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 ...
If the long-running diplomatic soap opera starring German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy required a theme song, an appropriate choice might be Serge Gainsbourg’s 1969 ditty “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus” (I Love You … Neither Do I). The pair are currently engaged in another of their recurring spats – periodic episodes of policy disagreement and personal vexation that... [more]
The European Central Bank is expected to leave its key interest rate at 1 percent on Thursday as its governing council holds its first monetary policy meeting since last month’s decision to buygovernment bonds to ease the debt crisis. With markets still jittery — the euro recently hit a series of four-year lows to trade below $1.19 this week — attention will turn to the press conference President Jean-Claude Trichet holds... [more]
The Christian Democrats do not want to reduce the tax break which people can claim on their mortgages but is prepared to put up another tax only paid by home owners, CDA leader Jan Peter Balkenende said in an interview with BNR radio, one day ahead of the general election. The woningforfait [housing tax] can be used to ask the better off to show solidarity, the outgoing prime minister said. The Financieele Dagblad says changes to the home... [more]
The government’s historic plan for spending cuts sparked fierce debate on Tuesday, with some in the coalition defending the package while social justice advocates and German cities slammed the plan as unjust. After an intensive, two-day cabinet session, the coalition government of Merkel’sChristian Democrats (CDU) and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) decided Monday to slash €80 billion from the budget by 2014, including €11.2... [more]
Finance ministers from the debt-stricken euro zone sought to restore financial markets’ confidence on Monday by agreeing how to deploy a vast anti-contagion programme if needed by struggling members. Germany’s coalition government agreed in parallel to budget cuts and taxes worth 11.2 billion euros next year — and more than 80 billion euros by the end of 2014 — in the latest of a series of austerity plans being hatched... [more]
Reductions in social benefits will spearhead the deepest spending cuts in modern German history, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Monday. But education and research will be spared the axe and income and sales taxes will not be increased. Outlining the government’s long-awaited plan to get finances back in shape in the wake of the global financial crisis, Merkel spoke of an “unparalleled show of strength” to put the nation’s... [more]
Spain’s civil servants went on strike Tuesday to protest government cuts to their salaries as part of a plan to rein in a ballooning public deficit that has rattled global financial markets. Unions representing the country’s nearly three million public workers, ranging from doctors to street cleaners, called the strike last month after the government unveiled another 15 billion euros (18 billion dollars) in spending cuts over... [more]
Asian shares and the euro plummeted Monday as traders took their lead from a slumping Wall Street and worries that Hungary’s public finances face a Greece-style meltdown. Fresh fears for the global recovery were stoked after the United States released worse-than-expected jobs figures at the end of last week. Tokyo dived 3.84 percent, or 380.39 points, to 9,520.80 as the weaker yen hit exporters, while Sydney shed 2.78 percent, or 123.5... [more]
North Korea’s parliament meets for a rare second annual session on Monday amid growing momentum in the international community to punish Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March that killed 46 sailors. Analysts said the North could use the extra session of the Supreme People’s Assembly to make a major announcement on personnel changes or power succession, or to issue a hardline response to sanctions imposed... [more]
Russia urged NATO forces in Afghanistan on Sunday to crack down harder on drug production and smuggling, and offered to help put a security ring around the country. The international community should classify Afghan drugs as a threat to peace and security because they have become an important source of funds for the Taliban and other insurgent groups, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said in a speech. Insurgents and international... [more]
