(CBS News) A Boston Globe investigation reveals it was Miss Iceland 1974 who was the tipster who collected the $2 million reward for information to the arrest four months ago of notorious alleged Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. (more)
A year after an Icelandic volcano grounded planes across Europe, a spectacular new eruption flung up a miles-high ash plume that shut down the country’s main airport, plunged nearby areas into darkness and sent ash drifting toward European airspace. (more)
The world’s superpower is about to lead the way in yet another realm. Next month, America is set to bear the distinction of having the highest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world. (more)
LONDON (AP) — A company asked by Visa to investigate WikiLeaks’ finances found no proof the group’s fundraising arm is breaking the law in its home base of Iceland, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press. (more)
A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages. (more)
When I asked Vice if they’d give me some money to hire a car so I could drive nine hours north of Reykjavik to meet a man living in a fishing hamlet near the tip of the Arctic Circle who keeps the largest collection of preserved penises in the world, they frowned. Apparently they’re not a chauffeur service here to provide Icelandic dick tours. But I knew the true value of a room full of pickled schlongs to the curious and worldly Vice reader, so I decided to hitchhike. It was worth it if only for the fact I now know what happens when a whale gets a boner. (more)
The release of thousands of classified documents by WikiLeaks is an act of political warfare against the United States. It was a publicity stunt to promote the organization’s leader, but also an attempt by non-US citizens to manipulate American perceptions of our soldiers’ actions and political leaders’ policies. Luckily the American public WikiLeaks intended to demoralize is savvy enough not to be thrown off balance by classified reports confirming the difficult factors of the current war. They also understand that some information must be restricted: our enemies do not operate from an open playbook and neither should the U.S. However, the leak will result in serious damage to national security and is yet another crisis in which the Obama administration has been caught utterly unprepared for the dangerous world we confront and the malefactors throughout. To prevent further damage, the WikiLeaks web site should be shut down—via cyberwarfare if necessary. (more)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Authorities in Iceland have exhumed the body of American chess champion Bobby Fischer to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl from the Philippines. (more)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — The New York Times – A polar bear display for the zoo. Free towels at public swimming pools. A “drug-free Parliament by 2020.” Iceland’s Best Party, founded in December by a comedian, Jon Gnarr, to satirize his country’s political system, ran a campaign that was one big joke. Or was it? (more)
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — A polar bear display for the zoo. Free towels at public swimming pools. A “drug-free Parliament by 2020.” Iceland’s Best Party, founded in December by a comedian, Jon Gnarr, to satirize his country’s political system, ran a campaign that was one big joke. Or was it? (more)
LONDON (AP) — The remains of chess genius Bobby Fischer are to be exhumed to determine whether he is the father of a 9-year-old girl, a lawyer representing the child and her mother said Thursday. (more)
The global airline industry is showing a remarkable turnaround and will swing back to profit in 2010 after several difficult years as growth in Asia and the U.S. offsets weaker demand in Europe, the major international air transport group said Monday. (more)
When I heard that Murray was back, I called immediately. He told me to come on over for he had a wonderful story to share. We settled into is his den with large tumblers of Talisker scotch, the drug of choice of in our part of the Capital city. (more)
British scientists have learned that the ash cloud caused by the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano in mid-April was electrically charged. (more)
One of the most mind-jarring images of the current disaster in the Gulf, besides the thousands of dead wildlife in the water so far, has been the sight of lawyers and environmental activists getting out of their monster Escalades or Yukon SUVs in Louisiana to “investigate the damage caused by that awful oil company, BP America.” (more)
BRUSSELS — The Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name reminded the world again that it has the power to disrupt international travel — coughing out a spreading cloud of ash that delayed or canceled hundreds of flights between Europe and North America. (more)
Britain’s airspace was closed under false pretences, with satellite images revealing there was no doomsday volcanic ash cloud over the entire country. (more)
Europe gave the all-clear for its airspace on Thursday as recriminations flew over refunds for stranded passengers and the 1.7 billion dollar cost to the airline industry. (more)
Earth Day turns 40 today, a good time to review some realities we didn’t know on the first Earth Day in 1970, when economic prosperity was assumed to be the enemy of the environment. That turns out to be wrong. (more)
BERLIN (AP) — Airlines lost at least $1.7 billion in revenue during the volcanic ash crisis, an industry group said Wednesday as the debate heated up over whether European governments were justified in shutting down their airspace for so long. (more)
