gpt-MT/evaluation/system-outputs/text-davinci-003/QR/5-shot/isen/test.is-en.en

Cry out to the world
The Looks Like You Need Iceland marketing campaign seems to have gotten off to a good start and cries and calls out in nature are beginning to draw people from all over the world.
"You own the puzzle, I need Iceland," says a woman out in the big world in comments on the ad from the marketing campaign Looks Like You Need Iceland on the YouTube channel.
Another spectator said they will keep Iceland in their heart forever and a young woman said she will definitely be going to Iceland soon as her beloved is living there.
Unfortunately, she is in the United States, so it looks like we will have to wait for a few more months.
Another spectator asks if the route to Iceland is feasible, since there are no planes.
It is not stated in the story whether he comes from another time zone.
Egill Thordarson from the advertising agency Peel, who created the ads along with the international agency M&C Saatchi, says the reception has been better than expected.
"I've been to many Inspired By Iceland trips that have gone very well, but this new trip is already surpassing them.
At its core, this is about creating PR value, that is, getting foreign media to talk about the tour, and it has gone incredibly well.
In a relatively short time, we have received coverage in over seven hundred media outlets around the world, reaching a total of approximately two billion people.
The value of the discussion is estimated at 1.8 billion kroner.
That's not acceptable.
The main market is still the United States and the tour has been doing very well there despite Americans not travelling to the country anytime soon.
According to Egil, markets such as Denmark, Britain and Germany have also taken well, as has Russia, which came as a pleasant surprise.
Then there have been responses from foreign areas, such as India, which were not specifically set up for.
"These ads have gone further than we expected," says Egill, noting that over four million people have watched the content on YouTube.
"We couldn't have asked for a better start."
The pictures here at the opening were taken by Árni Sæberg, photographer of Morgunblaðið, during shoots for advertisements bearing the slogan "Let It Out" in the middle of last month.
The shots were taken widely, such as on Skólavörðustígur in Reykjavík, at Reynisfjara, at Skógarfoss, at Sólheimajökull and in a cave at Hjörleifshöfði.
The directors were Samúel Bjarki Pétursson and Gunnar Páll Ólafsson from Skoti productions and cameraman Óttar Guðnason.
In supporting roles were the Icelandic Anna Jia and Murphy Cardenas, from Cuba and Hungary.
Dozens of Icelanders came to make the commercials, while at the same time another group was on the West Coast and Westfjords filming.
According to Egil, "Let It Out" is only the first step in the Looks Like You Need Iceland journey, with plans for a winter journey in collaboration with M&C Saatchi.
"This is just the first phase of this work for the Icelandic Agency," says Egill and adds that the collaboration with M&C Saatchi has gone exceptionally well.
"It's great to work with them.
In such projects it is important to have foreign partners with knowledge of the markets we are talking about.”
Sprengisandur: Discuss the state of the job market, pension funds and much more.
Asmundur Einar Daðason, Minister of Social Affairs and Children, will attend the Sprengisand meeting starting at ten o'clock at Bylgjunni today.
He is also the Minister of Labour and oversees the situation of the labour market as such, the Icelandair issue and other matters.
He also oversees rural affairs and transport operations in areas that have been performing poorly and have been controversial in recent years and decades.
Ragnar Thor Ingolfsson, Chairman of VR, will also be featured in the show and he will discuss his criticism of pension fund investments and present ideas for labor unions and businesses to withdraw from the management of the funds to reduce the risk of conflicts of interest.
Then Ivar Ingimarsson, a travel service provider in East Iceland, and Arnheidur Johannsdottir, Director of the North Iceland Marketing Board, will discuss the situation in travel services in the countryside.
They will look ahead to the autumn and ponder whether the success of the summer is a portent of what is to come.
You can listen to the episode below, starting at ten o'clock.
This is what she looks like today 25 years later.
Actress Elisa Donovan had a successful career in various teen shows.
She gained worldwide fame for her role as Amber in the movie Clueless 25 years ago.
She also appeared in the series Sabrina: The Teenage Witch alongside Melissa Joan Hart, A Night at the Roxbury and in Beverly Hills 90210.
Donovan is now 49 years old, married with one child.
She hasn't done much lately but she did manage to look back on her past and talk about Clueless on Australian TV recently.
She speaks fondly of Brittany Murphy who passed away unexpectedly in 2009 and says she was a wonderful person.
"I have to admit that I built the character mostly on girls I met in school who were not kind to me.
As I read the script I knew who this character was," Donovan said about his role in Clueless.
I did not want to leave the police station after an overnight stay.
Fifty cases were brought before the police force in the capital region today and the police logbook states that the cases were varied.
The day at the police station on Hverfisgata began with the police having to deal with a man who had recently been released from jail after serving time for a drunk driving offense.
The man did not want to leave after being released and did not obey the police orders to leave.
The man earned himself a permanent stay at the police station due to his success.
A man was arrested this morning suspected of breaking into a company in Kópavogur.
The police also had to deal with two people in Breiðholt due to a report of bodily injury.
Then it happened that a woman who was shopping in a mall in Kópavogur could not pay for the bill after the meal and was therefore called to the police.
There was also a report of a car theft in the city center this morning.
The driver of a white Renault van searched for her for a while and then she was taken into custody.
The car has not been found.
Curse of the Joyrider - The Terrible Fate of the Glitter Stars
The theory has gained traction on the internet that the Glee cast is cursed, as actress Naya Rivera drowned in California recently and thus became the third main cast member to pass away before their time.
The Glee series is a popular show about singing, dancing, and joy.
The episodes revolved around a so-called high school joy club of teenagers, their loves and destinies.
It was not always easy to be in the joyous troupe, but through song and dance the characters seemed to be able to overcome whatever circumstances arose in their lives.
Outside forces have caused great disruption to the players and staff of the shows, so much so that theories have arisen that a curse lies upon the shows.
Naya Marie Rivera played the role of Santana Lopez in the show, a cheerleader who didn't always call her grandmother.
After the show had run its course, Rivera began dating actor Ryan Dorsey and had her first and only child with him, Josey.
In 2017, Rivera was arrested for domestic violence against her husband and they subsequently divorced.
Dorsey refused to file a complaint and the domestic violence case was dropped.
On July 8th of last year, it was announced that Rivera was missing after her four-year-old son was found alone in a boat on Lake Piru in California.
The boy was found sleeping in a life vest on board the boat and he was able to tell the police that he and his mother had jumped overboard and then Rivera had pulled him back into the boat but never returned himself.
A massive search for Rivera began.
The day after the search began, the police chief in the area concluded that the search was based on the assumption that Rivera had drowned.
Five days later, Rivera was found and officially declared dead.
It is believed that she was caught in a strong current in the water and used her last strength to save her son.
Death was attributed to accidents due to intoxication.
Cory Allan Michael Monteith played the role of Finn Hudson in the show, the American football player with the angelic voice who played a key role in bringing the Glee Club to fame and respect.
Outside the roles, Moneith still clashed with personal demons.
From the age of 13 he had been addicted to drugs and it proved difficult to get away from it.
In 2013, his collaborators found enough to intervene and urge him to seek help.
Moneith then went into treatment and everything seemed to be looking up.
Only two months after he finished his treatment, Moneith was found dead in a hotel room after going out to have fun with friends.
Banamein proved to be a dangerous mix of drugs and alcohol.
It was not considered to be a deliberate act.
Moneith had undergone treatment and his tolerance for toxins had decreased so much that even small amounts he had previously tolerated were now lethal.
He was only 31 years old when he passed away.
His passing weighed heavily on his co-stars, but at the behest of his co-star Lea Michele, it was decided to continue shooting the episodes and dedicate them to the memory of Monteith and his character Finn.
Mark Wayne Salling played the role of Noah "Puck" Puckerman in the show, Puck was an American football player, like Finn, and had little respect for his fellow Glee club members, until he gained the courage to admit that he enjoyed singing and dancing.
Two years later, Salling was arrested at his home in Los Angeles on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
Upon a home search at his residence, a large amount of child pornography was found and the case quickly spread publicly.
It was clear that Salling was done.
He was subsequently charged and convicted of his crimes.
He was facing four to seven years in prison in addition to having to be registered as a sex offender and seek treatment for pedophilia.
Before the judge had imposed the sentence, Salling, who was then released on bail, was found close to his home.
The cause of death was suicide.
It wasn't just the players of the show who fell far behind in age.
Jim Fuller was the assistant director of the episodes.
He was suddenly taken in his sleep in 2013, only 41 years old.
The episode also featured a woman named Nancy Motes.
She was the younger sister of superstar Julia Roberts and did not carry her sister's beautiful story, but she blamed Roberts for her heavy-handedness and disrespectful behavior.
Mote took her own life in 2014 after struggling with severe depression.
She left behind a letter to her beloved in which she said her mother and sister, among others, were responsible for how she ended up.
"My mother and so-called siblings will get nothing from me but the memory that it was they who endured all my worst moods."
Lea Michel was the star of the shows.
She has recently been accused of using her influence and power to manipulate situations and be overly controlling.
Jesse Luken had a guest role in the episodes in 2012.
He was arrested and charged with drunk driving in 2019, which was considered a serious offense.
Actress Heather Morris had a major role in the episodes.
In 2010, she was the victim of computer hackers who obtained nude photos of her and posted them online.
Actors Melissa Benoist and Blake Jenner both starred in the show and had a relationship outside of the show.
Benoist later reported that Jenner had used violence in the relationship.
You can put flowers on almost anything.
It enhances children's development when they get to play outside in the garden with their parents tending to flowers and watching them grow and bloom.
There is also endless possibilities with flowers as Swedish photographer Anna Kubel points out.
Just having time with the kids in the garden is something that is never forgotten.
They will remember the flowers, the air and of course that precious time they had with their parents.
Bought himself a boat after the tenth grade.
"I don't think there are many sailors who work in the country's kindergartens," says Axel Örn Guðmundsson, who does fishing in the summer and studies psychology at the University of Iceland in the winter."
Beach fishing is a very convenient summer job when one is in school.
If fishing is done well, good income can be made and I think it's great to be able to avoid taking out student loans.
The earnings are also good for me in the winter," says Axel Örn Guðmundsson, a 25-year-old psychology student who has been fishing in the summer like the past summers.
Axel was the newest addition to the dock at Tálknafjörður when a reporter caught up with him late in the evening at the start of the week.
"In the year I was in tenth grade I took a boat captain's license for boats under twelve meters long and I bought my boat the summer after I finished high school.
I have been fishing on my boat every summer since then.
I bought the boat used from my friend, Hartmann Jónsson, and I named the boat after his name.
Hartmann was already an adult when I bought the boat and had retired from sailing and he was very pleased when he saw that the boat bore his name.
Hartmann passed away a few years after I took over the boat," says Axel, adding that he bought the boat for three million.
"I made a deal with Hartmann to pay half a million up front in the beginning of summer and the other half at the end of summer when I was done fishing.
I had the boat debt-free by the end of my first summer with it.”
How could a boy have one and a half million to pay out for a boat when he had just finished high school?
