Falkland Islands

• Thursday, December 5th 2019 - 10:58 UTC

  Discovery of WW1 German Battlecruiser SMS Scharnhorst in Falklands waters

  

  The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust is pleased to announce that the wreck of SMS Scharnhorst has been located off the Falkland Islands. The Scharnhorst, an armoured battle-cruiser and the flagship of Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee’s East Asia Squadron, was sunk on 8 December 1914 during the Battle of the Falkland Islands, a crucial naval battle in the early days of the First World War.

• Thursday, December 5th 2019 - 09:59 UTC

  Suddenly out of the deep sea gloom emerged the mighty Scharnhorst with her great guns poking in every direction

  

  Mensun Bound, the leader of the mission which discovered the flagship of Admiral Graf von Spee's squadron, was born in the Falkland Islands and since a child has been obsessed with the sea, its mysteries, myths and the great Battle of the Falkland Islands, a decisive naval action at the start of the Great War of 1914.

• Tuesday, December 3rd 2019 - 09:35 UTC

  New Falklands Books: The Falkland Islands Journal 2019

  

  Ian Strange, who died in September 2018 aged 84, was a naturalist, accomplished wildlife artist and photographer who championed wildlife conservation in the Falkland Islands from the early 1960s.

• Saturday, November 30th 2019 - 08:35 UTC

  Norway sponsors a “mine free” world by 2025 with support from the Mine Ban Treaty signatories

  

  The 164 signatory countries to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) agreed on Friday to accelerate the work to achieve the goal of a “mine-free” world in 2025, Norway's foreign ministry said.

• Saturday, November 30th 2019 - 08:25 UTC

  Protection of Falklands' people democratic rights ensured in Conservative manifesto

  

  The Conservative and Unionist party manifesto for the coming 12 December election, “Get Brexit Done Unleash Britain’s Potential”, in one of its chapters includes a special mention to the democratic rights and the protection of the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and other Overseas Territories.

• Saturday, November 30th 2019 - 07:34 UTC

  Argentine minister underlines Falklands' cooperation with UK in his final report

  

  With the change of government in Argentina just round the corner, 10 December, the Foreign and Worship ministry presented a Foreign Policy Performance Report of the four-year mandate of outgoing president Mauricio Macri. The report was presented by Minister Jorge Faurie, and chapter 5 refers to the South Atlantic Islands, specifically the Falklands, and also Antarctica.

• Friday, November 29th 2019 - 08:01 UTC

  Falklands' finances have to manage with budget surpluses

  

  The Falkland Islands Standing Finance Committee met on November 27 in the Liberation Room, Stanley and reported that the forecast operating surplus for the year is now £11.3 million, excluding capital expenditure.

• Friday, November 29th 2019 - 07:51 UTC

  Falklands South America inaugural second weekly flight occurred in May 1979

  

  The following letter was posted in the Penguin News edition of this week, signed by GW Cheek, who for several decades was head of Civil Aviation in the Falkland Islands.

• Thursday, November 28th 2019 - 09:58 UTC

  Falklands: Argentina and UK agree to extend Humanitarian Plan to identify remains in multiple grave

  

  The outgoing government of Argentine president Mauricio Macri and the United Kingdom are in talks for an extension of the humanitarian plan which, with Falkland Islands consent and under the guidance of the International Committee of the Red Cross had enabled the identification of 115 remains buried in the Islands with the sole reference, “Argentine soldier, only known to God”, the tragic legacy of the 1982 conflict.

• Thursday, November 28th 2019 - 09:46 UTC

  Falklands government and fishing companies contrast over ITQ fees

  

  The announcement by the Falkland Islands Executive Council referred to ITQ fees, particularly toothfish and calamari, which would represent an annual £3.9 million additional income for government coffers, was contrasted by a release from the Falklands' seafood sector pointing out that “to increase quota access fees paid by local fishing companies by 50% will increase costs to the industry by £4 million per annum”