Reykjavik, Iceland

Russia to the rescue: Iceland was forced to take a $5.4 billion loan from Russia this week to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt. “We have not received the kind of support that we were requesting from our friends,” said Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde. “So in a situation like that one has to look for new friends.” Earlier this week, Iceland nationalized its second largest bank, Landsbanki. The financial crisis engulfing Europe has hit Iceland especially hard, because the Icelandic economy had already been in trouble for the past few years. High inflation and the 2006 closure of a U.S. military base, a large employer in the southwest of the country, have taken a toll.

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