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 Thursday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2010. There are 309 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 25, 1940, a hockey game was televised for the first time, by New York City station W2XBS, as the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, at Madison Square Garden. On this date: In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver. In 1901, United States Steel Corporation was incorporated... [more]
A large section of the Middle East’s biggest shopping mall has been shut as maintenance crews scramble to contain a leak Thursday at the massive, shark-filled aquarium there. An official at Dubai’s civil defense department said “there has been a small break in the glass,” and that rescue crews are on the scene. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was ongoing. The extent of the damage was not... [more]
EU leaders and ministers will meet on Thursday in Budapest to discuss economic and environmental developments for the Danube region. The conference is part of Brussels’ drive for an “EU Strategy for the Danube Region,” conceived last year by the European Council and due to be adopted in March 2011, under Hungary’s presidency of the bloc. Fourteen countries are taking part in this strategy, not only Danube countries... [more]
Greek workers banged drums, threw stones and walked off the job Wednesday in the widest strike yet against the government’s austerity plan aimed at fixing the country’s debt crisis. The unrest flared despite a looming deadline for demonstrating tough cuts demanded by the European Union to calm the crisis and keep it from spreading to other countries with troubled finances such as Portugal, Spain and Italy. Strikes grounded... [more]
China has rejected a news report that US investigators traced hacking attacks against Google to two Chinese schools and said suggestions the government might be involved are irresponsible. A foreign ministry spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, said Chinese law prohibits hacking and the government will take steps to stop it. At a regular news briefing, Ma Zhaoxu rejected a report by The New York Times last week that investigators traced hacking attacks... [more]
Angie Sanselmente Valencia, a former lingerie model, is believed to be heading one of the world’s largest drug gangs. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the 30-year-old, who is suspected of recruiting beautiful women and using them to move drugs to Europe and North America. Many of these women are believed to be other lingerie and glamour models who compete in international beauty pageants, whom Valencia describes... [more]
In Spain, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the raising of the retirement age. There were demonstrations in several cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Raising the retirement age from 65 to 67 is just one of the measures Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero hopes will reduce his country’s budget shortfall of 11 percent. The Spanish economy, the fifth largest in Europe, has been... [more]
The son of a leading Hamas figure, who famously converted to Christianity, served for over a decade as the Shin Bet security service’s most valuable source in the militant organization’s leadership, Haaretz has learned. Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one of its leaders in the West Bank. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the... [more]
The ban on smoking in cafes and bars also applies to one-man operations without staff, the high court ruled on Tuesday. Lower courts had decided earlier that the ban did not apply to bars without staff, because the aim of the ban is to protect workers from second-hand smoke. The case revolved around the cafe Victoria in Breda which faces a fine of €1,200 and closure of a month for persistently allowing smoking on the premises, and the... [more]
The general election will take place on June 9, slightly later than most pundits had expected, the state information service said on Tuesday afternoon. The Christian Democrats and ChristenUnie will continue to run the country as a caretaker cabinet and the portfolios of the six Labour cabinet ministers have been reassigned to other ministers. Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin will take responsibility for home affairs, family minister... [more]
