Whaling cancelled, ATM blown up, lost car, EU defence talks

04/14/25 • 58 min

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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:

✨ Iceland’s (more or less) only whaling company Hvalur hf. (Whale ltd.) will not be doing any whaling this year, even though they were recently issued permits to do so. According to the companies CEO, Kristján Loftsson, the “price development of our products in our main market, Japan, has been unfavourable lately and is getting worse, which makes the price of our products so low that it is not justifiable to continue fishing,” Mr. Loftsson also pointed to the market uncertainty brought about by the USA’s tariffs. We discuss.

✨ Last Friday, Iceland formally opened discussions with the EU on defence and security cooperation when Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, met with the EU’s Andrius Kubilisu and Kaja Kallas. We discuss that, and questions about whether the USA might simply “veto” such cooperation.

✨ A car owner in Kópavogur reported his car stolen on Thursday night. The car had not been stolen, the owner had simply forgotten where it was parked.

✨ On Tuesday, an unidentified male tried to blow up an ATM in Hafnarfjörður. This failed. In December a couple of masked perpetrators on a stolen car tried to steal that same ATM by attaching it to the car and pulling it out of the building. That also failed.

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This is a Reykjavík Grapevine podcast.
The Reykjavík Grapevine is a free alternative magazine in English published 18 times per year, biweekly during the spring and summer, and monthly during the autumn and winter.

The magazine covers everything Iceland-related, with a special focus culture, music, food and travel. The Reykjavík Grapevine’s goal is to serve as a trustworthy and reliable source of information for those living in Iceland, visiting Iceland or interested in Iceland. Thanks to our dedicated readership and excellent distribution network, the Reykjavík Grapevine is Iceland’s most read English-language publication.

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Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of.

✨ A car owner in Kópavogur reported his car stolen on Thursday night. The car had not been stolen, the owner had simply forgotten where it was parked.

You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.
www.grapevine.is

Previous Episode

Orcas, penguins, rockfall fatality, nude tourists, asylum & travel warnings, tariffs, drunk driving

Are you enjoying this? Are you not? Tell us what to do more of, and what you'd like to hear less of.

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

✨ A recent program by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service sheds light on the capture and export of orcas in the 1970s and 1980s. The profits from this trade helped finance the only aquarium ever operated in Iceland—and yes, this is how Keiko (of Free Willy fame) was captured.

✨ Icelanders often pronounce “V” and “W” the same way.

✨ A tragic rockfall accident occurred last week in south Iceland, near Eyjafjallajökull.

✨ We talk about the former Minister of Infrastructure’s fingers—for no particular reason.

✨ A man was arrested in the small town of Raufarhöfn for stealing a car and driving it while drunk and high. We also discuss a custom 1970s Cadillac that can be found in the same town.

✨ Nude tourists in Icelandic hot springs. Occasionally a thing.

✨ An American transgender woman was denied asylum in Iceland this week. We explore the hypocrisy of the decision, especially given that Iceland has issued travel warnings for transgender individuals traveling to the U.S.

✨ In that context, we discuss how, under the Patriot Act, it has been legal since 2014 for U.S. authorities to detain American citizens on American soil—without due process—if suspected of aiding “the enemy” in the war on terror. We cover recent detentions of foreign travelers and Green Card holders.

✨ And finally, Iceland faces the same U.S. tariff rates as... penguins.

You may not agree with what we write or publish, but at least it’s not sponsored content.
www.grapevine.is