Citizenship, 2026 budget, TikTok & exchange students, trans rights & free speech, anti-genocide protests

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: ✨ An Italian academic, Roberto Luigi Pagani who has taught Icelandic, and how to read old Icelandic manuscripts at the University of Iceland and lived here since 2014, was refused citizenship because he hasn’t passed a test in Icelandic.✨The minister of finance, Daði Mar Kristófersson, is introducing next year’s budget this morning. The plan is to run a 15 billion ISK deficit next year, but the plan is to end the deficit in 2027.✨Morgunblaðið reported this morning that the 40% increase in applications of foreign students who also need a residence permit, may be linked to numerous TikTok videos, promoting the fact that it is free to attend university in Iceland, and furthermore that students can bring their families with them while attending studies in Iceland. The Grapevine has received numerous emails from students who applied to study at the University of Iceland this semester, but whose residence permit was not processed in time for them to attend. ✨On Monday last week, RÚV decided it was time to platform MP and former podcast bro, Snorri Másson, who’s been maintaining in interviews that there is no freedom of speech with regards to discussing trans-rights and policies in Iceland. RÚV brought him on to debate Þorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir, the spokesperson for Iceland’s National Queer Organizations. What followed were 20 minutes of Snorri playing victim, while making no solid points in the debate and constantly interrupting Þorbjörg. The following day it was reported that the Police’s special forces had kept a watch on Snorri’s house that night, for security reasons, and Snorri then issued a statement that the whole thing “proved” his point that no freedom of speech existed regarding the discussion of trans issues in Iceland.Totally unrelated, RÚV premiered a new documentary series called Hate. Which is about “the rise of hate speech in Iceland and the backlash that has occurred in the struggles of various minority groups in recent years.”✨Saturday saw a protest against “genocide” take place all over Iceland; in Reykjavík, Ísafjörður, Egilsstaðir, Akureyri, Stykkishólmur, Húsavík and Hólmavík. About 185 different organizations were behind the------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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: ✨Independence Party members in Reykjavík city council suggested that Reykjavík should design it’s own “Peace Flag” and use that instead of flags such as the Ukrainian flag or the Palestinian flag when condemning war and showing support. Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, the chairman of Efling, the largest union in Iceland called the suggestion “woke” and useless, and went on to talk about Yoko Ono’s artwork in Viðey Island, the Peace Tower, as also woke and useless. ✨The ATM heist in Mosfellsbær has been solved. The perpetrator — a man in his forties — has confessed to stealing the ATM, which was found late last week near where it was stolen, in Hólmsheiði. The 22 million ISK in cash in the ATM were still there. The man in question also confessed to stealing bags of cash in Kópavogur last year, and is furthermore a witness in the so called Þorlákshöfn case.✨The Independence Party has put forth a new chairman of their parliamentary party. The new chairman is Ólafur Adolfsson, a new MP. He’ll be replacing Hildur Sverrisdóttir, who oversaw this springs historical filibuster. This change has been publicly celebrated by members of the ruling coalition. The new chairman has said that the public is “tired of filibustering”. ✨A cat was rescued from a Tesla in Seltjarnarnes this weekend. The owner of the car had apparently locked himself out of the car, and the cat in the car, and was — when the police arrived on the scene — trying to open up the Tesla using different methods. The police helped the owner to open up the back of the car and getting to the cat by removing parts of the front of the car to get to the luggage storage, gave the cat some dried fish to calm it down, and finally rescued it.✨The coast guard’s helicopter picked up a woman with a broken bone, by Glymur waterfall in Hvalfjöður, west Iceland, on Saturday. Furthermore, on Saturday, the SARS conducted an extensive search in Grímsnes looking for a 12 year old boy, who was visiting Iceland with his family. The boy was found. ✨ The potential collapse of the Atlantic AMOC system was back in the news last week. The AMOC is an abbreviation of the phrase “Atlantic meridional overturning cir------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 young women, who were working at the Icelandic championships in Rallycross on Krýsuvík road on Saturday, were injured when one of the participating cars flipped over, upp a small hill, and ran them over. Their injuries were not reported as critical.