Stories for March 2013

Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:41 UTC
Independence party strikes serious setback for PM Cameron in by-election

British Prime Minister David Cameron was under pressure after his Conservatives were beaten into third place in a key election last March first, by his scandal-hit coalition partners and a Euro-skeptic party.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:32 UTC
Falklands’ governor tells The Sun “Argentina keeps making stuff up”

Falkland Islands Governor Nigel Haywood accused Argentina of “making stuff up” in its relentless verbal assault on the UK and the Islands. With a referendum on whether the Islanders want to remain British less than a week away, Haywood vowed to keep “pushing back” against the “extraordinary” sabre-rattling, UK’s sensationalist tabloid The Sun published.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:27 UTC
Grillo wants a referendum on the Euro and a review of Italy’s debt situation

Beppe Grillo, the leader of the 5-Star Movement that shocked the Italian political system has said he wants an online vote on Italy's membership of the Euro, in an interview with a German magazine published.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:18 UTC
Mexico’s Peña Nieto trying to change the reputation of the powerful PRI

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto sounded a warning shot to his ruling party over corruption, saying no one is above the law as he tries to tackle the graft that has blighted its reputation in the past.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:15 UTC
Bolivian president Morales confirms Chavez suffering from relapses

Bolivian president, Evo Morales, says his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, is in stable conditions but still suffering from relapses in his recovery from a fourth round of surgery for cancer. Morales couldn't meet with Chavez but said doctors and relatives of Chávez informed him about his current condition.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:08 UTC
EU begins campaign to uncover extent of branding fraud with horse meat

The European Union wide campaign to determine the extent of branding fraud in the food industry, with horse meat sold as beef, commenced on the weekend. Over 2,250 processed food items will be tested for DNA in member states.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:04 UTC
US fourth quarter GDP revised to positive, but still far from satisfactory

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the US in the last three months of 2012 has been revised from showing contraction to growth. The Commerce Department's second estimate was that the economy had grown at an annualised 0.1%. The first estimate was a 0.1% contraction.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:55 UTC
Brazilian special forces take control of Rio ‘favelas’ close to the airport and seaport

Brazilian security forces seized control of two crime-ridden ‘favelas’ slums near Rio do Janeiro’s international airport and seaport Sunday in a new bid to drive out drug traffickers ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics.
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:43 UTC
Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands: Another Falklands?

By Gwynne Dyer - Chinese survey vessels go into the waters around the disputed islands and Japanese patrol ships tail them much too closely. Twice last month Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft flew into the airspace around the Japanese-controlled islands and Tokyo scrambled F-15 fighters to meet them. On the second occasion, China then sent fighters too. Can these people be serious?
Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:34 UTC
C24 president insists Falklands dispute is over sovereignty, not self determination

The UN Decolonisation Committee has not received any further requests on the Falklands/Malvinas issue, and “there is no such procedure as self-determination regarding the Islands dispute”, according to the C24 president Diego Morejón Pazmiño, standing Ecuadorean ambassador before the UN.