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 eldest brother of North Korea’s new leader says reforms needed to avert the collapse of the country’s economy will lead to the end of its Stalinist regime, according to a book to be published this week. Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of Kim Jong-Un who took control of the hermit state on the death of their father last month, says the military has become so powerful it will step in and take over. The comments come in a book... [more]
Striking Greek workers brought the Athens metro to a standstill on Tuesday and kept ferries docked to protest against austerity as the country’s lenders visited Athens to try to avert a disorderly debt default. EU, IMF and ECB officials start combing through Athens’ books on Tuesday as part of efforts to put together a 130-billion-euro rescue package that Greece needs to stay afloat when a major bond redemption comes due... [more]
It’s the poem about Jesus versus “religion” that’s lighting up the blogosphere at a dizzying pace. “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” by spoken-word artist Jefferson Bethke has received more than 10.2 million YouTubeviews as of Saturday night since it was posted just four days ago, eliciting more than 100,000 YouTube comments and plenty of debate elsewhere on the Internet. You can check it out... [more]
A barrage of attack ads have stormed early voting states in the US as Republicans battle it out to take on Barack Obama. Changes in rules governing campaigning and advertising mean this election has an unprecedented amount of advertising and it is getting nasty. Supreme Court decisions allow Super PAC campaign groups to raise limitless sums from corporations and unions to support candidates as long as they do not have direct contact with... [more]
Newspaper polls show Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Cabinet reshufflehas failed to lift public support. Polls published Sunday showed support for Noda and his new Cabinet was flat to slightly down from before Friday’s reshuffle. The approval rating in the Nikkei business daily poll was 37 percent, up one-tenth a percentage pointfrom December, with disapproval unchanged. The Yomiuri and the Asahi said approvals dipped... [more]
A 23-year-old beauty queen from Kenosha, Wis., won the Miss America pageant Saturday in Las Vegas after singing opera and strutting in a white bikini and black beaded evening gown. Laura Kaeppeler also had to answer a question about whether beauty queens should declare their politics. “Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they represent everyone as well,” she said. “And... [more]
Hollywood hearthrob Ashton Kutcher has invested in yet another Berlin start-up, taking a stake in event marketplace Gidsy. The company confirmed on Friday that it had closed its seed round and had secured funding from a number of investors, including Kutcher, who has already invested in Berlin-based companies Amen and SoundCloud. Founded by Dutch brothers Edial and Floris Dekker and Austrian Philpp Wassibauer in May 2011, Gidsy allows... [more]
HEATHER Locklear was released from a Los Angeles hospital Friday afternoon, one day after she was hospitalized for a possible overdose. A spokesperson for Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center told Entertainment Tonight that Locklear had been released into the care of her family about 5:00pm local time. She was “in good spirits” and was smiling and laughing and will now undergo follow-up care with her own doctor, the spokesperson... [more]
Actress Heather Locklearremained in an intensive care unit Friday following an emergency call that brought paramedics to her home, a hospital spokeswomansaid. “Heather is still in good condition and she’s medically stable, she is resting comfortably,” Los Robles Hospital spokeswoman Kris Carraway-Bowman told KABC-TV. The 50-year-old “Melrose Place” actress was receiving one-on-one care in the ICU, she... [more]
She is tough, sexy and cool. Victoria’s Secret angel, blonde Russian beauty Marina Linchuk, has taken part in the new ad campaign for one of the oldest and most revered Italian luxury brands. The New York-based supermodel got the coveted job when she was at a party celebrating the opening of the “Coat! Max Mara, 60 years of Italian fashion” exhibition in Moscow. Linchuk managed to charm the captains of the legendary brand to the point... [more]
