Iceland places third on Save the Children’s list of countries where it is easiest being a mother in 2010, up by one place since last year. Iceland is topped by Norway and Australia and followed by Sweden and Denmark.
Posts Tagged ‘Norway’
Icelandic volcano still spewing huge ash plume
Friday, April 16th, 2010A cloud of volcanic ash is seen spreading from the southern side of Iceland in this handout satellite photograph taken at 0915GMT on Thursday and received from Norway’s Met Office in London April 15, 2010.
UK airspace still restricted because of ash from Iceland
Friday, April 16th, 2010
Most UK aeroplanes will remain grounded until 01.00 on Saturday and the ash from Iceland is reaching the ground in some parts of the UK. The plume is thought to be harmless but people are warned to monitor symptoms.
Some flights have been allowed in and out of Glasgow and Belfast until 19.00 and there is news of some flights into and out of Norway.
Iceland volcano grounds all UK flights
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
UK airspace will essentially close between 12.00 and 18.00 BST today due to the ash cloud coming from a volcano erupting in South Iceland. No civilian aircraft will be allowed to enter or leave UK airspace and there is a similar story in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Britain’s aviation authorities hope to restart scheduled services this evening; but safety comes first and volcanic ash is particularly dangerous to aeroplane engines and can cause them to stop working altogether.
Iceland’s Keflavik International Airport remains open as it is not in the path of the dust cloud – but services to northern Europe are not running.
The RAF will maintain full search and rescue capability over the whole UK.
Photo: Árni Sæbergg / mbl.is
Azerbaijani Eurovision entry to visit Iceland and Denmark
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
According to media in Azerbaijan, the country’s Eurovision Song Contest entry this year intends to visit and perform in both Iceland and Denmark before the contest in Norway next month.
According to News.az, the music video for Drip Drop, the song to be performed by Azerbaijani representative Safura Alizade is being shot in Ukraine by a Ukrainian director. The video will be presented on 25th April.
After the video is released, Safura Alizade will perform concerts in a number of countries. “The singer is expected to give concerts in Denmark and Iceland after the video clip presentation. She is also planning to perform her songs in other countries too,” the head of the Azerbaijani Eurovision delegation explained.
“It is important that her performance becomes memorable for the audience. The preparation process will be finished on May 15,” he said – adding that Safura is also working hard on her English.
Archeology: When did the First Settlers Come to Iceland?
Monday, April 5th, 2010
One of the things that makes Iceland unique in Europe is the fact that Icelanders know the year the first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, came to Iceland from Norway. The Icelandic script, Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders), written by Ari the wise, tells of the first men coming to Iceland on explorations.
Good Friday
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Today is Good Friday and all the Nordic countries celebrate today as a public holiday.
Shops and services across the region close their doors today and it may even be hard to find a bar or restaurant open in some places.
Today’s Nordic Easter Fact comes from Norway:
Norwegians like nothing more at Easter than to engross themselves in murder mysteries. The murder craze is so pervasive that even milk cartons change over Easter to feature little murder mystery puzzles and television is full of Agatha Christie and any number of other such movies and shows.
Maundy Thursday
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
Today is Maundy Thursday, the first day of a five-day Easter weekend in most of the Nordic region.
Finns and Swedes may be at work today, but people in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland and Norway are mostly off already, although many shops are open at least part of the day.
The Nordic region celebrates Easter in a similar way to other Western nations, but there are certain quirks associated with each country.
Look out for snippets of each country’s Easter celebrations all weekend on IceNews.
Today we start with Denmark:
In Denmark it is a unique tradition to cut out letters and arrange them into special poems around the time of Valentine’s Day. One then sends the poems anonymously and if the recipient guesses who it is from, they are rewarded with an Easter egg!
Norway Sponsors Translation of Icelandic Sagas
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
Icelandic book publisher Saga forlag received ISK 43 million in a grant from the Norwegian culture council last week for a universal translation of the Icelandic sagas to Norwegian. Their publication is scheduled for 2012.
Olof Arnalds: Timeless Folk And Nursery Rhymes
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010In the frigid North Atlantic Ocean between Norway and Greenland lies Iceland, an island nation of only about 300,000 souls.
Norway pushing to break IMF-Iceland deadlock over Icesave
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
The finance committee of the Norwegian parliament has voted to loan funds to Iceland regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute. It was the representatives of the Christian Democratic Party who pushed for the resolution.
The committee declared that Norway should loan Iceland money regardless of the ongoing Icesave dispute with Iceland on one side and the Netherlands and the United Kingdom on the other, ABC Nyheter reported.
The Norwegian Storting parliament will discuss the committee report tomorrow and it is thought highly likely that parliament will vote to approve the committee’s recommendation. The committee also stated its opinion that Iceland has the right to bring the Icesave dispute to an impartial international court; a move the Netherlands and the UK have opposed.
Representatives of all parties in the committee, except the Christian Democrats, made the qualification that Norwegian funds should be made available to Iceland only when the IMF review is compete and Iceland is seen to stand by its debts according to EU law.
Hans Olav Syversen of the Christian Democrats said it is clear that Norway is ready to lend to Iceland regardless of Icesave but that it is unclear what effect this will have on the IMF programme.
This news effectively means that Norway is exerting political pressure on the IMF to complete its held-up review of its Iceland recovery package – but it does not mean that Norway is about to break ranks with the IMF and loan funds unilaterally.
