1) The latest economic forecast issued by Statistics Iceland (Hagstofa Íslands) included a warning that the country’s GDP is estimated to decline by 8.4 percent this year, largely due to the economic damage, including on the tourism sector, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
2) Marc Lanteigne, Chief Editor of Over the Circle, wrote a piece in OtC about emerging environmental threats and challenges in the Arctic region. The article discusses dangers to the Arctic’s ecosystems which can be attributed to higher regional temperatures as well as behaviour of Arctic governments, including concerns about nuclear materials in the Russian Arctic.
3) As the Icelandic news service RÚV reported, on Saturday 27 July, Icelanders voted for the President to serve as the country’s head of state for the next four years. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, the current President, easily won the vote with 92.2 percent support, a landslide victory over his lone challenger, Guðmundur Franklín Jónsson.
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