Politics

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 17:21 UTC

  Royal Navy orders four 37.000 tons tankers to support renewed surface fleet and attack submarines

  

  A new generation of 37.000-tons tankers has been ordered for the Royal Navy fleet, the MoD announced Wednesday. The new Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers will maintain the Royal Navy’s ability to refuel at sea and will provide fuel to warships and task groups.

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 16:33 UTC

  Cameron reaffirms to Rajoy 30.000 Gibraltarians right to self determination

  

  Britain will not negotiate with Spain on the question of sovereignty over Gibraltar without the approval of the colony's residents, Premier David Cameron said this week during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 04:09 UTC

  Spain’s Ibero-America cooperation secretary arrives in Buenos Aires

  

  Spain’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Ibero-America Jesus Gracia begins Wednesday in Argentina his first trip to South America with the purpose of reviewing bilateral relations and reporting on the preparations for the coming Ibero-American summit to be held in Cadiz.

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 04:04 UTC

  Argentina begins offensive to strengthen ties with CARICOM members

  

  Argentina is hoping to use its “strong political commitment” with St Lucia to strengthen ties with the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, its ambassador Marcelo Aldo Salviolo has said.

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 01:20 UTC

  Argentina’s Malvinas policy leads no where; China and Taiwan, an inspiring example

  

  Argentina has fallen prisoner of two conflicting positions on the Malvinas Islands issue which lead no where in the objective of claiming sovereignty over the South Atlantic Islands, says Carlos Perez Llana a former Argentine ambassador in Paris and political science and diplomacy professor.

• Wednesday, February 22nd 2012 - 00:05 UTC

  Mines swept by heavy rainfall forces closure of Chile/Peru border passage

  

  A main border pass between Chile and Peru remains closed to all traffic because recent heavy rainfall and flooding have swept antipersonnel and anti-tank mines in the region, in some cases all the way to the Pacific, where beaches have been put out of limits.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 23:59 UTC

  President Chavez announces he has to undergo another operation

  

  Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez said on Tuesday he would have to undergo another operation after doctors in Cuba found a lesion in his pelvis where surgeons removed a large cancerous tumour last year.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 22:41 UTC

  Timerman Falklands ‘militarization claim’ with little echo at UN admits Argentine press

  

  The Argentine minister Hector Timerman presentation before the United Nations claiming the “militarization of the South Atlantic” from the Falklands by the UK does not seem to be having the expected echo according to press reports from Buenos Aires, based on correspondents’ contributions from New York.

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

  Suspending Lan flight can only be seen as an “economic blockade” against the people of the Falklands

  

  British ambassador in Chile Jon Benjamin said that if Lan flights to the Falkland Islands from Chile are suspended this can only be interpreted as an “economic blockade” of the Islands and strongly suggested that the administration of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is trumpeting the Malvinas card pushed by “domestic interests”.

• Tuesday, February 21st 2012 - 21:07 UTC

  Argentina/UK 2011 bilateral trade totalled 1.4bn dollars; could suffer ‘Malvinas’ dispute impact

  

  A private Argentine report warns that the current diplomatic dispute over the Falklands/Malvinas could have an impact on bilateral trade with the UK which last year totalled over 1.4 billion dollars with a 150 million surplus for Buenos Aires.