The film Touch by Baltasar Kormákur has been selected for the shortlist for the 2025 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörður Gylfadóttir attended a meeting of the leaders of the Joint Response Force (JRF) this week. The development of security issues in Europe, increased cooperation between the JRF countries and defense support for Ukraine were discussed at the meeting, which ended yesterday.

The ski resort in Mt Bláfjöll was scheduled to open for the first time this winter at 2 pm today. It was announced on the ski resort's Facebook page early this morning, but since the wind in the area has increased significantly and looks set to pick up even more as the day progresses, Mt Bláfjöll will be closed today.

The Grindavík town council wants to preserve the traces of the disaster in Grindavík and thereby unite the town's past and future. A draft of a new framework plan was presented today and includes, among other things, the preservation and use of cracks, lava, and some traces of buildings in an innovative way.

A stunning photograph of the eye of the crater during the eruption of Litli-Hrútut in August 2023 won an international photography award in New York, USA. The Icelander who took the photograph was also named Photographer of the Year. You can see the award-winning photo here below.

The chairwomen of the Social Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Reform Party, and the People's Party have met with their people today. They will not give interviews or information about the progress of the government formation talks until tomorrow at the earliest.

The Center for Education and School Services is developing an artificial intelligence tool to assist teachers in various ways.

Ólafur Haraldsson, CEO of Designing Reality, has created a 3D model of Hafnarfjörður.

In the Grundarhverfi district of Kjalarnes, you can find the Danish glassblower Anders Vange, who was given a place to create art at Sigrún Einarsdóttir's workshop. On tables and shelves, you can see a myriad of hand-blown glasses, candlesticks, vases, and other treasures that Vange has designed and made himself. He is lightly dressed, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which is a bit unusual now that winter has set in. But the reason for that becomes clear as soon as he invites the journalist to watch the glassblowing. The heat from the furnace is substantial!

Landspítali National Hospital has almost 440 million ISK outstanding due to unpaid bills from uninsured individuals who visited the hospital between 2021 and 2023. These people do not have health insurance in Iceland or the EEA.

The Prime Minister's Office has approved a request from the family of Lúðvík Pétursson, who died when he fell into a crevasse in Grindavík on January 10, for an independent investigation into the incident.

Due to the number of slip and fall accidents last week, which led to various fractures, the decision was made at Landspítali National Hospital to open an additional operating room and day ward last Sunday. The same will be the case next Sunday.

Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson, a Christmas child whose birthday is on Christmas Eve, recently awarded the Kokka store and Fálkahúsið with awards for the best Christmas decorations in the city. Kokka received an award for the most beautiful Christmas window and Fálkahúsið for the most beautiful Christmas decoration.

The construction of the new Grindavíkurvegur Road is well underway and the plan is to open it this weekend.

Inflation and earthquakes indicate active magma inflow into the Bárðarbunga volcano.

The experience of a phone-free zone in Akureyri's primary schools has been good this first semester, but a phone agreement was implemented at the beginning of the school year.

There is a lot of trust between the leaders of the Social Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Reform Party, and the People's Party. It would take something unusual to happen for the parties to fail to form a government. Inga Sæland, the leader of the People's Party, hopes that a government will be formed before Christmas and she believes discussions on the division of ministries may begin tomorrow.

Construction work on the expansion and renovation of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant has been going well and it is almost on schedule, despite seven volcanic eruptions on the other side of Mt Sýlingarfell and Mt Þorbjörn since the first shovel was taken two years ago.

The eruption that began at the Sundhnúka crater on November 20 has fizzled out.

The District Attorney's Office has issued a charge of murder against the man suspected of killing his daughter, ten-year-old Kolfinna Eldeyja Sigurðardóttir, on Krýsuvíkurvegur Road in September.

The seventh eruption at the Sundhnúkagígaröði volcano has ended. The eruption began on November 20 and lasted for 18 days. If we consider the past twelve months, it is the second-largest eruption in terms of lava area.

After a two-week closure, the Blue Lagoon reopened its doors to guests on Friday.

Rescue team members from Landsbjörg went up to Kerlingarfjöll, where people got into trouble with several cars, and the Lífsbjörg rescue team on Snæfellsnes was on standby last night.

The government formation talks between the People's Party, the Liberal Reform Party and the Social Democratic Alliance are progressing well, according to Kristrún Frostadóttir, the chairman of the Social Democratic Alliance. The last few days have been spent discussing common ground, but they have now begun discussing areas of disagreement.

The proposed bathing lagoon in Laugarás has been named Laugarás Lagoon and is scheduled to open next summer, according to Hjalti Gylfason, manager of Laugarás Lagoon.

Icelanders compare themselves to Scandinavians when it suits them but ignore the comparison at other times.

The employees of Árekstur.is (Collision) have been very busy this week, but since Monday, well over 100 accidents have been registered with the company.

Bjarni Benediktsson, acting Prime Minister and Minister of Food, has issued a fishing permit for 201 fin whales to Hvalur hf. in addition to a fishing permit for 217 minke whales to the trawler- and minke whale fishing vessel Halldór Sigurðsson ÍS 14, which is owned by Tjaldtangi ehf., according to an announcement on the Government website.

Yesterday marked two weeks since the eruption of the Sundhnúkagígar crater row began, the sixth eruption this year and the seventh in the series since December last year.

The coalition talks between the Social Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Reform Party and the People’s Party will continue today, but the location of the meeting will not be announced.

State mediator Ástráður Haraldsson says talks between teachers, and the state and local governments are starting slowly after the parties to the dispute reached an agreement on Friday on how to proceed with the collective agreement and postponement of teacher strikes.

Landsbanki's research department is now forecasting a somewhat slower decline in inflation than it had previously expected. If the forecast holds, inflation will be 4.6% at the end of the year instead of 4.3% in the last forecast and it will be 4% in February instead of 3.5% according to the last forecast.

Kristrún Frostadóttir, chair of the Social Democratic Alliance, plans to meet with the chairmen of the Liberal Reform Party and the People's Party at 3 pm today to discuss government formation.

Halla Tómasdóttir, the President of Iceland, gave Kristrún Frostadóttir, the leader of the Social Democratic Alliance, a mandate to form a government this morning when they met at Bessastaðir.