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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of the lambing season at Brimnes, a farm in the north of Iceland, in April 2008. Sheep farmer Arnar Gústafsson and his girlfriend Edda Björk take shifts watching over the nearly 300 ewes and helping them give birth 24/7 for about two months or until the last lamb is born. In Iceland, the arrival of lambs is synonymous with the arrival of summer. The lambing season is currently at its height.
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Located just 40 minutes by car and six minutes from Keflavík International Airport, Sandgerdi (“Sandy Hedge”) is a growing town of 1,700 with a storied history and loads to see. Read this special promotion about the hidden secrets of one of Iceland's most charming seaside villages.
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The High Court (Landsdómur) assembled yesterday to rule on a demand made by the lawyer representing Iceland’s former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, Andri Árnason, that he be granted access to the same documents as Althingi parliament’s prosecutor, Sigrídur Fridjónsdóttir. The request was dismissed.
Former Prime Minister of Iceland Geir H. Haarde. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Reykjavík District Court had earlier ruled that Haarde’s lawyer could not have Althingi’s entire case against the former PM for alleged misconduct in office dismissed, Fréttabladid reports.
At the same time Fridjónsdóttir demanded access to information from the National Archives of Iceland, information on which Althingi’s Special Investigative Commission based its report on the banking collapse. She was not granted access to it.
The High Court did not take a position on the District Court’s ruling but concluded that it couldn’t be appealed to the High Court.
After the verdict on the dismissal of Árnason’ request was announced yesterday, the High Court discussed whether the Prime Minister’s Office should comply with Fridjónsdóttir’s demand that she be granted access to all of Haarde’s emails since he took office in 2006.
Fridjónsdóttir reasoned that the emails were necessary in preparing her case. Einar Karl Hallvardsson, the lawyer representing the Prime Minister’s Office, said it isn’t clear in this instance whether the office is obligated to hand over the emails and so it is natural for the High Court to clear up the legal uncertainty on this issue.
Then Árnason demanded that the case against Haarde be dismissed on the grounds that the election of Althingi’s prosecutor had not been in compliance with the law. He also demanded that her demand to access Haarde’s emails be dismissed or rejected.
The High Court’s conclusion on these issues is pending. There is nothing in the law stating that the court must make its decision within a certain time limit.
However, the limit in regular courts is four weeks and Fridjónsdóttir said it is likely that the High Court will operate in the same manner.
Click here to read more about the High Court’s proceedings.
Magnús Skarphéðinsson, principal of the Icelandic Elf School, has expressed his concern that Independence Party MP Árni Johnsen may be subject to an accident after relocating a boulder allegedly inhabited by elves to his home in the Westman Islands.
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The first music festival this summer, Reykjavík Live, kicks off with concerts in the center of Iceland’s capital tonight and will carry on through May 20. The venues are Gamli Gaukurinn, Glaumbar, Prikið and Frú Berlaug.
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President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and his main rival for the presidential election on June 30, Þóra Arnórsdóttir, are supported by an almost equal number of voters, 41.3 and 43.4 percent, respectively, as indicated in a new survey.
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The West Fjords District Court ruled on Monday that a man found guilty of having drowned a Labrador by tying its front and hind legs, fastening it to car tires and throwing it in the ocean is to pay ISK 100,000 (USD 786, EUR 612) in fine.
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The current issue of the quarterly magazine Iceland Review includes interviews with fashion photographer Saga Sig and conceptual artist Rúrí. Also, we take you to Grímsstaðir á Fjöllum, that desolate land coveted by a Chinese tycoon, and also explore Icelandic archeological remains. We discuss the Icelandic Church, the flourishing gaming industry, debate the future of Iceland’s energy resources and interview the president of the Icelandic National League of North America. Subscribe now and receive a free photo book by IR’s editor Páll Stefánsson of the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions. Click here to subscribe to the magazine and here to buy a gift subscription.
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REVIEWS
The Reykjavík Shorts&Docs was held in Reykjavík from May 6 to 9 in Bíó Paradís, and what an enriching experience it was to attend the festival.
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Shedding light on Iceland’s thousand-year history, as manifested in remains ranging from Viking graves to enchanted sites, Mannvist is a fundamental piece of writing. Ásta Andrésdóttir met with its author, archaeologist Birna Lárusdóttir.
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“The House Project” currently on display in Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjörður Centre of Culture and Fine Art, is a new artwork by Hreinn Friðfinnsson consisting of a photography series of the three houses. His work is described as “a poetic and philosophical exploration of every day human experience.”
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