International

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 20:46 UTC

  Falklands’ Desire Petroleum participating at North American Prospect Expo in Houston

  

  Falklands’ oil explorer Desire Petroleum Plc (AIM:DES) will be making presentations this week at the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE) in Houston.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 05:16 UTC

  Dutch scientists planning first lab-grown hamburger later this year

  

  Dutch scientists have used stem cells to create strips of muscle tissue with the aim of producing the first lab-grown hamburger later this year. The aim of the research is to develop a more efficient way of producing meat than rearing animals.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 04:28 UTC

  UK Secretary discusses Falklands’ defence in Parliament

  

  UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said on Monday that the British military presence in the Falklands has not increased recently since there was no recorded change to Argentine force levels, and there was no “current or credible” threat.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 04:14 UTC

  Protestant parson and human rights activist next German president

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel bowed to pressure on Sunday and agreed to back popular opposition candidate Joachim Gauck to become president, averting a political fight that might have distracted her government from solving the euro zone crisis.

• Saturday, February 18th 2012 - 06:25 UTC

  Zurich and Tokyo, and Geneva and Osaka, the world’s most expensive cities

  

  The strong Swiss franc has seen Zurich top Tokyo as the world's most expensive city in a survey out this week. Zurich, ranked fourth last year, took the unenviable crown in the 2012 Worldwide Cost of Living Survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

• Saturday, February 18th 2012 - 01:52 UTC

  “Argentina is not a country you’d want to be associated with”, says Falklands’ MLA

  

  Falkland Islands lawmaker Mike Summers accused Argentina of acting as a “schoolyard bully” trying to take sweets from others and described as intolerable that a country of that size should be trying to bully a country of 3.000 people into submission. “It’s a country you’d not want to be associated with”.

• Friday, February 17th 2012 - 18:49 UTC

  Songbird wheatear breeds in the Artic, flies across the Atlantic to spend winter in Africa

  

  The sharp-eyed northern wheatear is a songbird that weighs a mere 25 grams, about the same as two tablespoons of flour. With its spindly legs, its muted white, brown and black colour, who would think such a lightweight capable of heroic endurance?

• Friday, February 17th 2012 - 18:36 UTC

  German president resigns under pressure from strong corruption claims

  

  Germany's president resigned Friday in a scandal over favors he allegedly received before becoming head of state, and Chancellor Angela Merkel moved quickly to try and head off a domestic political crisis as she grapples with Europe's debt troubles.

• Friday, February 17th 2012 - 01:20 UTC

  Gold demand at 14 year high in 2011; China rapidly becoming top consumer

  

  Gold demand struck 14-year highs in 2011, driven by record investment, buying in China, which could overtake India this year as the world's top consumer, and central bank purchases, which hit their highest in at least 40 years, according to a report on Thursday.

• Friday, February 17th 2012 - 01:18 UTC

  HMS Protector meets RRS Ernest Shackleton in Antarctica

  

  Newly commissioned Royal Navy Ice patrol vessel HMS Protector met up with her sister ship, the RRS Ernest Shackleton, in Antarctica recently. Her role as Ice Patrol Ship is to: conduct hydrographical surveys; assist the British Antarctic Survey; conduct base inspections to support the Antarctic Treaty and patrol for unlicensed fishing and visitors