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 Sunday, Feb. 21, the 52nd day of 2010. There are 313 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 21, 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated. On this date: In 1846, Sarah G. Bagley became the first female telegrapher as she took charge at the newly opened telegraph office in Lowell, Mass. In 1866, Lucy B. Hobbs became the first woman to graduate from a dental school, the Ohio College of Dental Surgery in Cincinnati. In... [more]
China aims to land its first astronauts on the moon within a decade at the dawn of a new era of manned space exploration — a race it now leads thanks to the US decision to drop its lunar programme. US President Barack Obama earlier this month said he planned to drop the costly Constellation space programme, a budget move that would kill off future moon exploration if it is approved by Congress. In contrast, China has a fast-growing... [more]
NATO has reiterated its calls for Dutch troops to say in Afghanistan despite the government’s collapse over Labour’s refusal to extend the military mission there. A spokesperson for NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed that it is for the Netherlands itself to make a decision. But he added that the Secretary General “continues to believe that the best way forward for the overall mission could be a new smaller... [more]
Rome will host the largest number of Caravaggio paintings ever collected in one city with an exhibit set to open Saturday to celebrate the 400th year of the painter’s death, organisers said. The Scuderie del Quirinale Museum in central Rome is hosting 24 of the master’s 64 paintings, organisers told reporters Friday. Caravaggio was revolutionary in his use of “chiaro-scuro” — the contrast of shadow and light... [more]
Friday night’s live episode of EastEnders in which Stacey, played by actress Lacey Turner, was revealed as Archie Mitchell’s murderer, drew 16.6 million viewers, according to the BBC. Turner was told just 30 minutes before the special episode of EastEnders, broadcast to mark the soap’s 25th anniversary, that she was the killer. Archie was bludgeoned with a bust of Queen Victoria in the Albert Square pub after alienating... [more]
Roman Polanski’s political thriller “The Ghost Writer” and gritty dramas from Romania and Russia were tipped as favourites to win the Golden Bear top prize Saturday at the 60th Berlin Film Festival. A seven-member jury led by German director Werner Herzog (“Fitzcarraldo”) and including Oscar-winning actress Renee Zellweger are to crown the best of 20 features vying for the coveted award at a glittering... [more]
The internet social network Facebook can now face prosecution in Germany in the case of privacy violations, Germany’s data protection commissioner Peter Schaar confirmed Saturday. Since Facebook had opened an office in Hamburg on February 11, Schaar said that the company was now subject to Germany’s data protection laws. The federal data protection commissioner was speaking to the broadcaster Deutchlandradio on Saturday. Facebook... [more]
The Sunni wing of Iraq’s leading nonsectarian political coalition said Saturday it will drop out of next month’s election as a result of alleged Iranian influence on a Shiite-led vetting panel that blacklisted hundreds of candidates. The announcement raises the likelihood that the legitimacy of the March 7 parliamentary vote will be called into question. U.S. andUnited Nations diplomats have expressed fears that a disputed result... [more]
Sex Pistols star John Lydon turned down an invitation to join music legends Pink Floyd, because he feared he’d appear pretentious. Lydon insists he’s a huge fan of the pop icons – despite a famous photograph of him wearing a T-shirt with the slogan I Hate Pink Floyd – claiming the band’s early music heavily influenced the Sex Pistols. So he was stunned when the remaining members of Pink Floyd asked him to help... [more]
Beyonce was a mischievous teen, and once tricked her mum into thinking she had her nose pierced. Knowles family matriarch Tina Knowles banned her daughter from having her ears and nose pierced, but Beyonce was desperate to wear jewellery in her ears – so she had them pierced and then wore a fake nose-stud, to deflect attention from her newly-bejewelled lobes. And the deception worked. Beyonce tells Angry Ape, “When I was a teenager,... [more]
