One of these exciting activities is whale watching. The crystal clear Icelandic waters provide the ideal place to see Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, White Beaked Dolphins, and Harbour Porpoises.

With this in mind, Icelandair, Iceland’s leading airline, is offering its ‘Whale Watching in Akureyri’ package deal to Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik and the northern city of Akureyri for UK travellers, until the end of September.

Included within the package deal is return flights to Iceland from Glasgow, London Heathrow, or Manchester, two nights accommodation in Akureyri, two nights accommodation in Reykjavik, and a whale watching boat trip in Husavik with tour provider Saga Travel.

The whale watching trip will be scheduled for the day after arrival, where visitors will fly to Akureyri, followed by a trip to Husavik. There, visitors will set out to sea on a whale watching tour with seasoned guides who maintain an incredible 98.5 percent success rate for sightings.

The following day, travellers will have the opportunity to explore Iceland’s second largest city, Akureyri. Visitors can then enjoy the charming town centre or head out to view some of Iceland’s most beautiful natural scenery. On the forth day of the holiday, travellers have the choice of either flying to Reykjavik in the morning or afternoon, depending on where they wish to spend the day.

To find out more regarding Icelandair’s ‘Whale Watching in Akureyri’ package deal, as well as flights to Iceland, visit www.icelandair.co.uk.

Summer events in Reykjavik draw hundreds of visitors every year to experience Iceland’s great atmosphere and cultural practices.

The Reykjavik Art Festival, taking place May 18th – June 3rd, is Iceland’s premier cultural festival bringing together the best in local and international theatre, dance, music and visual art. The programme offers a variety of curated exhibitions, concerts, dance, theatre, and opera performances across downtown Reykjavik.

The National Day of Iceland has been celebrated on June 17th since 1944. The festivities in Reykjavik include colourful parades, street theatre and music, sideshows, and dancing.

Hotel Odinsve is located just a few minutes walk away from downtown Reykjavik’s main shopping street, Laugavegur, where over 100 bars, restaurants and cafes are situated, alongside numerous boutiques and retailers.

All of its rooms have wooden floors, comfortable beds and high quality duvets and pillows from Kronborg of Denmark.  Each room includes a shower, minibar, complimentary coffee and tea, satellite TV, radio, telephone, and hair dryer.

The hotel holds a range of amenities for its guests, including a restaurant, a coffee shop, a café, a bar lounge, all located on-site – it also boasts free wireless Internet for its customers.

For more information regarding the hotel in downtown Reykjavik, visit http://www.hotelodinsve.is.

Figures have been kept by Keflavík International Airport for over a decade and the Icelandic Tourist Board says that this January tops all before it.

Some 26,000 foreign citizens departed from Keflavík last month; which is 3,900 more than in 2011. Foreign guests in Iceland increased therefore by 17.5 percent between years. The biggest number of visitors in January came from the UK; 26.6 percent of the total number. There was a 53.7 percent rise in the number of Britons visiting Iceland in January compared to the previous January. The next biggest group were people from the USA; followed by Danes, Swedes, French and Germans.

Around 23,000 Icelandic citizens flew out of Keflavík in January, which is a similar number to January 2011.

Hotel occupancy figures for January are not yet available, but there were around a quarter more hotel nights used in December 2011 than in December 2010. 69,200 hotel nights compared with 54,300 the December before — or 27 percent more. 76 percent of hotel guests were foreign citizens. Over the whole of 2011 there were 14 percent more hotel nights used than in 2010.

The Icelandic tourism industry has put an explicit emphasis on winter tourism and trying to even out visitor numbers across the whole year, as an annual summer boom and winter bust in the industry is not seen as a sustainable model. The figures from December and January offer some indication that the marketing campaign is working.

The dispute is thought to surround Blod, sved og T-Shirts (Blood, Sweat and T-shirts), a programme which followed a group of young Danes as they struggled to survive while working in clothes factories in India.

Confirming reports of the ban to Jyllands-Posten newspaper, the Indian Embassy in Copenhagen said, “We had a very bad experience with DR, so they are excluded. All other Danish journalists are welcome.”

In a similar vain to documentaries produced by the BBC, Blod, sved og T-Shirts showed the group arguing with employers in order to receive their pay, living in squalid conditions and struggling a buy even a few pieces a fruit each day.

Although the BBC has not been banned from reporting in the country, the un-named source at the embassy suggested that the DR ban is unlikely to end soon.”It will take some time. At the moment, we have not decided to let them back in,” he told Jyllands-Posten.

According to the conservative Danish foreign affairs spokesman Stig Møller, the move is undemocratic and violates an agreement between the two countries. “We must protest. It must be made clear to India that they do not have the right to impede the freedom of the press,” he said.

“They have a right to be dissatisfied, but they should either refute DR’s claims or report them to the Pressenævnet [Danish press council],” he added.

The company offers a wide range of high-performance 4×4 Jeep rentals fit to explore Iceland’s breathtaking volcanic landscape. When renting a four-wheel drive, the country’s interior is free for exploration and even the toughest terrain won’t stop you from seeing some of the country’s hidden gems.

The company’s fleet of vehicles consists of top makes such as Nissan, Suzuki, Hyundai, Jeep, Ford, and Dodge. All are available with automatic transmission and considerable engine power, which is needed when travelling around Iceland.

In addition, all of the company’s four-wheel drive vehicles can be equipped with a Garmin Navigation System to help you navigate around the country and seek out those hidden gems.

