Iceland

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Iceland Raises Volcano Alert to Highest Level

Bardarbunga eruption begins, but it's all underground for now

(Newser) - It looks like Bardarbunga is getting ready to pop. That would be the Iceland volcano rumbling of late and threatening to disrupt air travel in the manner of Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 . Iceland officials say a "subglacial eruption" is now underway, reports AP , which quotes a volcano expert who says...

Iceland Volcano May Threaten Flights

Bardarbunga threat level raised to orange

(Newser) - Four years after Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano seriously disrupted aviation , another tongue-twister may be set to blow. Iceland's meteorological office says the area around the Bardarbunga volcano has experienced its strongest earthquake since 1996 and there is a chance the "current activity will result in an explosive subglacial...

Family's Problem: Daughter Harriet's Name 'Illegal'

But Hjörný, Haddý, Hekla, Hrafnhildur are just fine in Iceland

(Newser) - You might see why a government would be reluctant to hand Adolf Hitler a passport, but what's so bad about Harriet? A couple living in Iceland say the government has refused to issue their 10-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son new passports because their names, Harriet and Duncan, aren't...

Odd Murder Confessions From '70s Second-Guessed

Suspects weren't sure whether they'd been involved

(Newser) - In the 1970s, six people confessed to killing two men in Iceland, apparently explaining the victims' mysterious 1974 disappearances and ending what the justice minister called "the nation's nightmare." But the suspects, who were all convicted—with one sentenced to life in prison—at first didn't...

Missing Cat Back Home After 7 Years

He had left in a snit when a dog joined the house

(Newser) - The cat came back—after seven years. The unexpected reunion took place in Iceland, when Birkir Fjalar Vioarsson got a call from a shelter informing him that his cat Orvar had shown up, reports the Reykjavik Grapevine . Orvar bolted in 2007, apparently displeased about the family's addition of a...

Iceland Jails Bank Bosses
 Iceland Jails Bank Bosses 
Dec 13, 2013 12:15 AM CST

Iceland Jails Bank Bosses

Execs inflated share price before financial collapse

(Newser) - Iceland has done something highly unusual with some of the bank chiefs blamed for the country's 2008 financial collapse: put them on trial and sent them to prison. Four former Kaupthing Bank bosses have been sentenced to between three and five years for market abuses relating to a deal...

For 1st Time in Iceland's History, Police Shoot, Kill

Gunman was killed after shooting at officers

(Newser) - Police in Iceland have shot dead a 59-year-old man who fired a shotgun at them—a tragic event in any country, but an unprecedented one for the island nation, which attained independence in 1944. The incident is believed to be the first time anybody has ever been shot and killed...

Scientists Cracked Open 507-Year-Old Clam

 World's Oldest 
 Animal Lived 
 to 507 
new analysis
Nov 15, 2013 7:43 AM CST

World's Oldest Animal Lived to 507

Ming was killed when scientists cracked open its shell

(Newser) - The oldest animal ever known lived from 1499 until the day researchers cracked its shell open, killing it in the process. Ming, an ocean quahog from the species Arctica islandica, was initially thought to be a record-setting 402 years old. But the scientists who found it on a seabed near...

Best Country for Women Is ...
 Best Country for Women Is ... 
Oct 25, 2013 4:28 PM CDT

Best Country for Women Is ...

Iceland, again

(Newser) - When coming up with the best countries in terms of gender equality, think Nordic. Iceland again leads the annual list put out by the World Economic Forum, which crunches stats on education, health care, jobs, politics, and more, reports the BBC . That makes five years in a row for Iceland,...

Number of Slaves on the Planet: 30M

Victims in 162 countries; half are in India

(Newser) - Slavery continues to afflict almost 30 million people across the planet—in every one of 162 countries surveyed in a new report. India is home to 13.9 million slaves, by far the largest number; relative to population, however, Mauritania has the highest rate, with 4% of the population enslaved...

