Falkland Islands oil dispute: UK hits back at Argentina
The UK has hit back at Argentina's threats of court action over Falkland Islands oil exploration, calling its behaviour "illegal intimidation".
Foreign minister Hector Timmerman had threatened legal action against firms drilling off the UK territory, over which Argentina claims sovereignty.
But the UK Foreign Office said it was a legitimate commercial venture.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would "continue to protect and defend" the islands.
In threatening legal action against oil prospectors, Mr Timmerman had told reporters: "The gas and oil that is found in the South Atlantic belongs to the Argentinian people.
"All these companies are entering illegal territory."
UN resolutions
He warned that legal action would target oil companies as well as firms providing them with financial and logistic support.
It was the latest in a series of measures taken in recent months by Argentina to assert its claim to sovereignty over the Falklands, which it calls the Malvinas.
Mr Timmerman said companies involved in oil exploration in Falklands waters were "violating UN resolutions" calling for talks on sovereignty.
The UK Foreign Office said the right to develop the hydrocarbon sector was an "integral part" of the Falkland islanders' right to self-determination.
"These latest attempts to damage the economic livelihoods of the Falkland Islands people regrettably reflect a pattern of behaviour by the Argentine government," the Foreign Office said.
"From harassing Falklands shipping to threatening the islanders' air links with Chile, Argentina's efforts to intimidate the Falklands are illegal, unbecoming and wholly counter-productive," it added
Several British companies are searching for oil and gas in Falklands waters.
One of them - Rockhopper - says it has found significant reserves and is seeking investment partners to begin production.
The search for oil has inflamed tension over the disputed islands ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War.
On 2 April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falklands, only to be defeated by a British task force sent to recover them.
The UK says there will be no negotiations on sovereignty as long as the Falkland islanders wish to remain British.
Mr Cameron said: "The people of the Falkland Islands could not be clearer that they want to continue their status as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
"As long as they want that, that is not going to change."
India uses budget speech to sound upbeat economic note
India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has unveiled the country's annual budget, saying that the economy is turning around.
He added that India would look to reduce subsidies, accelerate reforms and state asset sales and boost infrastructure spending.
The budget comes as the government's popularity has slumped due to a number of scandals and policy failures.
There were concerns it may sacrifice fiscal prudence in order to win votes.
"I don't see any populist schemes, but this not a reformist budget either," said A Prasanna of ICICI Securities in Mumbai.
"It is a status quo budget. I think the political compulsions made them decide that the best way is to play it safe," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying.
Recovery signs
The government's plans for development have been hampered by a slowdown in the economy.
During the last three months of 2011, India's economy grew at its slowest pace in three years.
Growth was 6.1% in the fiscal third quarter, though on Friday Mr Mukherjee explained that it was only a temporary slowdown.
He forecast that the economy would expand by 6.9% in the current fiscal year ending in March, with growth accelerating to 7.6% in the financial year running from 2012 to 2013.
"Though we have been able to limit the adverse impact of the slowdown in our economy, this year's performance has been disappointing," Mr Mukherjee said.
However, he explained that when compared to other nations "India still remains among the front-runners in economic growth".
He added that "there are signs of recovery in the coal, fertiliser, cement and electricity sectors".
--BBC
Fiat plants in Italy shut over fuel strike
Italian carmaker Fiat has shut down five of its plants in its home country as it struggles to cope with an ongoing transport strike.
Lorry drivers have been protesting over taxes on petrol passed in the austerity budget of Prime Minister Mario Monti since January, maintaining road blocks.
Fiat has said that it has made 20,000 fewer cars over the last three weeks due to the protests.
Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne is due to meet Mr Monti later.
A Fiat spokeswoman told the BBC that its plants - four in the south of Italy and one in Turin - had closed on Friday.
The closure includes its Pomigliano plant, near Naples, where it is making the new Panda.
Plant closures in the past weeks had stopped production and it predicted a 10% loss of its Italian market share for this month if drivers don't resume work in the coming days.
Union battles
Separately, it was revealed this week that Mr Marchionne received 14.5m euros (£12m) in compensation - 2.5m euros in cash and the rest in shares.
The Fiat Group is the largest private taxpayer in Italy and also controls US carmaker Chrysler.
Since taking over as chief executive in 2004, Mr Marchionne has been reorganising the company's car plants in Italy.
Despite resistance from unions, more flexible work practices have been introduced.
But according to the company, Fiat's Italian plants are running at just 50% of their potential capacity, while plants in the US and Poland are working at full speed.
