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 ...
The child abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church in Germany continues to expand, with accusations that claims of abuse were ignored or hidden for years and the first resignations. Barnabas Bögle, abbot of the Bavarian Ettal Benedictine monastery, and Maurus Kraß, head of the school and prior there, both resigned this week after admitting that regulations on reporting accusations of abuse had not been followed. The number of former... [more]
The longer people use cannabis or marijuana, the more likely they are to experience hallucinations or delusions or to suffer psychosis, according to a study released Saturday. The study found that people who first used cannabis when they were aged 15 or younger were twice as likely to develop a “non-affective psychosis” — which can include schizophrenia — than those who had never used the drug. The research led by... [more]
Police forces around the UK are beginning to put social media strategies in place, but the use of Twitter for police officers on the street has been largely ruled out. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is one of the forces currently using Twitter to update the public on its operations, but it is the force’s communications team that manages the feed. “Twitter does not have a place for police officers on the street,” said... [more]
Many are feared dead and more injured as a huge earthquake hits Chile. President Michelle Bachelet has declared ‘a state of catastrophe’. The earthquake struck around 3.34am local time. The epicentre was 75 miles from the coastal city of Concepcion, south of Santiago. There have been aftershocks after the 8.8-magnitude earthquake shattered and damaged buildings. Eyewitnesses spoke of panic as crowds poured onto the streets. Power... [more]
Germany and France have agreed to help Greece sell bonds in return for stronger efforts by Athens to slash its budget deficit, Greek newspaper Ta Nea reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources. The Greek finance ministry declined to comment on the report, which came after growing signs that diplomatic efforts were underway to resolve Greece’s debt crisis. Germany’s state-owned development bank KfW will buy Greek government... [more]
The Netherlands is in shock. Not because the government fell on Saturday, but because of the dramatic end to the Olympic 10,000 metre race for the Netherlands’ best skater, Sven Kramer in Vancouver. It was seen as a certainty in the Netherlands that the all-round ice athlete would win Olympic gold on Tuesday, but a totally incorrect instruction from his own coach sent him into the wrong lane and on to… his disqualification instead... [more]
Victims and witnesses of serious crimes will in future be able to give evidence anonymously more easily. Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has announced that the option of anonymity will be extended to cover more people who have reason to fear reprisals if they testify or report a crime. Until now it was limited to witnesses in cases involving serious organised crime,.. but the minister argues it should be available in other cases involving... [more]
Did Protestant church leader Margot Käßmann’s resignation after her drink driving charge make up for endangering the lives of others? Some German newspapers have praised her, while others say resigning was the least she could do. Bishop Margot Käßmann, the first woman head of Germany’s Protestant churches, stepped down on Wednesday after being caught driving drunk over the weekend. She was pulled over after running a red light... [more]
Greece enters a new phase of tense uncertainty over its programme to slash overspending on Thursday when European Union and IMF experts leave Athens with their findings of an audit of national finances. Their visit came as tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Greece on Wednesday to protest the Socialist government’s austerity measures. Greece is at the centre of a crisis threatening cohesion of the eurozone over huge... [more]
The names of at least eight new suspects that Dubaipolice are linking to the slaying of a Hamas operative last month match those of people in Israel — providing further hints of Israeli involvement in the killing widely thought to be the work of Mossad agents. Five of the names appear in Israeli telephone directories. Australia’s foreign minister said two other names belong to Australians living in Israel. An eighth name,... [more]
