The new cabinet has already started working, but the ceremonial change over of ministry keys will take place later this afternoon.

As previously speculated, the non-elected ministers Gylfi Magnusson and Ragna Arnadottir both leave the cabinet, along with Alfheidur Ingadottir and Kristjan Moller. Gudbjartur Hannesson and Ogmundur Jonasson enter the cabinet in their place. The new cabinet has 10 ministers instead of 12.

Gudbjartur Hannesson will control the two ministries currently responsible for health, social affairs and national insurance and Ogmundur Jonasson will take over the two ministries which cover justice, human rights, transport and communications. Arni Pall Arnason will move to the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has already confirmed that more changes will come in the New Year – including merging ministries to match the number of ministers.

Finance Minister and head of the Left Green Movement, Steingrimur J. Sigfusson told RUV that the cabinet reshuffle strengthens the government coalition and shows that the government is not at all on its last legs.

Meanwhile, Kristjan Moller’s last act as Minister for Transport, Communications and Local Government was to grant permission for the Icelandic Civil Aviation Authority to begin preparations to licence the Dutch company ECA Program Limited to operate in Iceland.

ECA’s controversial plan is to base a fleet of old Russian fighter jets at Keflavik which will be available for hire with pilots to act as enemy planes in military training.

Critics describe the idea as creating a private military in defenceless Iceland; but ECA insists that its planes will be entirely unarmed and unable to engage in any sort of real combat. Their purpose will be to provide the world’s air forces with different planes flown by different people to simulate a more realistic type of war training. The company also points out that just because its planes will have their base and support crews in Iceland, does not mean the war games will take place anywhere near the country.

The minister pointed out that the project will create 200 immediate jobs and 150 long-term highly skilled, highly paid positions in the region of Iceland suffering the worst unemployment.

The winter series of Spaugstofan will start on Saturday the 9th October at its usual time of 19.35 – but this time it will be on Stod 2 and will not be free-to-air; and a lot of Icelandic households choose not to pay extra for the channel.

The stars of the show: Karl Agust Ulfsson, Palmi Gestsson, Sigurdur Sigurjonsson and Orn Arnason have declared their intention to carry on with the same vigour as ever in creating the weekly show based around each week’s biggest news stories and events. They signed a contract to this effect alongside Ari Edwald, the president of 365 Media (owner of Stod 2) during a packed press conference at the National Culture House this week.

The contract runs for two years and ensures the programme’s long history will continue for at least the next two winters.

Saga Film will produce the programme from their headquarters at Old Television Centre – the former home of RUV television in central Reykjavik. It was in that very building that Spaugstofan began, and Karl Agust Ulfsson told Visir.is that many of the show’s most memorable characters were created there.

A poll of Visir.is readers suggested that 50.5 percent of people are happy to see Spaugstofan saved, with 49.5 percent unhappy about the programme’s survival. The show has some undoubtedly funny moments and remains popular – extremely so with the over 40s. But the principal argument against it is that it allegedly vacuums attention and money away from younger, edgier comedians.

Thanks to the early warning signs, officers were apparently then able to replace a bomb-making ingredient with a harmless liquid when it was ordered from an Oslo pharmacy by one of the suspected terrorists. According to officials, other plots were also being hatched to target a shopping centre in Manchester, England, and a busy New York subway.

After reviewing documents and conducting interviews with unnamed European and US intelligence officials, AP has concluded that the suspected terror cell was badly organised and doomed to fail long before the raids on the unassuming Oslo basement in July. The news agency claims that the plot’s undoing has shed light on the pitfalls of al-Qaida’s changing tactics since the highly organised September 11 attacks in New York.

al-Qaeda has been forced to decentralise its efforts and rely on amateurs to recruit local cells and carry out small-level attacks with little planning and training, says the AP. While such plots are harder to detect, there is often greater room for operational errors, according to the officials interviewed.

Norwegian authorities say 39-year-old Mikael Davud, an Uighur who came to Norway from China in 1999 as part of a refugee programme, was the ringleader of the plot against the country. He was arrested along with 37-year-old Iraqi Kurd Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak Bujak and 31-year-old Uzbek national David Jakobsen on 8th July.

All three men were living in Norway and were apparently discovered after their frequent and poorly coded emails to al-Qaida bosses in Pakistan were picked up by police.

The Norwegian Police Security Service has declined to comment on the AP story as the investigation is still ongoing. The trio denies having any connections with terror groups.

The News Tribune reports that the Dreamliner aeroplane will be in Iceland for tests for a whole week after arriving yesterday.

Exposed Keflavik International Airport is generally known as a fairly windy airport; but the fact that its two runways are at right-angles to one another means that aircraft undergoing tests can guarantee a cross wind for landing and take off in most circumstances. Conversely this also means that normal operators can avoid the wind hitting planes from the side, which improves comfort and safety.

This is the first testing flight for the delayed Dreamliner passenger jet outside of the USA. The only other overseas trip was to the Farnborough Air Show in the UK, where the plane was exhibited to airlines and the public.

Both Boeing and Airbus have used Keflavik for test flights in cross winds. Among others, the Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 all visited Keflavik during testing.

As previously reported, Icelandair – Iceland’s biggest airline – will be among the first airlines to fly the new Dreamliner.

It is expected that during the plane’s visit to Iceland, a media event will be organised to allow journalists, cameramen and photographers a good look at the plane.

The natural phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis puts on a beautiful display from September to March in Iceland, where sightings are frequent due to the countries location on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Luckily for UK travellers, this winter Icelandair is providing an affordable way to see this natural wonder with its Northern Lights City Break.

Every Northern Lights tour is different as the tour guide takes the group to the area where they are most likely to see the lights that day based on weather conditions. The tour generally lasts three hours and makes for an exciting evening out exploring the rugged Icelandic wilderness.

The Northern Lights package deal includes flights from any Icelandair UK gateway; London, Manchester or Glasgow, three nights accommodation and the Northern Lights tour. In addition to the tour, the Northern Lights City Break provides free days to enjoy Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik, the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa or one of the many winter activities in the surrounding area.

For further information regarding Icelandair’s Northern Lights City Break, visit www.icelandair.co.uk.

DV reports that Eidur Smari’s monthly wage at Monaco is some ISK 30 million and Stoke had committed to pay the lion’s share of his wages while they have him on loan from Monaco from September up to and including next May. That would add up to around GBP 1.5 million, or ISK 270 million. However, it has since been reported that Gudjohnsen is not on loan at all: he will in fact join The Potters on a permanent basis with a transfer fee from Monaco of GBP 2 million, according to The Daily Mail.

British media reported great interest on both sides in a return to England after spells with Bolton, Chelsea and Tottenham – but that deals kept collapsing due to the player’s high wage demands. However, in the end Stoke City took a decision to follow through and ensure the deal was closed before the transfer window deadline at the end of yesterday.

According to maritime command at NATO, the Danish vessel, Esbern Snarre, was summoned on Saturday after a ship from Panama reported attacks from pirates. When arriving at the scene, however, the Esbern Snarre and US carrier Winston Churchill found both the Panama craft and a Norwegian boat had been boarded. A helicopter was deployed but the pirates fled in their boats towards the Somali coast after the Danish ship fired warning shots.

Both knives and evidence of ammunition were found when authorities reached the pirates’ boats but the men were released due to a lack of evidence against them. Talking in an interview with news bureau Ritzau, Denmark’s defence minister Gitte Lillelund Bech said neither the Danish or American forces saw the Somalis open fire on the ships.

Due to complex and often conflicting maritime and national laws, NATO forces rarely bring pirates in the Arabian Sea to trial. The Esbern Snarre is on patrol in place of the Absalon warship, which was also forced to release ten Somali pirates after arresting them last year.

Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir has spoken with all of her Social Democrat MPs yesterday and last night, Visir.is reports.

Althingi’s General Committee submitted a bill yesterday that would change the organisation of ministerial powers and it is highly likely that the bill will become law during the September session of parliament which begins tomorrow.

According to the bill, the health ministry and the social affairs and insurance ministry will unite to form a Ministry of Welfare and the justice ministry and the transport and communications ministry will together become an Interior Ministry.

According to Visir.is sources both of the country’s unelected ministers, Gylfi Magnusson (Minister of Trade) and Ragna Arnadottir (Minister of Justice), will be relieved of their duties. Both were drafted in to the government as experts in their fields following the banking collapse.

The controversial Ogmundur Jonasson is set to return to the cabinet for the Left Greens, and his party colleague Jon Bjarnason looks likely to remain in the cabinet despite calls from some for him to leave.

So that both government parties remain equal with five ministers each, the Left Greens would have to sacrifice one. The likeliest candidate to leave the cabinet is Alfheidur Ingadottir, the Minister for Health.

It is also thought Transport and Communications Minister Kristjan Moller will leave the cabinet.

Sources close to the government say that social affairs minister Arni Pall Arnason will remain in the cabinet and that Oddny Hardardottir will join for the Social Democrats.

There are currently 12 ministers, but the General Committee bill will see that number drop to ten. The committee is taking more time to work on its idea for an employment ministry which would see further mergers and the total number of ministers eventually drop to nine. It is assumed that the biggest of the two coalition parties would then hold a cabinet majority.

In the first discovery of its kind in the Arctic region, Cairn also announced to the London Stock Exchange that the find has increased the likelihood of unearthing oil as well. “Although we are at the very start of exploration in the basin, the discovery of gas in thin sands is indicative of an active hydrocarbon system,” the company said in a statement. “The well has not yet reached target depth.”

Test drilling at the previously untouched Baffin Bay Basin began about a month-and-a-half ago. The firm currently has two offshore rigs operating in the area. Governments and environmental groups, such as WWF and Greenpeace, have however strongly condemned the project in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Oil company Maersk Oil and gas firm DONG, both from Denmark, have also announced in interviews with Berlingske Tidende that they are interested in exploring drilling opportunities off Greenland since learning of Cairn’s breakthrough. Greenland is currently a semi-autonomous state of Denmark, but according to the Copenhagen Post, it is likely to seek greater independence if large amounts of natural resources are discovered in the country.

Iceland Airwaves, held between October 13 – 17, has announced that international acts Robyn, Rolo Tomassi, Mount Kimbie, The Antlers will be performing, as well as Icelandic favourites, Agent Fresco, Seabear, Reykjavik!, Minus and Sudden Weather Change. Over five days, visitors will be amazed by the party atmosphere of downtown Reykjavik and encouraged to join in.

Iceland continues to grow as a hub of creative minds and as a prime export for some of the world’s biggest artists and musicians, from Bjork to Sigur Ros. The island also plays host to numerous music and arts festivals throughout the year, including the aforementioned Iceland Airwaves, Rettir, Duplex, Jonsvaka and Eistnaflug – which are all not to be missed.

In addition, on Thursday 1st July 2010, the ‘Iceland Inspires’ concert as part of the Inspired by Iceland campaign, held in downtown Reykjavik, received over seventy thousand visits from fifty-two countries via a live web cam feed.

The open-air concert, featuring Damien Rice, was streamed live over the Internet, giving viewers the chance to watch the monumental event from anywhere in the world. In addition, over five thousand music fans braved the rain to experience the concert firsthand.

To recapture the magic of ‘Iceland Inspires’ visit the Inspired by Iceland website and watch the likes of Damien Rice, Spiritualized, Mammut, Seabear, Glen Hansard, Dikta, Amiina, Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson and Pall a Husafelli perform, as well as pre-recorded footage from For A Minor Reflection, Retro Stefson and Gus Gus.