Mr Monti leads a government of technocrats tasked with leading Italy out of its debt crisis, and has pushed through a package of spending cuts, tax rises and pension reforms.
Mr Monti took over from Silvio Berlusconi last year in response to the crisis, and says that without the measures Italy would face economic disaster like that which has affected Greece.
Air Berlin losses widen in 2011
Germany's second largest airline, Air Berlin, has reported worse-than-expected losses for 2011 as it continues its efforts to downsize.
The budget carrier reported a net loss of 271.8m euros ($322m; £205m) for the year to 31 December 2011. It made a loss of 97.2m euros in 2010.
Air Berlin blamed the weather, strikes, rising fuel costs, the Arab spring and a new tax for its poor performance.
The firm is 30%-owned by Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad.
Air Berlin's revenues rose 13.7% to 4.23bn euros and the number of passengers rose by 1.2% to 35.3 million.
Tax 'distortion'
"Despite record figures for turnover and passenger numbers, we cannot be satisfied with the 2011 results," said chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn.
"Not only as a result of the severe winter in Europe in early 2011, the Arab Spring, air-traffic control strikes and the threat of strike action, the results remained well below expectations," he added.
The company has called for the government to scrap a new air traffic control tax introduced in 2011.
Mr Mehdorn argued the tax "leads to distortion of competition, is environmentally nonsensical and puts jobs at risk".
The struggling carrier is in the middle of a efficiency drive designed to cut 200m euros from its costs in 2012.
However, it said it would be hard to predict whether it would make a profit in 2012 due to the worsening economy.
Following a rapid expansion, Air Berlin has failed to record an operating profit since 2007.
US diplomat warns...Stanford's fraud case has message for Caribbean
The recently concluded fraud case in which Texan billionaire Allen Stanford was convicted of running a US$7-billion Ponzi scheme using a bank in Antigua and Barbuda should serve as a warning to small societies in the Caribbean, a senior US diplomat has said.
Addressing a meeting of the heads of the Financial Intelligence Unit that ended in Barbados on Wednesday, chargé d'affaires at the US Embassy, Christopher Sandrolini, said the region could not afford to relax its vigilance and laws given its vulnerability to criminals.
"Somebody like the recently convicted Allen Stanford obviously had a devastating effect in Antigua in particular, the number of people he employed, the devastating effect on that economy when he went down. It's just one classic example of how vigilant a small society has to be because of the ripple effects that any major crime can have," Sandrolini said.
Stanford was convicted on March 6 of masterminding the Ponzi scheme by bilking tens of thousands of investors of high-yield certificates of deposit at his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.
The eight men and four women jury found him guilty on 13 of 14 counts. Two days later, the same jury decided that Stanford must forfeit US$330 million in assets in 29 bank accounts seized by the US government.
"I think the drug trafficking threats in many of the islands are already being seen in terms of the rise in crime, the rise in the availability of weapons, the increase in youth gangs, the general climate of fear that can be created, and how easily somebody with money and influence gained through crime can begin to have a corrosive effect and an intimidating effect on the governments and people," Sandrolini added.
Barbados' Attorney General, Adriel Brathwaite, underscored the need for the region to share intelligence given that criminals were building regional networks.
"If we are addressing money laundering and terrorism financing from a Caribbean perspective, then we must ensure that we share our best practices," Brathwaite said.
British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Paul Brummell, endorsed the call for countries to exchange more information. But he cautioned that this intelligence could become useless if countries do not have adequate legislation in place.
Landmark case
Brummell highlighted a landmark case in St Vincent and the Grenadines in which a local businessman, Antonio 'Que Pasa' Gellizeau, and Bermudan sailor Winston Robinson were found guilty on two charges of money laundering involving US$1.7 million in cash.
He attributed the successful outcome of the case to the adoption of good practice and sharing of experience.
The financial intelligence meeting discussed practical ways to enforce forfeiture, money laundering and proceed of crime legislation in a bid to curb serious crimes, including drug trafficking.
Officials are also hoping to strengthen the capacity of personnel leading the fight in investigating money laundering offences and tracking the proceeds of crime.
- CMC
Europe Looking to Boost Its Bailout Fund
The 17-nation euro currency bloc appears ready to boost the size of the continent's bailout fund to handle future financial emergencies of its debt-ridden countries.
A new $656 billion rescue fund is set to take effect in July. But financial experts in Europe and elsewhere say the fund is too small, and should be increased to cover debts in some of the continent's bigger economies, such as Italy and Spain, if they ever neared default and needed outside assistance. Already, the continent has used a smaller, temporary bailout fund to rescue Greece, Ireland and Portugal with billions of dollars in aid.