"I had been saving up and collecting money, I had been working with my dad at sea when I was a boy, I was all summer fishing with him and got my share."
I also put my savings into my boat fund.
Axel was born in Isafjordur, where all his family is from, but he has lived in Kópavogur since he was a boy.
"I can fish here on the west coast because I have a legal residence with my grandmother in Isafjordur."
I learned to sail in this area west of here with my dad.
I travel between fjords depending on how I feel, as this fishing area covers all of the Westfjords.
Although I prefer to be west of here, I have also traveled around Snæfellsnes and further.
I've also fished down south, mostly for grayling," says Axel, who always gets up early in the morning and says he sometimes talks to the seagulls and sings to the sky, in moments of solitude out on the beach.
"The internet connection out at sea is good, so I can make calls, listen to podcasts and music.
I don't mind being alone on a boat.
Of course I try to avoid trouble, but certainly something has been happening occasionally, but never much danger," says Axel, who is lucky that he is never seasick.
He says the length of the workday depends on how the fishing goes each time.
"In the trawling I'm never more than 14 hours fishing in one go, but I've also been fishing in other systems, for example in the leasing quota, then I've been continuously fishing for one and a half solar cycles out at sea."
He describes the practice of beach fishing as such that he can catch 770 kilos per day, which he finds excessive.
"Other restrictions are that I cannot fish on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and I can only fish twelve days a month, these four months that beach fishing is open, in May, June, July and August.
In my opinion, fishermen should choose their fishing days according to the weather and nothing else.
This unnecessary pressure is on people to rush instead of having 48 days over the whole summer and being able to choose for themselves.
"So the zoning could go my way and areas well situated for fishing should be able to benefit from it," says Axel, who mostly catches cod from the deep sea on his trawls, as well as some haddock and a few other species of flatfish.
Axel works over the winter season with his college degree at the Núpi daycare in Kópavogur.
"I think we are not many sailors who work in the kindergartens of the country," says Axel proudly and adds that he had only intended to work temporarily at the kindergarten.
"I got hooked because I find this job amazing."
"I hope that my psychology studies will be useful to me in the future in the kindergarten," says Axel, who is also far along in his studies in business.
An error in registration prevented the homecoming quiz.
An error in the registration form that people fill out when entering the country resulted in an individual, residing here, not being called back for a check-up.
There is no requirement to provide an ID number if the person fills out the form in English, as is the case when it is done in Icelandic.
"This will be looked at this week," says an expert in the field of public health.
Three domestic cases were identified at the Virology Department of the National Hospital yesterday.
One of them who tested positive arrived in the country on July 15, two days after the rules on so-called entry tests came into effect.
Those who are resident in Iceland are then screened upon arrival in the country and invited for a test four to five days later.
It was reported in the RÚV evening news that the person in question had, however, followed the old system.
The border inspection was negative and he was not called back for the quarantine.
Kamilla Rut Sigfúsdóttir, an expert in the field of public health, tells the news agency in an interview that this can be attributed to an error in the electronic registration form.
Completing the registration form in English is not a requirement to enter a social security number as is in the Icelandic version.
After all, it was primarily designed for foreign tourists.
Therefore, the person in question has not received an automatic invitation to take a test.
Camilla says many have followed the rules of quarantine even though they filled out the registration form in English and in some cases employers have also been vigilant in sending people for testing again after they arrived in the country.
"This will be looked at this week to see how to make it easier for people to access this to raise awareness of the process."
The man is in quarantine and six have been put in isolation.
They all went for testing but two were showing symptoms.
Contact tracing is now underway for the three cases identified yesterday, and is mostly completed for the two cases reported on Friday.
In both cases, Icelandic genomic sequencing has revealed that there are variants of the coronavirus that have not been found here before.
In the other case, the links have been directed to Israel although it is known that the person who brought the virus to the country had also traveled to other European countries.
Camilla says that it should be known tomorrow where the other rain is coming from.
There are now 15 in isolation according to the COVID.is website.
There are 135 in quarantine.
Four out of five infections are unrelated.
Five domestic cases have been identified in the country in recent days.
Of those, four are entirely unrelated and, for example, the source of the infection that broke out at the Rey Cup Sports Tournament yesterday has not yet been identified.
Infection is still prevalent.
Originally there were thirty individual cases of infection but it was reduced to sixteen.
In total, there are 34 cases of infection due to these new infections that were identified yesterday.
This is the second time in a short period of time that an infection has been detected at a sporting event and it has raised questions about whether such events should be held.
Johann K. Johannsson, Communications Manager of the National Police Directorate, says it is perfectly possible as long as people follow the guidelines and regulations.
"We are constantly reminding everyone here that individual protective measures must be maintained.
We also need to remind people who are holding events that there are certain rules in place that need to be followed.
"Then events can be held," says Johann.
He says that it is possible to prevent infection by maintaining individual protective measures against infection.
Rules and criteria should also be subject to regular review.
"What needs to be done, and what the Public Health Department and the Medical Officer of Health are constantly urging people to do, is to observe these individual protective measures.
Both on-premise and likewise with service providers.
People washing their hands and using sanitizer.
"It prevents the spread of infection," says Johann.
"We need to encourage people to keep up the good work that we have been doing in order to maintain the success we have achieved so far."
40% of COVID-19 fatalities had type 2 diabetes.
Devon Brumfield heard over the phone how difficult her father was having to breathe.
Her father had diabetes and she encouraged him to seek medical help.
The next day he was gone.
The death was attributed to more rapid respiratory failure due to coronavirus infection.
Diabetes was listed on the death certificate as an underlying condition and Brumfield, who also has diabetes, is afraid that he may be next.
Reuters news agency says Brumfield's fears are not unfounded.
Figures from a new study commissioned by US authorities show that around 40% of those who died had type 2 diabetes as an underlying condition.
When the proportion of those who had not reached the age of 65 is examined, the proportion increases to one half.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study looked at more than 10,000 people in 15 countries who died from coronavirus between February and May.
Jonathan Wortham, an infectious disease specialist at the CDC, says the results are striking, especially for those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and their loved ones.
A slight decrease in growth was observed Reuters conducted a survey and the responses from the 12 countries that responded were comparable in proportion.
Ten states, including California, Arizona and Columbia, have yet to recognize underlying illnesses.
"Diabetes was already on the rise at a slow rate.
"Now COVID-19 has broken out like a powerful age," Reuters quoted Elbert Huang, director of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy at the University of Chicago.
Diabetes is more common among Blacks and people of South American origin, who have also fared worse from the coronavirus pandemic.
The best defense for those with type 2 diabetes is to keep the disease in check with exercise, a healthy diet, and support from healthcare professionals.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has made it difficult for many to maintain a routine.
High levels of insolation have enabled some to continue to go to work and thus avoid being exposed to the virus.
Reuters points out that US authorities may have been aware of the risks posed to those with type 2 diabetes from the virus.
During the SARS coronavirus outbreak in 2003, approximately 20% of those infected were hospitalized and in the swine flu pandemic of 2009, this group was three times more likely to require hospitalization.
When MERS made its appearance in 2012, a study showed that 60% of those who died or were admitted to the hospital had diabetes.
Charles S. Dela Cruz, a scientist at Yale University, says that due to the effects of the COVID-19 virus, the lockdown could have uncovered a number of previously unknown parasites.
"I fear that we will see a flood of problems when this is over," says Andrew Bolton, chairman of the International Diabetes Federation.
Doctors have warned that the coronavirus pandemic could indirectly lead to an increase in diabetes-related complications, including diabetic nephropathy and diabetic neuropathy.
Similarly, new research suggests that the coronavirus could lead to an increase in diabetes cases.
Reuters reports scientists are trying to understand the link between coronavirus and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes affects the heart, lungs and kidneys, organs already weakened in many people with diabetes.
High levels of glucose and lipids in diabetics can cause a true "sugar rush", as it is called when the immune system reacts too strongly and overwhelms the body.
Stimulated intake can also lead to bubble formation which can again cause dangerous blood loss.
"It's all one big puzzle," says Dela Cruz.
"It all ties together."
The news has been corrected.
"We were offered a toast, so they left the room"
The couple Ásrún Magnúsdóttir and Atli Bollason were presented with the unusual request from the artist Ragnar Kjartansson to have sex in front of a camera for a work the artist was setting up in Paris.
"We loved each other so this wasn't hard."
Atli Bollason never forgets when he first met his wife and mother of his children, Asrun Magnúsdóttir.
"I was very impressed by her.
It was naturally just an outburst but it also seemed to me quite unbearably sweet.
And it still seems," he says.
Asrun likes this too, as her husband regularly rakes up the first found.
"I'm always hearing this story.
Just last weekend," she says, who was also smitten with her husband at first sight.
"I felt and still feel so much fuss around Atla, which I find annoying."
There's a lot going on and a lot happening and I'm excited about it.”
Atli says the couple has emphasized in their relationship to go their own way.
"We don't tie our horses to the same knots as our fellow travelers.
We break free from the routines we define around us.”
There may be a reason why they took the commission from Ragnar Kjartansson the artist so enthusiastically, though it was to say the least unusual.
"Our mutual friend Kristín Anna is in touch with us and asks if we can come for dessert with her, Ragga and Ingibjörg, Ragnar's wife, at Snaps."
They ordered, met the trio at Snaps and got themselves a dessert wine and each their own dessert.
They listened to Ragnar as he guided them through his plans for an art exhibition he was planning to set up at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in the fall.
He had a multi-screen video work called Scenes from Western Culture.
He explained it in a simple way.
Asrun says he described the work as banal and decadent scenes from the everyday life of Westerners.
"He had sketches of all the scenes he was going to shoot and lastly he told us what he wanted to know if we were interested in taking part in it."
The scene that Ragnar asked the couple to take part in was meant to show a young interracial couple in love in a minimalistic room.
"These are journeys with a beginning and an end," says Atli.
The couple didn't know Ragnar very well although they had heard of him and he of them "but they knew us and it seemed to fit.
They had agreed that they did not want to advertise for people.
Maybe they thought they wouldn't get the right people but people who would get sexual gratification from performing for others.”
They called Ragnar and agreed to think about the matter but it didn't take long.
"When we ran out of Snaps we said: Aren't we just in this for the fun of it?"
That's just the way it is.
"I trusted Ragnar as an artist and his whole team," says Ásrún and Atli agrees.
"This is about love and proximity."
Senan was taken in by a nice apartment on Myrargata Street.
There was a very small film crew; the cameraman, Ragnar and the soundman and the pair.
After the shooting had started, everyone left the room to wait outside in the car except Atli and Asrun.
"We hadn't decided anything about how we were going to be.
We got some small instructions but we tried to forget the time and place.
To be unaware of what we were doing and for whom.
"There was no game, we just loved each other so it wasn't complicated," says Asrun.
Was this romantic?
"Yes, this was a bit romantic," says Atli and Asrun agrees.
"We were offered a toast before they left the barracks.
It was kind of like being on a nice vacation in Paris.”
The team was pleased with the performance of the pair in the work that moved them.
"When Tommi the thief looked at this, he cried, it was so beautiful to him," says Atli.
"This is as much about love and closeness as it is about the journeys themselves," says Ásrún.
The parents of the couple have seen the work and Atli says his mother heard the voice in the exhibition at the Reykjavik Art Museum and then realized that he was part of the work.
"Then she turns around and starts to ponder this," says Atli.
"Mom and Dad saw this in Paris.
We hadn't told anyone about this but then my dad sends me a message and says: "Nice to run into the little family at Palais de Tokyo," Asrun recounts.
And did participation in the project deepen the relationship between Ásrún and Atli?
"We're still all together so maybe this deepened something.
This deepened my connection with the extended family," says Ásrún and laughs.
Ásrún saw the project in Copenhagen with her colleagues.
"It was a bit hard for me not to be with you or someone else," she says, turning to her husband.
"But it was fun to see this because this is just one scene in a much bigger work and when you saw this with the other works it was very nice.
I could somewhat detach myself from this and was just proud.
And there was the little bean in my belly," says Ásrún who was pregnant with the couple's second child when the scan was taken.
"That was just beautiful."
Anna Marsibil Clausen talked to Ásrún and Atli in Love Stories on Rás 1.
Swansea wins in the first knockout match.
Swansea won 1-0 against Brentford in a dramatic match.
This was the teams' previous game in the playoffs to get promoted to the English Premier League.
The game took place at Swansea's home ground in Wales.
The score at halftime was 0-0.
The home side in Swansea were awarded a penalty on the 64th minute as Andre Ayew fired the ball off the penalty spot and let the keeper from himself.
Just two minutes later, Rico Henry, Brentford player, was given the red card.
Brentford played the rest of the game with one man less and in the 82nd minute the Swansea players took advantage of the numerical advantage.
Andre Ayew then added to the drama by scoring a fantastic goal and securing a 1-0 win for Swansea.
Swansea leads 1-0 in the tie, with the second leg taking place next Wednesday at Brentford's home ground.
Wireless for five years from 2009.
Jeffrey Gunter Ross, the US Ambassador to Iceland, is in the spotlight of the media after CBS reported yesterday that he wanted to have an armed bodyguard as he feared for his life.
It has not been smooth sailing for the President of the United States to appoint an ambassador here.
Since Carol Van Voorst left her post as US Ambassador in April 2009, the country has been without an ambassador for 62 months, more than five years.
Van Voorst resigned under special circumstances, but Kastljós reported in 2009 that she should have received the Falcon Award.
On her way to a farewell meeting with the President of Iceland, she received a call from the Presidential Office informing her that she would not be honored with the title.
After she left Iceland, she taught international relations at the Army War College.
Sixteen months passed until Van Voorst's successor took office, in September 2010.
It can be partly attributed to Robert S. Connan having been appointed as ambassador but then resigning.
Finally, Louis Ariega took the job, having worked in the foreign service for decades.
He resigned in the fall of 2013 and took up the post of ambassador to Guatemala.
Then began the second period without an ambassador.
Robert Barber was confirmed by the US Congress in January 2015 and took office shortly thereafter, as no ambassador had been in place for 13 months.
Barber was politically appointed, not a diplomat, but he had worked as a lawyer and a short-term campaign fund for Barack Obama.
He resigned when Donald Trump took office as President on January 20, 2017, as is customary with politically appointed ambassadors.
The Trump administration was unusually quick to appoint both ambassadors and high-level officials to the Washington bureaucracy.
Two years passed until the US Congress invited Jeffrey Ross Gunter to its session to question him and confirm him as ambassador to Iceland upon completion.
In his testimony to the parliament, he said he had never been to Iceland but often to Western Europe, and his late wife had been of Dutch mountain descent.
Gunter is politically organized, was formerly a dermatologist in California and has been prominent in Jewish organizations in the Republican Party, the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Casino owner Sheldon Adelson founded the organizations, and Adelson is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump.
Gunter started working in Iceland in May 2019, when no ambassador had been in the country since early 2017, for two years and four months, which is the longest example here.
The reason is both how long the Trump administration was taking to appoint people to key positions and that the work of the US Congress has been greatly delayed in recent years, including confirming ambassadors to posts.
Since 2009, there has been a total of five years without an ambassador in Iceland.
This has not prevented the activities of the Embassy which recently opened its headquarters at Engjateig.
The works are estimated to have cost around 6.5 billion and reinforced security walls surround the building and bulletproof glass is in all windows.
It seems, however, to have not been enough to secure the current ambassador as he is said to fear for his life and has requested to be provided with armed protection.
Former IBV player faced racism in Iceland - "It was a mistake to come to Iceland"
Tonny Mawejje, a former player of IBV, claims to have experienced racism when he was in Iceland and that he regrets having come to the country.
This is revealed in an interview with Tonny that was published in the Ugandan media outlet Daily Monitor.
Tonny recently joined the team Uganda Police FC which plays in the top division of Uganda.
In the interview with Daily Monitor, Tonny talks about many things, including his time in the country where he played with IBV, Val and Throttur in Iceland.
"When I came to Iceland I didn't play in the midfield like I was used to playing.
The team captain was in that position but also had the jersey number I wanted so I got neither of what I wanted," says Tonny who played on the right side of the field with IBV.
Among the things Tonny talks about is racism that he experienced in Iceland.
He says this is a problem that many black players face when playing in Europe.
"This once happened to me but since I didn't understand the language I just ignored what was said to me.
Later I heard about the case and then I asked my friend what the case was about.
He told me then that my opponent had made racist remarks about me after I tackled him.”
In 2014, Tonny left Iceland for Norway where he joined Haugesund.
He admits to having made the mistakes he regrets the most.
Tonny had not been able to make it into the starting lineup for Haugesund but he wanted to play more to make it into the national team.
He then asked to go back to Iceland on loan and then joined Val.
"It was a mistake to come back to Iceland on loan."
"I think if I had been in Norway longer, I would have gotten the opportunity I wanted," says Tonny, who was hoping that if he played well in Norway, he would likely get further.
He believes that the loan to Iceland has made his dreams of making it big in Europe come true.
Woman found with a snake in her neck.
Doctors at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo found a 3.8 cm long black snake in the throat of a woman who had come there for treatment.
The doctors managed to pull the worm out with tongs.
Research revealed that it was a snake species.
CNN reports on this.
The woman had eaten sashimi, which are thin slices of raw meat, a few days earlier.
The woman recovered quickly after the snake was removed, but reptiles like this are often found in raw meat or fish.
Since sushi has gained popularity in the West, cases of people being infected by raw fish have increased, according to CNN.
Fear that another wave is starting in Europe
Spain is now in a state of emergency in relation to concerns about a second wave of the coronavirus in Europe, where authorities have taken measures to contain the spread of the virus anew.
In Catalonia, all leisure activities have been put on hold for two weeks, with more cities than Barcelona seeing rising infections.
Other European countries have also taken action due to the increase in infections in Spain, while in Britain everyone must go into quarantine upon returning from Spain, like in Norway, and the French have been warned against travelling to Spain.
Cases are also increasing again in France and Germany, where governments are trying to find a balance between containing the spread of the virus and getting the economy back on track.
The situation in Europe is still good compared to elsewhere in the world, but new infections worldwide are approaching 300 thousand per day, with the highest numbers in America and South Asia.
Confirmed cases have reached 16 million worldwide, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, and confirmed deaths linked to the virus have reached 644 thousand.
Mosaic Work of Art Finally Gets to Enjoy Its Full Potential
In front of the Customs House in Reykjavik is a large and deep cave.
Below her are people with orange helmets.
There is also a big digger.
And more minor machines.
The street is closed to traffic.
And the passageway is alive and many now linger there, admiring the mosaic works of millions of tiles - as if they had never seen it before.
Maybe they have never seen it before.
At least not seen it for itself.
The project has been somewhat hidden so far, right in front of it were always busy parking lots.
People parked there, locked the car in a hurry and then set off to do their business in the city center.
"Vibrant and diverse public space" and "supportive urban fabric" are guiding principles for the redevelopment of Tryggvagata which is now underway.
The aim is to beautify the area and allow Gerður Helgadóttir's mosaic work at the Toll House to be better appreciated.
In front of the work will be a plaza and as the area is well exposed to the sun it is considered suitable as a resting area for travelers.
The painting will be illuminated and now the fabric will enjoy itself better than before on this 142 square meter canvas.
The area will also feature small "cloud shelters", kind of water sculptures, offering play and providing the area with a certain atmosphere.
In this way, the City of Reykjavik is described as committed to actions in partnership with the Municipalities.
Water, heat and electricity networks will be renewed.
Many of them are centuries old, but the sewer and cold water systems date back to 1925 and have thus served the inhabitants and businesses of the city center for almost a century.
When the street is reopened after completion of the works, cars can drive on it again.
But it will still be unique and at the same time create quieter and more accessible spaces for pedestrians.
In the knowledge base of the Customs House on the Customs Director's website, it is said that the house was put into use in 1971 and its architect was Gísli Halldórsson.
Due to the harbor breeze passing through the house, a 250-meter-long wall of windows was formed facing the street.
The building committee and architect agreed that such fixtures would have a negative impact on the overall aesthetic, unless special measures were taken to enhance the appearance of the house.
The parties agreed to plan for the installation of a permanent artwork there.
At this time, much was said of Gerður Helgadóttir, the artist, according to the summary.
She had worked extensively on mosaic artworks in Germany and beyond.
It was decided to contact her first before deciding whether a competition for the job would be held.
It had often been discussed that the work should reflect life at the harbor, after all the harbor had been the lifeblood of Reykjavik since it was built.
When the artist was spoken to, she was overwhelmed with emotion by such a work.
It was agreed that she would receive drawings and other assistance before she left the country, where she would work on the proposals abroad.
Gerður got the time she decided she needed, and when she returned home she put forward some proposals for discussion.
It was unanimously agreed to ask her to do the job.
At the same time, a comprehensive agreement was sought with her and the famous art dealership in Germany, the Oidtmann Brothers, as Gerður had long been working with them to set up famous artworks all over Europe.
Agreements were reached and Gerður won the commission to design the studio of the brothers, who then took care of the construction of the Customs House.
The entire project was exceptionally well handled, both by Gerður Helgadóttir and Oidtmann Brothers, according to the summary.
It has since endured the harsh Icelandic weather.
It took Gerði about two years to complete the work, which was done and set up in 1972 and 1973.
The lighthouse keeper died two years after the lighthouse was completed, only 47 years old.
Preparing to move several establishments out to the countryside
Minister of Social Affairs Asmundur Einar Daðason announces that more public institutions will be moved out of town in the near future.
This said the Minister in the show Sprengisandi on Bylgjan this morning.
Recently it was announced that the Housing and Employment Agency's brownfield division will be relocated to Sauðárkrókur in the fall.
Six experts in the field of brownfield work for the institution, but none of them intend to follow the institution north and the National Association of Firefighters and Ambulance Personnel has criticized the relocation plans.
