Politics

• Friday, December 6th 2013 - 07:05 UTC

  Brazil's central bank expected to keep current pace of interest rate increases

  

  Brazil's central bank said its current pace of interest rate increases remains appropriate to rein in consumer prices, repeating language it used to justify previous half-percentage-point increases, according to the November 26/27 minutes released on Thursday.

• Friday, December 6th 2013 - 06:45 UTC

  Brazilian authorities admit to have learnt from Confederations Cup protests

  

  Brazilian authorities say they've learned from demonstrations during the Confederations Cup not to let protesters get too close to stadiums at the upcoming World Cup. Andrei Augusto Rodrigues, security head for major events at Brazil's justice ministry, acknowledged that police misjudged the threat to public safety at Rio de Janeiro in June at the final of the Confederations Cup, a World Cup warm-up.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 20:42 UTC

  Battle of the Falklands to be commemorated on Sunday 8th December

  

  The Falkland Islands will commemorate on Sunday the naval engagement of 8th December 1914 when the Royal Navy sunk with a minimum loss of life the German fleet, an event which until Liberation Day, 14 June 1982, was the most outstanding of the Islands calendar.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 20:29 UTC

  Falklands granted 5.9 million Euros by Europe for economic development activities

  

  The European Commission announced on Thursday that the Falkland Islands has been allocated a sum of 5.9million Euros to support economic development activities between 2014 and 2020. The announcement of the new allocation under the European Development Fund was made at the 12th Annual OCT-EU Forum being held in Brussels this week.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 20:03 UTC

  Foreign Office warn football fans to be on the ball when planning trips to Brazil

  

  Ahead of the World Cup draw on Friday the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) are teaming up to urge England fans to do their homework before booking travel to Brazil.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 19:06 UTC

  How Gibraltar 2002 referendum foundered plan for joint-sovereignty with Spain

  

  It was 2002 when Spain and UK had agreed the broad terms of joint sovereignty over Gibraltar, including inclusion in Schengen and the Customs Union. But the deal unraveled once the then Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana held the referendum later that year. This is the story as told by former Spanish premier Jose Maria Aznar, according to the Gibraltar Chronicle.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 18:55 UTC

  UK and Germany support small scale renewable energy project in Chile

  

  The UK is supporting and helping finance the development of a 20 million-dollar small scale renewable energy project in Chile. The project will be financed from the joint UK-Germany NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action) Facility and Chile's is only one in four of 47 projects worldwide that applied for this funding and reflects the quality of the Chilean application.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 14:44 UTC

  Argentine government retains majority and initiative in new congress

  

  The 127 Argentine Lower House members who were elected in the 27 October midterm election took the oath of office during a ceremony in Congress on Wednesday which ensures the ruling coalition of President Cristina Fernandez the necessary votes for quorum and absolute majority.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 05:56 UTC

  Taking a positive Falklands message to Brazil

  

  “Unthinkable, unacceptable and unsupportable” was how Joanisval Brito Goncalves, Senior Legilslative Counselor for International Affairs and Defence Issues at the Brazilian Senate, described the Argentine government’s attitude to the Falkland/ Malvinas Islands in a press conference held in Stanley on Wednesday afternoon.

• Thursday, December 5th 2013 - 00:03 UTC

  Economic crisis or 'greens': bicycles outsold cars in 26 of the EU 28 state members

  

  Figures from industry bodies indicate that bicycles outsold cars in 26 of the European Union's 28 states in 2012. It is thought the trend reflects a slump in car sales brought on by the continent's economic crisis.