The Icelandic gyrfalcon population has been hit hard by the ongoing wave of avian influenza in recent years. Once numbering around 2,000 birds, the population has now collapsed to roughly 500 individuals, according to Ólafur Karl Nielsen, ornithologist and Iceland’s leading expert on the species.

“I was actually installing a kitchen at home yesterday when I got a call from the Minister of Justice,” says GrímurHergeirsson with a laugh, speaking to mbl.is.

Today marks two years since the residents of Grindavík were forced to leave their homes when the town was evacuated following a series of earthquakes on November 10, 2023.

Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir has requested to step down as National Police Commissioner. She will take up a specialist position at the Ministry of Justice, continuing to work in her area of expertise.

Few would likely dispute that AldaSigmundsdóttir— journalist, publisher, and author — has gone to great lengths to educate foreign visitors about Iceland and its people through witty and informative writing, steering well clear of the well-worn tourist clichés of Gullfoss, Geysir, the Blue Lagoon, and Hallgrímskirkja.

“I find it curious that this debate is being led by people who seem neither to read books nor to know how to make Excel sheets. When their spreadsheets become the foundation of the argument, I think the discussion has gone completely off track.”

GuðmundurMogensen, a 41-year-old Icelander, has just been sentenced to life in prison by the District Court of Solna in Stockholm, Sweden, for the murder of 63-year-old Kristina Bah at her home in Akalla, northwest Stockholm, in October last year.

A major investment in power infrastructure is planned for Northeast Iceland in the coming years, aimed at boosting regional development following the shutdown of PCC’s silicon plant at Bakki, as well as facilitating new energy production, including wind power. Electricity supply capacity will also be greatly increased at Þórshöfn, improving both capacity and reliability.

“This is a small community where everyone knows everyone, and the origin of this case was that the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority ruled that a dog owned by this man had to be removed from his home. The agency requested that one of its staff be accompanied by police — and there were good reasons for that.”

There’s a good chance of colorful aurora borealis lighting up the sky over western Iceland tonight and tomorrow night between 9 p.m. and midnight, according to meteorologist Einar Sveinbjörnsson.

Two musical worlds collide as Björk and Rosalía join forces on Berghain, a new single that has already captured global attention. At the same time, Björk celebrates the release of Cornucopia Live, a concert piece that fuses sound and vision into one.

Three men have been arrested in connection with pickpocketing, and two of them are suspected of involvement in another similar case in Kópavogur.

The small fishing boat Hvítá HF found itself in an unexpected role this summer — as a floating billboard. A 150-kilogram LED screen was mounted on its deck to promote Milt liquid detergent, catching the eye (and amusement) of passersby around Hafnarfjörður harbor.

The Icelandic cybersecurity company Defend Iceland has announced the launch of its bug bounty platform in Denmark, where it will operate under the name Defend Denmark.

Access to Keflavík International Airport has become a major bottleneck for travelers across Iceland — one that, according to sociologist Þóroddur Bjarnason of the University of Iceland, primarily benefits the state-owned airport operator Isavia rather than the public. He argues that the high cost of transport and parking at the airport sometimes rivals the price of flight tickets themselves, contradicting the government’s ownership policy, which mandates that Iceland’s airport system should form part of safe and affordable transport within the country and connect effectively to other public transport on land.

Amaroq Minerals has, for the first time, discovered high-grade rare earth elements (REEs) at the Ilua pegmatite zone in the Nunarsuit licence area, part of the Gardar region in southern Greenland — an area believed to contain up to 20% of the world’s rare earth resources, according to the EU’s Joint Research Centre.

Magnús Rannver Rafnsson, building inspector in Höfn and vice-chairman of the Association of Building Inspectors, is warning strongly against proposals by the Housing and Construction Authority (HMS) to transfer building inspections to private inspection firms and effectively abolish or neutralize the role of local building inspectors.

“Everything I’ve ever looked for in life, I found in Iceland. Somehow, I got to experience what it feels like to belong here.”

A humpback whale that was found trapped east of Hrísey on Friday has now vanished without a trace — though sonar readings suggest it may lie still in a watery grave beneath the surface.

The works of Halldór Laxness rank among the most important literary achievements in Icelandic history. Literature, as Iceland’s core cultural heritage, has long been what unites the nation—a nation without grand cathedrals or monumental architecture to boast of.

Rescue crews will attempt today to free a humpback whale that has been trapped east of Hrísey since yesterday morning, after poor weather conditions made rescue efforts impossible throughout the day.

Þórdís Lóa Þórhallsdóttir, leader of the Liberal Reform Party on Reykjavík City Council, says she cannot see how the planned number of parking spaces will fit into the new Úlfarsárdalur neighborhood, where 4,000 new apartments are set to be built.

Thick ice ridges formed on main roads in Reykjavík during this week’s snowstorm, while nearby municipalities were less affected. The problem arose because snowplows from the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (Vegagerðin) were unable to reach the roads in time to clear the snow when it was freshly fallen.

The Ring Road is currently closed at Fagurhólsmýri due to severe weather, as well as on the stretch under Eyjafjöll and over Reynisfjall toward Vík, according to the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration.

The Krambúðin convenience store in Urriðaholt, Garðabær, will offer customers a 50% discount on all products starting tomorrow, with the exception of nicotine and tobacco. The store will then close permanently once its stock has been sold out.

“This car wouldn’t give him any room. Then the driver just started bumping into him,” says Pétur Jóhannesson in an interview with mbl.is. He witnessed the altercation between a cyclist and a driver near Spöngin today and captured the incident on video, which can be seen below.

Traffic is moving slowly across the capital area, and delays can be expected, according to the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration.

“I know very few people who would want to buy an apartment in a multi-family building that doesn’t have parking,” says Monika Hjálmtýsdóttir, real estate agent and chair of the Association of Real Estate Agents.

Yesterday marked seventy years since Iceland gained its first Nobel laureate, when, on October 27, 1955, the Swedish Academy announced that Halldór Kiljan Laxness had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

It was a deeply emotional moment when a Coast Guard helicopter landed in Flateyri yesterday, October 26, 2025 — exactly thirty years after Coast Guard helicopters first arrived in the town following the avalanche from Skollahvilft, which claimed twenty lives. This time, the helicopter carried passengers who had come to take part in a memorial ceremony honoring the victims of the disaster.

The Dagrenning Search and Rescue Team from Hvolsvöllur and the Air Rescue Team from Hella were called out yesterday to assist a mother and son who became trapped in their camper van in Landmannalaugar due to impassable conditions.

A blizzard system southwest of Iceland is rapidly moving toward the country. Forecasts indicate 24-hour snowfall of 20 to 30 centimeters, though there remains considerable uncertainty about the exact timing of the storm’s arrival.

On the slopes of Eyrarfjall, a dedicated group of workers is hard at work six days a week building new avalanche defenses to protect the village of Flateyri.

Motorists are being advised to drive carefully this evening and overnight, as driving conditions are expected to worsen due to snow or sleet in the south and west of the country, especially on mountain roads.

Women and non-binary people were encouraged yesterday to stop all paid and unpaid work for the entire day, just as women did 50 years ago, in 1975.