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 ...
Europeans are making progress to overcome the euro zone crisis but need to do more to boost their financial firewall, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Saturday, adding that the IMF is also ready to help. “There is work under way. There is progress as we see it,” Lagarde told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum. “But it is critical that the euro zone members actually... [more]
Leading in opinion polls three months ahead of France’s presidential election, Socialist candidate François Hollande unveiled a manifesto on Thursday focused on new spending and scrapping tax breaks. Vowing to reverse the legacy of right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande promised €20 billion ($26 billion) in new spending by 2017, the creation of 60,000 new teaching jobs and 150,000 new jobs for young workers. He promised... [more]
When Megaupload executives arrive in court to answer charges that they orchestrated a massive online piracy scheme, they’ll be backed by a prominent lawyer who has defended Bill Clinton against sexual harassment charges and Enron against allegations of corporate fraud. Washington attorney Robert Bennett said Friday that he will represent the company, which was indicted in federal court in Alexandria Thursday on copyright infringement and... [more]
German drugstore giant Schlecker is declaring insolvency in a desperate attempt to save stores and keep the company afloat, the company confirmed on Friday afternoon. Schlecker managers said an insolvency petition would be delivered “shortly” to a court in Baden-Württemberg, where the company is based. A planned financing package is said to have fallen through, forcing the company’s hand. The move is not expected to have an immediate... [more]
Greece on Friday raced for a double debt-saving deal in parallel negotiations with private creditors and its EU-IMF bailout partners ahead of a default deadline looming in March. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was scheduled to meet again with global bank group representatives after late-night talks on Thursday as his finance minister held talks with senior EU-IMF auditors on a new eurozone rescue loan. Greece is seeking to slash around 100... [more]
As expected, the government is pressing ahead with plans to scrap grants for students starting a masters’ degree from the next academic year. The decision means students living away from home will no longer get a grant of some €260 a month towards the cost of their degree. Instead, they will be able to borrow the same amount of money from the student loan service, according to the draft legislation sent to parliament on Thursday. ‘They... [more]
The euro held steady against the dollar on Friday and was on track for its biggest weekly gain in three months, having rallied on short-covering following its recent drop to a 17-month low. Market players said position unwinding might give the euro a further lift in the near-term, with one possible upside target at $1.3077, the single currency’s high so far in January. Greece’s negotiations with creditors on a debt swap remain... [more]
France and Spain successfully raised funds at lower rates on the markets despite a raft of eurozone credit downgrades, while Greece got the prospect of more rescue loans from the IMF. In their first bond auctions since Standard & Poor’s downgraded their credit ratings last week, both Paris and Madrid demonstrated they can still borrow at affordable rates. Despite S&P having dropped Spain’s rating two notches from AA-... [more]
The IMF is seeking to more than double its war chest by raising $600 billion in new resources to help countries deal with the fallout of the euro zone debt crisis, but the plan faces roadblocks from the United States and other countries. The United States and Canada said on Wednesday Europe must put up more of its own money to resolve its sovereign debt crisis, raising doubts G20 talks in Mexico this week can lay the ground for a deal... [more]
The larger of the two parties in the minority coalition, the conservative VVD, has said that only people who speak Dutch should be eligible for social welfare assistance. MP Cora van Nieuwenhuizen hopes to adopt a proposal from the governing VVD into legislation from 1 January 2013, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reports. The VVD announced in 2010 that it intended reforming the social welfare system. It can rely on support from its smaller... [more]