"I think we need to take further steps in this direction.
I am preparing further steps in this process.
"More shipments," said Ásmundur.
He claims to be convinced that a large majority of the nation wants to see more distribution of public institutions across the country.
"I think we need to take further political decisions about moving public services out to the countryside, as I was doing with the Housing and Welfare Administration," said Ásmundur, who also gave examples of other institutions that have been moved out to the countryside and made a big difference for communities out there, such as the relocation of the Food and Agriculture Organization to Selfoss, the Icelandic Land Survey to Akranes and unemployment benefits to Skagaströnd.
All the highlights from the final day of the Masters Tournament
The 94th Icelandic National Championships in Athletics concluded at Thorsvellir in Akureyri today.
Some records were set on the second competition day.
Exciting competition in women's shot put was expected at Thorsvellir, and Vigdís Jónsdóttir from FH set the Icelandic record in shot put in 2014 which stood until Elísabet Rut Rúnarsdóttir from ÍR improved the record in May last year.
Vigdís won the Icelandic Championship back earlier this summer and has been in great form lately, having tripled the Icelandic Championship record since the summer.
Elizabeth Rut has been struggling with injury and was unable to make it to practice today.
She only had one valid throw out of five, throwing 25.69 meters, which is far from her best.
Vigdís threw the farthest of all today, or 60.08 meters in her last attempt and set a new record at the same time.
Her Icelandic record she set earlier in July was 62.69 meters and she was thus still somewhat short of it.
Guðrún Karítas Hallgrímsdóttir from Iceland had the second best throw of the day as she improved her best performance with a throw of 50.18 meters.
In the men's category, FH athlete Hilmar Örn Jónsson, Iceland's representative in the hammer throw, won a convincing victory as he threw 73.84 meters in his penultimate throw and set a record.
His Icelandic record in the event is 75.26 meters.
Guðni Valur Guðnason, Olympic athlete and Icelandic record holder in discus throw, won a competition in shot put at Þórsvelli yesterday and today he competed in discus throw which is his main event.
Iceland's Guðna Val's record is 65.53 meters but he threw the farthest today at 59.13 meters and secured the win.
Valdimar Hjalti Erlendsson threw the second longest today with a valid throw of 49.43 meters, good enough for second place.
Hafdís Sigurðardóttir, Iceland's record holder in long jump, won the long jump competition with a great performance as Hafdís jumped 6.25 meters today which is just 40 cm short of her own Icelandic record.
In the 200 meter women's race it was Icelandic runner Guðbjörg Jóna Bjarnadóttir who was the fastest, crossing the finish line in 24.04 seconds, while her Icelandic record in the event is 23.45 seconds.
Guðbjörg Jóna was successful in Akureyri as she won two gold medals yesterday, in the 100 meter sprint and in the 4 x 100 meter relay, and then also in the 4 x 400 meter relay today.
In the men's category, Kolbeinn Höður Gunnarsson from FH was first in the 200 meter race in 21.57 seconds, 0.3 seconds ahead of Óliver Mána Samúelsson from Ármann.
Just like Guðbjörg Jóna, Kolbeinn Höður won gold in the 100 meters yesterday as well as in the 400 meter race.
Not sentenced for 27 million kroner Bitcoin mining
The appeals committee has rejected the claim of the tax investigator who demanded a penalty for a man who failed to declare his income from the sale of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
The committee concluded that the tax investigator had not provided clear reasons why it was necessary to prosecute the man.
The committee's ruling states that the tax inspector considered the man to have a valid case for incorrect tax returns for the 2016 and 2017 income years.
He had failed to declare his financial income which had been generated from the sale of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin up to 27 million, either intentionally or through gross negligence.
The tribe punished the man for his insolence.
The man rejected it in a letter to the committee.
He went on to sell cryptocurrencies for 27 million in 2016.
He had acquired it through grafting in 2009 and 2010 when such had been both easy and inexpensive with a regular home computer.
He then pointed out that when he sold the cryptocurrency, the tax implications of such a sale had been highly unclear and unpredictable.
It would hardly have been possible to expect that ordinary citizens would be aware of such provisions in the tax return.
He had not intended to avoid paying tax on the income and had declared his assets on the declaration of deposit on a bank account.
He had asked both experts and the tax authorities how to proceed but without success.
He then considered that he should take into account that he was neither born nor raised in Iceland and had only lived here for a few years when he started mining for Bitcoin.
He would therefore have been at a worse disadvantage than others in understanding complex rules which the tax authorities had not formed a clear view on.
The man deemed it right that his taxes for these two fiscal years be reassessed and a penalty imposed, but otherwise no punishment.
He reiterated that he resides in Iceland and has paid taxes in the country since 2012.
He had never intended to evade his duties in an irresponsible manner.
The demand for payment would be out of the blue and would plunge him into debt.
Brynjólfur is making waves: "This man knows what football is about"
Brynjólfur Andersen Willumsson has been quite a hit among people but also has gained admiration for his success in his time playing with Breiðablik in the Pepsi Max division.
Sparks will fly in the ring tonight as they take on IA in a live broadcast on Stöð 2 Sport.
Brynjólfur is given a red card due to four warnings during the game and therefore does not show up for the game with a new haircut as he has done in the games of the season so far.
He had written "bla, bla, bla" on his shirt for the game against HK last Thursday, which HK won 1-0.
"I don't know exactly who he was answering with the payment, but speaking of character this one was rather better to try in the game.
He did not go into hiding.
He wants to get the ball every single time and if there was anyone to even out this game then I thought he would do it or create it," said Guðmundur Benediktsson in the Pepsi Max studio, when the conversation turned to Brynjólfur.
"I'm here for the people."
"It can be difficult sometimes to understand where he is at."
He looks a bit to the left side when the game is coming to an end, but he has a very free role in the team," said Hjörvar Hafliðason.
Thorkell Máni Pétursson calls Brynjólf a real entertainer and is delighted to have such a colorful person in the team: "There is no doubt that this is character.
This is a fun type and I love it with the hair, and always being ready to attend and answer in interviews.
There are so many people taken by him, which tells me that this man understands what football is.
"I am an entertainer.
I'm here for the people and to have a good time.”
People are reading Brynjólf's interviews, people are paying attention and watching what's next on his agenda.
"This man is just brilliant," said Máni.
Player KR said he wants to leave the team - "I have been in contact with some teams in the B-division."
Tobias Thomsen, KR player in the Pepsi Max division, appears to be on his way out of the team.
According to Danish outlet Bold, Tobias is ready to return home to Denmark.
Football.net also reported on the case.
Tobias wants to start the season in his home country but first he needs to terminate his contract with KR where the Danish division starts earlier than the Icelandic one.
"The company knows I miss Denmark and has shown me a lot of understanding," Tobias said in an interview with Bold.
"I have been in contact with some teams in the B-division and will likely switch before the Icelandic season ends.
There are not many teams in Denmark that can afford to pay off my contract with KR.”
He then says that he will probably have to take a pay cut in Denmark.
"Organizations in Denmark have likely felt the economic effects of the virus more than in Iceland."
Bicycle messenger Bjartmar has recovered bicycles for millions - Now responds after discussion in DV
For the past few years, Bjartmar Leósson has had interests unlike most others.
He unlocks and rescues lost and stolen bicycles, e-bikes and scooters.
Has Bjartmar earned the nickname "the bike whisperer" for himself?
Yesterday there was quite a stir when a man shared his story of his interactions with Bjartmar.
DV then referred to discussions on the West Enders Facebook group where it was suggested that Bjartmar had spoken to the man at Eastwell and said the wasps may have been stolen.
Nothing else could be read from the original writings of the electrician except that Bjartmar had robbed him.
The post has now been edited on Facebook and the headline of the original DV news article has been updated accordingly.
Bjartmar says the initial reports of the incident do not accurately reflect what actually happened yesterday at Austurvelli.
Bjartmar said he had received information from the informant of the electricity theft that these were indeed their electricity meters.
The supposed owner got the information from someone else, but the information turned out to be wrong says Bjartmar.
"I looked at the bull and I recognized the scooter, for I had information that here was a scooter that had been missing for a long time and had been sought after."
I hesitated at first, but when I saw him getting ready to drive off on the scooter I decided to take a chance and talk to the man.
The owner was sure of his case and so I decided to have a talk with the man.
Generally I do very well in such matters, but before I could finish what I had to say the man had taken the word away from me.”
Bjartmar says that the man on the scooter had demanded that he show him the receipt for the bike and had himself called the police.
"Yes, great," said Bjartmar, "let's just get this sorted out."
So the owner of the electric scooter verified ownership of his electric scooter and drove off.
Later, the rightful owner of the laptop told his story on Facebook, as reported in the earlier news.
In this short year that Bjartmar has devoted to this skill, he claims to be able to count the divisions he ended up with on the edge of the fingers of the other hand.
"I have had peaceful interactions with the toughest people in Reykjavik," said Bjartmar, pointing out that bicycle thieves are often the least brothers and sisters of society, addicts, mentally ill people and other people who are on the street for some reason.
"Addiction is a harsh master and somehow you have to finance the next fix, unfortunately theft of such loose change is an easy way to that end," says Bjartmar.
"My relationships with these people are so good that I have brought many of them with me on the team."
Examples of people going into treatment and taking responsibility and then coming to me for help and supporting me in what I'm doing," he says.
Generally, Bjartmar's interactions with cyclists are on courteous terms.
Some know him and what he is doing and offer to show him receipts, bike serial numbers and so on.
Bicycle theft is a big problem that has been little discussed.
Furthermore, Bjartmar says that the police are even encouraging people to talk to him because of the electric scooters.
Bjartmar is dissatisfied with the former DV news delivery and claims not to be some kind of self-appointed police in a personal quest for justice.
Asked whether he is still not on top of the situation with his authority, and whether this is not primarily the role of the police, Bjartmar certainly agrees.
"Of course the law should do this, but the reality is that the law is simply not addressing this.
For example, I have seen police officers drive away from a large swarm of scooters.
She is simply clueless in these matters.”
"When the law is not doing anything about this, and it's right in front of your nose, and experience has shown that I can get results in this category, why not?" asks Bjartmar.
He claims to have been so successful in riding his wheelchairs that sometimes he would surprise his "colleagues" on the street with the fact that they had just been outdone by Bjartmar's wheelchairs.
The meetings that Bjartmar has called for police assistance have clearly not taken place.
"This is just not working with the police, and it's not my fault and it's not the fault of the bike owners," said Bjartmar, and he finds it unfortunate that victims of bike theft have to suffer from the inaction of the police in this category of cases.
There is no dispute about Bjartmar's success.
Stories abound of people thanking Bjartmar for helping them reclaim their possessions.
Bjartmar himself says he has long lost count of the number of bicycles he has delivered, but the amounts naturally run into millions, if not tens of millions.
Expect electric cars, electric bikes and electric scooters to weigh heavily, but electric bikes can cost up to half a million.
Bjartmar works during the day at a kindergarten and every weekend he works at a commune.
