The interest rate of 4.75 percent will not change this period, despite continuing inflational pressure calling for rate rises. The last rate decision was in December, when the Central Bank also decided to keep the rate the same. The Bank warned it will likely have to raise the rate slightly soon if economic conditions remain the same.

The Central Bank of Iceland predicts 2.5 percent economic growth in the country this year and for the next two years. The global economic situation continues to worsen and as a result the terms of trade will be worse this year than had previously been thought.

The Icelandic exports market remains lively, though; and continues to beat expectations. The Bank’s economic forecast is similar to the one it gave out in November.

If the forecast proves correct, inflation in Iceland will reach a peak of around six percent in the first quarter of this year before falling back again. The Bank’s inflation target is 2.5 percent and the forecast predicts the country will reach that rate again early in 2014. It predicts and average annual inflation rate of 4.6 percent this year — which is half-a-percent higher than in the November forecast.

A man was shot dead in his car at around 21.00 on Tuesday 31st January, while a nearby police station was badly damaged in a fire bombing in the early hours of the next morning.

The two incidents are not thought to be connected, but officials believe the attack on the police station could be a response to the more robust crime fighting measures recently introduced in the troubled district. Despite a focus on searching for illegal weapons, last week’s murder marks the eighth in the area since May.

“The entire Swedish police force stands behind Malmö. We have received reinforcements and continue to work under previous guidelines,” Hans Nordin of the Skåne Police told news agency TT.

Börje Sjöholm of the Malmö police added that they are searching for clues on the two most recent incidents, but that they need help from the community. “It’s important that those who know anything dare to come forward. We protect our witnesses,” he said.

Two people have already been fatally shot in Malmö since the start of the year, leading to questions about whether the additional policing has only led to more violence. Nordin admitted that they are disappointed, but insisted that the initiative still has potential.

“No, it’s no failure. But it is very embarrassing that another murder has occurred, and very irritating that we couldn’t do anything to prevent it,” Nordin told TT.

Malmö Mayor Ilmar Reeplau also expressed his frustration over the matter. Speaking to the Sydsvenskan newspaper after the latest events, he said, “It’s bloody awful. We have had a massive police operation on Malmö’s streets, but the violence is only continuing. The Swedish law system is being ignored and is not respected any longer.”

Jón brought the case after the Data Protection Authority requested information from the Central Bank of Iceland about how personal information on currency purchases was being dealt with; including how the information was processed, who had access to the information, how securely it was held and how long it would be held for.

In a Fréttablaðið interview in October, Jón said: “The Data Protection Authority allowed the Central Bank of Iceland to look at international transfers by credit card made by everyone in Iceland. That was done with no sort of minimum or provisos. I believe that that is a breach of my rights to permit unreasonable prying into my personal affairs.”

He added that he did not want “Big Brother” sticking its nose into all his business and said he would start proceedings against the governor of the Central Bank and other people to draw attention to the matter.

It is now clear that that will not happen — but it is clear, on the other hand, that Jón has to pay ISK 100,000 (EUR 617) to the Data Protection Authority in legal fees.

The buildings will be assembled in an area by the sea shore in the village and the project is the biggest project by the heritage preservation company Minjavernd outside of the capital region. The project involves rebuilding and/or renovating all the main buildings associated with serving the French fishermen whose presence still lingers strongly in local culture today. The centrepiece of the new heritage ‘village’ will be the French Hospital.

The ‘village’ within a village will become a tourist attraction, organisers hope — and they hope to help by opening a museum about Fáskrúðsfjörður’s French ties, as well as a hotel, RÚV reports.

The French Hospital was built in 1903 and later moved to Hafnarnes, outside of the village. The building has stood on that site for several decades and was in a considerable state of disrepair when it was taken apart and returned to the village for renovation.

The planned opening of the new project is spring 2014 and the planned cost is in the region of ISK 580 million (EUR 3.57 million).

The man, who was described as being in a strange state, took himself to the police station yesterday and told officers about an incident which had taken place at his home in Hafnarfjörður.

His explanation was extremely unclear so police decided to visit the house. Once there they discovered a woman in her thirties, already dead at the scene and with visible injuries.

The woman was in the man’s home as an invited guest and they had known one another for some time, Vísir.is reports. Police officers took a blade from the scene as evidence. The man in custody was previously known to the police.

The investigation into the apparent murder is at a very early stage and not a lot of information is yet available, according to the police press release.

The video was taken of what looks like a giant, icy swimming snake in the Jökulsá í Fljótsdal river, which runs in to Lagarfljót. The unexplained creature, or phenomenon, appears to be swimming upstream, against the current.

