Iceland Roundup #37: Coast Guard Drunk, Drugs On Boats, State & Church, Defense and Julian Assange

The Reykjavík Grapevine's Iceland Roundup brings you the top news with a healthy dash of local views. In this episode, Grapevine publisher Jón Trausti Sigurðarson is joined by Heimildin journalist Aðalsteinn Kjartansson, and Grapevine friend and contributor Sindri Eldon to roundup the stories making headlines in recent weeks. On the docket this week are:

00:00:55 Overview Of This Weeks Stories

00:04:00 Strange Place Names In Icelandic
We discuss a random assortment of strange names of places in Iceland

00:11:00 A Drunk Man Arrested For Taking A Nap On A Coast Guard Ship
The police arrested a man who had “taken up residence” in the the Icelandic coast guard ship Thor (Þór) this weekend. No further details were given about the incident.

00:16:50 Iceland And Germany Sign A Defense Agreement
On Sunday, Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Iceland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Boris Pistorius, Germany’s Minister of Defense, signed a bilateral declaration of intent on defense matters in connection with Pistorius’ visit to Iceland. According to the declaration Iceland will build up infrastructure to accommodate military submarines and aircraft as a part of Iceland’s membership in NATO.

00:21:40 Julian Assange Visits Iceland
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, visited Iceland this weekend and was spotted at Vitabar, having a burger and fries. Assange, who was more or less in detention for 15 years was set free a year ago and now lives in Australia.

00:24:30 Drugs On A Ferry
The only ferry to sale to Iceland on schedule, Norræna, which harbors in Seyðisfjörður, east Iceland, has been in the news recently for drugs. At the beginning of September, 7 kilos of cocaine were apprehended in a car on the ferry and two men arrested. Later in September, 15 kilos of Ketamine and 5 kilos of MDMA war found in another car on the ferry. Three people were arrested in the latter case.

00:29:00 52% Think Church And State Should Be Separated
A poll conducted recently tells us that 52% of Icelanders think that church and state should be separated. 27% are neither for nor against the motion, and 21% are opposed to separation.

00:39:40 Women’s Strike 50th Anniversary
This Friday, October 24th the famous 1975 Women’s Strike turns 50. Tens of thousands are expected to celebrate this with a strike, and gather in downtown Reykjavík.

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