China's leaders have named Li Keqiang as premier, placing him at the helm of the world's second-largest economy. Mr Li, who already holds the number two spot in the Communist Party, takes over from Wen Jiabao.
This year’s Falkland Islands season has been much quieter than usual with over 19.000 passengers to the first week of March mainly because of cancellations due to weather and technical issues with a handful related to the political situation created by Argentine harassment early on the season, according to industry sources in the Islands.
January was the busiest month of the tourist season for South Georgia with 13 visits from cruise ships; in the second week of the month seven cruise ships visited. There were also visits by the Fishery Patrol Vessel, research vessels, and a large motor yacht, reports the latest editions of the South Georgia Newsletter.
The Argentine government demands to control the Falkland Islands against the wishes of the people who live there are fundamentally incompatible with modern democratic values and attempts to intimidate the Islanders must cease, said Foreign Secretary William Hague in an update to Parliament.
Under the heading of “Malvinas: British” the influential Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo describes the 99.8% result of the Falklands referendum as a “compelling defeat” for the Argentine government and a litigation hard to sustain when international law rests more on the peoples’ perspective than in the historic, real or imaginary territorial possession.
The government of President Cristina Fernandez is furious with the Brazil-based Vale mining company for suspending its 6 billion dollars potash development in Mendoza, the largest investment in Argentina in recent years.
The Canadian government said on Wednesday that the results of the Falkland Islands referendum are “very clear” and “only” the people of the Islands are entitled to decide on their future. However the European Commission refused to get involved in the discussion arguing it is an “internal affair” of an EU member.
The Argentine Congress in extraordinary sessions held on Wednesday in both Houses unanimously rejected the Falkland Islands referendum in which the local population overwhelmingly decided to remain as a British Overseas Territory.
Argentine consumer prices rose 0.5% in February, the smallest gain since June 2009, after supermarkets and home appliance retailers agreed to freeze prices for sixty days, according to the government’s much questioned stats office, Indec.
Leaders across the world celebrated the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the new Pope, considering it a historical moment and a fact that makes the Church more universal than ever.