The Lagarfjóts Worm, or Lagarfljótsormurinn, is possibly the best-known of Iceland’s many rumoured monsters and sightings have been regularly recorded since the year 1345.

The story goes that the worm was once just a little heath worm which was put onto a golden ring, as that was rumoured to make the gold grow. When the owner of the ring came back later, she discovered with shock that the worm had grown enourmous, but the ring was still the same size as before. In frustration she threw both the worm and the ring into the lake, where the worm continued to grow bigger still.

Whether the amateur video by Hjörtur Kjerúlf is of the legendary monster must be left to the viewer to decide. Cynics are claiming that some old netting ended up in the river and froze; giving the impression of swimming as the water flows past.

See the video on the RÚV here.

Valdimar told Vísir.is that he thinks it is worrying how little research has been done into the sea’s potential energy around Iceland. Most marine research in Iceland seems to be about aquaculture (fish farming) and harbour construction, he says.

He adds, however, that there is a extremely large amount of exploitable energy in the sea which is not yet being tapped. “The Irish have made a good estimate of the total amount of energy they have. They believe they could generate 240 terawatt hours a year and if we translate that over to Iceland by size that that would make 330 terawatt hours a year. That is around twenty-times the amount of energy we are using today,” Valdimar says.

Valorka has conducted pre-tests on its turbine and plans more this summer; probably off the Snæfellsnes peninsula. If the trials go well then a prototype will be made of a completely underwater turbine design. According to its owner, “Valorka is a world leader in trying to harness offshore ocean currents”.

The general rule in Iceland when pension funds lose money is either that lower pension payments to members will follow in the future, or that  higher employee contributions are demanded in the present to close the gap; but there are exceptions, as the LSR case demonstrates.

RÚV reports that LSR is a state-guaranteed pension fund, meaning that if it loses money the taxpayer will bear the cost of replacing it. According to a report into the pension funds, LSR lost around ISK 100 billion (EUR 621.3 million) in the financial crash and the State has not helped the situation – having not always paid its employer’s contribution to the fund as it should.

The pension fund has a massive shortfall, according to economist Ólafur Ísleifsson in a new article for a political studies magazine. He declares that the bill will fall on the Icelandic public to pay back, and a parliamentary answer from the Minister of Finance backs this up: LSR needs around ISK 7.8 billion (EUR 48.4 million) per year for the next 40 years in order to get back up to zero.

There are many indications that LSR’s losses could have been much smaller if its managers had been more careful, the research report into the pension funds states.

The deadline to submit purchase offers for Iceland ran out on Wednesday night and since then the Landsbanki resolution committee has been going over the bids with advisers. Old Landsbanki holds 67 percent of Iceland Foods and the bankrupt estate of Glitnir Bank holds ten percent of the company. The two companies are bidding on the combined shares of the two old banks.

At least two offers were received from two investment funds; BC Partners, a British company, on the one hand and Bain Capital, which is based in Boston, USA, on the other. No word has yet been released about the precise value of the offers, but they are thought to be around the GBP 1.5 billion that Landsbanki was hoping for. That is around ISK 300 billion.

The sale proceeds will largely be spent on repaying the British and Dutch governments for the money they lost in Icesave.

One of the founders of Bain Capital is Mitt Romney – who is now seen as one of the most likely Republican presidential candidates for the US election this autumn. Romney headed Bail Capital until 1999, before turning his attention to other projects. He still receives a cut of the company’s profits and has been paid millions of dollars from the company in recent years. Mitt Romney is one of the richest men ever to have tried to become President. His personal assets are reckoned to be as high as USD 250 million.

“We have made up two types of stickers for those who want them,” says Guðrún María Guðmundsdóttir, editor and department chief at Já, makers of the Icelandic phone book.

Já commissioned the design of the stickers to put on the phone book’s front cover because it features a prominent picture of a shirtless Egill Einarsson surrounded by the gymnastic girls of the Gerpla club. Two types of sticker are on offer for those wishing to change the look of their phone books. On features the gymnasts from the background and the other is designed to look like Egill has been ripped out of the page.

Guðrún María refused to comment further on the stickers. “They are, however, here and available for everybody who wants them,” she told Vísir. She would not say how many people have contacted Já asking for a solution along the lines of the new stickers.

Egill has been accused of two separate rapes in recent months and the eventual outcome is not yet clear. One of the cases, which is against both him and his girlfriend, was recently sent back from the state prosecutor to the police for further investigation, while the other case is still under initial investigation.

Já’s decision to feature Egill on its 2011 front cover was controversial at the time, even before the crime allegations arose.

The new phone book comes out in May and this year it is Reykjavík’s Borgarleikhúsið theatre which has been awarded the honorary editorship and will design the cover.

The stickers are available at the Já headquarters at Álfheimar.