Reykjavik - Polar bears that drift ashore on Iceland should be shot and not offered a safe haven, a commission recommended Tuesday.

The commission was appointed this summer after two polar bears landed on the northern coast of Iceland apparently after being swept to sea on ice floes from Greenland, several hundred kilometres away.

Both polar bears were shot, but the move sparked protests from some conservationists and animal rights groups in the North Atlantic nation.

Reykjavik - Iceland that has been severely battered by the global credit crunch Thursday welcomed emergency loans approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Nordic neighbours.

Nordic neighbours of the cash-strapped North Atlantic nation earlier Thursday said they have approved a 2.5-billion-dollar loan, supplementing a similar IMF loan.

The Nordic announcement came the day after the executive board of the IMF approved a two-year 2.1-billion-dollar loan after a tentative deal was clinched last month.

Reykjavik - Germany on Thursday welcomed Iceland's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a 2.1-billion-dollar loan to tide it over a major financial crisis.

The deal paves the way for a quick settlement with some 30,000 German depositors in Kaupthing Bank, one of the North Atlantic nation's three main banking groups that recently collapsed over the global credit crunch.

Germany's Finance Ministry said it welcomed "Iceland's commitment to meet its obligations to depositors and ensure the fair, equal and non-discriminatory treatment of creditors."

Reykjavik/Dieburg - Karlheinz Bellmann went to Iceland to find out what had happened to his savings of 110,000 euros (138,000 dollars), missing since the collapse of the country's Kaupthing Bank.

Four days later, on his way back to Germany, the father of four had other matters on his mind: "What can one do to help the people here?"

Reykjavik/Oslo  - The president of Iceland has expressed anger and disappointment over the slow pace in securing emergency loans, reports said Wednesday.

Since traditional allies like the United States and Britain have failed to aid the cash-strapped North Atlantic nation, Iceland might have to "look for new friends, President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson was quoted in a Norwegian diplomatic report obtained by the Norwegian Klassekampen newspaper.

Grimsson, who does not have formal powers, expressed his views at a recent luncheon for diplomats.

Reykjavik  - Iceland's central bank on Thursday said it would keep its key interest rate at 18 per cent, after raising the rates at the end of October.

Inflation at the end of October hit almost 16 per cent, and could climb to 20 per cent early next year, the central bank said in its monetary bulletin that also projected that GDP would drop by over 8 per cent in 2009.

Stabilizing the Icelandic currency would bring down inflation and rates the bank said, adding that extending current wage agreements without further wage hikes was a factor.

The central bank, or Sedlabanki, raised interest rates from 12 to 18 per cent on October 28. In mid-October it had cut the rates from 15.5 per cent to 12 per cent.