His bike ride is thus an unpaid work that he does in his spare time.
Pension funds and long shadows
2019 was a milestone year in the history of Icelandic pension funds.
Civil servants had indeed received pensions from the Danish king since the 19th century, but in 1919 a pension fund for civil servants was established which eventually became a pension fund for all public employees.
The basis for the current pension funds of salaried employees was then laid down in collective agreements in the labor market in 1969, which provided for an employment-related pension fund with compulsory membership and full fund collection from the beginning of 1970.
In 1974, laws were then set based on these agreements and the pension system continued to grow after that.
Pension systems for workers was not the only significant change that the labor movement of the 20th century achieved through its struggle.
Unemployment benefits had been won in similar fashion in the historic strike of 1955, and the unions also made some progress in their demands for health care and pension rights, substantial vacation rights, reduction of working hours, housing allowances and other such matters of great importance.
All these rights cost a great and hard struggle but, in the end, proved to be much more lasting and valuable improvement than the multiplication of coins in the wage packet, which disappeared just as quickly in the inflationary heat of the period after the war and until 1990, as many remember.
The process of establishing public pension funds in 1969 was both lengthy and complex.
Although people eventually agreed that the funds would be in fact owned by the fund members, the labor movement had to accept that their boards would be composed of representatives of employers and fund members equally.
In the years following the establishment of the funds, the demand for a majority of the workforce in the fund's management was often discussed in employee associations, but it never succeeded, and so we are still stuck with the unnatural arrangement that representatives of the fund's members are not in the majority in the fund's management.
Article 36 of Law No. 129/1997 on the guarantee of pension rights and the activity of pension funds discusses the investment policy of the funds.
The first paragraph states that "the pension fund shall have the interests of the fund members as its guiding principle."
Also stated in Article 5: "The pension fund shall set ethical criteria for its investments."
The Investment Policy of the Retailers' Pension Fund includes, among other provisions, the following, in accordance with the aforementioned legal provisions:
The pension fund is a signatory to the United Nations (UN PRI) Principles for Responsible Investment, along with many of the largest pension funds and institutional investors in the West and Europe.
The rules discuss how emphasis on environmental and social issues as well as good corporate governance can contribute to improved performance of bond portfolios.
Thus reconciling the interests of investors and the objectives of society in a wider context.
LV believes it is important that companies, especially those listed on the stock exchange, set out a public policy on: good corporate governance, social responsibility and environmental issues.
The Gildi Pension Fund, one of the largest funds in the country, has set a "policy on responsible investments" with similar provisions.
This is all summed up here as an introduction to the latest buzzword of Icelandic, "shadow governance".
As the term is used in the language, it is not expected to have been defined, but the following definition now seems to be "most taken": Shadow governance is when a leader in a corporate body tells the media that he intends to send representatives of the company to the board of a pension fund with recommendations or instructions on how they should take a stance on a particular issue.
If they do not follow the recommendations, they will be removed from the board at the earliest opportunity.
If the manager does not take this to the media and does not talk about resignation, then it is not "shadow management" as such interactions between people are always present in the financial world as elsewhere.
I leave it to the reader to ponder which path he finds "more shadowy."
There are mainly two people who have tried to shape this definition when this is written, on the morning of Saturday, July 25th, 2020.
They are Hörður Ægisson, a journalist at the Newspaper, and Ásgeir Jónsson, a bank manager.
The occasion for both was after Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair, had announced his plan to terminate the company's contracts with flight attendants and flight attendants (dismiss them), and Ragnar Thor Ingolfsson, Chairman of the Reykjavik Trade Union, sent them the suggestion to the representatives of the union on the board of the Trade Union Pension Fund not to support any possible purchase of the fund's shares in the company, or they might be allowed to withdraw.
Shortly afterwards, Bogi Nils reversed his decision and subsequently Ragnar Thor followed suit with his recommendation which was obviously based on Bogi's decision.
Nevertheless, Hörður and Ásgeir saw cause to elaborate on the matter in the Friday edition of Fréttablaðið with strong words about shadow government, lawbreaking and the urgent need for legal reform.
There the little tuft had really to turn a heavy load though the blessed tuft had been in a state of connection and moreover had been dried out quickly.
As the matter is important, let us attend to the substance itself in the end.
I mentioned earlier the provisions in the pension fund laws that relate to this matter.
This includes that fund managers must act in the best interests of fund members and have ethical considerations in investments, and these aspects are further elaborated in the rules of both the Chamber of Commerce and the Pension Fund of Merchants, as I mentioned.
Pension funds, however, MUST NOT only look at short-term return targets in their investments.
Such would be a highly risky policy and one does not need to look far for examples of this in the past, where large loans from banks and funds have been given to irresponsible speculators and environmental polluters, with disastrous consequences.
The CEO of Icelandair was clearly on a high when he came up with the idea to lay off a whole group of employees, thus significantly reducing the goodwill the company has enjoyed in the Icelandic market and weakening its position towards investors.
Fortunately, he realized his mistake and took it back.
Time will tell whether investing pension funds in the company can be considered responsible towards the fund members when taken into account.
The author is a former professor of physics and science history.
One of the infected did not have a travel history.
One of the three confirmed with Covid-19 in the country yesterday arrived from the Baltic States on July 15th last week, about one and a half weeks ago.
He is an Icelander who is not resident here by origin and therefore did not receive clear instructions to take the so-called entry test upon arrival in the country and to take another test a few days after arrival.
He got a negative result from the border check.
"But he is in an Icelandic society and should really take that measure," says Kamilla Jósepsdóttir, an expert in the field of public health at the National Institute of Health and the acting chief physician while he is on summer break, in an interview with Fréttablaðið today.
"He used the English registration form and there is no obligation to register the ID number and if the ID number is not registered then you are not automatically invited to the second show."
She says that the man could have used the English registration form because he is actually resident abroad but due to his connection to the country as an Icelander he should have used the Icelandic one instead.
He had not realized this.
"If your ID number is not registered, you will need to arrange for the retake yourself."
Neither he nor his employer seem to have realized that this was the right way," says Kamilla.
"So it is clear that we need to enhance the information about this while we find some way to make an automatic booking system even though Icelanders do not register their ID numbers."
Or to make it somehow clearer who the participants in the Icelandic society are in the registration system," she explains.
Fortunately, the person in question is accepted upon arrival in the country even though he is defined as a participant in the Icelandic society, being an Icelander.
Only six have been put into quarantine after he was diagnosed yesterday and these six were all in close contact with him.
They are due for a test but two of them have already shown signs of Covid-19 infection.
The man received a negative result from his border test on July 15th.
Camilla says it is likely that he had recently been infected with the virus that it had not yet been able to be detected in him when the sample was taken at the border.
She does not rule out the possibility that the person was infected here in Iceland and did not bring the virus with them to the country.
"It's not entirely possible to say that this is definitely an imported case since it's been so long since he arrived in the country that he could have been exposed here like these two who have caused some minor disruption in relation to the sports event."
She says, however, that it is very unlikely due to how few people are around here.
"It's actually very unlikely," says Kamilla, but she points out that it can't be ruled out until Icelandic genetic testing has been able to sequence the virus in the person.
"If we get a virus type that has not been seen here before, it is almost certain that it has brought it to the country."
Pepper spray and explosives used against protesters.
There were clashes between police and protesters in Seattle last night.
Police used pepper spray and non-lethal stun grenades against protesters, while protesters broke windows and set fires.
45 protesters were arrested and 21 police officers were injured.
Police brutality and gender discrimination were protested widely across the United States yesterday evening, with the protests in Seattle in support of the protesters in Portland, Oregon.
In Austin, Texas, one protester was shot dead.
According to the BBC, the assailant has been arrested.
Thousands gathered in Seattle for peaceful protests.
A group of people then set fire to a construction site and broke windows at the city courthouse.
Subsequently, police declared the protests to be unlawful and clashes ensued between the groups of protesters and police.
Demand justice In Aurora, Colorado, Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old black man who was killed by police last August, was remembered by protesters.
The car drove through a group of protesters in the city but no one was injured.
In Louisville, Kentucky, hundreds of Black National Guard members gathered and demanded justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was killed by police in her home in March of last year.
The group carried firearms and marched in formations to closed intersections where police confronted the group of protesters who also carried firearms.
Then there were 75 arrests in Omaha, Nebraska, where protesters remembered James Scurlock, a 22-year-old black man who was killed by a white bar owner in May.
Solskjaer: Not the game that defines our era
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, manager of Manchester United, does not want to make too much of the importance of today's game against Leicester in the final round of the English Premier League.
If United loses the game, and Chelsea does not lose against Wolves, then Solskjaer and his men will end up in 5th place and miss out on a Champions League spot.
They still have hope of making it to the Champions League by winning the Europa League next month.
"We are not at the end yet.
If we get a result against Leicester I think people will say we haven't had a bad period," said Solskjaer.
"But whatever happens, this is not the end of our journey because we still have a lot to do to catch up with the two teams above us," said Solskjaer.
It is clear that some people will be fired at 3 pm today, but Solskjaer tried to act as if it were any other game.
"If you want to be part of Manchester United then you have to get used to being under pressure in the last game of the season.
This is nothing new, and the society is built on this.
We have created a great opportunity to end the season well and now it is up to us to take it," said Solskjaer.
"This is not the most important game of the season, this is just the next game.
You can ask anyone in football, the next game is always the most important.
The results do not define our era, we have already had many moments that define this era.”
"Bruno Fernandes coming in changed a lot for us and I think overall we are in better shape and stronger mentally than last season," said Solskjaer.
65,000 infections per solar cycle
65,490 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in the United States yesterday according to Johns Hopkins University.
A total of 4,178,021 cases have been confirmed in the West since the start of the pandemic there.
900 died from the virus yesterday and in the last four days the death toll from the virus has been more than 1,000 per day.
A total of 146,460 COVID-related deaths have been confirmed in the United States.
According to a CNN report, according to a forecast by US health authorities, the number of deaths from the virus will be 175,000 by August 15th.
Fear of another wave of migration.
The authorities in Spain are now trying weakly to contain the increased spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Spanish health authorities reported over 920 new cases of COVID-19, both on Thursday and Friday.
No more cases have been reported in one solar cycle since the beginning of May and the news comes as Spaniards begin to ease one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe.
The backlash has led to British authorities now requiring passengers arriving from Spain to go into quarantine upon arrival.
A week earlier, Spain was on the UK's list of safe countries.
The situation is worst in Catalonia in the northeast of Spain where authorities have taken more drastic measures to try to contain the spread of the virus.
In the capital Barcelona, entertainment venues will be closed for the next two weeks and nightclubs will be closed at midnight.
A curfew is now in effect for 200 thousand inhabitants of Segria county in western Catalonia.
It is estimated that the British decision will have a negative impact on the Spanish economy, which relies heavily on the arrival of foreign tourists and is already suffering from the pandemic.
Tui, the largest travel agency in Britain, has cancelled all flights scheduled for today to Spain and the Canary Islands.
