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Montevideo, December 4th 2024 - 19:20 UTC

Stories for August 2017

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 10:25 UTC

    Baton’s subpolar stopover in Falklands before Europe

    Children and athletes from every active sports club marked the Baton’s route

    The Commonwealth Games Queens Baton visits all 71 Commonwealth countries and territories on its journey from Buckingham Palace to the host city. In 2018 that is Gold Coast in Australia; one territory is missing from the relay, because it has not been possible to schedule St Helena this year. However several Saints saw and carried the baton in the Falkland Islands, so we have helped a little bit.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 08:31 UTC

    UK envoy in Brazil promotes trade and scientific cooperation

    UK Trade Envoy for Brazil, Mark Prisk MP (C) with some of the new scholars from Recife (Pic Twitter)

    Mark Prisk, the UK’s trade envoy to Brazil makes his first visit to Recife this year with the purpose of increasing dialogue between the region and United Kingdom. He will discuss topics such as trade, smart cities and the UK government’s international awards scheme, Chevening in bilaterals with Porto Digital and Fiepe. The Trade Envoy was previously in São Paulo in where he held meetings with government and private sector representatives.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 08:18 UTC

    Applications for Chevening scholarships open in Argentina

    Since 1991, more than 480 Argentines have been selected to take part in the prestigious program and are now successful professionals in different areas

    The British Embassy in Buenos Aires has announced that the call for applications for Chevening scholarships will be open until 7 November. The scholarships are awarded to applicants with proven leadership skills and a strong professional and academic background.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 07:46 UTC

    Weaker sterling helps boost the number of visitors to UK, up 7% in June

    The big increase in visitors from North America, from 483,000 in June of 2016 to 650,000 this year, was “clearly buoyed by the sharp drop of the pound”

    The number of visitors to the UK rose to 3.5 million in June, up 7% from the same month last year, according to official figures. The number of visitors from North America shot up by 34%, and visitors overall spent £2.2bn, a rise of 2%, the UK Office of National Statistics, ONS, said.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 07:21 UTC

    Trump's advisor and top electoral strategist Steve Bannon, abandons White House

    White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the departure, effective Friday, was “mutually agreed” to by Bannon and Chief of Staff John Kelly.

    Steve Bannon is set to return to his previous position at Breitbart News after he was forced to resign from his post Friday as White House chief strategist, the news outlet announced late Friday. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the departure, effective Friday, was “mutually agreed” to by Bannon and Chief of Staff John Kelly. “We are grateful for his service and wish him the best,” Sanders added in a statement.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 06:57 UTC

    Falklands' all health and social services sites Smoke Free as of February

    Someone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day can, in just one year, save enough money for two return flights to the UK if they stop smoking.

    The Falkland Islands announced that all Health & Social Services sites are to be Smoke Free from 1st February 2018. Following on from the ban on smoking in any Government property, the Health & Social Services Department are going one step further by banning cigars, cigarettes and any vaping devices from all Health & Social Services sites, starting from the 1st February 2018.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 06:42 UTC

    Lord Hague: Brexit, “the most complex task”, any government has faced since the WW2

    Lord Hague suggests continuing to have quite a liberal approach on migration, which is essential to the UK economy in the short-term

    Lord Hague has compared Brexit to taking control of a gun, saying it is possible to find a solution without using it to “shoot your foot off”. The former Conservative leader said he believes there is sufficient common ground among the different political parties to negotiate with the EU.

  • Saturday, August 19th 2017 - 06:32 UTC

    Number of students accepted at UK university drops: demographics, funding and Brexit

    The fall comes in the wake of a drop in applications at UK universities this autumn, fuelled by factors including a fall in the 18 and 19-year-old population

    The number of students accepted on to UK degree courses has fallen this year, early UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) figures show. In total, 416,310 people have taken up places, down 2% compared with the same point last year.

  • Friday, August 18th 2017 - 21:10 UTC

    Brazilian economic activity (and optimism) picking up

    The central bank reduced the benchmark Selic interest rate to the lowest in four years as inflation plunged below the bottom end of its target range.

    Economic activity in Brazil expanded at a faster pace than expected in June, the latest in a batch of reports suggesting an economic recovery may be taking hold. Economic activity rose 0.50% from May after seasonal adjustments, the central bank said on Thursday.

  • Friday, August 18th 2017 - 20:54 UTC

    General Lee statues controversy: Trump drops plan for an advisory group on infrastructure

    A White House official said the infrastructure council, which was still being formed, “will not move forward”. Trump looks to spend US$1 trillion on infrastructure.

    United States president Trump is dropping plans to create an advisory group on infrastructure, a day after two other business panels were dissolved. The president has faced a backlash from business leaders over his remarks this week on white supremacists.