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 ...
Authorities in southern China’s Guangdong province have denied planning to unite nine towns to create the world’s biggest city in the Pearl River delta, according to state media. “The reports were totally false. There is no such plan,” Guo Yuewen, spokesman for the Communist party’s provincial committee, was quoted as saying by the official China Daily on Saturday. Media had reported on a project to unite nine... [more]
Iran on Saturday hanged Iranian-Dutch woman Zahra Bahrami for selling and possessing drugs, dismissing repeated pleas by The Netherlands which had sought details about her case. Bahrami’s execution is the latest in a slew of hangings carried out by the Islamic republic in January. Her execution takes the total number of people hanged in Iran so far this year to 66, according to media reports. “A drug trafficker named Zahra Bahrami,... [more]
Germany’s parliament is expected to vote in favour of extending the country’s unpopular military mission in Afghanistan by one year on Friday, with a new mandate allowing for the withdrawal of troops to begin in 2011 if conditions permit. The number of Bundeswehr soldiers would remain unchanged at around 5,000, according to guidelines approved by the German cabinet earlier this month. The government also has stated that “handover... [more]
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s eldest son said in an interview published Friday that his father opposed continuing the family dynasty into a third generation but ended up naming his youngest son as heir to keep the country stable. The comments by Kim Jong Nam, portrayed in the media as a casino-loving playboy, were published in a Japanese newspaper just as NorthKorea proposed holding parliamentary talks with South Korea — its... [more]
Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s party saw its hopes for a political future dashed again on Friday as the country’s Supreme Court brushed aside its latest appeal against dissolution. The court in the capital Naypyidaw took only a few minutes to reject the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) legal bid, according to Kyaw Hoe, a lawyer for the party. Suu Kyi has all but exhausted her options in the courts to reinstate... [more]
Toyota is to recall nearly 19,000 cars in the UK due to potential problems with fuel systems. The car manufacturer said hundreds of Toyota Avensis and Lexus IS 250 models could be at risk of fuel leaks if they are not modified by mechanics. The company confirmed there were no known accidents related to the defect. However, the faults are the latest in a series of quality control problems to have hit the manufacturer, which has recalled nearly... [more]
Russia is on high alert after a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people in an attack at Moscow’s largest airport. The Kremlin has labelled the blast in the packed arrivals hall of Domodedovo airport – which also wounded more than 130 – as an act of terror. News agencies have reported that up to two Britons were among those killed. It is the latest deadly attack in the capital, coming after the March metro bombings. Russian... [more]
Illegal alien Maria Amelie was Monday morning detained by the Norwegian immigration police (PU) in Oslo, and was in the afternoon forcibly return to Russia, NRK reports. PU Chief Ingrid Wirum said Amelie would be transported out of the country as soon as possible, and turned over to the Russian authorities in Moscow. She was put on a Russian Aeroflot plane, escorted by two police officers, and accompanied by her Norwegian fiancé. Share... [more]
At least 35 people have been killed in a suspected terror attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. Sky’s Amanda Walker, speaking from the airport, said the explosion ripped through the building’s “meet and greet” international arrivals area. Domodedovo is the busiest of the Russian capital’s three commercial airports and reports have suggested a suicide bomber was responsible. The Russian state news agency... [more]
The UN and EU stand accused of “cowardice” for claiming to tackle human rights abuses in places like China through soft diplomacy, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Monday. Highlighting its claim, the report on global human rights violations was issued in Brussels the same day the European Union hosted controversial Uzbek President Islam Karimov amid protests. The New York-based NGO’s executive director Kenneth... [more]
