With one of Northern Europe’s highest unemployment rates, above 8 per cent, Denmark is counting the cost of benefits at a time when growth in the economy is sluggish. Although Denmark remains below the EU average, most its Scandinavian neighbours are far more successful at finding jobs for their citizens.

The two year period of benefits, set to expire this year following a law passed by the previous government will now be extended to four years, following a repeal. However, the amount awarded will be reduced to 60 per cent of their previous cheques.  It will be backed by an insurance plan backed by state funds but financed by an increase from workers contributions to the fund by 30 kroner a month.

“We have to do this because growth has been slower than expected,” said Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. “The economy looks like it’ll continue to grow sluggishly. Creating jobs, and supporting those without a job has been our top priority.”

The Economy Ministry has predicted a moot 0.7 per cent growth for 2013, but  Jes Asmussen, chief economist at Handelsbanken, is skeptical of that figure and thinks they are being over optimistic.

The 3-day event – sponsored by Kex Hostel, City of Reykjavik, and more – will be hosting a number of local bands, as well as some international artists from Australia and the UK.

Bands playing at Reykjavik Music Mess 2013 include:

Sykur
Bloodgroup
Oyama
PVT (AUS)
DZ DEATHRAYS (AUS)
Withered hand (UK)
Good Moon Deer
Tonik
Just Another Snake Cult
Loji (from Sudden Weather Change)
STAFRÆNN HÁKON
Monotown
Boogie Trouble

Reykjavik locals Mammút, who are currently putting the finishing touches on their third album, will also be performing at the event, as well as their good friends Muck.

For more information about this year’s event and the bands performing, visit http://www.reykjavikmusicmess.com and to buy tickets, check out http://midi.is/tonleikar/1/7527.

See the event poster below:

The annual international competition which  was hosted by Sweden following  Loreen’s win in the 2012 edition with the song “Euphoria” was held in Malmö Arena and hosted by comedienne Petra Mede. Denmark’s win didn’t come as a surprise to Eurovision experts and enthusiasts, with bookmakers  having tagged Emmelie’s song as their favourite. The barefooted singer, who was the 18th act on stage, gave  a touching performance of “Only Teardrops”.

“I’m the happiest girl in the world. Not only for being a winner but also for having won here in Sweden, where my dad came from, he liked this contest so much,” said Ammelie following her victory.

Some 60,000 Russian speakers were recorded in Finland during a recent study, double the number a decade ago. At the present rate they will over take Swedish speaking Finns by 2050.

An estimated 240,000 people in Finland use Swedish as their home language, the two countries sharing a long border and history. But in the two decades since the fall of the Iron Curtain, increasing numbers of Russians have been arriving.

“If the proportionate rise of Russian speakers among all immigrants remains the same, in 2050 they will number 200,000 to 240,000,” calculates Director Ismo Söderling of the Institute of Migration.

Finland continues to accept migrants, but this is expected to reach a saturation by mid century when more than a million people will not be of Finnish origin. Russian might well become an officially recognised minority language.

Ironically, Finland was once a dutchy of the Tsarist empire, based in nearby Saint Petersburg, and only gained its independence in 1917. At that point Finnish became the official language.

Only half of the Russian speakers presently in Finland have Finnish citizenship.

In the same report, published by the University of Gothenburg, only 42 per cent now support EU membership, compared to 53 per cent two years ago.

Even without joining the single currency, Sweden has felt the fallout of the economic crisis resulting from mismanagement of the Euro among participating countries. Confidence in the currency has plummeted.

“The Euro has, whether or not this is true, been blamed for the problems in the European economy. And indirectly that has hit the Swedish economy,” Sören Holmberg, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg, said in a recent radio interview.

“The Swedes are opportunistic as many other countries’ people are and right now the EU gets a big part of the blame for the economic crisis which is also affecting the public opinion in Sweden,” Holmberg said.

Euroskepticism has certainly risen, if the report is an accurate bell weather on public opinion, and though the country has been spared the worst of the Euro crisis, Swedes remain distrustful of the European Parliament meddling in local affairs, such as alcohol restrictions.

Within the article, Clark mentions some of the contributing factors that make Iceland standout as being amongst the most-relaxed nations on the globe, such as bicycles being left unlocked on the busiest streets of Reykjavik, and babies being left unattended outside of shops and cafés.

In terms of crime, Iceland’s homicide rate between 1999-2009 never went above 1.8 per 100,000 people of the population on any given year, according to the 2011 Global Study on Homicide by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In comparison, the U.S. had homicide rates between 5.0 and 5.8 per 100,000 people of the population during the same period.

When talking about drug-related crimes, Clark states that the number of hard drugs being used is extremely low; as explained in a 2012 UNODC report, drug use amongst 15-64-year-olds in Iceland for cocaine was 0.9%, for ecstasy 0.5%, and for amphetamines 0.7%.

Additionally, Clark explains that there is virtually no difference amongst upper, middle and lower classes in Iceland. And with that, tension between economic classes is non-existent, a rare occurrence for any country.

The episode, entitled The Saga of Carl Carlson, will air in North America on Sunday 19th May and in Iceland the following day. The plot of the two-part show revolves around the character of Carl Carlson, Homer’s friend and co-worker, who sets off to visit his home country, Iceland.

The surprising origins of Springfield nuclear power plant employee, Carl Carlson, were revealed in an episode in the 14th series, wherein unexpected brightness in the middle of the night reminded the character of his Icelandic boyhood.

The Simpsons  also featured Iceland in a 2010 episode that parodied the protests following  the 2008 bank crash.

While Sigur Rós only joins a long list of bands and solo artists to make a guest appearance on the show – amongst others Daft Punk, Lady Gaga and U2 have all made appearances – this will be one of the rare times an entire original score is composed for the occasion, including the Icelandic band’s take on the famous opening theme of The Simpsons.

Sigur Rós, which will issue their new album Kveikur on Tuesday 18th June, stated on their website  that ”with this episode, Sigur Rós have written and performed more original music for The Simpsons than any other outside band in the show’s history.”

The creator of the show, Matt Groening, said, “I’m a longtime fan of Sigur Rós, and we’re honored to bring their Icelandic  ambient moods to our goofy cartoon show.”

Michael Eisele, a forty-four year old sports fishing enthusiast from Germany, landed the 1.80m fish on Tuesday. It tops the previous world record fish by 2.5 kilos and an application has been sent to the Guinness Book of World Records to verify this.

Current record holder is Alphonse Bielevich of Hampton, New Hampshire, which weighed nearly 44 kilos at a length of just over 5 feet.

Cod is the most popular fish in Britain, known for its national dish of battered fish and chips. One ‘chippie’ speculated that more than 200 people could be fed on that single fish, though older fish are generally tougher.

It’s not unusual for cod to grow to large sizes like this, some live for up-to 25 years and reach 2 meters in length. It is widely fished in the North Atlantic as a popular commercial fish for the tables of many European and American families, but is usually caught with nets. Landing one this large on line is rare.