
Italy's new government line-up brings together personalities from across the political spectrum, from Silvio Berlusconi's apparent successor to a crime fighter and a militant feminist from the radical party. Some of the key names of the ‘grand coalition’ members tasked with tackling the social and economic crisis in recession-hit Italy-.

Europe is expected to accelerate a shift away from its austerity-first agenda this week as the new Italian government changes course and a German-Spanish investment pact underscores a renewed focus on combating record unemployment. This comes on the background of much criticized statements from European Commission president Jose Barroso who said ‘austerity was over’.

Deposits of Uruguayans in overseas banks experienced a drop in the last quarter of 2012, the second consecutive fall (3%), and now stand at 7.18bn dollars according to preliminary data released by the Bank for International Settlements.

An Argentine radical group involved in actions against cruise vessels and maritime traffic with the Falkland Islands has promised a similar campaign against Lan Chile offices in Buenos Aires, the airline which flies the only link of the Islands with the continent.

Argentina will make available a Coast Guard vessel in support of the ‘Antarctic Blue Whale Project’ and associated research activities planned for the 201314 season and coming years, according to a release from the Southern Ocean Research Partnership, SORP.

By Harold Briley - The Falkland Islands, South Georgia or the British Antarctic Territories stand to benefit from an ambitious science research project to commemorate Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 trans-Antarctic expedition.

This week penguins are celebrated through World Penguin Day (Thursday April 25) and Sarah Crofts from Falklands Conservation explains why more research is desirable on them in the Islands.

Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens. In a study published online in the Lancet medical journal, the scientists echoed previous statements from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese officials that there is as yet no evidence of human-to-human transmission of this virus.

A delegation of Falkland Islands lawmakers made a round of visits to European capitals and the European Union to inform on the recent referendum results in which an overwhelming turnout and vote indisputably decided the Islands wanted to remain as an Overseas Territory.

The Spanish National Statistics Institute, INE, reported on Thursday that the nation's unemployment rate shot up from 26.02% in the last quarter of 2012 to 27.16% in the first three months of this year. This is approximately 6.2 million Spaniards are out of a job. Youth unemployment stands at 57%.