Word: grimsson
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...Iceland took a dramatic stand in the conflict last week when President Olafur Grimsson refused to sign a bill requiring his country to repay the $5 billion that's owed to the British and Dutch citizens who deposited their savings in an online Icelandic bank that collapsed in 2008. Icesave, a subsidiary of the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, offered eye-popping interest rates of up to 15% to foreigners before the crash. (See pictures of the global financial crisis...
...Although Grimsson insists that Iceland will repay the debt - which amounts to about one-third of Iceland's annual output, or $17,400 per Icelander - he says the British and Dutch governments are trying to bully the country into accepting an extortionate interest rate of 5.55% over 15 years. He called for a referendum, set for Feb. 20, on whether the country should accept the repayment plan...
...Britain and the Netherlands reacted angrily to Grimsson's move, warning that Iceland's economic recovery and bid to join the E.U. would be doomed if it failed to meet its obligations. British Financial Services Minister Paul Myners even said the country risks becoming a pariah state. Both Britain and Holland hinted that they may block a $10 billion International Monetary Fund rescue package for the country, and Iceland's Scandinavian neighbors shelved a $2.6 billion loan they had promised Reykjavik. On top of all that, Fitch Ratings lowered Iceland's credit grade to junk status last week...
...firms have started pumping money into projects, offering partners from Djibouti to the Philippines capital, skills and - perhaps most importantly - a sense that this also-ran of renewable energy is really viable. "I think [geothermal power] is the paramount moral obligation of Iceland in the modern world," President Olafur Grimsson told TIME. "There are over 100 countries that could do the same thing we have with their resources. This is the area in which we can really contribute...
...Iceland (pop. 300,000). In 2004, a Sportacus-themed healthy eating drive saw fruit and vegetable sales skyrocket by 22%. The country's Surgeon General has even credited the show with halting the rise of childhood obesity. " LazyTown is the most brilliant tax-saving phenomenon," Iceland's president, Olafur Grimsson, told TIME. "The chance of these children developing obesity-related diseases - which place a burden on the health system - has been greatly reduced...