Governments around the world are said to be preparing for the second wave of the pandemic, but there appears to be little interest in reimposing a widespread lockdown that has widely crippled the economy.
For example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken a very dim view of such things, likening them to nuclear weapons which he does not want to use.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex has said that the country "would not survive, economically or socially," if a nationwide lockdown were to be imposed again.
Many councillors hope that local measures targeting individual towns, cities or areas will be enough to contain the virus in the next round if it comes.
Five new infections in Iceland - Three domestic
Three domestic cases were identified yesterday in addition to two cases at the border.
Five individuals with positive Covid-19 infection were identified yesterday in Iceland.
The public health announcement states that one infection is linked to the infection reported yesterday at the ReyCUP football match.
Has that person been put in quarantine and the sixteen who were in close contact with him in the sick bay?
The infected person was a participant in a sports club activity in Reykjavik and according to the announcement, "only part of the sports team" in quarantine.
Others who were sent to quarantine are connected to the man in another way.
The origin of this infection is unknown and the investigation is ongoing by the infection investigation team of the National Police Commissioner.
The organizers of the ReyCUP tournament have followed the guidelines and regulations of the health and safety authorities that are still in force and appropriate measures have been taken.
Pictures from the match yesterday caught attention as it was very clear to see celebrating the good performance of his team on the field.
At just before 11am today, the organizers released the following statement on their Facebook page.
It reads "NOTE: Parents please respect the rules that competitors must pick up their own kit at school."
Parents are NOT allowed to do that.
Thank you for your understanding.
Another infection was identified yesterday that is related to the infection reported the day before.
The announcement states: "Icelandic genetic testing has identified the virus and revealed a new strain of virus that has not been identified here before."
Contact tracing is also being done in this case and the infected person is in isolation and 12 in quarantine due to the infection.
The third infection is from a person who arrived in Iceland 11 days ago, on July 15th.
He was identified on the southwest corner of the country.
He is now in isolation and six who were in close contact with him in the sick bay.
Two of them have already shown signs of virus infection.
In addition, two border crossings were identified and further research results are awaited, as the epidemiological situation at the border crossings dictates.
Finally, the announcement states: The National Security Department of the National Police and the Ministry of Health urge people to be vigilant and take individual preventive measures against infection.
Play it safe and if any symptoms of the Covid-19 virus are present, the same person is asked to go for a test at the nearest health care facility.
Patreksfjörður says the campsite is fully booked for the merchants' weekend - Offering guests something else
The campsite in Patreksfjordur is fully booked for the weekend, according to an announcement from Vesturbyggd.
Guests are encouraged to explore other accommodation options.
Mentioned West Coast Village Bildudal, Talknafjord, Melanes at Red Sand, Hotel Flokalund and Hotel Breidavik as other options in the area.
There is plenty to do in Patreksfjordur this weekend, as Skjaldborg, a festival of Icelandic documentary films, will be held in the town, as in previous years.
It has been held since 2007 and has become a strong tradition in the town.
Judging by the turnout at the campsite this year, one can expect a good turnout if the weather doesn't put a damper on things, but DV reported earlier today from a reliable forecast.
We can expect the worst weather from the south, and hope for the best for the Patreksfjorders.
Website bb.is was the first to report, saying that all other accommodations in the town were already fully booked.
A fully furnished house nestled down in the best spot in town.
Romanian workers live free at Dunhaga 18-20.
While owners wait for building permits for renovations, their applications have been backlogged in the system for three years.
In one of Reykjavik's oldest, greenest and most expensive neighborhoods stands a beautiful three-story apartment building.
On the ground floor of the house is about 600 square meters of retail space.
Behind the house are two staircases each containing four quite pleasant apartments.
They range from 93 to 130 feet, though most are over 100.
The house has a considerable history to tell.
It was built in 1959 and has housed a video rental store, a shoe store, the Milk Cooperative's milk store, Jóa's tailor shop, a fish store, and most recently the University Press.
The house has, so to speak, remembered its former beauty.
The house is now under considerable damage, as can be seen in the accompanying pictures.
The owner of the house is D18 Ltd.
The owners of D18 Ltd. are, according to the company register, among others, Magnús Magnússon and Guðrún Helga Lárusdóttir.
Magnus represented the Borgunar shareholders and was the defender of the Borgunar holding company.
Among the owners of the holding company Borgunar is Stálskip ehf.
Stálskip ehf. is an investment company owned by Guðrún Helga Lárusdóttir and her children.
Guðrún is also an owner of a third share in D18 Ltd.
Guðrún and her husband, Ágúst Guðmundur Sigurðsson, once ran the Stálskip company.
D18 Ltd. purchased the house in the summer of 2009 and has done little to nothing to maintain it since then.
Neighbors say that the condition of the house has been deteriorating steadily since, especially in recent years.
On the Facebook page of the neighborhood residents, one resident says that the house has "not been particularly lively in recent years".
There it can be played into that owners have for some years sought to change the house and the plot.
Other neighbors say the house has long been in disrepair.
"It's long overdue to do something about this mess and it's unfortunate that it has dragged on for so long."
He also says that he is angry at the owners of the house for not having taken the initiative to finish this, find some kind of compromise with the neighbours of the house and end this "legal mess".
"Do this in consultation with the community around so that it can be driven and completed."
The "legal gap" referred to is the court's procedural process that has been ongoing since at least 2017.
The owners of Dunhaga 18 and 20 then applied for permission to build a height above the existing apartment building and behind the house, a new lift house and an extension of one floor plus a basement.
The building permit granted for the development was appealed to the Environmental and Natural Resources Tribunal and the Tribunal annulled it as the development had no basis in zoning regulations and the environmental assessment was not sufficient.
Reykjavik City then started a tendering process and completed it with an announcement in the Official Gazette in July last year.
That arrangement was also annulled and the committee declared it void in March 2020.
At this point, nearly three years had passed since the original application for building permission and the owners of the house at the start.
The house had deteriorated significantly by this time and the neighbors were getting tired.
When DV asked the neighbors of the house about the situation and the reactions of the neighbors were varied.
Some understood the intentions of the house owners, others not at all.
Some directed the caravan towards the city, others did not.
Others were just angry but not necessarily out of control.
Others said the parking lot was overcrowded, but neighbors have used the unused Dunhaga 18-20 parking lot for their vehicles.
One complainant in the case claimed to be fed up with the bureaucracy:
"That we have to go through the process in triplicate is completely unbelievable.
It's like the City of Reykjavik can't read.”
Today the house stands empty, abandoned and neglected.
A memorial to the city's airship administration and the generous plans of the owner and many years of their work now at the starting point.
When the journalist approached the gate at Dunhaga 18, the doors burst open and a raucous roar greeted him.
A Playstation console and a new television lay among the other debris on the ground — the remains of an Icelandic summer cottage.
The old office of the University Press was opened and there were quite a few cats of the local breed to judge.
It is clear that someone has made a mess in one corner but nothing visible.
Stacks of sofas and chairs and a few piles of geology papers that should have been books, rustled.
The stairwells of the apartment building were also open and alive with activity in both.
The journalist was so lucky to run into one of the inhabitants.
There were Romanians cooking potatoes for dinner and they invited the journalist in.
The Romanians work for the employment agency Ztrongforce Ltd.
They have been there for some time and sources from DV claim that the company has not paid for the accommodation except for heating and electricity.
Due to the condition of the house, it is not deemed defensible to collect rent.
Judging by the state of the post in the back door of the house, it is clear that a number of foreign workers have lived there in recent months.
The operation of employee leasing has not been spared from the Covid-19 situation, as the downturn in tourism has led to a downturn in the construction sector and these two sectors have been the most active in using employee leasing services.
Nevertheless, the residents of Dunhaga 18 seemed to have plenty to do and the work tools and umbrellas of the co-op hung out to dry after a long day of work in the rain.
It should be noted that despite the poor condition of the house, the apartment that the boys shared seemed to be in excellent condition.
When the journalist greeted the Romanian boys, the coldness was suddenly clear: On the best spot in Reykjavik stands a 1,500 square meter property downgraded.
Owners want to renovate the house for improvement and neighbors want to improve the condition but disagree on the definition of "improvement".
Between them is the city's planning department at the starting point, endless opportunities for appeals and complaints in the planning process and the decision of the Environmental and Property Rights Board on environmental and property matters.
In the house live Romanian workers, perhaps even those who will take over when the Icelanders stop rioting.
The article was originally published in the Sunday edition of DV on July 17th.
In response to obesity following the coronavirus pandemic
The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, will provide 10 million pounds in a campaign against obesity, which will include a ban on junk food advertising, following his serious illness, partly due to his weight.
Johnson is set to launch the campaign, dubbed Better Health, tomorrow, Monday, which will encourage doctors to prescribe cycling for their patients to tackle obesity and also to invest in more cycling infrastructure.
Advertising of junk food on television will be banned after 9pm, according to British media sources.
"COVID-19 has alerted us to the short- and long-term risks of being overweight, and the Minister is determined to use this time to become healthier, more active and eat healthier food," said a government spokesperson.
Johnson has himself struggled with weight issues, and he was hospitalized when he contracted coronavirus earlier this year, and it is partly due to his weight that he is thought to have become so seriously ill.
Women better suited to lead the changes.
She said that the new constitution was the biggest step the nation could take towards greater democracy, efficiency and in combating corruption and for the benefit of the whole.
"We need to start changing gears a bit now and who is better suited to lead such changes than the group of society that has an easier time being in these values.
"They are women," said Helga.
"Women in Iceland are renowned for their feminism.
Standing together and being together to bring about change.
So now it's up to us to implement these changes.”
She said she was somewhat uncomfortable with the emphasis on Iceland as "the best in the world" in both gender equality and human rights.
"We are not equally prepared to consider what needs to be done.
Like the Germans, they are very aware of their history and look at everything that needs to be done.
It is a slope.
We need to know where we come from and understand the story and listen.
Listen to the rhythms of the group of drummers.
"We don't all live by the same rules here," said Helga.
She said women are in many ways in a good position in Iceland but added that, as elsewhere, Icelanders are still largely adhering to patriarchal values.
She said that politics tended to be about self-interest, power and control which were the forces that maintained injustice in all societies.
"Women have now formed this group and come together and are just a bit frustrated that Parliament seems to be turning a blind eye to this referendum from 2012," she said.
"It is these feminine values that we are thinking this through from.
Based on human rights and nature conservation, cooperation and that we are all actually sitting at the same table," she said, adding that the aforementioned values were the foundations of the new government charter.
"We are a very wealthy country of natural resources and it is shameful that there are people living in poverty here."
"It's amazing, we can make a difference," said Helga.
"It is outrageous that there is a natural law that women's work is always paid less.
It is outrageous that flight attendants and nurses have to constantly fight for decent wages.”
You can sign the petition for a new constitution here through e-Iceland.
Attempted to rob a pedestrian in the city center
A man was arrested in the city center last night after he assaulted a pedestrian and attempted to take money from him.
The police also stopped the production of drugs in Arbae where two were arrested in connection with the case.
