MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Penguin News Update.

Headlines:
World Cup madness begins;
Councillors take ?courteous but uncompromising' message to C24; Liberation Day; Shipping short list; Hitting the road for charity.

World Cup madness begins

THE globe's biggest football tournament, the World Cup, begins in Germany today and, judging by the surge in local sales of flags bearing the Cross of St George, support in the Falklands is overwhelmingly for England. BFBS1 television is to ?go live' for every England game, beginning with tomorrow's fixture against Paraguay. Kick off is 9am local time. Picture: Boy Miranda and Lee Clement make no bones about where their allegiance lies.

Councillors take ?courteous but uncompromising' message to C24

FOLLOWING another year of difficult relations with Argentina, two Falklands councillors are on their way to New York this weekend, to deliver their annual address to the United Nation's Committee on Decolonisation (C24). Councillors Richard Stevens and Richard Davies will present the Islands' case to the C24 on Thursday, June 15. Whilst reluctant to reveal the exact content of his speech prior to his departure, Councillor Davies said he and his colleague will be highlighting, "...the lack of progress and the lack of Argentine co-operation on joint issues" in their speeches. "The message will be courteous but uncompromising, putting very strongly the case for justice..." he added. The two are likely to meet the Argentine Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jorge Taiana, who this week told the Organisation of American States that Britain has been conducting "unilateral action" which is causing co-operation efforts by both countries "to fail". Councillor Davies said Mr Taiana seems to have "deliberately misunderstood" the purpose of the 1999 Agreement: "In his speech he says it was to create a suitable atmosphere for a resumption of negotiations on sovereignty. Britain and the Falklands have always made it abundantly clear that the sovereignty is never going to be on the table... "What we are trying to achieve - and what the 1999 Agreement achieved for a period - is co-operation on things of mutual interest such as the fishery." He said such co-operation is not only of benefit to the Falklands and Argentina but also to third party countries, "...like Spain, who are being messed about because of the problems with Argentina's threat to companies fishing in both waters." Councillor Davies rebutted Mr Taiana's allegation that Britain has acted unilaterally in a number of areas, including the introduction of the new Fisheries Ordinance. Councillor Davies commented, "The Fishing Ordinance was an act of the Falkland Islands Government (FIG), not the UK Government; it is FIG carrying out the normal business of being a government and being a country, it was a sensible step in commercial and conservation areas. "We're just getting on with the business of running our country, we're not going to stop that because everything we do is deemed a unilateral breach of the 1999 agreement..." Despite all this, Councillor Davies says he is looking forward to meeting Mr Taiana at the C24 next week. He commented, "He's an intelligent, well thought of, experienced diplomat with a good record on human rights; the fact that he has to wheel out these really untenable arguments and defend the indefensible shows what a difficult job he's got."

Liberation Day

WEDNESDAY, June 14 is Liberation Day, commemorating the deliverance by British Forces of the Falkland Islands from Argentine occupation in 1982. A thanksgiving service will be held in Christ Church Cathedral beginning at 9.45am and at 11am a ceremony will be held at the Liberation Monument. A civic reception will be held in the FIDF Club from 11.30am to 12.30pm. Two Royal Navy veterans of the Falklands War, Stephen Kay and John Callaghan are in the Islands for the commemorations.

A SHORT list has been drawn up of companies interested in developing shipping and ferry services within the Falklands. General Manager of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation, Mr Julian Morris, told yesterday's meeting of the Transport Advisory Committee that the recent coastal shipping tender process attracted responses from six different companies and seven proposals for developing a regular East West Link and providing a shipping service to the Islands. These preliminary proposals vary considerably in capability, cost and scale, said Mr Morris, who also revealed that the proposals included ?roro' and conventional cargo operation and included single and two vessel solutions. The government's tender board has reviewed the bids and produced a short list and report which the Chief Executive received on Friday, June 2. Following consideration by the Transport Advisory Committee a paper will be submitted to Executive Council.

Hitting the road for charity

TWO people are embarking on testing challenges this weekend with good causes fixed firmly in their sights. Trudi Clarke of Stanley plans to walk non-stop from Blue Beach, San Carlos to Stanley, raising money for the South Atlantic Medal Association and the Falklands Memorial Chapel in Pangbourne and, with only a few days until he completes his tour of duty in the Falklands, David Adam of MPA is aiming to raise £3,000 for a charity which helps children with autism. Trudi has opened an account at Standard Chartered Bank called ?Charity Walk' and anyone wishing to donate can make a direct payment. This is her third effort for SAMA and Pangbourne Chapel; in 2002 she walked from Salvador to Stanley and in 2004 she walked North Arm to Stanley. The two causes are close to her heart: "With SAMA, I always like to do something to help the guys who were here in 1982; it's my way of remembering what they did for us." She describes Pangbourne chapel as "an amazing place" and adds, "It has a big place in my heart, and it's good to be able to give something towards the upkeep of it..." Trudi hopes to complete in the walk in 24-25 hours. Running for autism David Adam will set off from Mount Pleasant at 9am on Sunday morning and run to Stanley, a distance of 36 miles. David's son has Asbergers Syndrome and he is raising money for a charity which organises events for children with autism and their siblings. £3,000 will fund the charity for two years. In addition to sponsorship, David is also gathering donations through collection boxes in Standard Chartered Bank, the Globe Tavern and the Victory Bar.

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