Moreover, the company offers a pickup and return service for customers arriving at Keflavik International Airport, at an additional cost. However, for those staying in the greater Reykjavik area, a delivery service is available free of charge.

For further information regarding Jeep 4×4 hire for a self drive tour in Iceland, visit www.askjacarrental.is.

Several attempts have been made to correct the unusual vibration in one of the Rolls Royce engines aboard Þór. Engineers from Rolls Royce have been working on the ship in Iceland to rectify the problem without success.

It now seems likely the ship will have to go to Norway for repairs, according to a recent statement on the Icelandic Coastguard’s website.

It first came to light in December that vibration from one of the ship’s main engines was at a higher level than Rolls Royce recommends. The engines are still under manufacturer’s guarantee, as Þór was only handed over to the Icelandic Coastguard last autumn. Attempts to correct the problem in Iceland have so far failed.

If Þór is sent to Norway for repairs, the ship can expect to be absent for several weeks.

Café Teatret has used Breivik’s so-called ‘extremist manifesto’, published online shortly before he killed 77 people in Norway on 22nd July last year, as the inspiration for their drama Manifesto 2083.

The play, directed by Christian Lollike, will see the right-wing extremist’s views performed as a monologue, with Christian Lollike playing the lead role. The announcement has however attracted heavy criticism, as the car bombing in Oslo and the massacre on Utøya Island still sits fresh in the minds of survivors and victims’ families six months on.

Entitled ‘2083: A European Declaration of Independence’, Brievik’s manifesto praised Denmark for being “the only Scandinavian country with some spine left”, regarding the “ideological war” against Islam. Many felt that such comments referred to the right-wing Dansk Folkeparti’s (DF) attacks against multiculturalism.

However, Pia Kjærsgaard, leader of DF, was one of the first to speak out against the new production. Writing on her Facebook profile, she said, “I find it deeply embarrassing, distasteful and shameful. Personally, I would be ashamed to go in and see the show. [Breivik] can sit back and rub his hands together because he gets all the publicity he longs for.”

Also offended by the offering are some of the families and friends of Breivik’s many victims. Ragnar Eikeland, who lost his son at Utøya, said it is, “so offensive that I really have no words”.

“It will be an extra burden for [the victims’ families] to know that it will be performed while the court case is underway,” he told Norway’s NTB news bureau. “No-one should do something that spreads Breivik’s opinions.”

In a written submission to Politiken however, Lollike defended his artistic decision.

“Is it not precisely the task of art to help understand how something so terrible could happen?” he wrote. “Where do we go with our anger, our pain, our frustration and the big ‘why’? How could this happen? What kind of mindset and view of humanity has he filled his mind with, and where does it come from?

“Writers, journalists and analysts have sought to answer these questions based on the manifesto. They have a right to. Doesn’t theatre – based on Breivik’s manifesto and with the critical and analytical resources of the performing arts – have the right to examine these same questions?” Lollike wrote.

“They haven’t kept their word to apologise,” says Heiðar Ásberg Atlason, the defence lawyer for Friðjón Þórðarson, who is suing the Icelandic state over allegations of money laundering.

Friðjón was arrested in November 2008 on suspicion of widespread embezzlement and breaches of the law on money laundering. The State demanded he be held in custody, but a judge disagreed and granted bail.

Heiðar told Vísir.is that the police investigation into Friðjón was based on ignorance and that the investigators did not understand the currency markets. As a result the investigation dragged on and remained stuck in the system for over two years. It was eventually dropped without charge.

Heiðar would not say how much money his client is suing the State for, but Friðjón has volunteered to drop his case in exchange for a formal written apology. Such an apology has not been received from the authorities and the case therefore continues for now.

Damage to Friðjón is said to be extensive, according to Heiðar. The charges led to his client losing his job and having his name and reputation trampled in the media. Friðjón was among the first people within the financial sector to be arrested after the banking collapse. Now it appears, however, that he bore no personal criminal responsibility for the crash.

“It is always cheaper to say sorry,” Heiðar says on the attitude of the Icelandic State. The case against the State is due to start on the 5th March.

The bomb, which was destroyed in a controlled explosion, did not turn out to contain high explosives; but was designed to look like it did and to cause disruption. The explosion outside the IMF office and next to the Prime Minister’s office is also being taken seriously. Police say the explosion at arond 06.00 was a danger to safety and was much more than just fireworks.

Investigators are still combing through CCTV footage from Hverfisagata and nearby streets and several tip-offs have reportedly been received.

Nobody has yet been arrested and the explosion and device are still being investigated. An eyewitness described the man police are looking for as short and fat.

Meanwhile Ögmundur Jónasson, Minister of the Interior, has criticised the police for what he calls their slow reaction and the too-slow pace of their investigation so far. He intends to meet with police chiefs.

Jarle Andhøy, 34, has apparently set out again, despite his last mission, which was branded foolhardy by many sailing experts, resulting in the presumed deaths of three crew members.

New Zealand authorities are looking for the 54-foot Nilaya yacht which sailed though Auckland last week. Samuel Massie, an 18 year-old survivor of last year’s tragedy, is also thought to be onboard, along with a photographer.

According to Radio New Zealand, New Zealand Customs Services are conducting a search for the yacht, while Maritime New Zealand officials have asked locals to keep a look out.

Berserk sank without a trace last year, with South African Leonard Banks and Norwegians Tom Gisle Bellika and Robert Skaanes never having been found. Jarle Andhøy, who describes himself as a Viking, was fined SEK 25,000 (EUR 2,804) for breaking the Antarctic Treaty by sailing without insurance.