed outdoor area near Akureyri runs into copyright issues. ✨MRI scanner problems in Landspítali Hospital. One of the few MRI machines in Iceland went offline as a floor cleaning machine got stuck on its exterior a couple of weeks ago. The floor cleaning machine has now been (finally) separated from the MRI machine, but the MRI machine is still broken.✨Heart shaped traffic lights in Akureyri are to be removed. Now the President of Iceland has intervened on the behalf of the traffic lights. ✨We discuss a 2023 door bell prank with consequences. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ Last Saturday 40 pilot whales swam ashore in North Iceland by the town of Ólafsfjörður. They were all successfully pushed back out to sea. ✨ A third of Icelanders have an account on chess.com - Icelanders are also the most active users on there, and the in fourth place when it comes to total points.✨ Last Saturday it was reported that the Kattholt cat shelter was full. So if you need a kitten….✨ We discuss the ongoing filibuster on the new fisheries resource rent bill✨ The Police’s special forces broke their way into a house in Raufarhöfn, a remote town of 180 people in North-East Iceland. A man living in the house is thought to be linked with organised crime and the manufacturing illegal substances.✨ Seven Icelanders were trying to leave Israel last week, and had contacted the ministry of foreign affairs for that purpose. Nine Icelanders had requested similar aid to leave Iran. ✨ The woman suspected of a double homicide of her husband and daughter at the Reykjavík Edition hotel will be detained for at least another two weeks, it was reported on Friday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ Two French tourists were found dead at a hotel in Reykjavík last Saturday. A third person, a woman, has been detained. Police suspect a double homicide. The woman detained, along with the two victims are reported to have had stab wounds. Investigation is ongoin.✨Icelandic low fair airline Play Air, may soon move its operations abroad following a takeover bid by some of the current management of the company.✨A man who had been missing on Esja on last Monday and Tuesday was found dead on the slopes of Kistufell, a part of Mt. Esja. He was discovered around 16:00 on Tuesday.✨The orca that stranded earlier this week in Grafarvogur, Reykjavík, was  euthanised. After swimming back out to sea on Wednesday, it stranded again on Friday at Kjalarnes. According to MAST’s Chief Veterinary Officer, the decision was made with animal welfare as the guiding principle.✨An old Douglas Dakota aircraft, purchased this March by the landowners of Sólheimasandur from the Icelandic DC-3 Friends Association, has been transported from Keflavík Airport to rural South Iceland. The plan is to place the fuselage near the famous US Navy plane wreck, which has become one of the South Coast’s most visited tourist attractions.✨ A potential disaster was narrowly avoided when a training aircraft lost its nose wheel over Austurvöllur while approaching Reykjavík Airport. The wheel landed in front of the Alþingi building. No one was injured, and the plane touched down safely at Reykjavík Airport.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨We talk about a search for a lost person on Mt. Esja, a search which started on Monday, June 9th, and was still ongoing when this show aired.✨ We also discuss last weeks fatality at Brúará, a river mid way between the town of Laugarvatn and Geysir hot springs on the Gold Circle. ✨The city of Reykjavík has announced the return of the ferris wheel that sat on the city's harbour last summer to mixed reviews. We discuss those mixed reviews and debate the location of the wheel.. ✨ A law was passed last week forcing airlines flying to Iceland to hand their passenger lists over to the Icelandic authorities. Apparently this had an immediate effect as members of the well known crime syndicate (or biker gang) Banditos were turned away in Keflavík Airport over the weekend.✨The Grindavík SARS Þorbjörn announced they would be selling red caps with saying "Make Grindavík Great Again", then quickly thought better of it. We discuss the fact that at least Grindavík has built a wall, of sorts.✨Also, don't drink the water in the Blue LagoonAnd finally, here is a list to The Reykjavík Grapevine's summer playlist, as promised:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Z0aHSg3SmBYpNuCMCacdy?si=e198fc8ba73c427a------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin editor Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨We discuss an upcoming storm warning for the whole island. Iceland is expecting strong winds with near freezing temperatures and snow expected in the north and east of the island.✨ We discuss the parking fees in and around popular tourist locations in Iceland, also known as the habit of charging people for nothing. ✨ From June 1, 2025 swimming pools in Reykjavík will be open until 22:00 in the evenings until August 31, adding a welcome hour to the hot tub soaking of the many pool fans of Reykjavík. The pools had historically been open until 22:00, but those hours were cut by the city in April 2024 in order to save money. Since it is estimated that the extra hour will cost the city just 7 million ISK, keeping the pools open for the extra hour for a whole year would cost 28 million ISK. A puny amount of money in a city of almost 150.000 inhabitants.✨ On the last day of May a concert was held at Laugardalshöll stadium to commemorate a 14 year anniversary of a popular radio show called FM95BLÖ. The show, which featured numerous popular pop artists including Jóhanna Guðrún of Eurovision fame, Prettyboytjokkó, Birnir and Herra Hnetusmjör, to name a few. Around 10.000 people showed up, and due to a mixture of overcrowding and organisational failures, numerous people had to seek medical help, though nobody is reported to have been badly injured.✨A protest took place in Austurvöllur in front of Iceland's parliament this Saturday. “We are not racists” said the organizer of the protest, Sigfús Aðalsteinsson. We discuss.