Iceland

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In Iceland, Voters Turn to Center-Left Social Democrats
Iceland Turns From Incumbents

Iceland Turns From Incumbents

Election puts center-left party in position to form a governing coalition

(Newser) - Voters in Iceland joined a global trend of punishing incumbents in a parliamentary election, with a center-left party winning the largest share of votes in the North Atlantic island nation. With all the votes tallied on Sunday, the Social Democratic Alliance had won 15 seats in the 63-seat parliament, the...

Tourist Killed in Ice Wall Collapse Was an American

Unidentified man is dead in Iceland and a US woman is injured; all others are accounted for

(Newser) - The collapse of an ice wall at a tourist destination in Iceland on Sunday killed an American man and injured an American woman, reports the Washington Post . Neither has been further identified following the collapse of an ice cave that is part of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier. On Monday,...

Ice Cave Collapse Kills Tourist in Iceland

2 others are missing

(Newser) - At least one person has died and two others are still missing after an ice cave partially collapsed as a group of tourists was visiting the Breidamerkurjokull glacier in southern Iceland, the AP reports. In a statement posted on social media, local police say first responders received a call shortly...

Iceland Issues a Volcano Warning
Iceland Issues a
Volcano Warning

Iceland Issues a Volcano Warning

Says a new eruption could be coming

(Newser) - The managing director of the Icelandic Meteorological Office didn't mince words: "We're going through a volcanic crisis." Matthew Roberts' comments to the New York Times come as his agency on Tuesday warned of an eruption within the next seven to 10 days. Should that come to...

Iceland Volcano Spews Lava From 2-Mile Fissure

Blue Lagoon spa was evacuated once again

(Newser) - Iceland's famous Blue Lagoon spa was evacuated once again Wednesday as a volcano erupted, spewing a wall of lava 165 feet upward from a long fissure. Deutsche Welle reports that around 750 visitors were at the geothermal spa when a state of emergency was declared. The few residents that...

Volcano Triggers Evacuation of Iceland Tourist Attraction

Volcano erupted for the 3rd time since December

(Newser) - A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the third time since December on Thursday, sending jets of lava into the sky and triggering the evacuation of the Blue Lagoon spa, one of the island nation's biggest tourist attractions. The eruption began at about 1am Eastern along a nearly two-mile...

Iceland Volcano Erupts Again, Lava Heads Toward Town

At least one home has been set on fire so far

(Newser) - A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday, sending lava snaking toward a nearby community and setting at least one home on fire, the AP reports. The eruption, which began just before 8am local time, came after authorities evacuated the town...

Iceland's Feared Eruption Begins
Iceland Volcano Puts
on Spectacular Show
UPDATED

Iceland Volcano Puts on Spectacular Show

Eruption near Grindavik comes weeks after town was evacuated

(Newser) - The summary has been updated with new details. A volcano has erupted in southwestern Iceland, sending a flash of light into the evening sky and spewing semi-molten rock into the air in a spectacular show of Earth's power in the land known for fire and ice. The eruption Monday...

Iceland Hit by Another 800 Quakes Overnight

Scientists detect sulfur dioxide, which indicates magma is near the surface

(Newser) - Iceland has been getting rattled with hundreds of minor earthquakes per day in what meteorologists think portends a coming volcanic eruption, and they don't appear to be slowing down. As CBS News reports, the island nation weathered 700 temblors on Tuesday, then another 800 between midnight and dawn Wednesday....

Iceland's 'Intense Wave' of Quakes Could Mean Something More

Island nation declares state of emergency, shutters Blue Lagoon, warning of possible volcanic eruption

(Newser) - Officials have declared a state of emergency in Iceland and are scrambling to evacuate a southwestern coastal town after what CNN describes as an "intense wave of earthquakes"—and they fear it all portends yet another hit from Mother Nature. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, there were...

