Argentina’s minister of Defence called on the UK “to sit and dialogue” over the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty and warned that the British military presence in the South Atlantic “is the only element that upholds the usurpation of that part of our national territory”.
UK Fisheries minister Richard Benyon has been swimming with sharks to highlight his desire to tighten the European ban on “finning”. Mr Benyon took the plunge into a tank of sharks at Sealife London Aquarium to launch a Shark Trust initiative calling for support to close loopholes in the EU ban on slicing off shark fins and discarding the bodies at sea.
Amazonas, the first of three BAE Systems built Ocean Patrol Vessels being delivered the Brazilian Navy, departed the UK for Rio de Janeiro this week after her crew completed a rigorous program of Flag Officer Sea Training with the Royal Navy off the South coast of England
A stable economy, a burgeoning domestic market and huge untapped reserves of natural resources have led foreign investors to become increasingly interested in Brazil as an investment destination although there are challenges to sustaining this attractiveness according to Ernst & Young's first annual Brazilian Attractiveness Survey.
The investigation into the vandalized hermitage at the Argentine Cemetery in the Falklands has seen the local police investigation extend to the UK and Argentina. Forensic material has been sent to Britain and Falklands’ police have requested the Malvinas Families Commission to help identify the origin of a Spanish Bible with a message signed by a “Viviana” found inside the attacked shrine.
The Chief Executive of Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd, FOGL, has said that its farm out agreement with Texas based US firm Noble Energy is not “politically motivated”, according to a report by the Daily Telegraph.
The Schmallenberg virus reached the UK this summer and could spread throughout the country, scientists say. Staff from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and Institute for Animal Health (IAH) found the virus in animals on the RVC farm in Hertfordshire in June.
President Cristina Fernandez government expressed its deep disappointment directly to the State Department following the announcement that the Texan oil company Noble Energy would become involved in hydrocarbons activities in the Falkland Islands.
Spain’s new Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Federico Trillo-Figueroa, has claimed that his Foreign Minister, Jose Garcia Margallo, has managed to revive bilateral dialogue with UK over Gibraltar within the Brussels context.
The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold for August, and also held off from any more stimulus measures, as had been expected. Its rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to maintain rates at the historic low of 0.5%.