Pirate Bay blockade dropped by Norwegian copyright holders
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Copyright holders have abandoned their legal battle to force the Norwegian Internet service provider Telenor into blocking the well-know file sharing website The Pirate Bay, according to one of the involved parties.
The Norwegian performing rights society, TONO, led the copyright holder bid along with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Norway. The bid has now failed on two occasions in the Norwegian courts and has resulted in abandoned plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The stated goal of the copyright holders was to determine if, under Norwegian law, it would be possible to implement a block of an ISP address such as The Pirate Bay. The lack of progress in the first two court hearings has clearly signalled that this will not be the case, says TONO. The IFPI has also suggested that pursuing the matter further would be a waste of resources, reports PC World.
The court verdict has been interpreted by copyright holders as signifying that while illegal acts by Pirate Bay are being contributed towards by Telenor, the action inside Norway itself was not illegal. The decision has raised questions that the European Union Copyright
Directive is not implemented adequately in Norway, notwithstanding that the country is not a member of the EU.
The debate has been ongoing since February 2009, when copyright holders led by TONO and IFPI, send a letter to Telenor demanding The Pirate Bay website be blocked.
Icelandic Mother-of-Five Caught as Drug Mule in Peru
Friday, March 19th, 2010An Icelandic mother-of-five was arrested for attempting to smuggle two kilos of cocaine from Peru and is currently in custody in Lima. Her brother suspects she was working as a drug mule for a man in Norway who she met over the internet.
Norway to spend less oil money from 2011
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
The Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has announced that his government will limit spending of oil revenue beginning in 2011 as a safeguard against overheating the economy and forcing interest rates up.
Norway has traditionally kept the majority of oil and gas revenue in a wealth fund offshore to avoid over-stimulation of the local economy. However, in reaction to the global economic crisis, the government has been forced to spend record amounts of petrodollars in order to keep the economy afloat.
The centre-left government led by Stoltenberg has not as yet revealed when a return to the oil-spending policy that limits the country to a 4 percent spend of oil wealth in a normal year may come about. Norway’s central bank, along with market analysts and the OECD have all criticised the 2009 and 2010 spending levels which are well over the limit according to an Interactive Investor report.
“We will start the work today, and it will be a budget which will contribute to keeping interest rates low and secure Norwegian jobs,” said Stoltenberg ahead of a three-day conference to discuss the fiscal plan for 2011.”We have said that we need to reduce the spending of oil money next year… How quick and how much we will (cut) each year, is what we will decide through this work,” he claimed.
A new, less expansive fiscal policy has been deemed necessary to avoid hampering an economic recovery and to ensure stability of the local currency–which is trading at its highest level since the start of the recession in August 2008.
Norway FM open to Iceland loan before Icesave solution
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Jonas Gahr Store, the Norwegian Foreign Minister, looks set to break ranks with the other Nordic countries by recommending that Norway grant loans to Iceland before the Icesave issue is finally resolved with the Netherlands and the UK.
Aftenposten reports that not only are the Norwegians potentially interested in granting Iceland the promised loan through the IMF right away, but that Store’s government may also be willing to offer another separate loan to Iceland in co-operation with the EU.
Store’s timing seems to be deliberate, with his comments coming just a day before today’s meeting of the Nordic finance ministers in Denmark. So far all the other Nordic nations have said their support for Iceland will not be paid out before Icesave is completely off the agenda. Icesave will be on the agenda in Copenhagen today.
“Norwegian assistance is tied to the IMF package and in our opinion the IMF package is not tied to a solution to the Icesave issue as the conditions of the package stand,” Store told Aftenposten.
Store emphasised that the Nordic nations should not do anything to hinder Iceland’s IMF package—his comments a direct response to a Nordic neighbour’s opinion that the Icesave issue must be out of the way before any loan can come from that country to Iceland through the IMF. Store said the issue will be discussed today.
Store added that there is no sign that the British and Dutch have tried to stall the IMF’s work in Iceland; and a week ago the Fund’s chief, Dominique Strauss Kahn told the press he is ready and willing to continue with the Iceland package without a final agreement in the Icesave issue.
Turnaround in Norway
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Norway Considers Loan to Iceland Despite Icesave
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
Foreign Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Stoere has loosened his demands towards Iceland and is considering the possibility of disbursing a loan to the Icelandic state through the International Monetary Fund without a solution to the Icesave dispute.
The Enemy Reveals Himself
Sunday, March 7th, 2010With a smug grin he revealed last night and today what he had wanted all along. It wasn’t a national referendum on IceSave. It was for the government he opposes to resign.
Steingrimur J. Sigfusson asked the nation how it thought an agreement could be made with a saboteur on our very own negotiating team.
Of course Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, chairman of the Progressive Party and founder of the InDefence pressure group would never have dreamt up a more favorable situation. Half of the nation had bought his spin and handed him the spin necessary to demand a clear path to the power tables. Preferably before the congressional report on the economic crash due out soon.
I hate to say I told you so, but I did and Icelanders were played by a snake oil salesman and too many of them bought it. He has divided the nation and now humbly offers to lead it from distress.
The enemy does not have Iceland’s interests at heart. It is all about the money (did we mention how he became a billionaire through an unholy alliance of politics and business) and the mandate to lead Iceland during these turmoilous times when the wealth and debts of the nation are distributed.
Iceland’s enemy number one has revealed himself and his name is Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.
Related posts:
Norwegian and Dutch Foreign Ministers upset Icelanders
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
The foreign ministers of Holland and Norway were seen to talk down to Icelanders, even threatening them, on the eve of the Icesave-election.