European news agencies reported Friday that the eurozone finance ministers, when they meet at the end of the month in Copenhagen, could add $252 billion remaining in the interim fund to the new account to create a rescue fund of more than $900 billion.
That still would be less than some analysts say is necessary. But Germany, with Europe's strongest economy, has opposed creation of what it believes would be too large a fund. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a group of industry leaders a compromise on the size of the fund could be reached.
But she said that it is important there is no “permanent, incalculable increase of the funds.”
Afghan President Slams US on Probe into Massacare
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is accusing the United States of failing to cooperate in the probe of a massacre of 16 Afghan villagers, allegedly by a U.S. soldier.
President Karzai met with tribal elders and family members of those killed in Sunday's shooting spree in Kandahar province. He said Friday that the delegation he sent to investigate the killings did not receive the cooperation it expected from American officials.
Mr. Karzai lashed out, saying civilian casualties have been going on “for too long … and this is by all means the end of the rope here.” He said “this behavior can no longer be tolerated.”
The Afghan leader also questioned U.S. military claims that only one shooter was involved in the incident. Villagers say that more one U.S. soldier was involved in the attack in the Panjwai district, in which children were among those killed.
On Thursday, President Karzai met with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Kabul and demanded that NATO forces pull back from Afghan villages and relocate to their bases in the wake of the shooting spree.
The civilian lawyer for the U.S. soldier accused of carrying out the deadly rampage says his client was likely suffering from stress after witnessing one of his fellow soldiers sustain a grave injury.
Attorney John Henry Browne told reporters Friday the 38-year-old staff sergeant saw one of his comrades get his leg blown off a day before Sunday's massacre in Kandahar.
Browne says his client was also unhappy about being assigned a fourth tour of duty in a war zone. The soldier, a married father of two, had served three tours in Iraq, where he suffered a head injury and lost part of his foot. The lawyer says the highly-decorated soldier was told he would not be deployed to Afghanistan, but that changed “literally overnight.”
The suspect's identity has not yet been released and his family has been moved to a military base south of the western U.S. city of Seattle due to security concerns. Browne told reporters that family members said the staff sergeant never had any animosity towards Muslims. He was described as mild-mannered.
The soldier was flown out of Afghanistan to Kuwait late Wednesday. U.S. military officials said the suspect was moved to ensure “both proper pre-trial confinement and access to legal services.” Officials later said the soldier was being flown Friday to a maximum security prison at a U.S. military base in the state of Kansas.
Also Friday, U.S. military officials said a top U.S. commander in southern Afghanistan was in the path of an attack that coincided with Panetta's arrival Wednesday in Afghanistan. They had initially downplayed the incident.
Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters traveling with the defense secretary that Major General Mark Gurganus, the U.S. commander in Helmand province, was part of a VIP delegation assembled to greet Panetta when an Afghan interpreter driving a stolen sports utility vehicle sped toward them.
Officials said the driver crashed into a ditch before emerging from the vehicle in flames. He later died of his injuries.
No one in the delegation was injured and Panetta's plane was safely diverted to another landing ramp at Bastion Air Field, a British base in Helmand.
Gurganus had declined to mention anything about the incident when speaking to reporters soon after it happened.
U.S. defense officials say they do not believe the Afghan translator knew that Panetta was in the arriving military aircraft
Evidence Shows Tehran Connection in New Delhi, Bangkok Bombings
India is seeking international arrest warrants for three Iranians suspected of being part of a plot to attack Israeli diplomats.
New Delhi Police Chief Brijesh Gupta said Friday India has contacted Interpol about warrants for the three men, thought to be behind last month's bombing of a car belonging to the Israeli embassy. He said investigators have also linked them to a failed bombing in Thailand.
The February 13 attack in New Delhi wounded the wife of an embassy official as she was on her way to pick up her children from school. Indian officials say the bomber attached the explosives to the car using magnets. Officials in Thailand say those same magnets were used in a bomb that detonated prematurely a day later in Bangkok.
Thai police arrested two Iranians in connection with the Bangkok explosion. A third man, Sedaghatzadeh Masoud, was detained in Malaysia.
On Friday, New Delhi's police chief said investigators had determined that the suspects in the New Delhi attack had been in contact with Masoud.
Israel has openly accused Iran of trying to carry out a series of attacks, including a bombing in Tbilisi, Georgia. Iran denies the allegations.
Tensions between the two countries have reached new heights as Israel threatens to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Just last week, India arrested an Indian journalist working for an Iranian news agency in connection with the New Delhi attack.