✨An Icelander in his early 40s was stopped by the police in the last week of May while driving in Akureyri. A breathalyser test indicated that the man was under the influence of alcohol, yet the man claimed to have never drunk alcohol in his life. After an argument with the police officer who conducted the breathalyser test, the man was allowed to rinse his mouth of the sourdough sandwich he had been consuming. The subsequent test showed that he had not been drinking and according to the driver this annoyed the police officer somewhat. This is news to most - if not all - lovers of a good sourdough sandwich, who have until now remai------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist and Grapevine’s former Editor-in-Chief Valur Grettisson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨We start by catching up with Valur Grettisson to find out what he has been doing during the past 3 days, which turns into a discussion on the state of Icelandic journalism in general.✨ We discuss Iceland’s oldest horse, a 36 winter old horse named “Sómi”, who is now retired and resides near by Skógar waterfall in south Iceland. Sómi still has great teeth and hoofs, according to his owners. We also find out that our current Prime Minister is just a year older than the horse in question. ✨ We discuss the Icelandic Socialist Party, whose leadership changed over the weekend, where the party’s founder and former media mogul Gunnar Smári Egilsson, was ousted at a politburo meeting. ✨We discuss the questionable ascetics of new video surveillance “towers” that have been erected by Iceland’s most famous church, Hallgrímskirkja, in order to counter pick-pocketing. ✨ The police chief in the Reykjanes peninsula, Úlfar Lúðvíksson quit last week. He did not leave quietly, and in with very colourful language took jabs at the Icelandic chief of police, the minister of justice and more. ✨ Somebody took a Tesla taxi into the Icelandic highlands. This surprised most people who thought they knew anything about electric vehicles and their ability to cross rivers without breaking down. ✨ We talk about an Icelandic farmer who bought a tank in the early 2000’s and how there used to be more variety in car design in the last century, and how modern cars look like the cars in the 1995 film Demolition Man.✨ We talk about Climeworks, a story that Valur Grettisson has been covering for Heimildin (The Source).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ We talk about the record breaking excellent weather Iceland has been enjoying during the last few days, and why Icelanders tend to assume that something this good (the weather), will always result in something bad. And how at least one of the hosts had a “Swedish” summer experience over the weekend (hotdogs in a thermos), while another host enjoyed lambing season.✨ We talk about last week’s debate about serving alcohol at sporting events in Iceland and ponder if Icelandic swimming pools will eventually serve beer.✨ We discuss the Icelandic government’s sale of a 45% share in Icelandic bank Íslandsbanki, which was bought last week by the general public. We also contrast this to the sale of the other 50% of the bank which took place some years previously.✨ Eurovision happened last weekend. We talk about that, the debate within Iceland (and elsewhere) on the competition, the songs (are they songs?) and the Eurovision parties some of the hosts “enjoyed”.✨ Lastly, we discuss at length Heimildin’s story from a couple of weeks ago about the carbon capture company Climeworks, a Swiss founded company that operates out of Iceland. We discuss the problems with projects such as theirs, and wether or not Heimildin was being too harsh or critical in their article, written by Grapevine’s former Editor-in-Chief, Valur Grettisson.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ On Wednesday RÚV continued its report regarding covert surveillance by former police officers for Iceland’s richest man, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson. The same two police officers also stole surveillance data from the Special Prosecutors office in 2012. We discuss that.✨ The police found two snakes in someone's home. The snakes were disposed of.✨ We discuss The Reykjavík Grapevine's recent feature on Eurovision and the debate surrounding Iceland's participation in it this year and last.✨ A new filibuster record was set in the halls of Iceland's parliament, Althingi, last Friday when the opposition opposed a new proposed law that would increase the revenue the Icelandic state receives from its fisheries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ On Wednesday RÚV reported that Iceland’s richest man, Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, had hired police officers to carry out covert surveillance on a group of citizens who had filed a lawsuit against him. The operation reportedly cost tens of millions of krónur and involved three officers — two retired, one still on active duty at the time. We discuss this story and the fact that one of the former police officers, Jón Óttar Ólafsson, had also been subsequently been paid by rich Icelanders for various other tasks, including surveillance of journalists.✨ We discuss a story about a tourist that was held hostage in Reykjavík on May Day.✨ A Starbucks is set to be opened in Reykjavík later this summer.✨ & a tourist was sexually harassed at the Blue Lagoon on Saturday.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of. The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨ Does it make sense to wear shorts in Iceland - or take cold baths, or hike naked- given the weather and everything?✨ We mention but hardly discuss “Operation Mongoose”, a naval  exercise taking place in Iceland + what types join the Icelandic Coast Guard✨The population of Iceland’s two most loved spring birds, Lóa (Eurasian golden plover) and Spói (Eurasian whimbrel) are in stark decline in Iceland. 30% of all whimbrels in the world lay eggs in Iceland and so do  50-60% of all golden plovers. We discuss why.✨ Fisheries Iceland, the organisation that lobbies on the behalf of the Icelandic fishing companies, has been critiqued for being somewhat tone def in the advertising they’ve commissioned to oppose plans to raise taxes on the industry. We discuss.✨In 2024, 5546 people got married in Iceland. Which is a new record. Also, 2023 marked the first year when more people were married in Iceland by a state magistrate than the state church. We discuss.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------SHOW SUPPORTSupport the Grapevine's reporting by becoming a member of our High Five Club: https://steadyhq.com/en/rvkgrapevine/You can also support the Grapevine by shopping in our online store: https://shop.grapevine.is------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter. The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication. You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.www.grapevine.is