International

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 04:18 UTC

  UK expects Uruguay to respect the Falklands’ referendum, which is a three sided event

  

  British ambassador in Uruguay Ben Lyster-Binns said the coming referendum in the Falkland Islands involves the people of the Islands, United Kingdom and Argentina and expects the Uruguayan government to respect the referendum even when Foreign Minister Luis Almagro anticipated that the country will not recognize the results of the ballot.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 01:00 UTC

  Hague accuses Argentina of “bullying and intimidatory behavior” towards the Falklands

  

  Foreign Secretary William Hague has accused Argentina of “bullying and intimidatory behaviour” towards the Falkland Islands. Mr Hague in a Sunday interview with The Sun promised never to negotiate over the islands' sovereignty unless their people called for it - a referendum will take place next month.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 00:54 UTC

  Cruise lifeboat safety drill ends in tragedy killing five crew members

  

  Five people are dead following a lifeboat safety drill aboard a cruise vessel in the Canary Islands that turned in to a tragedy. The lifeboat fell about 20 meters when a cable snapped, trapping crew members beneath it and killing five of them

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 09:01 UTC

  EU agreement on multi-annual budget with a 3.3% reduction for the time

  

  After lengthy talks in Brussels European leaders have reached an agreement on the budget for 2014-20 with a ceiling of 960 billion Euros, the first time the EU multi-annual budget has been reduced.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 08:53 UTC

  Breathing space for Ireland as EU softens bail-out conditions

  

  Ireland clinched a long-awaited deal to ease the burden of its bank debts, sending its borrowing costs falling to pre-crisis levels and bolstering its chances of ending its reliance on EU-IMF loans this year.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 08:49 UTC

  Scandal extends to Europe: horsemeat in frozen lasagne and spaghetti Bolognese

  

  British Environment secretary is to meet representatives from the Food Standards Agency and meat retailers and suppliers to discuss the horsemeat scandal. Owen Paterson said investigations into how beef products had been contaminated with horsemeat were ongoing but “the evidence so far suggests... it is either criminal activity or gross negligence”.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 08:38 UTC

  Financial Times gets it wrong on Falklands and Gibraltar ‘trilateral’ dialogue

  

  Chief Minister Fabian Picardo this week wrote to the Financial Times after the respected financial daily made a glaring error about Gibraltar in an editorial column centred on Argentina.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 08:33 UTC

  Spain disappointed with Gibraltar’s Picardo picture next to President Obama

  

  The Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has contacted the US government to express its unease over the recent visit by the Gibraltar Government to Washington, according to reports published in Spain.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 00:34 UTC

  Major Commonwealth parliamentary conference opens Tuesday in the Falklands

  

  The 43rd British Islands and Mediterranean Region Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which is being hosted by the Falkland Islands for the second time will begin next Tuesday and will convene 37 delegates with Canada and Anguilla as observers.

• Saturday, February 9th 2013 - 00:07 UTC

  “Islanders exist: here we are”, the toast at Falkland House in London

  

  Falkland Islands lawmaker Dick Sawle invited to toast for “the existence of the Islanders” during a reception at Falkland House in London, on Thursday evening, at the end of a hectic but productive week of contacts, interviews and intense lobbying for the Islands and the coming March referendum.