Reykjavík Grapevine


Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.10.2017, Page 4

Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.10.2017, Page 4
The Top Stories Oct 7TH —––––—— Oct 19TH Words: Paul Fontaine NEWS IN BRIEF Iceland’s smite- ability once again made interna- tional headlines last week when the men’s national team utterly crushed Turkey, 3-0, and qualified for the World Cup for the first time. They are the smallest nation to qualify in recent history. And you know what that means? That’s right: more merciless tweeting from us in game after game un- til Iceland inevitably brings home the championship, which to all ra- tional observers is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. "STFU" In less cheerful news, freedom of the press in Iceland is under attack, as the Reykjavík District Commissioner has issued an in- junction against media outlets Stundin and Reykjavík Media, or- dering them to cease reporting on the financial dealings of Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson and his family with Glitnir bank short- ly before the 2008 financial crash. The matter has been condemned by the Journalists’ Union, and Stundin will be fighting it, but a court might not even see the case until elections are over. Oh, also, the District Commissioner has been an active member of the Inde- pendence Party, from which Bjarni hails. Pretty convenient, that. Björk opened up about violence In the wake of the disturbing rev- elations about disgraced Holly- wood executive Harvey Weinstein, women around the world have been speaking up about sexual harassment they’ve received from powerful men, and Björk has been no exception. Recently, she re- counted sexual harassment she received from “a Danish direc- tor”, clearly referring to Lars von Trier, who directed her in Dancer In The Dark. Lars, unsurprisingly, denies everything, but come on. Have you seen his movies? The man hates women. Let’s just be honest about that. Ásmundur Friðriksson in his nightgown Independence Party MP Ásmun- dur Friðriksson reminded every- one that he still hates foreigners, saying that asylum seekers take money away from funds that could be spent on Iceland’s elderly and disabled. Not only is this demon- strably false; Ásmundur has him- self both voted against increased funding to these groups, or ab- stained from voting. So who’s real- ly costing Iceland’s elderly and dis- abled money? For that matter, how much is Ásmundur costing us? Scene from Reykjavík rental market Finally, news that Reykjavík will form a special Airbnb commit- tee was met with audible sighs of relief around the capital area. Specifically, the committee will be working closely with Airbnb to crack down on illegal Airbnb listings. The hope is that this may reduce pressure on Reykjavík’s al- ready tightly-closed housing mar- ket. Those of us currently renting temporary spaces from friends in order to avoid living in a tent at the park wait with bated breath for the effect to take hold. 4The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 19 — 2017 The Icelandic football team being all great First Cafe Paris | Austurstræti 14 | 101 Reykjavík cafeparis.is | cafeparis@cafeparis.is | +354 551 1020 BREAKFAST BRUNCH LUNCH DINNER § § §

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19. tölublað (20.10.2017)

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