The police stopped a motorcyclist in Hlíðunum where the driver was going at 146 km/h where the speed limit is 60 km/h.
In addition, he had previously been disqualified from driving privileges.
The police force in the capital region had plenty to keep them busy last night and around 80 cases were recorded in the police log from five yesterday to five this morning.
There was a lot of noise about compliance notifications.
On Saturday night, reports of eleven loud explosions were received and it was much in the police logbook.
However, 22 charges were laid by police last night.
Six were detained in a jail cell last night.
Police were called to Arbaeen last night when parties fired fireworks into the sky.
They were, however, ready when the police officer came to the gate.
Nine drivers were stopped for drink-driving and/or drug-driving.
Four were arrested for a fight in the city center last night and one of them was held in jail.
Two were rushed to the emergency room after they fell on their faces, one in the city center and the other in the West End.
One was taken to the emergency room after he injured himself jumping on a trampoline in Kópavogur.
In addition, police officers stopped a driver who was driving a trailer on Kjalarnes yesterday.
The bicycle equipment of the bicycle shed was, according to the police log, in "very poor condition" and it was abandoned.
You can stay at Monet's house during the weekend of the merchants.
The house that Impressionist Claude Monet spent the last forty years of his life in is now available for rent on Airbnb.
The next free nights in the house are around the shopping weekend.
The house is small and quaint, located in the village of Givenry in Normandy, France.
The world-famous painter lived in the house from 1883 until he died in 1926.
The house has three bedrooms, two living rooms and three bathrooms.
Monet first got inspired to paint his famous gardens at this house.
If anyone intends to rent the house, he must rent it for at least two nights.
According to the Airbnb page, it is next available after the weekend of the merchants' holiday, so it might be suitable for some merchants on holiday to book the painter's house.
The two nights over the merchants' weekend cost only 964 US dollars or around 130 thousand Icelandic kronur according to Fréttablaðið.
Dozens in quarantine and some of them have started to show symptoms of the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Five have been diagnosed with the coronavirus domestically in the last three days and most of the infected are unrelated.
Dozens have been quarantined due to this and some of them have begun to show symptoms of the virus it causes.
Three were diagnosed with the coronavirus domestically yesterday and two at border crossings.
An expert at the National Board of Health says that an increasing number of domestic infections does not necessarily mean that the virus is spreading further into the community.
"The previous domestic outbreak has been traced and it is a strain that has not been seen here before so we have no particular reason to believe it has been circulating in the community at any time.
This is probably something new to the country but of course we need to be very vigilant now," said Kamilla Sigríður Jósefsdóttir, an expert in the disease control department of the National Board of Health.
Most of those infected have been linked to individuals who came from abroad.
Further tests are being carried out in the near future and some of those who were in contact with the infected have started to show symptoms of the coronavirus.
"There is no flu season now and fewer other respiratory illnesses, so we can be somewhat liberal with doing these tests on individuals who during flu season would have been a reason to do something else first," said Kamilla.
The outbreak is mostly contained but it is not ruled out that more people may need to go into quarantine.
Two of the infected were identified after attending a sporting event.
Has it raised questions as to whether it is defensible to hold such events.
The public health director says it is perfectly possible as long as people follow the guidelines and regulations.
Camilla says it is almost certain that the infected people did not get infected at the sports events.
"If no more people go into quarantine after having interacted with these individuals at these sports events, then we can assume that our containment measures at the events have worked.
"But that's not clear," said Kamilla.
The work of the public protection department is under constant review.
"We need to be prepared to intervene with further advice or restrictions if it seems necessary," said Kamilla.
After a week, the crowd limits are expected to be lifted up to a thousand people.
This new status could have implications for derogations.
"A Certain Meditation on Cooking" - See Elisa Vidar's Menu
Elisa Vidarsdottir is a soccer player and plays for Val.
She is also a master's student in nutrition, a mother, and works as a nutritionist.
She needs a lot of energy for the hustle and bustle of the day and usually takes the time to cook a good and nutritious meal.
A typical day for me starts by arriving at work around eight," says Elisa.
"After work I go to the store to prepare dinner before I pick up my daughter from preschool at three o'clock."
Elisa finds it very rewarding to pick up her daughter from preschool early.
"It's good to have time with her before I go to the second practice."
After exercising it's good to come home and just have to heat up the food.
In the evening, when the girl is asleep, we like to watch one episode to clear our minds.
Elisa does not follow any particular diet.
She is finishing her master's thesis in nutrition and knows well what she needs to eat to have enough energy to work, school, family and exercise.
"What works for me is eating a varied diet that is well balanced with proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
I think it is most important to have a healthy relationship with food and not categorize food as bad or good, rather nutrient-rich or nutrient-poor.
It is perfectly okay to eat everything, just not all at once and not always.
Elisa has a great interest in electricity.
"I find a certain meditation in standing in the kitchen cooking and I really enjoy that."
I have to say that my confidence is with me in the kitchen and I truly believe that I am a great cook.”
Breakfast: Oats, chia seeds, hemp seeds, salt, a little lemon juice, left to soak in almond milk overnight.
Top off this meal with something special every time.
It's usually banana and crunchy muesli & COFFEE.
I am a big coffee lover.
Snack: Incredibly varied, but fruits or vegetables, crackers, plain yogurt with banana and muesli, bread with toppings and then I could eat hummus with a spoon out of a box if that's what it comes to.
Lunch: I often make a variety of salads from what's in the fridge, quinoa or bulgur, falafel balls, coleslaw, oven-baked vegetables with a good dressing is usually what I'm working with.
When the schedule goes completely off the rails (which happens often) then the egg machine in the office has saved me quite a few times and then it's two slices of bread with butter, cheese and boiled egg, don't put any more on you.
Snack: Get me something carb-rich for workouts, bread with toppings, muesli or fruit.
Dinner: Fish is often chosen for my home, otherwise some delicious vegetable dishes.
Clashes between police and protesters in Seattle
Authorities in Seattle, Washington have declared a state of emergency following mass protests in the city center.
Police yesterday resorted to tear gas and pepper spray to try to clear a large area occupied by protesters and stretching over several blocks near the city's parliament building.
The police announced on Twitter that at least eleven protesters had been arrested and that an investigation was underway into vandalism at a police station in the city yesterday, possibly involving some kind of explosive.
City and police authorities say protesters have pelted police with stones, bottles, firecrackers and other loose objects and one police officer was taken to hospital where he was treated for injuries.
The protests in Seattle were peaceful for a long time.
The blast was to show solidarity with protesters in Portland, Oregon, where there has been ongoing clashes between protesters and heavily armed federal law enforcement officers.
There, as in many cities in the United States, people gather under the banners of Black Lives Matter, to remember George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis on May 25th, to protest systemic racism in American society and demand reform.
Not to be revoked until after a vote
It is still not clear whether the layoffs of Icelandair employees, which are due to take effect in the next month, will be reversed.
The online voting on the collective agreement of the Icelandic Flight Attendants Association on behalf of the flight attendants of Icelandair will end at noon tomorrow.
Guðlaug Líney Jóhannsdóttir, the chairman of the association, is confident that Icelandair will not make a decision on the layoffs until the results of the vote are known.
"It all ties together," says Guðlaug Líney.
"No layoffs have been reversed, this has to be done so that the machines can be manned.
So people are obviously anxious to find out if they will have a job after the month ends.”
An agreement was signed last week, on the night of July 19th.
It is expected to be valid until the end of September 2025 and is based on an agreement that the pilots had previously voted on.
On July 17th, the Board of Directors and the Council of Representatives of Icelandair approved a general strike, which was approved by the members in a vote.
She never came, but this was decided following Icelandair's decision to terminate negotiations with the Flight Attendants Union, terminate all its flight attendants and seek agreements with another union.
Then the airline's pilots had to take on the role of security officers on board temporarily.
Asked how she thinks the vote will go, Guðlaug Líney says it's hard to say.
"People are in shock after this announcement from Icelandair, when all of the airline's flight attendants were laid off and told that an agreement would be made with another union.
"Now it becomes clear whether it has an effect," she says.
940 flight attendants worked for Icelandair at the end of April, but 900 of them, about 95%, were laid off.
Their notice period is misaligned, for those with the shortest tenure it is three months and ends around the July-August month end.
In that group are about 90% of Icelandair passengers.
What happens if the contract is not approved?
"We look forward to continuing dialogue with our stakeholders.
With this agreement we are meeting the requirements of Icelandair.
If he is rejected it is clear that the aviators feel they have gone too far.”
Voting on the collective agreement ends and Icelandair announces its annual results tomorrow.
The flight attendant vote on the new collective agreement ends at 12 noon tomorrow.
Icelandair's results for the second quarter will also be published tomorrow, but preliminary results indicate that the company's revenues have decreased by 85 percent from the same period last year.
The electronic voting on the collective agreement between the Icelandic Flight Attendants Association and the Confederation of Icelandic Employers regarding Icelandair began on Wednesday, July 22nd and ends tomorrow, Monday, July 27th at 12 noon.
Those eligible to choose the agreement are Icelandair employees who pay union dues to the Flight Attendants Union.
Icelandair and the Icelandic Flight Attendants Association signed a new collective agreement on Sunday night, July 19th, after Icelandair had broken off negotiations with the association earlier in the week after flight attendants had rejected an earlier agreement in a vote at the beginning of July.
Icelandair had announced all flight attendants and pilots of the company on Friday but they were withdrawn back after a new collective agreement was signed.
According to the new collective agreement, pilots must fly five hours more per month for the same basic salary.
The agreement is valid until 2025 and it has incorporated provisions for pilots and cabin crew on how long they can fly on one shift.
The agreement was presented to the members of FFÍ at a meeting at the Hilton Nordica hotel last Monday and many flight attendants whom the news agency spoke to expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement.
Most seemed to agree that the agreement had to be accepted to keep the IFU alive.
Icelandair's results for the second quarter will be announced tomorrow with the company's EBIT, operating income before financial items and taxes, according to preliminary results, negative by 100 to 110 million US dollars or 15 billion Icelandic krona.
Icelandair sent Kauphöllin an express invoice last Wednesday, saying that the company's revenues had dropped by 60 million dollars, or about 830 million kronur.
Cash and cash equivalents had been around 154 million US dollars at the end of the quarter, around 21 billion kroner.
Icelandair is also aiming to offer shares of the company in August.
Icelandair is aiming to complete agreements with fifteen lenders, governments and Boeing aircraft manufacturer by the end of the month before going into a debt offering.
A new variety rather than a new species.
"New strain just means that this has been an individual who has come from abroad.
"This is not something that has been seen domestically," says Már Kristjánsson, Chief Physician at the Infectious Diseases Department of Landspítali, about the news that a "new strain of virus" has been identified in the country.
Three domestic cases were identified yesterday and two at the border.
One who tested positive had participated in a social activity at the Rey Cup soccer tournament, and the source of the infection is unknown and contact tracing is ongoing.
Also, an infection was identified in an individual who arrived in the country on July 15th and two people who were in contact with him have started to show symptoms of COVID-19.