Authorities claim Mohammad Kazmi had been in touch with the man who planted the bomb. New Delhi Police Chief Gupta said Friday that Kazmi's confession was instrumental in uncovering the wider conspiracy.
Kazmi's lawyer and his family claim he is innocent. During a news conference last week, Kazmi's son blasted the allegations as “baseless.”
And a prominent Islamic cleric based in Lucknow accused India of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States. Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi said Kazmi's only crime was “that he used to write against Israel and the U.S. while advocating the concerns of Iran.”
US Envoy to Haiti Urges Patience on Disaster Recovery
The U.S. ambassador to Haiti says it will take years to complete reconstruction efforts from the devastating 2010 earthquake.
In an interview with VOA's Creole Service, Kenneth Merten compared the pace of reconstruction efforts in Port-au-Prince to that of New York City's World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the 2001 terrorist attack and the area is still being rebuilt.
“There are a lot of actors on the ground in Haiti, coordinating everybody's work. It's not an easy task. But reconstruction is happening and I think we have to keep pushing and make sure it happens as fast as possible.”
The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti killed more than 200,000 people and left millions homeless. A cholera epidemic following the quake claimed several thousand more lives.
The ambassador says the reconstruction has been complicated by problems with Haiti's infrastructure, which was in poor condition before the disaster, and a “limited capacity of government,” as many officials were killed in the earthquake. He also noted the surprise resignation last month of Prime Minister Garry Conille after just four months in his post.
“We hope as partners of Haiti we hope they work that out as quickly as possible because there are certain things that cannot happen without a government in place. We are eager and anxious to continue our work. I would encourage all actors to put a government back into place as soon as possible.”
Merten says he is proud the United States had a “very big, positive impact” in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, by helping deliver food, water and shelter to the victims.
“There were a lot of other actors on the ground as well. They are all doing their part. But it was a very difficult period. I think in large part because of the support we were able to bring because of the capabilities we had with the U.S. military and because of where we're located geographically, very close to Haiti.”
The ambassador also told VOA there was no concern about two former Haitian leaders, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, living in their native land years after they were each forced into exile. Merten says the fact that both men are apparently staying out of politics is a sign that Haiti is a “mature, or maturing democracy.”
--VOA
50th ANNIVERSARY OF GRAND TURK ROLE IN FIRST US MANNED SPACE FLIGHT
The Turks and Caicos Islands will celebrate the its unique place in the history of space exploration next week, 19-22 Mar 2012 in the Grand Turk.
The 50th Anniversary of the US Mercury Space Programme’s splashdown by John Glenn in the waters off of Grand Turk will be commemorated by several public events next week. This splashdown saw the successful conclusion of the United States’ first successful orbit of the earth on Feb, 20 1962.
- This will begin on Mon, 19 Mar when a set of newly commissioned murals depicting the past, present and future of space exploration will be unveiled at Grand Turk Cruise Centre. In the evening a range of guests including Janet Petro the deputy director of the John F. Kennedy Space Centre and retired National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) former Mercury Programme radar technician Alan Rakofsky will join officials from Carnival, TCI Government and the Tourist Board at a reception in the Governor’s Official Residence at Waterloo Grand Turk.
- Tue, 20 Mar will see the renaming of the approach road to the JAGS McCartney International Airport as John Glenn Drive, again attended by Janet Petro and Alan Rakofsky.
- The John Glenn Arts and Science Festival will take place in the Victoria Public Library, in Front Street, Grand Turk, which will see the Grand Turk campus of the TCI Community College take on their peers from Providenciales at 6.00pm.
- Finally, the week’s celebrations will be brought to a climax with a fireworks display and party on Governor’s Beach at 7.30pm on Fri, 22 Mar.
“It is still very exciting to hear of the huge leap into the unknown taken by NASA and John Glenn,” said His Excellency Governor Ric Todd. “To have been launched from Florida, make three orbits of the earth and to make the return to earth when the technical team at NASA thought that he was about to burn up in the atmosphere is an astonishing story of bravery.
“I am delighted that the people of Grand Turk are able to share in Carnival’s celebration of this milestone, and that there is a permanent memorial to John Glenn’s bravery both at the Cruise Centre and by renaming the approach road to the airport. It is surely only appropriate that this commemoration of a US hero sits alongside our tribute to our very own local hero James Alexander George Smith McCartney at Grand Turk International Airport.”
Further biographical information about John Glenn, the Mercury missions, the spacecraft plus pictures, videos and interactive features are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/glenn50/