Politics

• Saturday, October 21st 2017 - 08:09 UTC

  King insists Catalonia “is and will remain” in Spain. Rajoy planning a general election next January

  

  In his second intervention in the secession crisis, Spain's King Felipe VI has said Catalonia “is and will remain” an essential part of the country. He told an awards ceremony in the northern city of Oviedo that the Catalan government was causing a rift and Spain would solve the problem through democratic institutions.

• Saturday, October 21st 2017 - 08:03 UTC

  Catalonia customers withdrawing symbolic sums of money from banks leaving the region

  

  Bank customers in Catalonia are withdrawing symbolic amounts of money from financial institutions that have moved their official headquarters to other locations in Spain amid a political crisis over the region’s independence bid.

• Saturday, October 21st 2017 - 07:30 UTC

  Uruguay government announces presence of hydrocarbons in an exploratory well

  

  The Uruguayan government announced on Friday the presence of hydrocarbons in the north west of the country, in the framework of exploratory drilling by US based Schuepbach Energy. The discovery took place in the county of Paysandu, some 400kms north of the capital Montevideo.

• Saturday, October 21st 2017 - 07:05 UTC

  Family confirm body recovered in Argentine Patagonia is that of missing activist

  

  The body recovered from a river bed in southern Argentina is that of a missing activist who disappeared two months ago during a police operation, his brother confirmed on Friday. Santiago Maldonado, a 28-year-old tattoo artist, was last seen being detained by paramilitary police as they moved to disperse a protest march by the Mapuche indigenous group in the Patagonia Chubut province, on August first.

• Friday, October 20th 2017 - 14:08 UTC

  UK government's plans for Brexit are in “paralysis”, claims Labour

  

  The UK Government’s plans for Brexit are “in paralysis”, Labour claimed amid speculation crucial legislation will be delayed again. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said there was “chaos at the heart of Government” over the approach to leaving the European Union.

• Friday, October 20th 2017 - 07:49 UTC

  Spanish special cabinet meeting to take over powers of Catalonia

  

  Spain is to hold a special Cabinet meeting at the weekend to activate measures to take control of Catalonia’s semi-autonomous powers after the region’s leader said he would formally declare independence if no talks were offered.

• Friday, October 20th 2017 - 07:39 UTC

  May expects no advance on Brexit talks at the EU leaders' summit

  

  Prime Minister Theresa May has made clear that she is not expecting a Brexit breakthrough at this week’s summit of EU leaders, describing it as an opportunity to “take stock” of progress so far. Mrs. May said she would be setting out “ambitious plans” for further negotiations in the weeks ahead, and said she wanted to inject a new “urgency” into discussions on the post-Brexit rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons on the continent.

• Friday, October 20th 2017 - 06:03 UTC

  A Rose for Peace presented the Falklands by Argentine students

  

  The large number of Argentine visitors to the Falkland Islands this week included pupils of the Don Bosco College in Ensenada. Having spent the first full day of their stay visiting the military cemeteries at Darwin and San Carlos where they paid tribute to the fallen of both sides in 1982, on Monday the group, whose visit was arranged in conjunction with the British Embassy in Buenos Aires, was given a presentation on the Falklands by the FIG Policy Department.

• Friday, October 20th 2017 - 05:18 UTC

  Some thoughts about the 9 November Falklands' general election

  

  By John Fowler - At the time of going to press, so far sixteen brave or foolhardy souls have declared their candidature for the General Election. This is one more than in 2013 and may be the most ever. With an average age of less than fifty years this group is almost certainly the youngest. Gone, it would seem, are the days when only the wealthy, retired, unemployed, or possibly unemployable old were available to stand.

• Thursday, October 19th 2017 - 20:53 UTC

  “Untouchable” Temer does it again: Brazilian congress will support his full presidential mandate

  

  A Brazilian congressional committee on Wednesday voted against making President Michel Temer stand trial on corruption charges. The 39-26 vote by the justice committee in the lower house was non-binding but gives Temer political momentum ahead of the full chamber taking up the issue.