Politics

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 18:25 UTC

  Falklands confirms £ 26m fishing and oil ‘windfalls’ only for the Consolidated Fund

  

  The Falkland Islands government at a public meeting defended their position of not including in the annual budget what they described as ‘windfalls’ from fishing and oil and instead adding the ‘exceptional” excess revenue to the Consolidated Fund.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 18:18 UTC

  MLA Hansen takes over Falklands’ Minerals portfolio following controversy

  

  Member of Legislative Assembly Ian Hansen will assume responsibility for the Falklands’ government Minerals portfolio after MLA Barry Elsby relinquished the post due to a conflict of interest. The brief release from Gilbert House adds that MLA Hansen has prior experience in the Minerals portfolio adding that MLA Jan Cheek will continue as the second portfolio holder.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 16:03 UTC

  Controversy over Spain’s recovery ‘round the corner’ and ‘the next Germany’ forecast

  

  US multinational financial service corporation Morgan Stanley has declared that Spain has already got over the worst of the economic crisis and augurs that it “will become the next Germany” in the European Union. This however is challenged by the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs, Citibank and the IMF.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 15:43 UTC

  Self determination and world examples dominated political debate hosted by Falklands

  

  The 43rd British Islands and Mediterranean Region (BIMR) Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), held in the Falkland Islands on the 12th and 13th February 2013, was described as both fascinating and provoking by delegates.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 04:59 UTC

  March and blackout to remember victims of Buenos Aires worst train station accident

  

  Relatives of the victims of Buenos Aires busiest railway station tragedy confirmed a demonstration at Plaza de Mayo for Friday to mark the first anniversary of the accident, February 22, 2012, and in which 51 people perished and over 700 were injured.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 04:16 UTC

  Colombia signs free trade agreement with South Korea eliminating 96% of tariffs

  

  Colombia on Thursday signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea in Seoul. The FTA includes a wide range of elements to boost bilateral trade and investment, according to the trade ministry.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:58 UTC

  Comic Beppe Grillo the outsider that has Italy’s political system “terrified”

  

  Comic Beppe Grillo, a political newcomer is sending shockwaves to the Italian political system ahead of national elections. Touring the country in a camper van and attracting tens of thousands to his rallies, Grillo has channeled the rage and frustration that Italians feel at the rampant waste and corruption of their political leaders.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:53 UTC

  Berlusconi rattles election campaign claiming Monti and Bersani have “Merkel’s blessing”

  

  Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti rowed back from comments suggesting that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed opposition to his political rivals on the centre-left days before an election next week.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:22 UTC

  Brazil/Russia agree to increase trade and cooperation in agriculture and defense

  

  Brazil and Russia signed several agreements in different fields geared to increase trade and to advance in defense, energy and agriculture cooperation, including the purchase of Russian anti aircraft missile batteries on condition that Moscow agrees to transfer technology.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 01:17 UTC

  Foreign companies don’t have to fear nationalization, if they invest, says Morales

  

  President Evo Morales said on Thursday that Repsol and the other multinational companies operating in Bolivia should not fear nationalization since his government only appeals to that extreme when corporations think in ‘looting’ instead of investing.