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 ...
Iran will make its own fuel for a nuclear research reactor later this year, its foreign minister said on Saturday, announcing a “breakthrough” which appeared timed to strengthen Tehran’s hand in talks with world powers. Less than two weeks before a second round of talks with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran was pushing ahead with the uranium enrichment which... [more]
The radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr alternated incendiary remarks with promises of moderation. The occasion was his first public speech after his return from Iran, following some four years of absence. Speaking in Najaf, Sadr invited the Iraqis to refuse any occupation, screaming “No, no America”, and reminded his supporters: “We are still fighters”. The former 37 year old commander of the Mahdi Army confirmed... [more]
Russian Alexei Koval, charged in the United States with conspiring with his compatriot Igor Poteroba, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy and securities fraud on Friday. As part of a plea deal, Koval, of Chicago, also agreed to forfeit at least $1.4 million in profit from illegal use of inside information in trades. Poteroba, a former executive director at an American subsidiary of Switzerland-headquartered global financial... [more]
Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is calling the U.S., Israel, and Great Britain “common enemies” against Iraq and is urging his Shiite followers to resist what he called “the occupiers” by all means. The radical cleric’s comments Saturday came in his first public speech in Iraq since his self-imposed exile to Iran nearly four years ago. He told the crowd of thousands to “reject America” and urged... [more]
North Korea reiterated Saturday a proposal for unconditional talks with South Korea to ease tensions on the divided peninsula. The latest offer comes days after South Korea dismissed earlier calls by the North for negotiations. Tensions between the two sides escalated after a North Korean artillery barrage on a South Korean-held island near their disputed maritime border killed four South Koreans in November. The attack — the first on... [more]
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has likened Turkey to Iran on the eve of its 1979 Islamic revolution, saying Ankara’s policies were to blame for the breakdown of ties with the Jewish state Writing in Thursday’s edition of the Jerusalem Post under the headline “We will not be Turkey’s punching bag,” Lieberman offered to meet his Turkish counterpart as part of a “frank and honest dialogue”... [more]
South Korea has dismissed a North Korean call for unconditional talks to ease tensions, saying on Thursday the offer was “propaganda” it does not take seriously. The North’s move on Wednesday came as the United States met Chinese and South Korean officials for talks on how to calm the Korean peninsula and persuade the North to stop its nuclear work. Seoul, which wants an apology after North Korea’s deadly shelling... [more]
Japanese and South Korean defence ministers will meet next week in Seoul to discuss boosting military ties in the wake of deadly attacks from North Korea, a South Korean official said on Tuesday. But Japan’s Toshimi Kitazawa and his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin have no plans to sign a joint statement on security cooperation when they meet on January 10, the Defence Ministry official said. “They aim to discuss national... [more]
Israeli authorities have arrested two locally hired workers at the British consulate general in Jerusalem who were reportedly linked to a plot to attack a stadium, the Foreign Office in London said Monday. “I can confirm that two members of the local staff at the consulate general in Jerusalem have been arrested by Israeli authorities,” a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP. “We understand from reports that they have been... [more]
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak Monday reached out to North Korea, saying Seoul was open to talks and offering closer economic ties despite high tensions on the peninsula. In his New Year policy address, just days after Pyongyang called for improved relations in 2011, Lee also urged the North to abandon its “military adventurism.” Relations between the two Koreas plunged after the North shelled a border island in November,... [more]
