When I was at university in the north of England I was very definitely classed a southerner - the north/south divide being quite strong in England - but on a hemispheric scale I'm definitely a northerner. Fancifully wondering what was happening on the other side of the world, my instinct was to look for news on the Tierra del Fuego. The fact is right now I'm probably closer to South America than to any other continent apart from Asia, and the other side of the world from here is probably Iceland. Unfortunately, all the news from the Fuego is in Spanish, but it's only a hop and a skip to a British protectorate and I was surprised to find a comprehensive news site for the Falklands Islands. Remember this is a pair of islands that had a population of 2,379 in 2001 (plus 1,700 British military personnel) and, as anyone who followed the war back in the 1980s knows, there are waaay more sheep than people - like 700,000 more! So what need for such comprehensive coverage and detail? One can't help thinking that it is all one big PR effort to make sure there isn't a name change to Malvinas anytime soon. (Some more Falklands facts here.)
Oh and the news? There's a good old high seas chase going on in the southern oceans at the moment (the Aussies are chasing an Uruguayan-flagged ship that has a catch of Patagonian toothfish caught illegally off Australia) and the Falkands may join the chase.
Posted by Joe at August 22, 2003 11:39 AM