Antarctica

• Monday, May 12th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Majority of Antarctica operators stop off in the Falklands

  

  THE annual International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) conference was held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay this year.

• Saturday, May 3rd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  All Antarctic ship operators now belong to IAATO

  

  Unity, a more agile membership structure and the fact that for the first time all Antarctic ship operators belong to IAATO are some of the outstanding results of the latest general assembly of the organization which this time was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

• Tuesday, April 29th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Benchmark US ruling on polar bears (and global warming)

  

  A US federal judge has ordered the Interior Department to decide by May 15 whether polar bears should be listed as a threatened species because of global warming. The decision was hailed by conservation groups which have been hounding the US government on the issue for years.

• Monday, April 14th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Protestors win half victory over Japanese whaling fleet

  Japan blamed the failure of its whaling fleet to net little more than half its target catch this year to “relentless interference” from environmentalists and described the situation as “regrettable”.

• Sunday, April 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Sub Antarctic seabed

  An earthquake magnitude 7.1 struck Saturday in the vicinity of Macquarie Island, which lies about halfway between Australia and Antarctica and 2.000 kilometers south from the New Zealand capital Wellington, said the US Geological Survey.

• Wednesday, March 26th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Gigantic ice shelf breaking away 1.000 miles from S. America

  

  A chunk of ice the size of the Isle of Man and bigger that the US state of Connecticut has started to break away from Antarctica in what scientists say is further evidence of a warming climate.

• Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Rock band to break world record by playing in Antarctica

  

  Emo rock band Fall Out Boy are set to break a world record next week by playing a concert in Antarctica. The US band will travel to Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile and then on March 25th to President Frei base in King George Island.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Chile re-opens base and reaffirms rights over Antarctica

  

  Chilean President Michelle Bachelet officially re-opened on Wednesday the Arturo Prat base in Antarctica which was the first to be established by the Chilean Navy in 1947 but was later closed in 2004.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  “Russia has no territorial claims over Antarctica”

  

  A Russian first deputy prime minister said this week that Russia has no territorial claims to Antarctica, and will strictly abide by an international convention on the continent, reports Novosti agency.

• Tuesday, March 11th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Magallanes co-sponsors reopening of Antarctic base

  Magallanes Region in the extreme south of Chile will co-sponsor the reopening of a base in the Antarctic continent which was inaugurated in 1947 but closed down in 2006, allegedly for budget reasons.