RSS feed from icelandreview.com 
The al fresco nap is standard practice here and Icelanders clearly have it down to a science.
more
Click on the picture to observe how to prepare a traditional Icelandic meal of roe and liver (hrogn og lifur). At this time of year, egg pouches are harvested from female fish, mainly cod and haddock, and sold in fish stores around the country along with the liver. The egg pouches may not look appetizing; just remember that caviar is fish eggs too.
more
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.
more
Icelandic company deCODE Genetics has signed an agreement with American company Saga Investments LLC on the latter company’s acquisition of deCODE and its entire operations, as announced in a statement from deCODE this morning.
The headquarters of deCODE in Reykjavík. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
Saga Investments is an investment company owned by Polaris Venture Partners and Arch Venture Partners, which are well-known investors in the field of biotechnology in the US, visir.is reports.
The statement explains that the board of deCODE has been looking into various options in the past month to reorganize the company’s operations.
These include selling single operational entities and medicine that is currently in development, in addition to reaching agreements with the owners of outstanding changeable shares and selling new capital stock.
The agreement with Saga Investments was made in accordance with section 363 of the American insolvency law. It is dependent on various conditions, such as the approval of courts.
Also, a transparent public auction process must take place, organized by the insolvency court, where all interested parties can make bids on the assets and operations of deCODE in competition with the current binding offer from Saga Investments.
After the sales process is completed and a final acquisition agreement is made, it is assumed that the mother company deCODE Genetics Inc. will go through insolvency proceedings with approval of the court.
Considering the vastness of the mother company’s debts, it is highly unlikely that deCODE’s shareholders will be given the full value of its sold assets.
Saga Investments are planning to maintain deCODE’s operations in its current form.
DeCODE has also made a temporary funding agreement with Saga Investments so the company can continue operations during the period of moratorium on its payments. It is not expected that service to deCODE’s customers and partners will suffer in the process.
The statements points out that the moratorium on payments is only in the name of deCODE Genetics Inc. but not its daughter company, Íslensk erfdagreining.
Click here to read more about deCODE.
A water leak at the storage facilities of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History (NÍ) on Saturday night didn’t cause significant damage, thanks to an employee’s decision to come to work early on Sunday morning.
more
The Ministry of Finance proposed in December that the Icelandic state acquire Byr savings bank and that claimants be compensated by 40 percent, paid out with bonds issued by the state.
more
There are speculations that some members of the Social Democrats are interested in forging a new coalition government with the Progressive Party in addition to the Left-Greens. The current Social Democrat-Left-Green coalition is described as fatigued.
more
The song “Je Ne Sais Quoi” by Örygur Smári and Hera Björk Thórhallsdóttir received the most votes in the Icelandic Eurovision song contest final on Saturday and will be Iceland’s entry in the main contest in Norway in May.
more
New subscribers to the quarterly Iceland Review magazine will receive the photography book Puffins, which contains a wealth of information about this colorful bird, as a gift. Additionally, all subscribers will enter a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to Iceland Review. The new issue will be out next week!
more
REVIEWS
When I first heard of the photographic book Legend by Fiann Paul, portraying people dressed in Viking-style in Icelandic landscapes, I imagined it would depict scenes from Norse mythology. However, the idea with the book is to tell a story of how “The Seeker” finds “The Legend” and it feels like a wishy-washy self-help book.
more
Fresh back from Brazil, where she was one of 28 international judges at the ‘Cup of Excellence’ awards, Kaffitár founder and owner Adalheidur Hédinsdóttir sat down with Atlantica’s Mica Allan in Kaffitár’s Bankastraeti cafe to talk about her passion and delight: coffee.
more
“Lucy” is a video and music installation by Dodda Maggý (1981), the 15th artist to exhibit in Reykjavík Art Museum’s D-gallery project in the Hafnarhús exhibition hall. In “Lucy” the artist explores the idea of the “acousmetre,” a film character portrayed only by voice, never in body, omniscient and ubiquitous.
more