✨An ATM was stolen in the Reykjavik suburb of Mosfellsbær on Tuesday. Two are in custody, a woman in her thirties and a man in his forties. Around 20 million ISK were in the ATM. The ATM was stolen with the help of an excavator, but the ATM itself is yet to be located, along with the cash.✨Last weekend saw both Culture Night happening in Reykjavík, and the annual Reykjavík Marathon with a record of over 16.000 participants. ✨A couple, living in Laugardalur, Reykjavík, woke up with a rat in their bed on Tuesday morning. The woman who lives whose apartment the rat raided, said that her partner had woken her up told her there was a rat in the house, asked her to take their kids outside, and then finished off the rat with a cutting board. An exterminator interviewed in relations to the story said it was very uncommon for rats do crawl into people beds, and said he’d only heard of two such cases in Iceland in the past 13 years.✨The Reykjavík Grapevine reported on trouble that international students were having with having their resident permits cleared with the Directorate of Immigration in Iceland. The explanation for this seems to be first, that there is a 40% increase in foreign students who’ve been admitted for University studies in Iceland, who need a resident permit to begin the studies. A third of the applications were submitted after a 1. June deadline, and the explanation for that is, that many students were only admitted by universities in late May, giving them a limited timeframe to get their residents permit applications in order.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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: ✨Three caravans/trailers were blown up by strong winds on Holtavörðuheiði, a mountain road between the north and west of Iceland. Nobody was hurt, but SARS also had to help a group of motorcyclists off the mountain road, due to heavy winds. The weather on Friday also brought a thunderstorm to the west of Iceland. A rarity. ✨Egilsstaðir, a town in east Iceland saw the the thermostat reach 29,8 celsius on Saturday. That is the highest temperature recorded in Iceland this century, though it still does not pass the all time record of just over 30 degrees, recorded - also in the east - in 1939.✨A boulder fell on the the ring road road south of Eyjafjallajökull, in south of Iceland on Sunday. This spring, in the same area, a boulder hit a car, killing a woman who was visiting Iceland. The locals have for long complained about the safety of that stretch of road, but so far nothing has been done to amend it.✨Third of Icelanders pay for Spotify and the platform is almost responsible for 100% of streaming in Iceland. The Chairman of STEF (Composers’ Rights Society of Iceland), Páll Ragnar Pálsson says STEF is not planning on withdrawing the the catalog of Icelandic music from the service, and points out individual artists can do that. He says that STEF is working with other composers’ rights societies abroad in order to try to put some pressure on Spotify. But because of what? There are three reasons, first, the extremely low revenues that artists get for streaming. Second, the numerous fake artists that also skim money from streaming on Spotify, and which in some cases seems to have happened with Spotify’s consent, and third, the recent move of Spotify’s CEO into weapons development and manufacturing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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: ✨Special forces deployed after football fans clash✨Iceland’s first bank robbery solved✨Trump appoints a new ambassador to Iceland✨Israel’s plans to occupy Gaza condemned✨Death at Reynisfjara beach------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 Grapevine's staff journalist Jóhannes Bjarki Bjarkason, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are: ✨End of longest Filibuster ever at Althingi✨Will the Icelandic heat record of 30,5 fall today?✨Hotel shooting. 5 arrested, then released. ✨City of Reykjavík’s war on a plant: The giant hogweed ✨We answer select listener’s questions on museums, saints and why Iceland is a better place to live in than the other Nordics------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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: ✨Filibuster continues at Alþingi.✨Iceland team out in Euro Cup✨A bomb was disabled at Keflavik Airport on Saturday. ✨Registration fee to the University of Iceland to be raised from 75.000ISK to 180.000ISK ✨Kerecis saves the live of a bald eagle, just in time for July 4th✨National Audit Office Report on Iceland’s main hospital released early last week. Main findings; not great.✨We asked listeners for questions. This time we answer them. The subjects ranged from potential crimes to eclipses to uncomfortable public interactions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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: ✨ 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