Summary of the day
Volcanic lava destroyed several houses in Grindavík, after Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted on Sunday for the second time in less than a month.
Iceland’s president, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, said in an address yesterday that the country “must hold on to hope.”
The country’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, said today that work is ongoing to provide for residents’ housing needs.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office cautioned that the eruption centre is a high-risk area and new fissures could open without warning.
Farmers demonstrated in Berlin after a week of nationwide protests over rising costs and a plan to phase out agricultural fuel subsidies.
Thousands of tractors brought the city centre to a standstill. An estimated 30,000 protesters blocked the streets around the government quarter.
Joachim Rukwied, the president of the German farmers’ union, called on the government to scrap its plans to phase out fuel subsidies.
Facing a jeering crowd, the German finance minister, Christian Lindner, said he could not promise more aid from the budget “but we can fight together for you to enjoy more freedom and respect for your work”.
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While volcanic activity has eased, the eruption centre is a high-risk area and new fissures could open without warning, the Icelandic Meteorological Office cautioned, Reuters reported.
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The volcanic eruption is not over, the the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s Lovísa Mjöll Guðmundsdóttir said, public broadcaster RÚV reported.
Activity in the northern fissure has decreased, she said, but land continues rising at Svartsengi.
Here are the latest images from Iceland.
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Germany on track for two-year recession as economy shrinks in 2023
Germany is on track for its first two-year recession since the early 2000s after its economy shrank in 2023 amid the impact of higher energy costs and weaker industrial demand.
The German national statistics office said “multiple crises” affecting the economy had contributed to a 0.3% fall in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, compared with the previous year, as higher interest rates and elevated living costs took their toll.
“Despite recent price declines, prices remained high at all stages in the economic process and put a damper on economic growth,” said Dr Ruth Brand, the president of the statistics office, at a press conference in Berlin on Monday.
“The German economy did not continue its recovery from the sharp economic slump experienced in the pandemic year of 2020.”
Thousands of tractors block Berlin as farmers protest over fuel subsidy cuts
Thousands of tractors have brought Berlin’s city centre to a standstill as farmers from across Germany protested on parliament’s doorstep over rising costs and a plan to phase out agricultural fuel subsidies.
An estimated 30,000 protesters, including farmers supported by a wide range of representatives from other industries from fishing to gastronomy to logistics, blocked the streets around the government quarter on Monday with their vehicles, including lorries and forklift trucks, and even children’s toy tractors.
Joachim Rukwied, the president of the German farmers’ union, called on the government to scrap its plans to phase out fuel subsidies, warning that many farmers would be driven to bankruptcy by the decision.
“The government has the ability to change this,” he told thousands of protesters gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, adding:
“This much is too much. Take back the proposals.”
As soon as the government signalled it was prepared to backtrack, Rukwied promised, “the tractors will be withdrawn”.
Christian Lindner, the finance minister and the main force behind the decision to cut the fuel subsidy, was greeted with loud boos and whistles as he took to the stage to address the rally.
“Your protest is legitimate and your protest is peaceful,” he told the protesters, praising their “cohesion”. But his words were hardly heard above the angry tumult.
He acknowledged that anger among farmers went beyond the diesel subsidy. “Something has been brewing for decades,” he said. “We need to talk.” He added that a “new phase” had arrived, “in which we need to speak afresh about what the function of the state is”.
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More images from the farmers’ protest in Berlin.
'I can’t promise you more state aid,' finance minister tells German farmers
Facing a jeering crowd at the farmers’ demonstration in Berlin, the German finance minister, Christian Lindner, said he could not promise more money.
“I can’t promise you more state aid from the federal budget,” Lindner told the crowd, according to Reuters.
He added:
But we can fight together for you to enjoy more freedom and respect for your work.
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European election: Austrian party picks lead candidate
The Austrian People’s party has selected Reinhold Lopatka to lead its list in the upcoming European parliament election.
Der Bundesparteivorstand der Volkspartei hat heute die Spitzenkandidatur für die EU-Wahl einstimmig beschlossen. Als Spitzenkandidat wird @ReinholdLopatka das Team der Volkspartei anführen.
— Volkspartei (@volkspartei) January 15, 2024
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Here are more images from the farmers’ protest in Berlin today.
Iceland's government discusses housing for people affected by volcano eruption
Iceland’s government has met to discuss the response to yesterday’s eruption.
The country’s prime minister, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, said work is ongoing to provide for residents’ housing needs and that temporary measures introduced when Grindavík was evacuated in November will be extended, according to public broadcaster RÚV.
Minister of Justice Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir added:
The situation changed completely yesterday and people are not going to Grindavík for the next few months. We need to look at the housing issue in a new light and over a longer period of time. We were discussing it in the government, and will be discussing, how we can do it in the best possible way.
