Both of them were inside one of Port-Au-Princes’ largest supermarkets, the Caribbean Market. The once four storey building, in the wake of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake,  had flattened like a pancake to no more than three metres high. The woman’s voice, as if from behind a door, made its muffled movement towards Gudjonsson’s ears.

“Please don’t go, please don’t go,” it pleaded. “Stay with me and talk to me.”

+ Remains of the Caribbean Market, Port Au Prince, Haiti | Photo courtesy: ICE-SAR

Gudjonsson, both a fire fighter and paramedic back in his home country, Iceland, knew what he must do. He must stay. Reassure her. Remove the anxiety from her voice. Marshal her strength while a rescue was mounted. The woman, Feradia, had been trapped for almost 50 hours.

Within that 50 hours Gudjonsson, along with 34 other Icelanders, had flown 6,000 km from the frigid expanse of the North-Atlantic, to the tropical temperatures of the Caribbean nation to be there. They were Iceland’s crack, UN-accredited, Search and Rescue team, known as ICE SAR. Even though the team could go no further with this tunnel, they were not giving up. They would find another way to rescue Feradia.

Read the rest of this Iceland News original story for USD $2.99.


* The story will be delivered in a formatted PDF file ready for reading or easy printing.

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.

Previously, six referenda had taken place in Iceland during the period 1908–1944, two of which took place simultaneously in 1944. The participation in these referenda was between 44% and 98%.

Of those who voted, 134,392 voted “no” and 2,599 “yes”. 6,744 were blank and 496 were void according to Statistics Iceland.

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.

In a new poll for Icelandic radio station, Bylgjan, 75 per cent said the application should be withdrawn.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 many EU regulations. Iceland could complete its membership at the same time as Croatia.

- Initial English language reporting courtesy of EU News From Iceland

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 of economic output next year, before declining “quickly.” That compares with Greece’s 115 percent debt of gross domestic product last year.

+The Greek economy will contract 4 percent this year and a further 2.6 percent in 2011 before it returns to growth in 2012, the government estimates.

+ Iceland’s economy shrank 6.5 percent last year and will contract a further 3.4 percent in 2010, before returning to growth in 2011 the central bank estimates.

“Oh my God, I wouldn’t want to be in the position they’re in… The position Greece is in is quite different from the position Iceland is or was in; Greece has the euro and we can debate whether or not that’s good for them for the time being.” – Icelandic Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson