Just over half of the participants in the third data collection of Heilsuferðalagið (The Health Journey) rated their mental and physical health as good or very good at the age of 36.

The government must safeguard the regional fishing quota and ensure that other developments in the fishing industry do not come at its expense. This is stated in a resolution passed at the Westfjords Regional Assembly, held last week.

The glaciers of Iceland have inspired countless namesakes — and Icelandair’s winged Boeing 757-200 proudly carried the name of Europe’s largest glacier, Vatnajökull.

The charitable organization Lífskraftur, founded by the outdoor group Snjódrífurnar, has launched a nationwide campaign aimed at eliminating cervical cancer in Iceland.

The board of Vatnajökull National Park has approved an amendment to the park’s management and conservation plan, allowing motor vehicle and bicycle traffic through Vonarskarð each year starting September 1, until the area becomes impassable due to weather conditions.

Authorities are working to pardon Mohamad Th. Jóhannesson [formerly Mohamad Kourani] in the near future and deport him from Iceland as soon as possible. This would replace the earlier plan for him to serve half of his eight-year sentence in Iceland before being expelled.

This Saturday, members of the boat unit of the Árborg Rescue Association will ferry forestry workers out to Jóruklettur rock, a rocky island in the Ölfusá river near Selfoss. Their mission is to measure a striking spruce tree that has been growing there and has recently drawn much attention.

City authorities are openly pursuing a policy aimed at making car ownership and use as difficult as possible, effectively forcing people to choose alternative modes of transportation, says Hildur Björnsdóttir, leader of the Independence Party in Reykjavík’s city council. She was speaking about a draft transportation plan for a new neighborhood in Keldnaland.

It was recently announced that prisoner Mohamad Th. Jóhannesson [formerly Mohamad Kourani] will be deported once his prison sentence ends in 2028, after he relinquished his claim to international protection.

The construction of the Harpa Concert and Conference Hall was a successful decision, and ensuring the building operates at its full potential is good business. Harpa supports cultural tourism in Iceland, which plays a key role in maintaining the country as a strong destination, says Svanhildur Konráðsdóttir, Harpa’s CEO.

The government’s draft budget projects a significant rise in state revenue from vehicle excise taxes, with income from this source expected to increase by 66.2% next year compared to projected revenue for this year.

The Environmental and Natural Resources Appeals Board has rejected a request from environmental organizations to halt preparatory construction work for the Hvammsvirkjun power plant.

Bragginn in Nauthólsvík, renovated by the City of Reykjavík in 2017, has now been closed to the general public.

Mohamad Th. Jóhannesson, formerly known as Mohamad Kourani, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in July last year, has renounced his international protection status.

Fannar Jónasson has announced that he will not seek another term as mayor of Grindavík when his current term ends.

Residents in the capital area who looked up at the sky shortly after 10 p.m. last night were likely astonished to see a long, bright streak resembling a glowing rod made up of many stars gliding across the night sky.

Three individuals were arrested during a large-scale police operation in Auðbrekka, Kópavogur, last night.

Armored vehicles have been seen driving on Icelandic roads as part of the annual explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) exercise organized by the Icelandic Coast Guard.

An earthquake swarm that began off the Reykjanes Peninsula yesterday evening continued through the night, with around 50 quakes recorded in the area between 7 p.m. yesterday and 5 a.m. this morning.

“These are perilous times, and NATO member states must face the seriousness of the threats to their security and democracy.”

One of the main problems in the current discussion about accidental escapes of farmed salmon is that people can no longer tell farmed fish apart from wild fish. This is according to Daníel Jakobsson, CEO of Arctic Fish in Ísafjörður.

An earthquake measuring 3.1 occurred on Vatnajökull glacier just before 7 a.m. this morning. Its epicenter was located 12 kilometers east of Hamrin and it was measured at a depth of four to five kilometers.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has issued a statement directed at Icelandic citizens currently in Poland.

Landowners at Ytra-Seljalandi, near the famous Seljalandsfoss waterfall in South Iceland, have requested a change to the area’s zoning plan to allow for the construction of nine summer houses.

Dressed formally, members of parliament and government ministers processed from the Parliament House in Reykjavík, accompanied by the President of Iceland, the Speaker of Parliament, and the Bishop of Iceland, to Dómkirkjan (the Cathedral) for a service — a long-standing tradition marking the official opening of parliament.

President of Iceland Halla Tómasdóttir did not mince words at the opening of parliament yesterday, urging MPs to choose their words carefully in the chamber and to improve the conduct of parliamentary business.

Njáll Trausti Friðbertsson, a Member of Parliament for the Independence Party, intends to submit amendments to the new budget bill presented yesterday by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Daði Már Kristófersson.

Swimmer Ross Edgley today became the first person ever to swim around the entire coastline of Iceland. He was greeted with warm cheers at Nauthólsvík after completing his 115-day journey.

Jómundur Ólason, a sheep farmer from Borgarfjörður, stars in a new global advertisement by the international car manufacturer Skoda. The ad follows Ólason as he drives his Skoda vehicle past the one-million-kilometer mark.

Daði Már Kristófersson, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, says that the newly announced draft budget is confirmation of how firmly the government is working to ensure economic stability and support the Central Bank in bringing down inflation and interest rates.

A sharp rise in applications from students outside Europe to study at Icelandic universities may, at least partly, be linked to videos circulating on social media platforms such as TikTok. These videos claim that international students can study in Iceland for free and even move to the country with their families.

“We weren’t necessarily looking for a ‘seventies-style’ house, but that’s what we ended up buying,” says Svana Rún Símónardóttir, a social worker. She and her husband, Ríkarð Svavar Axelsson, station manager at Special Tours, recently purchased a unique property in northern Italy. Svana has been sharing their house-hunting journey and renovation plans on social media.

The Reykjavík International Film Festival (RIFF) has received a prestigious cooperation agreement from Creative Europe MEDIA, the European Union’s culture fund, marking a significant milestone for the festival.

An adjunct lecturer in Icelandic as a second language at the University of Iceland, who is also pursuing a doctorate in Icelandic linguistics, has been told that he cannot be granted Icelandic citizenship unless he proves his Icelandic proficiency by taking an official test. The Directorate of Immigration does not consider the documentation he has provided sufficient proof of his language skills.

A fire broke out in an apartment in a multi-family building on Sól­eyjarhlíð in Hafnarfjörður last night. No injuries were reported.