Icelandic tax payers are set to bear the heavy burden of recapitalising the government employees’ pension fund (LSR). Billions of extra krónur are needed by the fund over the coming decades so it can stand up to its responsibilities. Read the full story

Last summer, a group called artsave installed a shipping container at the Reykjavik harbour. The container was called the artsave lab; the goal of which was to research and investigate through art. Read the full story

In just two-and-a-half days, the small Icelandic town of Seydisfjordur has managed to raise ISK 45 million (EUR 270,205) on Facebook to help the townspeople buy the local aluminium cable factory. Read the full story

Reykjavik Art Museum officials will today present a brand new open-air sculpture to the public. Read the full story

The chief representative of the IMF in Iceland yesterday said that current protection measures for indebted householders are sufficient and that people now need to concentrate on using them to their full advantage. Read the full story

Iceland’s Route 1 highway is open all around Iceland, even near the Eyjafjallajokull volcano; but motorists are advised to drive with care due to ongoing repair work to the road. Read the full story

The Icelandic savings bank SPRON, which closed its doors last year, held an assets sale yesterday where the bank’s administrators sold off some of the firm’s physical assets to the public. Read the full story

(UPDATED 16 November) A group of 1,200 Icelanders considered statistically representative of the population was brought together Saturday for the first time in an attempt to “harvest the wisdom of the crowd”. Read the full story

The Swedish government took another significant step forward in its privatisation programme by selling its property group, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. It brings to a total of SEK 116 billion the amount that has been raised from such sales to help reduce state debt and implement welfare programmes.

In all they intend to raise SEK 200 billion (USD 33.4 billion), and the SEK 41.1 billion raised from pension fund buyer AP Fastigheter takes them over the half way mark.

The government of Fredrik Reinfeldt intends to put six state-owned companies up for sale, as promised before the election, to divest the government’s role in the private sector. So far it has sold V&S, maker of Absolut vodka, part of TeliaSonera, and a small portion of OMX, the stock market operator.

A further 37.3 percent stake in TeliaSonera telecommunication is expected to go on sale soon, and the government hopes to hold out for a better price, having achieved half their income targets from other sales.

Other shares it hopes to get rid of include a 19.9 percent stake in Nordea – the Nordic region’s largest bank, and 100 percent of SBAB, a Swedish mortgage lender.

A scandal involving election campaign funding dispersement has dented the confidence of the electorate, with more than 50 per cent cited in a recent poll as having lost faith in the country’s politicians as a result.

The poll commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (STT) from research company Taylor Nelson Sofres, also revealed that 30 per cent also had less confidence in the media than before the scandal.

Adding further to the slump, Centre Party supporters at the Joensuu party conference said their confidence in the media had fallen, which is consistent with similar feelings among Left Alliance supporters in a separate snap survey.