Stories for 2013

Sunday, March 10th 2013 - 11:29 UTC
Fitch downgrades Italy’s debt rating; economy forecasted to contract 1.8% this year

Ratings agency Fitch added to Italy's mounting problems this week by cutting its credit rating due to the political uncertainty after last week's election, deep recession and rising debt. Fitch lowered Italy's sovereign rating by one notch to BBB plus, with a negative outlook, raising the risk that its next ratings change will be a further downgrade.
Sunday, March 10th 2013 - 01:56 UTC
Argentine lawmakers to call special session to reject Falklands’ referendum

The Argentine ruling coalition and opposition lawmakers have coordinated efforts to convene an extraordinary session of the Senate to draw up a unanimous rejection of the referendum taking place Sunday and Monday in the Falkland Islands
Sunday, March 10th 2013 - 01:52 UTC
Venezuela announces snap presidential election for April 14

Venezuela announced Saturday that it will hold a presidential election to succeed late leader Hugo Chavez on April 14 after his political heir took office. The national electoral council set the date one day after Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's handpicked successor, was sworn in as acting president in a ceremony largely boycotted by the opposition, which slammed it as unconstitutional.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 22:58 UTC
Only 15% of Argentines believe Falklands should decide their future but in UK, 88%

Only 15% of Argentines think Falkland Islanders should have a say in their own future, and a quarter still believe that the islands will one day be governed from Buenos Aires, but in the UK, 88% of British people said the Islanders should have a say on who ruled them.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:57 UTC
Maduro takes the oath as acting president and candidate for the coming elections

Vice-President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday as acting president of Venezuela in a ceremony held in the National Assembly in Caracas, three days after the death of President Hugo Chavez. He immediately asked the Electoral branch to decide on an election date.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:35 UTC
Falklands’ rights and sovereignty

By Sir Peter Westmacott (*) - Where in the world can you celebrate Margaret Thatcher Day with five kinds of wild penguins? Nowhere but in the Falkland Islands, a windswept archipelago in the South Atlantic that’s about the same area as Connecticut but has a population of only 3.100. This weekend, these small islands with a big personality face a momentous choice: a referendum to decide their political future.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:30 UTC
Iran’s Ahmadinejad received a standing ovation at Chavez emotional funeral

Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cuba's Raul Castro joined on Friday about thirty other heads of state at Hugo Chávez's funeral in an emotional farewell to the charismatic Venezuelan leader who during his fourteen years in office had a major impact on South American politics.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:20 UTC
Mujica tells Venezuelans that big contradictions in society are ‘not squashed but conducted’

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica called for unity and responsibility in Venezuela, ‘to fight for freedom and peace’ and cautioned that big contradictions in a society are not squashed but conducted. He also called on Brazil to lead the region but warned: “not creating a new regional empire”.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:10 UTC
A woman is commander of RAF Search and Rescue Force over UK and Falklands

In recognition of International Women's Day on 8 March the British Armed Forces profiled Group Captain Sara Mackmin who is the new commander of the RAF Search and Rescue Force with responsibility over the UK and the Falkland Islands.
Saturday, March 9th 2013 - 05:03 UTC
Falklands’ referendum: the view from the Islands, “as many as 98% of voters will say Yes”

“We hope, by voting overwhelmingly in favour of remaining British, the rest of the world will understand and support our right to self-determination”. The message is clear in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, in all of Argentina that is calling for sovereignty negotiations with the United Kingdom.