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 ...
Rescuers searching for a brother of the United Arab Emirates president, whose glider has crashed in Morocco, dived deep into a lake on Monday to look for his body, officials said. The missing man, Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, is managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, considered the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with assets estimated at more than 600 billion dollars (445 billion euros). “The body... [more]
Greece raced to raise billions of euros on Monday with a seven-year bond issue on the back of a European Union financial lifeline to contain a debt crisis which has weakened the euro. The issue attracted offers worth 6.5 billion euros (8.7 billion dollars) at a yield, or rate, of 6.0 percent and the state is expected to settle for five billion euros, financial website euro2day.gr reported with finance ministry sources. That rate is about... [more]
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has no doubts that the organizers of the deadly blasts in the Moscow subway carried out on Monday morning will be punished. “It is well known that today a terrible crime against civilians in its effects and disgusting in its character was carried out,” the prime minister said. “Dozens of people died in the subway.” “I am sure that police will do their best to find and punish... [more]
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson said Monday it had won contracts to provide equipment to two of China’s largest operators, China Mobile and China Unicom, to the tune of 1.8 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros). In a statement, Ericsson said it had won a one-billion-dollar contract with China’s top operator China Mobile to provide it this year with equipment to “dramatically boost the capacity of the network and evolve it... [more]
Europe’s main stock markets gained on Monday as rising metals prices boosted the share prices of major mining companies, dealers said. In late morning trade, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.18 percent to 5,713.26 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 won 0.74 percent to 6,164.98 points and the Paris CAC 40 added 0.43 percent to 4,006.03. The Stoxx 50 index of top eurozone shares increased by 0.41 percent to 2,952.92 points. In... [more]
The current tax break on mortgages, which allows home owners to deduct all their mortgage interest payments from tax, remains untouched in the Christian Democrats’ election manifesto, the Telegraaf reports on Monday. The tax break is said to cost the treasury some €11bn a year and is one of the most generous in Europe. The CDA is now the third party to state the tax break is not under threat – the VVD Liberals and Geert Wilders’... [more]
Twenty students from the University of Regensburg plan to live and train in the style of Roman gladiators from 79 AD and stage a battle for scientific research this summer, the project’s Bavarian organisers said on Monday. “We know hardly anything about the gladiators,” historian Josef Löffl said. “There are a lot of myths and clichés attached.” Löffl and his colleagues plan to find out this August whether they can... [more]
Miley Cyrus is convinced watching her turn in new movie The Last Song will make her take acting lessons – because she wants to develop her big screen career. The star shot to fame in Disney show Hannah Montana in 2006 and launched a successful singing career from her popularity on the show. She made the move into lead film roles last year – but admits she’s open to developing her acting skills further. Cyrus says, “I’ve... [more]
Myanmar’s biggest opposition party said Monday it would not register for this year’s election, meaning the party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed any role in the military-led political process. “After a vote of the committee of members, the NLD party has decided not to register as a political party because the election laws are unjust,” National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Nyan... [more]
Israel on Monday restricted access to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound amid concerns of fresh violence at the flashpoint site as Jews celebrate the week-long Passover holiday. Police said that Muslim men under the age of 50 and all non-Muslims will be barred from entering the compound — which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Police did not say when the restrictions would be lifted. Authorities have also tightened restrictions... [more]
