Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Tuesday he is resolved to settle a longstanding territorial dispute with Russia at an annual rally calling for the return of all four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido in northern Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported. "We'll continue to make steady and determined efforts to move ahead with negotiations," Noda said, stressing the need to sign a peace treaty with Russia. The four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - has been the subject of a territorial dispute between the two nations since the end of World War ...
Amanda Knox's Italian lawyer has filed an appeal of her slander conviction in Italy, a Knox family spokesman inSeattle said Monday. In October, an Italian appeals court overturned the young Seattle woman's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her British roommate in Perugia. But the same court upheld Knox's conviction for slander — for falsely accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of involvement in the slaying. Lumumba was freed after two weeks in prison for lack of evidence. Knox later said she was "manipulated" during her lengthy police interrogation. An appeal of the slander conviction was filed Monday, Knox family spokesman Dave Marriott confirmed. He doesn't know when the Italian ...
The Dutch railway will remain 'vulnerable' during wintry weather but Dutch Rail (NS) and track operator ProRail did not help matters during the current cold snap by the late introduction of schedule adjustments to cope with the conditions, transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen told parliament in a briefing on Tuesday. The NS and ProRail assumed on Thursday of last week that there would be three to five centimetres of snow. When the forecast was increased on Friday morning to between 10 and 15 centimetres, it was too late to change the timetables automatically, Schultz van Haegen told parliament. Drivers and conductors ...
Greece can leave the eurozone without damaging monetary union, European digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes says in an interview with the Volkskrant on Tuesday. Kroes, a member of the Dutch ruling right-wing Liberal party VVD, is not a supporter of Greece exchanging the euro for the drachma, but says: 'It is absolutely not a case of man overboard if someone leaves the eurozone.' The commissioner is very critical of the new Greek government and says they are not fulfilling their promises. 'Too few spending cuts, too little restructuring,' she says. She says the Greeks should follow the example of Italy where the new ...
Mitt Romney hopes his presidential campaign hasn't ignored Rick Santorum's aggressive attacks for too long, as caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota on Tuesday could reshuffle the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum largely bypassed Florida and Nevada to blanket the two caucus states with criticism of Romney and lay the groundwork among conservatives who have great sway in the process. RivalNewt Gingrich praised Santorum's strategy as shrewd even as he signaled he had no interest in exiting the four-way race, which also includes Ron Paul. "I think that Santorum's going to have a pretty good day," Gingrich told reporters on the eve of the caucuses. "He targeted differently than I ...
Glencore and Xstrata agreed an all-share merger worth $90 billion (56 billion pounds) on Tuesday in the industry's largest ever deal, creating a commodities powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading. Glencore, the world's largest diversified commodities tradinghouse, will issue 2.8 new shares for each Xstrata share in a deal they said was a "merger of equals." The ratio is a 15.2 percent premium to Xstrata shareholders compared with its share price last Wednesday before word leaked out about the merger talks, a joint statement said. "A merger between Glencore and Xstrata offers a unique opportunity to create a new business model in our industry to respond to ...
US White House hopeful Mitt Romney aims for another big caucus win in Colorado on Tuesday, as his well-oiled campaign machine works to cement his position as the Republican front runner in the US presidential race. Polls suggest he should triumph easily in the western US state -- where he scored 60 percent in 2008 -- although there is a tighter race in Minnesota, where last-placed Rick Santorum is hoping to snatch a win. Romney's main rival, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, is battling to stay in the race after two heavy losses in a row to the former Massachusetts governor, who ...
As President Christian Wulff remains mired in allegations of impropriety, anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI) has called for politicians to use the case as a chance to open up German politics. “We are very concerned that people seem to be starting to think that all politicians behave like Wulff, and that would be fatal,” Christian Humborg, TI Germany’s managing director told The Local. “I think the Wulff affair is a wonderful opportunity for German politicians to react to the cynical attitude that this is normal, and improve things,” he said. He said the fact that the authorities were investigating whether Wulff and his ...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel threw her weight behind French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his tough re-election battle on Monday, saying the two right-wingers were from the same "political family". Despite accusations in both countries of interference, Merkel used a visit to Paris for a joint Franco-German cabinet session to make clear her support for Sarkozy, who has increasingly cited Germany as a model for France. "We belong to the same political family. He supported me and it is natural that I support him in his campaign," Merkel said during a joint television interview with Sarkozy to be broadcast later on French and ...
