Iceland 

The Kennel Club will officially recognise the Icelandic sheepdog as a purebred breed in April 2025; the Icelandic sheepdog can trace its roots back some 1.000 years and was even mentioned in a play by William Shakespeare

The new Icelandic government that took office on Saturday has made it part of its programme to organise a referendum on EU membership by 2027, giving substance to a debate that is rather heated in the country

Departures from Keflavík Airport reached 162.000 in November, an increase of 14.000 over last year, approaching the record levels of departures in 2018

Artist Ásta Fanney Sigurðardóttir will represent Iceland at the Venice Biennale in 2026; also a poet and musician, she often mixes her disciplines to create complex works mirroring the complexity of contemporary times

The entire parking lot of the renown thermal pool Blue Lagoon is now under lava, except for a few street lamps at the far end; the lava continues to flow along the defense wall west of the Blue Lagoon and alternative accesses will have to be assessed

Two female citizens were recently diagnosed with AIDS after months of illness, despite numerous visits to health services where no one thought to test them for HIV before the virus led to AIDS

Local goat breeders are trying to pursue the same selective breeding that is saving Icelandic sheep from scrapie, but without success; only about 2.000 Icelandic goats, vulnerable to the disease, are left

The fee to participate in breast cancer screening has been drastically reduced from ISK 6.098 (€40) to ISK 500 (around 3 euros) at the breast centre in Eiríksgata, hoping to encourage demographic groups that access screening less, such as foreign women

According to a report by the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce, Icelanders are the second largest gamblers among European countries, after Ireland; the average Icelander bets around €500 per year

The wind farms could impact Iceland's bird population and endanger biodiversity, experts warn; there are only 90 pairs of eagles in Iceland and this is the highest number since conservation efforts began in 1914

Justice Minister Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir intends to present a bill that could extend international protection to Ukrainians for up to five years, an announcement from government offices stated

The Naming Committee, an independent body that determines whether a new name can be authorised or not, added several new names; among the criteria is whether it has a historical precedent and whether it's believed that a child can be bullied for the name