Politics

• Saturday, March 30th 2013 - 10:15 UTC

  Falkland Islands: More stunts can be expected from Argentina says visiting diplomat

  

  “I THINK there is no doubt that the Argentine Government will continue to look for opportunities to pull stunts of one kind or another.”
  The speaker was Dr Peter Hayes, the Director of the FCO’s Overseas Territories Directorate who was paying a short visit to the Falkland Islands last week.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 11:58 UTC

  Falkland Islands “close to the hearts” of Chileans, says Punta Arenas British consul

  

  A reception was held at the Falkland Islands Government House in honour of the Honorary British Consul in Punta Arenas, John Rees MBE, who is currently visiting the Islands at the invitation of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 10:25 UTC

  Chile: Back from UN job Bachelet confirms she is running for president next November

  

  Popular former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet announced late Wednesday that she is running in the 17 November election. Bachelet, the country's first female president 2006-2010, made the announcement at a public event in a southern Santiago neighborhood where she grew up.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 10:15 UTC

  Falklands’ sovereignty belongs to the ‘whole of Latinamerica’ says Uruguay

  

  Foreign minister Luis Almagro said on Wednesday that Malvinas Islands’ sovereignty belongs to the whole of Latinamerica and as part of Latinamerica and the Caribbean, “we will defend the territorial integrity of the continent”.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 10:03 UTC

  Uruguay 2012 GDP expanded 3.9% boosted by construction and domestic demand

  

  Uruguay’s GDP expanded 3.9% last in 2012 over the previous year despite a slight contraction in the fourth quarter, according to a late Wednesday release from the Central bank. The bank’s original estimate was 4%. In 2011 the economy grew a revised 6.5%.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 09:56 UTC

  Argentina prepared to offer suing ‘vulture funds’ a 25-year bond, says Ambito

  

  Argentina plans to offer suing “holdout” creditors a 25-year bond equal to the face value of their debt when the country defaulted in 2002, local financial daily Ambito Financiero reported on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 09:40 UTC

  “Only a mentally ill would want to govern Italy now” says frustrated Bersani

  

  The head of Italy's centre-left bloc has hit an impasse in his efforts to form a government and said only a mentally ill person would want to govern Italy now. Pier Luigi Bersani was rebuffed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement on Wednesday.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 09:30 UTC

  All EU eyes on Cypriot banks which open Thursday with tough deposit controls

  

  Cyprus trucked out cash for its banks on Wednesday night to prepare them to reopen to a siege by anxious depositors, with tough controls imposed on the use of currency to avert a bank run as a result of its harsh rescue deal.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 09:26 UTC

  Frustration with Hollande at its peak; Thursday he will address the French people

  

  French President Francois Hollande's popularity rating has fallen to its lowest level since he came to power, according to a poll released a day before he is due to address the nation to ask for patience as he attempts to revive the economy.

• Thursday, March 28th 2013 - 09:19 UTC

  China and Brazil sign agreement to trade in their local currencies

  

  China and Brazil signed an agreement to do billions of dollars of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers work to lessen dependence on the US dollar and Euro.