Surprise: Strange Iceland Pillars Formed by Lava
Surprise: Iceland's Strange Pillars Formed by Lava
STUDY SAYS
Oct 13, 2013 6:10 AM CDT

Surprise: Iceland's Strange Pillars Formed by Lava

They're common in ocean, but these are first seen on land: Study

(Newser) - A new study has finally spelled out how some weird-looking land forms in Iceland came to be. Sadly, the local legend that they were tossed there by warring trolls turns out to be wrong—but the real reason is pretty interesting in its own right. They're lava pillars,...

WikiLeaks to Iceland: Grant Snowden Asylum

Assange cites 'personal sympathy' for leaker

(Newser) - After a year in Ecuador's embassy , Julian Assange is now seeking asylum for someone else. WikiLeaks is in talks with Iceland's government to secure asylum for Edward Snowden, Assange said; an Iceland spokeswoman said Snowden supporters have indeed been pushing for it, the New York Times reports. The...

Iceland Moves to Ban All Online Porn

Iceland pols call porn a human rights violation against women and children

(Newser) - Calling all porn a civil rights violation against the women who appear in it and the children who see it, Iceland is considering a ban on Internet pornography, reports the Daily Mail . Iceland's interior minister has created a working group to find the best way of doing so, with...

Court: Iceland Teen Can Use Her Own Name
 Iceland Teen Can Use 
 'Unapproved' Name 
says court
Feb 1, 2013 5:00 AM CST

Iceland Teen Can Use 'Unapproved' Name

'Blaer,' meaning 'light breeze,' wasn't on list of OK names

(Newser) - An Icelandic 15-year-old whose name had been, for all official purposes, just "Girl," has won a lawsuit to keep her given name. Iceland's government had held that she couldn't use the name Blaer because it wasn't on the country's approved-name list, which rules out...

Unruly Flyer Gets Duct-Taped to Seat

Icelandic traveler was drunk, say police

(Newser) - One more use for duct tape: The crew of an Icelandair flight used it to bind a drunk and raging passenger to his seat, reports the New York Post . The 46-year-old reportedly started assaulting passengers and screaming that the plane was going to crash about two hours from JFK. An...

Iceland Teen Fights to Keep Name of 'Light Breeze'

Government says 'Blaer' is not on the approved list

(Newser) - The unusual lawsuit of the day comes from Iceland, where a 15-year-old is suing the government to keep her given name of "Blaer." The problem, as the AP explains, is that it's not on the list of 1,853 approved names for girls. It translates into "...

Tourist Participates in Search ... for Herself

She was declared missing after changing clothes

(Newser) - A tourist in Iceland generously volunteered her time to search for a missing woman, only to find out she was, in fact, the missing woman. The debacle began when the woman got off a tour bus at a volcano, then changed her clothes before re-boarding. Because the driver didn't...

Bomb Threat Forces NY-Moscow Flight to Land
No Bomb Found After Emergency Landing
UPDATED
Aug 16, 2012 1:36 PM CDT

No Bomb Found After Emergency Landing

Anonymous call warned of explosives on Aeroflot flight

(Newser) - A bomb threat forced an Aeroflot flight carrying 256 passengers from New York to Moscow to make an emergency landing in Iceland early this morning, reports the BBC , but no bomb was ultimately found aboard the plane. An anonymous call to law enforcement agencies in the US warned that explosives...

World Now a More Peaceful Place


 World Now a More 
 Peaceful Place 
new study
Jun 12, 2012 9:32 AM CDT

World Now a More Peaceful Place

Syria isn't doing so hot, but globally, 2012 is looking better

(Newser) - You wouldn't know it from Newser's coverage , but apparently the world has become a more peaceful place in 2012. Reuters reports that the Global Peace Index registered its first boost in two years, after surveying everything from civil unrest to military spending in 158 countries. The Middle East...

Iceland's Ex-PM Guilty on 1 Count in Banking Crisis

Geir Haarde cleared on four other charges

(Newser) - A special court today found a former Iceland prime minister guilty of one charge related to the nation's banking crisis but cleared him of four other charges. Geir Haarde will face no punishment, and the state will pay his expenses in defending the case. Haarde, who led the government...

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