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt thinks that Swedes need to be prepared to work a lot longer than they do today in order to keep the same living standard as when they were working. “The pensions scheme isn’t based on magic. It is a welfare ambition based on large-scale re-distribution and citizens’ own work. If people think that we can live longer and shorten our work life, then pensions will get lower,” Reinfeldt said in interview with daily Dagens Nyheter (DN). According to Reinfeldt, the expectation to retire at 65 is a problem in Sweden today. He thinks that Swedes may have to ...
Today is Monday, Feb. 15, the 46th day of 2010. There are 319 days left in the year. This is Presidents’ Day. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 15, 1898, the U.S. battleship Maine mysteriously blew up in Havana Harbor, killing more than 260 crew members and bringing the United States closer to war with Spain. On this date: In 1710, King Louis XV of France was born. In 1764, the city of St. Louis was established by Pierre... [more]
The crew of the Japanese whaling ship the Shonan Maru 2 is searching the vessel for an anti-whaling activist who managed to scramble aboard the ship in the Antarctic Ocean during the night. Pete Bethune, who captained the Sea Shepherd vessel Ady Gil until it sank after a collision with the 491-ton Shonan Maru 2, was able to board the moving ship at 6:29am Perth time and is planning to carry out a citizen’s arrest of the captain of... [more]
Pope Benedict XVI was nominated on Monday for a top British classical music award and will fight for the prize against reality television stars. The pontiff was shortlisted for the Classical Brit Awards album of the year for his singing on the album “Alma Mater — Music From the Vatican”. There are 10 contenders vying for the prize, including two from British reality television shows: Britain’s Got Talent star Faryl... [more]
Betsey Johnson took a tour through the Wild West on Sunday, showing off a newly model-slim Kelly Osbourne as her head bandito. Some of the looks — inspired by saloon girls, vagabonds, gamblers and other ne’er-do-wells — will be available immediately in Betsey Johnson stores, a nod to the reality of fast fashion. Other looks showed in eight days of previews at New York Fashion Week won’t be available until fall, though... [more]
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the inauguralDresden Prize on Sunday in recognition of his role in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end. The organisation Friends of Dresden handed over the award, with €25,000 prize money, to the 78-year-old former Communist Party leader at the Saxony capital’s Semperoper opera house. According to the group, Gorbachev was given the award for “conflict and violence prevention”... [more]
Japan’s economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter, spurred by a rebound in domestic demand and corporate investment, but the fading impact of government spending likely points to a slowdown in 2010. But the government is unlikely to take much comfort in the 1.1 percent quarterly GDP rise because few economists expect growth to increase rapidly as an aging population, falling wages and a large gap betweensupply and demand push... [more]
Anti-immigration party changes its rules – but says it will never be ‘multi-racial’ The British National Party (BNP) is to open its doors to black and Asian members after voting to scrap its whites-only rules. The move was forced on the anti-immigration party by legal action that could have crippled its finances. Nick Griffin, its leader, urged members to approve changes to its constitution after a court instructed it to comply... [more]
The director of Madonna’s Raising Malawi foundation is denying that there is a land dispute over the charity’s planned $15 million girls academy, calling reports that some villagers feel the project is displacing them “erroneous.” The Associated Press has reported that the village headman took the villagers’ complaints to the local government, and that local officials have visited the area several times. However,... [more]
Japan stayed ahead of China as the world’s number two economy in 2009 but came close to losing the position it has held for more than 40 years, official data showed Monday. Japan posted nominal gross domestic product of about 5.1 trillion dollars last year, the government announced. China reported last month nominal GDP of about 4.9 trillion dollars for 2009. But with China expected to enjoy another year of strong growth in 2010,... [more]
In Latvia’s largest ever leak of confidential info, a total of 7.4 million of tax documents were stolen from the server of the country’s state revenue service, the country’s media said. The LTV1 channel said in its De Facto program on Sunday evening that unidentified people received access to documents on incomes of the country’s top officials, including the presidential administration and other state structures. A... [more]
