Statistics Iceland has released official data from the March 6 2010 IceSave referendum.

The total number of voters on the electoral roll was 229,926 or 72.3% of the total population.

Participation of voters in the referendum was 144,231 or 62.7%. Participation of male voters was 62.9% and 62.6% of female voters.

Iceland’s low-cost carrier, Iceland Express, will offer a new service between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and London-Gatwick via Reykjavik this summer.
It starts June 12 and tickets are expected to cost £467 return ($700 CDN).
Iceland Express will also offer new services from London Gatwick to New York and Akureyri.
The UK’s second-city, Birmingham, will also have flights to Reykjavik.
The Winnipeg route is one of significance due to the number of Icelanders and Icelandic descendants living in the area.
Iceland Express web site.

Icelanders are becoming increasingly unsure about their application to the EU.
In a new poll for Icelandic radio station, Bylgjan, 75 per cent said the application should be withdrawn.
Further breakdown of statistics revealed 62 percent wished for a complete u-turn, while 13 per cent wanted postponement.
25 per cent said they didn’t want any withdrawal.
For many years now Icelandic membership of the EU has been an issue.
Protection of its fishing industry is a key stumbling block in negotiations.
The country is already a member of the European Economic Area and implemented …

In our fourth episode Iceland News talks to the very genial Bob Cluness – a Scotsman living in Iceland. He’s been there since 2007 after marrying an Icelander. We talk about life, the kreppa, a volcano and learn how to get started with the Icelandic music scene. Cluness works for prosthetic limb company Ossur by day. By night he’s also writing for the Reykjavik Grapevine and his new blog: The Reykjavik Sex Farm.

Icelandic Reuters/Bloomberg correspondent, Omar Valdimarsson, had a story published today which highlighted some of the differences between Iceland and Greece.
Here are some of the interesting stats from the story:
+ Credit default swaps on five-year debt issued by Iceland narrowed to 376.4 basis points on April 30, compared with 817.5 a year earlier, according to Bloomberg data.
+ That compares with an April 30 CDS of 718.5 basis points for Greek debt versus 156.2 on the same contract one year ago.
+ Iceland’s gross debt will be equivalent to about 160 percent …

In our third episode, Iceland News talks to Guðrún Helga Sigurðardóttir.
She runs her own mountain climbing business from Reykjavik, Mountainclimbing.is. Guðrún Helga is also a freelance journalist who had an opportunity to fly into the ash cloud to report on the recent volcanic eruption.
Guðrún Helga maintains a blog: Travels in Iceland

You’ll be able to subscribe and download the latest Iceland News podcasts direct from the Apple iTunes store. To do this click here: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id369280789

In the second episode of the Iceland News podcast we talk to the director of Iceland’s music history museum, Bjarki Sveinbjornsson.
We find out about what the museum does and means for the country as well as finding out about Sveinbjornsson’s many trips to North America to record Icelandic music history there.