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Why Europe’s farmers are protesting – and the far right is taking note
The columns of tractors that have blocked roads in Germany, causing chaos in cities and headaches for commuters, are the latest wave in a growing tide of anger against efforts to protect Europe’s nature from the pollution pumped out by its farms.
In recent years, farmers in western Europe have fought with increasing ferocity against policies to protect the planet that they say cost too much.
Now the fight has come to Europe’s biggest economy.
After furious farmers dumped manure on the streets of Berlin in December, the German government watered down a plan to cut subsidies for diesel in farmyard vehicles.
But lobby groups are pushing them to scrap the plan entirely.
Joachim Rukwied, president of the German farmers’ association, said last Monday that 100,000 tractors had hit the streets for a week of disruptive protests. “Farmers today sent a clear signal to the federal government to completely withdraw the planned tax increases.”
For some farmers, the burden of paying for more of their pollution is a step too far after an energy crisis and pandemic that has left many struggling to make ends meet.
Some say they feel overburdened by rules and undervalued by city dwellers who eat the food they grow without knowing where it came from.
In agricultural giants like the Netherlands and France, farmers have expressed frustration at the pressure from governments to produce less after years of encouragement to make more.
Environmental activists say they do not want to reduce subsidies to farmers but instead spend them in a less destructive way.
Morgunblaðið has live footage of the area where lava had reached houses in Iceland.
Here is drone footage from Iceland, showing lava engulfing houses in Grindavík.
How have you been affected?
If you’ve been affected by the eruption in Iceland, we would like to hear from you. Have you been evacuated? Where are you now and what is your situation? Where are you staying? How did you feel about leaving your home? What damage has your town suffered and what are your concerns?
Farmers gather for a demonstration in Berlin
Farmers are demonstrating in Berlin today after a week of nationwide protests over planned cuts to agricultural sector subsidies.
Here are some photos from the German capital:
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Here are more images from yesterday.
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Here’s some footage from Iceland yesterday, as buildings were seen on fire in Fagradalsfjall, near Grindavík, after a volcano erupted for the second time in less than a month.
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Geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson told Iceland’s national broadcaster RÚV that that it seems that the southern fissure, which was closest to the fishing town of Grindavík, died out last night.
“Furthermore, the eruption has subsided elsewhere [in the other, bigger fissure], so it has decreased considerably,” the geophysicist said.
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In an address to the nation yesterday, Iceland’s president, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, said the country “must hold on to hope”.
He said:
What we all hoped would not happen has come to pass. It has come to pass that lava is flowing into Grindavík, a thriving town where people have built their lives, engaged in fishing and other occupations and created a community in harmony with God and one another.
The president added:
Although we now find ourselves in turmoil, we must hold on to hope. In some cases, this hope may be based in faith.
Lava once spilled out over the Vestmannaeyjar islands and ash covered the community. But the lychgate at the church there didn’t burn. The words ‘I live and you all will live’ stood on the gate and stand to this day.
But our hope may also be based on reason, on scientific knowledge and our ability to stay one step ahead of the forces of nature, despite it all.
‘What angered the gods so, when the lava flowed where we now stand?’ This was the answer given by the chieftain Snorri Þorgrímsson when it was claimed at Þingvellir over a thousand years ago that the gods had shown their anger towards Christians by causing lava to flow over the settlements.
People of Iceland. Since that time we have overcome various hardships, generation after generation, all the while enjoying the blessings of this county, this strikingly beautiful country.
We now wait and hope and take things as they come. And now all our plans for the future must take into account that a daunting period of upheaval has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula.
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Today’s dramatic front page of the Icelandic daily newspaper Morgunblaðið.
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Here are images from Iceland yesterday.
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Houses on fire as lava from volcano eruption reaches Icelandic town
Houses have caught fire in the fishing town of Grindavík in south-west Iceland after a volcano erupted for the second time in less than a month.
Two fissures formed near the town on Sunday after an increase in seismic activity that prompted authorities to evacuate the community the day before.
A first eruption began at 8am when a crack opened in the ground about 450 metres from the town. Protective barriers of earth and rock pushed lava from the first fissure away from the town. However, a second crack then opened around midday on the edge of town, measuring around 100 metres by the evening, with that lava engulfing the homes.
At least three houses were engulfed by fire, live images from TV broadcaster RUV showed.
Jets of glowing orange lava flowed out and a huge smoke cloud rose against the dark sky.
“In a little village like this one, we’re like a family, we all know each other as family – it’s tragic seeing this,” one local resident, Sveinn Ari Gudjonsson, told Agence France-Presse. “It’s unreal, it’s like watching a film,” added the 55-year-old, who works in the fishing industry.
Read the full story here.
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