Iceland appears headed for a snap election after governing coalition collapses

LONDON (AP) — Iceland appears headed for a snap election after Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson pulled the plug on the Nordic nation’s fragile governing coalition. The prime minister asked President Halla Tómasdóttir on Monday to formally dissolve Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, for an election on Nov. 30, national broadcaster RUV reported. Benediktsson’s center-right Independence Party has governed since April with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left Green Movement. He said the coalition partners disagreed over issues including immigration, energy policy and the economy. Iceland is a wind-lashed island near the Arctic Circle with a population of about 385,000.