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 ...
China reiterated on Friday that it is not deliberately seeking a trade surplus with the United States, Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said, days before talks with the United States. “China’s position is clear — that we are not deliberately pursuing a large trade surplus,” Zhu told a news briefing ahead of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington D.C. from Monday. “This is a mutually... [more]
Swedish car maker Saab has agreed to form a strategic partnership with Chinese company Hawtai Motor, Dutch owner Spyker confirmed on Tuesday. Hawtai is to put some €150m into Saab – €120m in the form of share capital (29.9%) and the rest in a convertible bond. The two companies will also work together in both production and technological developments. The deal is still subject to approval from certain Chinese government agencies,... [more]
China hailed on Tuesday the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid while defending its regional partner Pakistan against accusations it had done too little against terror threats. Beijing and Washington have gone through bouts of friction over Taiwan and Tibet, regional security and most recently China’s clampdown on dissent and human rights activists. China showed no appetite, however, for turning the U.S. raid that killed bin Laden... [more]
Sang Lan, a Chinese gymnast who broke her neck during a vaulting accident at the 1998 Goodwill Games, filed a $1.8 billion lawsuit against Time Warner and the US gymnastics federation. Sang was paralyzed after being injured during a warm-up vault at the Nassau Coliseum in suburban New York at the global multisport event which is no longer contested but was at the time owned by AOL Time Warner. In a federal lawsuit, Sang, now 29, claims promises... [more]
Over one thousand protesters in Hong Kong took to the streets to demand the release of detained Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei on Saturday, scuffling briefly with police. The rally — the largest in a string of protests across the city in recent weeks — has underscored Hong Kong’s growing role as a hotbed of support for Ai with local pro-democracy activists and artists ratcheting up pressure on Beijing... [more]
A farmer from central China has discovered his mystery illness was caused by a bullet inside his brain 23 years after it lodged there. Wang Tianqing was suffering from symptoms that had grown progressively worse over two decades, but when he finally visited the doctor, the cause came as a surprise. CT scans showed a bullet inside his head. The Chinese surgeon who removed it says Mr Wang cheated death by a matter of millimetres. “The... [more]
Striking truck drivers protested for a third day Friday in Shanghai’s main harbour district amid heavy police presence and signs the action has already started to curb exports from the world’s busiest container port. The strike is a very public demonstration of anger over rising consumer prices and fuel price increases in China. It comes as the government struggles to contain higher inflation, which hit 5.4 percent in March,... [more]
The United States said it will hold hold human rights talks with China in Beijing next week, amid a Chinese crackdown on government critics that has drawn US condemnation. The “discussions will focus on human rights developments, including the recent negative trend of forced disappearances, extralegal detentions, and arrests and convictions,” the State Department said in a statement on Friday. Assistant Secretary for Democracy,... [more]
UN chief Ban Ki-moon came out all diplomatic and political guns blazing to defend protesters in the Arab world and civilians in Ivory Coast, but on a new wave of arrests in China: silence. The former South Korean foreign minister has, through his first term as UN secretary general, stressed the role of “quiet diplomacy” for some prickly cases. But the disappearance of dozens of artists, intellectuals and dissidents in China in... [more]
Chinese jewellery factory owner Zhou Mingwang sums up the global appeal of this month’s British royal wedding with one line: “It’s a love story.” But, he adds with a sly smile, the much-ballyhooed April 29 union of Prince William and girlfriend Kate Middleton is also a great business opportunity for Zhou and his fellow entrepreneurs in this eastern China factory town. Zhou, 32, has sold more than 100,000 replicas... [more]
