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 ...
Britain has signed an historic agreement with China to bring two giant pandas to Edinburgh Zoo. Tian Tian and Yangguang, a breeding pair born in 2003, will be the first to live in the UK for 17 years. Zoo chief executive officer David Windmill said: “This…represents the beginning of a programme of research, education and partnership and the project has huge benefit for the UK and Scotland, both in supporting giant panda conservation... [more]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Jews have a right to live anywhere in Jerusalem, defended on Monday a settlement project that drew criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Israeli bulldozers cleared the way for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, an area captured by Israel in a 1967 war and which Palestinian want as the capital of a future state, by demolishing a derelict hotel on Sunday. Clinton, in... [more]
Israeli warplanes launched twin air strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight in response to rocket and mortar fire from the Hamas-controlled territory, an army spokesman said on Monday. The strikes targeted “centres of terrorist activities, which have been hit”, said the spokesman, referring to projectiles fired from Gaza over the weekend. Israel considers the Islamist Hamas movement as the only organisation responsible for the firing... [more]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday urged Arab states in the Gulf to stay focused on sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear programme, at the start of a regional tour. “We don’t want anyone to be misled by anyone’s intelligence,” Clinton told reporters on her plane before landing in Abu Dhabi. “We expect all of our partners who share that concern (over Iran) … to stay as focused... [more]
Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang kicked off a business-focused state visit to Britain on Sunday with the sealing of a renewable energy deal between Scottish and Chinese companies. Li, who is widely tipped to be China’s next premier, arrived in Edinburgh for a four-day trip aimed at boosting economic and political ties that will include talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron. He praised progress in relations between China and... [more]
At least 70 people were killed in the crash of an Iran Air plane near a northwestern Iranian city on Sunday, a senior official with the Iranian Red Crescent told state news agency IRNA. Heydar Heydari, deputy head of the Red Crescent’s rescue operations in Iran, said another 32 people were injured when the plane came down near the city of Orumiyeh. “Based on informed received, so far 70 people have been killed and 32 injured”... [more]
Fifty from the 105 passengers and crew on board an Iran Air plane which crashed in bad weather and broke into pieces on Sunday survived the accident, Iran’s emergency services chief and media said. “So far no reports of death have been reported to me,” emergency services head Gholam Reza Masoumi told Fars news agency. “But 50 injured people out of the 105 on board have come out of the plane alive.” The Iran... [more]
About 30,000 Thai “Red Shirts” gathered in Bangkok on Sunday, police said, in their biggest show of strength since a deadly military crackdown on their mass anti-government protest last year. A security force of 1,000 was deployed in the capital for the march, at which members of the movement, dressed in their trademark red clothing, clapped and sang, some with banners backing non-violence. Police Major General Piya Utayo of... [more]
Nearly 2 million barefoot devotees, mostly in maroon shirts, thronged the streets of Manila on Sunday as a centuries old black statue of Jesus Christ, believed to have healing powers, was paraded through the old city. The wooden, life-sized Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines in the early 17th century, is taken out of the Quiapo Church in Manila on January 9 each year for the largest parade in the predominately... [more]
Bulldozers demolished a hotel in an Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood Sunday to make way for a new Israeli enclave, moving ahead with a plan that has angered the Palestinians and the U.S. The Shepherd Hotel is to be replaced by 20 apartments for Israelis. Workmen and earth-moving equipment were knocking down the structure at the site in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday. Peace talks are currently stuck over Israeli construction... [more]
