Iceland PM calls new election as coalition government collapses | Politics News

Iceland PM calls new election as coalition government collapses | Politics News

Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson calls election for November, cites policy disagreements as responsible for government collapse. Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has dissolved the country’s three-party coalition government and called for a new election to take place in November. In a press conference on Sunday, Benediktsson said problems had mounted…

Businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir set to become Iceland’s next president | Elections News

Businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir set to become Iceland’s next president | Elections News

Tomasdottir wins 34.6 percent of the votes to become the Nordic country’s second female president. Halla Tomasdottir, a businesswoman and investor, has won Iceland’s presidential election, topping a crowded field of candidates in which the top three finishers were women, the country’s national broadcast service reports. Tomasdottir, 55, was elected…

Close race as Iceland votes to elect new president | Elections News

Close race as Iceland votes to elect new president | Elections News

Vote looks set to be a close competition between three women: former PM Katrin Jakobsdottir; businesswoman Halla Tomasdottir; and Arctic scholar Halla Hrund Logadottir. Voters in Iceland are casting ballots to pick the country’s new president, a largely ceremonial position in the parliamentary republic. The vote on Saturday looks set…

Iceland in state of emergency after volcano erupts, fourth time in 3 months | Volcanoes

Iceland in state of emergency after volcano erupts, fourth time in 3 months | Volcanoes

Icelandic police declared a state of emergency on Saturday as lava spewed from a new volcanic fissure on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the fourth eruption to hit the area since December. A “volcanic eruption has started between Stori-Skogfell and Hagafell on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” said a statement from the Icelandic Meteorological Office…

Palestinian singer running to represent Iceland at Eurovision contest | Music News

Palestinian singer running to represent Iceland at Eurovision contest | Music News

Bashar Murad said he wants to use his song to ‘illustrate’ the difficulties Palestinians face in order to be heard. Palestinian pop singer Bashar Murad is hoping to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May and bring “a Palestinian voice to the main stage”. Iceland is expected to…

Photos: Lava destroys homes in Iceland’s Grindavik | Volcanoes News

Photos: Lava destroys homes in Iceland’s Grindavik | Volcanoes News

Iceland’s president said the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” after molten lava from a volcano in the island’s southwest consumed several houses in the evacuated town of Grindavik. President Gudni Thorlacius Johannesson said in a televised address late on Sunday that “a daunting period of upheaval has begun…

Iceland volcano erupts, spewing lava, smoke after weeks of earthquakes | Volcanoes News

Iceland volcano erupts, spewing lava, smoke after weeks of earthquakes | Volcanoes News

A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted, spewing lava and smoke across a wide area weeks after nearly 4,000 residents of a nearby town were evacuated amid intense seismic activity. The eruption started at about 10:17pm (22:17 GMT) on Monday on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, turning the sky orange and prompting the country’s…