Tag: United Kingdom

• Thursday, March 7th 2013 - 22:10 UTC

  UK defense budget cuts becomes a major debate even for the ruling coalition

  

  UK Defense budget cuts are rapidly becoming a controversial issue even among members of the current ruling coalition. An article from The Telegraph by Deputy Political Editor James Kirkup points out to reactions from the Commons Defense Committee to further pruning defense which would force Britain to break its promises to the NATO alliance and put the Special Relationship with the US at risk.

• Wednesday, March 6th 2013 - 10:59 UTC

  As president for 14 years, “Chavez left a lasting impression on Venezuela and more widely”

  

  The UK Foreign secretary has paid tribute to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who he said left a “lasting impression” on his country. Chavez, 58, died on Tuesday after being seriously ill with cancer, ending his 14-year rule.

• Tuesday, March 5th 2013 - 16:52 UTC

  Libor rate-rigging: UK regulator failed to act on warnings of “low-balling”

  

  The UK Financial Services Authority repeatedly failed to act on warnings that banks were trying to rig inter-bank lending rates (mainly Libor) at height of the financial crisis, according to an internal review published Tuesday by the regulator.

• Tuesday, March 5th 2013 - 00:39 UTC

  The Falklanders will speak clearly

  

  The Globe and Mail (*) editorial published Sunday, March - As a country that with some justice prides itself as a global beacon for democracy, the United States should abandon its equivocation over the status of the Falkland Islands and agree to throw its considerable weight behind the winner of the referendum asking Islanders whether they wish to remain a UK overseas territory.

• Tuesday, March 5th 2013 - 00:09 UTC

  Argentina dismisses referendum; warns Falklands’ oil industry “unfeasible” without regional ties

  

  The referendum on the fate of the Falkland Islands is a publicity stunt with no legal status, Argentina's ambassador to Britain said on Monday, warning that oil exploitation around the territory was impossible without better regional ties.

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:41 UTC

  Independence party strikes serious setback for PM Cameron in by-election

  

  British Prime Minister David Cameron was under pressure after his Conservatives were beaten into third place in a key election last March first, by his scandal-hit coalition partners and a Euro-skeptic party.

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 06:32 UTC

  Falklands’ governor tells The Sun “Argentina keeps making stuff up”

  

  Falkland Islands Governor Nigel Haywood accused Argentina of “making stuff up” in its relentless verbal assault on the UK and the Islands. With a referendum on whether the Islanders want to remain British less than a week away, Haywood vowed to keep “pushing back” against the “extraordinary” sabre-rattling, UK’s sensationalist tabloid The Sun published.

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:43 UTC

  Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands: Another Falklands?

  

  By Gwynne Dyer - Chinese survey vessels go into the waters around the disputed islands and Japanese patrol ships tail them much too closely. Twice last month Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft flew into the airspace around the Japanese-controlled islands and Tokyo scrambled F-15 fighters to meet them. On the second occasion, China then sent fighters too. Can these people be serious?

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:34 UTC

  C24 president insists Falklands dispute is over sovereignty, not self determination

  

  The UN Decolonisation Committee has not received any further requests on the Falklands/Malvinas issue, and “there is no such procedure as self-determination regarding the Islands dispute”, according to the C24 president Diego Morejón Pazmiño, standing Ecuadorean ambassador before the UN.

• Monday, March 4th 2013 - 05:06 UTC

  The “entente fugale” and the French point of view on defence of the Falklands

  

  Dubbed the “entente frugale” and criticised by some as a dangerous dilution of military sovereignty, Franco-British defence cooperation is nonetheless growing stronger. Shrinking budgets, a less indulgent United States and Europe’s diminishing military clout in the world have bolstered the two countries’ determination to work together.