Wednesday marked the opening ceremony of the 21st Commonwealth Games which are being held from 4 -15 April at the Gold Coast in Australia. This is the tenth Commonwealth Games that the Falkland Islands have participated in and this time they will be competing alongside more than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 70 Commonwealth nations and territories.
On six continents around the globe, the currently 53 countries of the Commonwealth marked Commonwealth Day earlier in the week. The day included messages to the Commonwealth from Her Majesty the Queen as well as the UK Prime Minister, both of which have been covered by MercoPress. However, the Falkland Islands also reaffirmed its ties to the Commonwealth over recent days both within the Islands and elsewhere in the world.