Europe Iceland Damage to homes and infrastructure in Grindavík could amount to 10 billion Icelandic kroner ($71,4 million), according to Iceland's director of natural catastrophe insurance
Europe Iceland Reykjavík City Council approved a 3-year pilot project to delay school start times for teens: from autumn 2024, classes will begin no earlier than 8.50AM; this is the result of studies on teen sleep duration linking mental health decline and sleep deficit
Europe Iceland There will be no compulsory schooling for children in Grindavík: they may attend school in the community where their family currently resides or attend one of several 'community schools' throughout Reykjavík
Europe Iceland Over 400 Icelandic doctors have signed a petition calling on the government to denounce Israel for its attacks on Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire
Europe Iceland A powerful seismic swarm started on the Reykjanes Peninsula on the night of 24 October, just north of the city of Grindavík; since then, more than 7.000 earthquakes have been detected in the area, including a M5,0 earthquake on 27 October
Europe Iceland A one-day nationwide strike is planned for today against the pay gap between men and women and sexual and gender-based violence, in what is expected to be the largest women's strike in the country's history; PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir has also joined
Europe Iceland MAST, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority, will be equipped with its own vessels and an increase in staff to better monitor fish farms
Europe Iceland Thousands of salmon have escaped from Arctic Fish, one of Iceland's largest salmon farms; having already spread to many rivers and streams, they are endangering wild salmons because of the farms bacteria they can carry
Europe Iceland The rate of daily alcohol consumption among patients admitted to the Vogur Detoxification and Rehabilitation Centre with alcohol-related problems has more than tripled in the past 40 years
Europe Iceland 213 cases of gonorrhea were diagnosed in the first 8 months of 2023, surpassing the total number of cases recorded last year; already in 2022, the figure broke a 3-decade record, in fact after 1990, its incidence had declined significantly
Europe Iceland Whaling resumed on Friday after more than two months of suspension; Iceland is one of the last three countries in the world, along with Norway and Japan, to allow it
Europe Iceland The operator of Reykjavík National Airport, Isavia, has requested the immediate removal of 2.900 trees in the Öskjuhlíð Forest, which is on the Natural Heritage Register, to improve flight safety
Europe Iceland The city of Ísafjörður has announced plans to introduce an environmental rating system for cruise ships next year after increasing numbers of vessels raised pollution issues for the community