Stories for August 20th 2013

Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 23:56 UTC
Over a million World Cup ticket requests on opening day: most from Brazil and Argentina

Over one million World Cup finals ticket requests were made within the first seven hours of public sale, soccer's world governing body FIFA said on Tuesday. Most demand for tickets came from Brazil, Argentina, United States, Chile and England.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 23:35 UTC
The sliding Brazilian currency has depreciated 18% in the last twelve months

The Brazilian currency Real, which is the region’s reference, is undergoing one of its major depreciations against the US dollar in the last four years because of the poor performance of its economy and the tendency is to continue, at least in the short term, given the uncertainty about US monetary policy.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 23:26 UTC
Malvinas debate: Ambassador Castro describes PM Cameron as ‘a fool and completely useless’

During a debate on the “Malvinas Question”, Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom Alicia Castro launched a strong attack on Prime Minister David Cameron describing him as “a fool, dumb, and completely useless” politician, because of his comments when the election of Pope Francis.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 22:41 UTC
Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history

By Simon Jenkins (*) (The Guardian) Nothing beats a gunboat. HMS Illustrious glided out of Plymouth on Monday (August 12), past HMS Victory and cheering crowds of patriots. Within a week it will be off Gibraltar, a mere cannon shot from Cape Trafalgar. The nation's breast heaves, the tears prick. The Olympic spirit is off to singe the king of Spain's beard. How dare they keep honest British citizens waiting six hours at Spanish border control? Have they forgotten the Armada?
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:53 UTC
Falklands ‘under British sovereignty since 1765’, says Commissioner Drake

British sovereignty of the Falkland Islands dates to 1765 and although Britain did not establish a permanent presence until 1833, it formally protested at sporadic Argentine attempts to assert sovereignty, points out Howard Drake, British High Commissioner to Canada.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:49 UTC
The Guardian forced by UK government to destroy Snowden material

The British authorities forced the Guardian newspaper to destroy material leaked by Edward Snowden, its editor has revealed, calling it a “pointless” move that would not prevent further reporting on US and British surveillance programs.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:45 UTC
PM Cameron’s office was ‘kept abreast’ with the decision to detain Greenwald’s partner

The Prime Minister’s office, 10 Downing Street, was “kept abreast” of the decision to detain David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald who has written about US and British surveillance programs based on leaks by Edward Snowden, a spokesperson has revealed.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:35 UTC
EC agrees to send fact-finding mission to investigate Spain controls at Gibraltar border

European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso and Spain’s Mariano Rajoy discussed Gibraltar on the phone and agreed that the Commission should dispatch observers to the border “as soon as possible” to examine controls on the movement of people and goods, the EC said in a statement.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:27 UTC
UK rejects Spain proposal for one-on-one talks on Gibraltar sovereignty

Britain rejected a Spanish proposal to hold one-on-one talks over the sovereignty of the contested British overseas territory (BOT) of Gibraltar after Spain issued an appeal for such negotiations to be held “as soon as possible”.
Tuesday, August 20th 2013 - 21:17 UTC
Garcia-Margallo column in the WSJ: “We need to talk about Gibraltar”

The following column was published on Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal displaying the Spanish position in the current dispute with Gibraltar and the border controls.
The column is credited to Jose Manuel García-Margallo who is Spain’s Foreign minister.