
A Chilean court has confirmed that President Salvador Allende killed himself in 1973 as troops attacked the presidential palace to oust him. Official reports, accepted by his family, concluded that his death was suicide but his body was exhumed in 2011 to settle lingering doubts.

Russia's plans to build the world's biggest nuclear-powered icebreaker could attract more trade to the country, says a leading UK analyst. The new ship is meant to be more efficient at breaking ice and able to navigate in deep Arctic waters as well as shallow Siberian rivers.

By Trent Boultinghouse - This week marked the 39th anniversary of the Chilean coup d’etat that ousted the constitutional president of Chile, Salvador Allende, from office and gave rise to the vicious dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet was known for his adherence as an unabashed apostle to a hard-lined laissez-faire free market economic policy that was widely seen as the impetus for Chile’s economic revival.

The Falkland Islands Sand Bay abattoir is busily in the midst of preparing for the oncoming season, confirmed Assistant Manager Dave Roberts this week. He said there was a small amount of upgrade work to complete, “which couldn’t be done at the start of last export season, and this is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.”

Anticipating a greater demand for housing from oil developers and support activities the Falkland Islands government is advancing plans to further expand Stanley. Additional funding to take in phase two of the Sapper Hill housing development to the south of Stanley has been approved by the Standing Finance Committee totalling £1.3 million for a further 27 housing plots.

The individual average annual income of the Falkland Islands residents totals £ 20.100 (approx 32.000 US dollars) according to data from the latest 2012 Census, which also showed an exceptionally high economic activity rate and a very tight labour market with just 1% unemployment and 20% of residents with a second job.

The whistleblower in a breakthrough tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG has won a record-setting 104 million dollars reward from the US Internal Revenue Service, a handsome payout that could entice more informants to come forward.

Germany's Constitutional Court gave a green light for the country to ratify the Euro zone's new bailout fund and budget pact, but insisted the German parliament have veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund.

The Falkland Islands Government announced this week the appointment of Nicola Granger to the post of Financial Secretary for the Falkland Islands Government. Ms Granger steps into the role permanently from the Head of Finance Position when Keith Padgett became Chief Executive.

By Andrew Myers (*) Adapting a sophisticated climate model, researchers show that there is plenty of wind available to supply half to several times the world's total energy needs within the next two decades.