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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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Independence Party chairman Bjarni Benediktsson was asked about his involvement in trade undertaken by holding company Vafningur on RÚV's news magazine Kastljós on Wednesday and denied having part in any dubious actions.
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Bjarni Benediktsson. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Independence Party chairman Bjarni Benediktsson was asked about his involvement in trade undertaken by holding company Vafningur on RÚV's news magazine Kastljós on Wednesday and denied having part in any dubious actions.
Mr. Benediktson who has been active in the local business sector since 1999 has in the local tabloid DV been portrayed as one of the architechs in a complex scheme to use funds from the insurance firm Sjova in a way that is now being investigated.
During the interview Mr. Benediktsson explain in detail that he had never been a board member of Sjova nor had he anytime been consulted in any way about the investments that Sjova had undertaken.He explained that his role had been to sign on behalf of shareholders a confirmation letter were the holding company Vafningur placed assets as pledge for loans granted by the now fallen bank Glitnir.
Vafningur bought assets from insurance company Sjóvá, including buildings in Macao and British stores. Sjóvá had acquired these assets through its reserve fund, Morgunbladid reports. These assets among others were then used by Vafningur as collateral for a loan Vafningur received from Glitnir Bank in February 2008. The assets were put up be the owners of Sjova and had not in any way been discussed with other sharholders of Vafningur prior to the deal being struck.
He also pointed out that neither the companies nor the trade that he was involved in are being investigated—the treatment of Sjóvá’s insurance fund and the company’s acquisition of the aforementioned assets is under investigation.
“I had nothing to do with that acquisition and I wasn’t on the board of Sjóvá and I’m not going to take responsibility for something that happened there,” Benediktsson stated. He pointed out that the responsible parties are the owners of Sjova Insurance at that time.
A series of meetings about the Icesave dispute ended in The Hague in the Netherlands on Friday. The representatives of Iceland, the Netherlands and the UK discussed the matter on Thursday and Friday but came to no decisive conclusion.
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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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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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