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 told the rest of the world on Friday not to meddle with the way it manages the yuan, setting the stage for a clash with its biggest trading partners at next week’s G20 summit. U.S. President Barack Obama released a letter to his Group of 20 colleagues that zeroed in on prickly policy differences over China’s currency stance and debt-wary Europe’s rush to rein in bulging budget deficits. World leaders gathering in... [more]
The strike by 2500 security guards is increasingly affecting daily life for Norwegians, and for tourists as well. On Thursday visitors found the Munch Museum closed, due to a shortage of security personnel. Altogether 12 Norwegian airports are now affected by the strike, and several are closed. Passengers are transported by bus to the nearest operative airport. Oslo Airport Gardermoen has up to now been able to operate at normal capacity,... [more]
The Spanish Treasury successfully borrowed 3.479 billion euros (4.305 billion dollars) by selling bonds on Thursday but at higher rates as investors sought more reward for lending after recent debt scares. The treasury issued 3.0 billion euros in 10-year bonds and 479 million euros of 30-year bonds, for a total at the top end of its expectations of 2.5 billion to 3.5 billion. Despite strong demand for the two issues, Spain had to offer higher... [more]
Norwegians are now being encouraged to bring small change with them when they go shopping. Stores are quickly running out of change, due to the ongoing striike by security guards. Cards are soon the only way to pay your bills at the cashier, since money transports are also affected by the security guard strike. For the same reason, more and more cash points are also closing down, as they are no longer being refilled Share this: ... [more]
European Union countries will coordinate budget plans starting next year, rather than making their own national choices, Italy’s Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Sunday. “This year is the last in which national budgets will be made,” Tremonti told a conference, according to Italian news agencies. “The economic policies will all be done at the same time of the year, all together in the same way. There will... [more]
South Korea’s finance ministry on Sunday announced tightened regulations on foreign exchange transactions to stabilise its volatile finances. The new measures, which take effect from July, are the latest of Seoul’s efforts to regulate foreign capital flows and the fluctuating won. The ministry said in a statement it would limit South Korean financial institutions’ forward currency positions to 50 percent of their equity... [more]
Joachim Gauck, the former East German civil rights activist and candidate for president, has stirred things up by criticising the government’s savings plans for not being socially fair. Gauck was put up by the opposition parties as an alternative option for head of state to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s choice of Lower Saxony state premierChristian Wulff. The former Protestant pastor, who earned national respect for his sensitive... [more]
BP chief executive Tony Hayward said in an interview published today his firm was considering cutting its dividend amid growing US public anger at its handling of a devastating oil spill. The BP board of directors may consider cutting or deferring its second-quarter dividend – due to be announced on July 27 – or even issuing dividend payments as scrip, effectively a means of delaying payment to shareholders, The Wall Street Journal... [more]
More than 1000 security guards will walk out on strike early Saturday morning, after arbitration broke down early Friday morning. Stokmarknes, Førde and Hammerfest airports will be closed. In addition, there will be no departures from Molde Airport. Haugesund airport will be kept open during the weekend. At Oslo Airport Gardermoen, 59 out of 670 security guards will walk out, but the airport will remain open, and so will Bergen Arport... [more]
Japan’s new Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday pledged a fiscal policy overhaul to reduce the country’s massive public debt mountain, warning of a Greece-style meltdown. “Our country’s outstanding public debt is huge,” the centre-left leader said in his first policy address since taking office Tuesday. “Our public finances have become the worst of any developed country.” After decades of stimulus... [more]