Bjork's New Single Is Part of Her Larger Mission
Bjork Releases
Single to Fight
'Frankenstein
Mutants'
CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

Bjork Releases Single to Fight 'Frankenstein Mutants'

Iceland's most famous star has put out 'Oral' to help raise funds to fight salmon farming in her home country

(Newser) - Bjork is putting out a new single—but she didn't make it solely to indulge her creative and musical sensibilities. The 57-year-old Icelandic singer is using "Oral," put together with Spanish singer Rosalia and released Thursday, to raise funds to "help fight fish farming in Iceland,...

Icelandic Women Are Going on Strike Tomorrow

The country's prime minister is joining them

(Newser) - Icelandic women are going on strike Tuesday, and Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir doesn't plan to be an exception. "I will not work this day," she told mbl.is , adding that she doesn't expect female cabinet members to work either. This will be the first full-day women'...

Escaped Farm Salmon Pose Huge Environmental Threat

Thousands of farmed fish escaped in Iceland in an 'environmental catastrophe'

(Newser) - Thousands of farmed salmon broke out of a pen in Iceland this August, but don't start cheering for the escapees. The farmed fish pose great risk to the area's wild salmon, whose numbers have shrunk over the decades, according to the Guardian . Harm to wild fish comes from...

That Lava May Look Cool, but Iceland Says Stay Away

Authorities warn tourists away from erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano, which is spewing toxic gases

(Newser) - Authorities in Iceland on Tuesday warned tourists and other spectators to stay away from a newly erupting volcano that's spewing lava and noxious gases from a fissure in the country's southwest. The eruption began Monday afternoon after thousands of earthquakes in the area, meteorological authorities said. This one...

Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt
Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt

Iceland Yanks Its Whale Hunt

Suspends its annual hunt until the last 2 weeks of the season, in a likely death knell

(Newser) - Iceland is one of three nations left on the planet that still hunts whales commercially, and it looks like it may be bowing out of that small, controversial group on a humanitarian basis. As AFP reports, Reykjavik announced it's suspending the annual whaling season—which runs from mid-June to...

Iceland Is Granting Citizenship to Pussy Riot Members

Russian protest band honored with Woody Guthrie Award

(Newser) - Two members of the Russian protest and performance art band Pussy Riot are on course to become citizens of Iceland after fleeing their homeland. Maria Alyokhina and Lucy Shtein are on a list of people to receive fast-tracked citizenship through parliamentary decree, reports Iceland Review . After Russia invaded Ukraine last...

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth




This Is the
Happiest
Nation on Earth

This Is the Happiest Nation on Earth

The honors go to Finland, per annual World Happiness Report; US comes in 15th

(Newser) - It may be cold in the Nordic countries, but residents' hearts are warm. At least, that's what the 10th annual World Happiness Report found during this year's ranking of 137 nations. Per the Verge , the report—which uses study data and self-assessed life evaluations—found that we've...

Iceland Cops Foil 'Unprecedented' Terror Plot

Police seize firearms, ammo apparently meant to be used in terror attacks, a rare phenomenon in that nation

(Newser) - A raid Wednesday in and near Reykjavik turned up not only a mess of firearms and ammunition, but also the discovery of an alleged terror plot that was apparently foiled. Gunnar Horour Garoarsson, a spokesman for Iceland's national police force, announced that four native men, all believed to be...

Iceland's Horse 'Blood Farms' Come Under Fire
Inside the Push to Stop
Iceland's 'Blood Mare' Practice
in case you missed it

Inside the Push to Stop Iceland's 'Blood Mare' Practice

Calls are rising to stop allowing farms to extract hormone from pregnant mares

(Newser) - As far as alleged animal abuse goes, this is likely a practice you haven't heard of—and, if campaigners have their way, you won't in the future. The Guardian reports on a growing call for Iceland's harvesting of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) to be banned. As...

Famed YouTube Skateboarder Dies in Plane Crash

Bodies of Josh Neuman, 3 others found in Iceland's second-largest lake

(Newser) - American skateboarder and YouTube star Josh Neuman is one of four people confirmed to have died in a small plane crash in Iceland. The bodies of the 22-year-old, the pilot of the Cessna 172, and two other passengers were discovered Sunday in Lake Thingvallavatn—Iceland's second-largest lake, some 30...

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