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 ...
Iraq plans to sue the British company that sold it bomb detectors widely panned as ineffective after they failed to prevent a series of massive bombings in Baghdad, a spokesman said Tuesday. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP that Baghdad wanted financial compensation for the devices, which are used at checkpoints across the country to detect explosives. “More than 50 percent are good, and the rest we will change,”... [more]
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 23, the 54th day of 2010. There are 311 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 23, 1945, during World War II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag twice. (The second flag-raising was captured in the iconic photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal of The Associated Press.) On this date: In 1836, the siege of the Alamo began in San Antonio,... [more]
Cinema group Odeon has said it will boycott Disney’s new 3D film “Alice In Wonderland” at its cinemas in Britain, Ireland and Italy in protest at plans for an early release date on DVD. The company took the decision Monday after Disney said it would release the eagerly-awaited Tim Burton fantasy adventure on DVD 12 weeks after its big-screen debut, instead of the usual 17 weeks. It is the latest rebellion against the entertainment... [more]
German airline Lufthansa and pilots agreed Monday to resume talks, ending a one-day strike that grounded almost half of all flights at Europe’s biggest airline. The strike will be lifted at midnight (2300 GMT on Monday), and talks would resume “immediately and without conditions” a joint statement said. The renewed negotiations avert a potentially disastrous planned four-day strike by about 4,000 members of the Cockpit pilots... [more]
An innovative new solar-powered yacht will be unveiled in Germany this week ahead of plans to take the craft on a trip around the world. According to the boat’s manufacturer PlanetSolar, the catamaran-style yacht covered with 500 square metres of solar panels is undergoing final touches at theKnierim Yachtbau shipyard in Kiel before its official unveiling on February 25. PlanetSolar’s website claims their boat is the largest solar... [more]
American authorities have reportedly identified a Chinese computer hacker believed to be behind attacks on Google last year. The Financial Times reported that the suspect was a security consultant in his 30s with government links. He is understood to have written the key part of a spyware programme which tried to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. According to the Financial Times, the hacker was working as a freelancer... [more]
Nokia is to be investigated by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) after complaints made by Apple that the Finnish giant infringed on nine of its patented technologies. Apple has asked the ITC to “issue an exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order” to ban Nokia from importing and selling products that it believes infringe on its technology in the US. The decision ups the stakes between the two smartphone manufacturers... [more]
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende met Queen Beatrix on Monday for consulations after the collapse of his government over the Netherlands’s role in Afghanistan, a government spokesman said. Balkenende arrived at the head of state’s working palace in The Hague around 9:30 am (0830 GMT), spokesman Frady van Hapert told. Ninety minutes have been set aside for the talks, after which Queen Beatrix will meet the leaders of the two... [more]
Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa summoned European Union ambassadors on Sunday night to hand them the ultimatum, Jana news agency said. The agency quoted the minister as saying that by giving Swiss businessman Max Göldi refuge in its embassy in Tripoli, Switzerland was in violation of international conventions on diplomatic immunity. The country is said to have until midday (10am GMT) on Monday to hand the businessman over. “Procedures... [more]
Angelina Jolie has stepped out in public with her estranged father Jon Voight for the first time in several years. The actress cut her dad out of her life in 2001 after he voiced concerns about her mental health shortly before she adopted son Maddox from Cambodia. Voight has made several attempts to mend his fractured relationship with Jolie, and the veteran star revealed in November the pair is back in contact. Jolie has now publicly shown... [more]
