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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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President of the Dutch Central Bank Nout Wellink said before a committee investigating the global financial crisis at the Dutch parliament today that Icelandic authorities had lied about the situation of the Icelandic banking system in the autumn of 2008.
The Government Offices of Iceland. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Another Dutch central banker, Arnold Schilder, who is former head of the bank’s inner supervision, told the committee earlier this week that Icelandic authorities had lied about Icesave, Landsbanki’s online savings unit in the UK and the Netherlands, saying that everything was fine.
According to Reuters, Wellink said he had spoken with the supervisor of the Icelandic Central Bank in early September 2008. He was told that the Central Bank had warned the Icelandic government six months earlier about possible risks involving the Icelandic banks.
"I've been hoping for a long time that they just didn't see it, but to be honest after the words of my colleague that it was several months before that he had warned them, I thought they have lied to us," Wellink said.
The Icelandic government has yet to respond to Wellink’s claims, but on Wednesday, after Schilder accused Iceland of lying, the government issued a statement. "We take such allegations very seriously," Economic Affairs Minister Gylfi Magnússon said.
"One of the tasks before us is to understand whether false or misleading information was presented by the Icelandic banks, regulators and government officials to foreign regulatory agencies in the months leading up to the collapse of the banking system in October 2008," the minister explained.
Click here to read more about Schilder’s claims and here to read the full story on Reuters.
Attentive commuters in the capital region have noticed strange behavior among some people on roundabouts lately. Police say these people are likely picking psilocybin mushrooms, which is an annual event at this time of year, and not strictly illegal.
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Singer-songwriter Jónsi of Sigur Rós has been nominated for the 2010 World Soundtrack Awards for the best originally composed song in a movie. The nomination is for the song “Sticks & Stones” which is in How to Train Your Dragon.
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Emails between the management team at FL-Group seem to indicate that assets sold to Northern Travel Holding (NTH) at year end 2006 were overvalued on purpose to deceive stakeholders about the real condition of the companies involved in the transactions. Among the assets being transferred were the Danish budget airline Sterling and Iceland Express.
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On Saturday the state prosecutor was informed that the murder case of Hannes Thór Helgason is now considered closed. A 23 year old man, Gunnar Rúnar Sigurthórsson, has confessed that he is the killer. Evidence at the murder scene and blood stains on the shoes of the suspect lead the police to arrest the suspect.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Future of Hope is an aptly named documentary directed by Henry Bateman about what some people are doing to shape the future of Iceland, hoping that above all, the crisis will ultimately strengthen the country.
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There can’t be many novels that are heralded as being “a purification for body and soul” recommended to “those who enjoy experimental cookery” (review of November Rain in DV newspaper) and “as beautiful as a painting from the golden age” (review of The Offspring by Danish newspaper Politiken). However, Reykjavík based writer, Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, has attracted such attention not to mention literary prizes.
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Have a laugh this week by visiting Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjördur Centre of Culture and Fine Art, where the exhibition “Humor in Icelandic Art” is currently running. The exhibition consists of works by contemporary Icelandic artists from different generations which deal with humor and irony.
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