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 ...
The chief of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU), Lt. Gen. Alexander Shlyakhturov, resigned from his post on Saturday, the Kommersant business daily reported. According to the newspaper, Shlyakhturov, 64, will in the near future head the board of directors of the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering (MIT), the developer of the Bulava ballistic missile and other strategic missile systems. Now it is led by the head of Russia’s Federal... [more]
THE Kremlin’s rights panel has called for the resignation of Russia’s election chief and snap parliamentary elections in a damning statement on “discredited” polls that sparked mass demonstrations. The recommendations by the panel – which advises President Dmitry Medvedev on rights and social issues – are not binding but will add to pressure on the authorities for radical changes after the December 4 polls. It... [more]
Tens of thousands of flag-waving and chanting protesters called on Saturday for a disputed parliamentary election to be rerun, increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin as he seeks a new term as Russian president. The protesters chanted “Russia without Putin” and “New elections, New elections” as speakers called for an end to Putin’s 12-year domination of the country at the second big opposition rally in two weeks... [more]
Russia’s opposition plans to stage new nationwide demonstrations on Saturday, expected to attract tens of thousands of people to protest alleged rigging of December 4 parliamentary elections. Incensed by claims of wholesale violations in the polls that handed a reduced majority to Vladimir Putin’s ruling party, tens of thousands of people already took to the streets across Russia on December 10. Those protests were the biggest... [more]
As North Korea comes to terms with the loss of its “Dear Leader”, the shadowy figure of “the Great Successor” – his son – has begun to emerge. Kim Jong-un only appeared with his father on live television for the first time last October, clapping and saluting thousands of goose-stepping soldiers at a military parade. The third son of Kim Jong-il, Jong-un is believed to be around 27-years-old and was... [more]
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda set up a crisis management team on North Korean on Monday following news of the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, a spokesman for Noda said. Noda instructed relevant government ministries to collect information following an announcement by North Korea’s state television that Kim had died on Saturday, the spokesman for the prime minister’s office said. He told Reuters that Noda wanted to verify... [more]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack while on a train trip, state media reported on Monday, sparking immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program. A tearful television announcer dressed in black said the 69-year old had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work on his way to give “field guidance.” He had suffered a stroke in 2008, but appeared to have recovered. North... [more]
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak urged Japan to have the “courage” to compensate ageing wartime sex slaves before it is too late and let the two nations’ relationship progress. Lee on Sunday told Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto that the issue had prevented their countries from becoming “true partners” in the years since World War II. Japan, which insists the issue... [more]
North Korea has agreed to suspend its enriched-uranium nuclear weapons programme, a key United States demand for the resumption of disarmament talks, according to news reports. Yonhap news agency and the Chosun Ilbo daily quoted an unidentified diplomatic source saying the Washington had also agreed to provide the North with up to 240,000 tonnes of food aid. Pyongyang pledged “to implement initial measures of denuclearisation that... [more]
Thai police said Friday they had found and defused six potentially explosive devices in the capital Bangkok, days after the government called for heightened vigilance over the New Year period. A man was arrested on suspicion of planting the devices outside a bank, on an overpass and at a road intersection in the city’s eastern suburbs. “So far six bombs were found at three locations,” Major General Wichai Sungprapai, metropolitan... [more]
