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 ...
Los Angeles prosecutors on Monday plan to file a criminal case in the death of Michael Jackson which is expected to include a charge of involuntary manslaughter against the singer’s personal doctor. The District Attorney’s office said on Friday that details of the charges would be officially released on Monday and gave no further information. One source close to the case said Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been under investigation... [more]
Google Earth mapping service is letting people use the Internet to dive into the world’s oceans or see the ruin that World War II bombings rained on European cities. The Internet powerhouse on Thursday added an Ocean Showcase and WW II era aerial photographs to its free, interactive online atlas. “The historical imagery feature gives people a unique perspective on the events of the past using today’s latest mapping technology,”... [more]
The extreme winter weather has damaged up to 40 percent of Germany’s roads, creating problems that will be extremely expensive for cities already struggling financially, technical inspection association TÜV reported on Friday. Seven kilometres of the southbound A1 motorway in Schleswig-Holstein, which runs north to south across the western half of Germany, have been so badly damaged by frost and snow that it has been closed indefinitely.... [more]
North Korea announced Friday it would release a US missionary who entered the communist country on Christmas Day to urge leader Kim Jong-Il to resign for human rights abuses. Analysts saw Pyongyang’s decision as an attempt to improve ties as it pushes for dialogue with Washington, which welcomed the decision and said its information was that Robert Park would be freed almost immediately. Park, 28, had expressed “sincere repentance”... [more]
UN aid agencies on Friday warned that programmes in Yemen were running short of funds amid concerns that aid efforts in Haiti could affect help for refugees in the volatile Middle East country. Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that in Yemen “our two camps are overpopulated and we don’t know if we’ll be able to build a third one as we wanted.” She said that “there... [more]
The government commission investigating the cause and effect of the economic crisis in the Netherlands completed a three week session of public hearings on Thursday, having interviewed 42 people in 50 hours. And according to the Volkskrant, the most interesting details emerged in questioning over the break up of ABN Amro, which had little to do with the crisis itself. Former ABN Amro CEO Rijkman Groenink told the commission the finance ministry... [more]
Losses of animal and plant species are an increasing economic threat and the world needs new goals for protecting nature after failing to achieve a 2010 U.N. target of slowing extinctions, experts said on Friday. Losses of biodiversity “have increasingly dangerous consequences for human well-being, even survival for some societies,” according to a summary of a 90-nation U.N. backed conference in Norway from February 1-5. The... [more]
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he could not determine whether the Israelis or Palestinians had conducted credible investigations into allegations of war crimes during last year’s Gaza conflict as required under a U.N. resolution. In a highly anticipated report released Thursday night to the 192-nation General Assembly, Ban said “no determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties... [more]
Toyota’s fall from grace may be hardest in the United States, but a global brake pedal recall that has stained its once-pristine reputation for quality is likely to help competitors cut into Toyota’s European market share. Toyota has always been a niche player in Europe. But the biggest crisis to strike the global giant in memory could give brands such as Volkswagen, General Motor’s Opel and South Korea’s Hyundai... [more]
Today is Friday, Feb. 5, the 36th day of 2010. There are 329 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 5, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a Judiciary Reorganization Bill that would have increased the number of Supreme Court justices; critics accused Roosevelt of attempting to “pack” the court.(The measure failed in Congress.) On this date: In 1631, the co-founder of Rhode Island, Roger... [more]