Yesterday, an infection was identified related to an infection reported the day before and after sequencing by the Icelandic Genetics Institute, it was revealed to be a "new strain of virus that has not been identified here before."
Containment is completed in relation to that infection.
It should be noted that this is not a new virus, but rather the same virus that has spread around the world, i.e. the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
It is more accurate to talk about a new variety of virus rather than a new species of virus.
Asked what it means and whether it could say something about another wave of migration, Már says that as it stands it is a single case and it could be that nothing more comes of it.
"However, if there are cases within the country that are not related to abroad and have the same genetic type as this particular variant, then it would be possible to make that conclusion [about the second wave], but it is too early to do so," explains Már.
The Joy of the Hot Pot
Is the secret to Icelandic happiness hidden in the hot pots?
BBC schedulers lead the way in an entertaining video that sheds light on the country's sun-baked and hotpot culture.
Icelandic bathing culture is unique in the world and it is said that nowhere else in the world are there as many baths per inhabitant.
Natural geothermal energy is the basis of this, as well as the tradition of sustainability that prevails here.
Swimming lessons for children were made compulsory in 1940 but older citizens are no less eager to use the hot water for health benefits.
Ferry services are described as an integral part of the country's general welfare.
In the pot, everyone is equal, regardless of class and status.
Free from the phone, people connect on a personal level about home and away or enjoy the similar power of water: thoughts and charges of soul and body.
One hundred days to go until the elections.
One hundred days remain until Americans go to the polls and elect a president for four years.
Donald Trump is seeking re-election but he has an uphill battle to fight.
Joe Biden, the expected Democratic nominee, has a large lead over Trump nationally, according to polls.
According to a recent poll by the AP news agency, a majority of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track.
Trump's response to the global pandemic of the new coronavirus is similarly very unpopular and furthermore more Americans than ever before believe that the president has handled economic matters poorly.
Specifically, only two out of every ten Americans say that the US is on the right track.
32 percent say they support Trump's response to the pandemic and 48 percent say he has done well on economic matters.
In March it was 56 percent and in January it was 67 percent.
According to FiveThirtyEight's average, Biden has 49.9 percent nationwide support while Trump has 41.9 percent.
Trump himself has tried to shift the focus from his stance on immigration to Biden, emphasize so-called culture wars and promote policies that are supposed to be law and order-oriented.
Biden's offer, however, puts a lot of emphasis on keeping the focus on Trump and counting on a victory if the election is really about how Trump has performed in office in the last four years.
Unpopular Trump also seems to be coming down on Republican lawmakers and Democrats fear they could even gain a majority in the House of Representatives, which until now has been highly unlikely.
Politico reported today that party loyalty and support is holding steady and that the Republican Party is now set to suffer its biggest losses in a decade.
The suburbs have proven particularly unfavorable to the party in the 2016 elections and now there is a prospect that this trend will continue.
In recent days, Trump has tried to intimidate suburban residents to follow him, among other things by saying that if Biden is president, he will defund the suburbs of the United States and push for gender divisions.
Among other things, Trump has repealed a regulation from the time of Barack Obama in the White House that was intended to increase diversity in the outdoors.
He then encouraged "housewives" in the US suburbs to read an article by former New York Deputy Secretary, in which she argued that Biden would destroy the US suburbs and Trump endorsed it.
"Biden will fortify your neighborhoods and the American dream.
"I will preserve it, and even make it better!" said the president.
Residents of the outer suburbs of the United States are an ever-growing group of voters.
According to NPR, they are about half of all voters in the United States.
Since George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, the candidate who has received the majority of votes from this group has become president.
Except in 2012 when Mitt Romney received a majority of the votes from this group but lost to Barack Obama.
Polls have shown that despite Trump securing a narrow majority in the 2016 election, his support there has significantly declined.
Although it varies between polls, Biden has been polling with about a fifteen percent lead over Trump in the polls recently.
Regis Philbin has passed away.
American television personality Regis Philbin has passed away, aged 88.
Philbin worked as an actor, game show host, presenter, and singer for about six decades.
He is best known for hosting the popular talk show Live! with Regis from 1988 to 2011 alongside Kathie Lee Gifford and later Kelly Ripa.
He has hosted shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and America's Got Talent.
According to Guinness World Records, Philbin is the individual who has been on US television the most hours and has been recognized for this achievement.
He won six Emmy Awards during his career and was nominated a total of 37 times.
It is announced by his family that Philbin has died of natural causes.
A number of collaborators, friends and admirers have celebrated him on social media over the past year.
Will the Olympic Flame be lit at the end of the races?
After the final decision was taken to postpone the Olympic Games, an event that only world wars have interrupted until now, the President of the International Olympic Committee said that the Olympic flame would be "the light at the end of the tunnel," presumably referring to the global coronavirus pandemic that the world is now going through together.
Air travelers have had to bear additional costs due to the delay in addition to preparing themselves and the authorities in Japan.
Everyone holds their hat in the end, as it is much in the hood.
When it was announced that Tokyo in Japan would be the venue for the Olympic Games this year, the joy of the Japanese delegates was uncontainable.
They wept and cheered alternately, as Tokyo had applied to host the 2016 Games but lost out to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
This time Tokyo and Japan were to draw the world's attention.
The games were supposed to take place from July 24th to August 9th but have been postponed for a year and will now start on July 23rd 2021 and end on August 8th.
If it is not possible to hold the games, if the coronavirus threat is still too great, the games will be cancelled.
Nobody wants to think that thought to the end.
The Olympic Games are no ordinary sports competition.
Nothing is spared, the show must always be spectacular and strive to top the last performance.
The selection of a host city for the Olympic Games is based on the evaluation of the bids by the selection committee.
The more impressive the presentation is - the more likely you are to get the prize.
Tokyo spent 150 million dollars in trying to get to host the 2016 Olympics, which is roughly 20 billion kroner.
For the second time, when the 2020 games were applied for, 75 million dollars, about ten billion kroner, were put into the promotion.
In 2013, when Tokyo was chosen to host the games that year, Japanese authorities had already set aside a budget of 30 billion yen for the project.
But that amount is just a drop in the ocean compared to what it costs to build Olympic villages, stadiums and generally to strengthen the infrastructure to host such an event, prepare for it and hold the games themselves.
Planners in Japan have said that the Tokyo Olympics, which were supposed to be underway these days but have been postponed for one year due to the coronavirus, would have cost 12.6 billion dollars.
A report from a government auditor in Japan released at the end of last year, however, showed that the cost was nearly double that figure.
It is likely not possible to put an exact figure on the cost of postponing the games, but it has been estimated that it could cost between two and six billion dollars in addition to the initial cost.
The total cost for the Japanese Olympic Committee and Japanese taxpayers could therefore range from 15 to 30 billion dollars.
The numbers are so high that all of Iceland's tax revenues would only cover about half of the Olympic Games, based on the lowest possible cost.
The Olympic Games are of such magnitude that they have often been the subject of economic analysis by economists trying to delve into the numbers and examine the benefits and costs of the Games.
In the shortest terms, it seems that many have come to the conclusion that the effects of the Olympic Games are less positive than expected for the economies of the cities that host them.
Short-term effects are any, for example, a large increase in jobs for a short period of time, but in the long run cities often remain with debt burdens and high operating costs of little used human resources.
Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is still dealing with significant debts from the 2016 Olympics and has been struggling to maintain all the major sports facilities that were built for the games.
Figures after the London 2012 games have been examined and it has been revealed that only 10 percent of those who got jobs related to the Olympics in the city were unemployed before.
That means there were no new jobs to speak of, only to a small extent.
Generally, cities have not fared particularly well financially from hosting Olympic Games due to the significant costs associated with the infrastructure built for the games.
However, the benefit is often thought to be in increased tourist traffic wanting to visit the Olympic cities following the games, although there is much uncertainty regarding the 2021 games.
It is also uncertain whether it will be possible to accommodate all the number of spectators who usually attend the games.
The main point is, however, the honor that citizens are granted to be elected, but it is difficult to measure in terms of money.
Despite the tremendous cost, it can also be said that the joy that players bring is not of the kind that can be put on a price tag.
Although the show is generously funded and no expense is spared, this is of course not just about money.
It is the sports heroes who are in the foreground.
For some gamblers it is surprisingly refreshing to take a break from playing.
Australian pentathlete and gold medalist at the 2016 Olympics, Chloe Esposito, is an example of a casino leet and would have been far from good shape this summer but is looking forward to being in competition form for the 2021 games.
She is one of those athletes who is just quite happy with the postponement, for understandable reasons.
For those athletes who had planned to retire after the games this year, had they been held on time, the postponement of the games in some cases means that they will retire before the games take place.
Do not trust your body to go through years of intense training.
Few athletes made as much of an impression on viewers at the 2016 Rio Olympics as gymnastics star Simone Biles.
She came home with four golds around her neck and one bronze.
Biles has been featured in several interviews in her home country the United States recently to discuss the Olympics.
She is aiming for the 2021 games but she is not necessarily sure she will still be at the top of the games next year, as she will be 24 years old then.
Although it is generally not considered a high age, it is higher for a female gymnast in the front row.
"This is a sensitive issue," says Biles but she quickly moves on to another topic in an interview published on the Olympic Committee's Instagram page when asked if she plans to reach the same level at the 2021 Games as she did in Rio 2016.
"I honestly don't know if I'll still be at the top after an entire year of extra training," says Biles.
She has previously spoken about her body not being able to handle the strain of gymnastics training much longer.
Nevertheless, she is training for the 2021 Olympics.
Biles acknowledges that it was an uncomfortable feeling to have to suddenly stop exercising when the pandemic was at its peak and the gym was closed.
No exemptions were made for Biles more than others while all athletes were closed for seven weeks.
All her Olympic gold couldn't buy her any extra access, she had to find various ways to stay in shape like everyone else.
The basic shape certainly looks better than most people.
"We have a strict plan in place now.
It was hard to start exercising again after the gym reopened.
We started slow but are now in full swing and I will increase the exercises as the year progresses.
We obviously don't know exactly how these games will be or if they will be held, but we are still aiming for them to be, can't do anything else.
"I have put too much into this sport to give it up now," says Biles.
With her like many others, a hope or rather an awareness that the situation may arise that the games will not be held in 2021 after all.
Predicting that is however impossible.
No one can know what the situation of the global coronavirus pandemic will be in July 2021 and nothing else to do but prepare for the Olympics assuming they will be held that year.
Maybe the Olympic flame will be the light at the end of the Covid tunnels.
Postponed wedding due to pandemic
Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland has decided to postpone her wedding due to the coronavirus.
She was supposed to marry former Bachelorette contestant Wells Adams this summer.
"I think there are more important things to think about right now," the actress said in an interview with People.
"We definitely want to get married someday and have that dream wedding and have all the people we care about there.
But we decided to postpone it and focus on what is important right now, which is to help spread the message of the importance of wearing masks and staying home.
I'm more into global affairs than wedding affairs these days.
There is a lot going on and we need to pay attention to what is happening in the world.”