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 ...
A four-hour crisis jobs summit chaired by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ended with a series of measures as well as plenty of criticism. The summit, held as France’s unemployment remains stubbornly at twelve-year highs, brought together union leaders, business representatives and ministers. “The gravity of the crisis obliges us to make decisions,” Sarkozy told them, according to a text provided by his office. A... [more]
Changing the negative perception of business among Russians remains a priority task, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. “Our difficulties stem, firstly, from the socialist state of mind and, secondly, from the 1990s, when it all, regretfully, worsened and was discredited, to a significant extent, because of unfair privatization,” the Russian premier said. He decried that fact those close to the authorities... [more]
Britain’s biggest police force spent more than £35,000 on 110,000 calls to the speaking clock over the last two years, figures have shown. The Metropolitan Police, which like all forces is facing cuts to its budget, also spent more than £200,000 calling directory inquiries, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed. The force was committed to reducing costs, but there were “evidential and operational reasons”... [more]
Russia has imposed a ban on all imports of live Dutch sheep and goats, as well as their meat, embryos and sperm. The move was prompted by the discovery of the Schmallenberg virus among Dutch livestock. Deputy Agriculture Minister Henk Bleker says the measure is unnecessary and intends to persuade his Russian colleague to revoke the ban when he meets him in Berlin later this week. Mr Bleker says there is no danger to public health. Share... [more]
The Greek government will meet Wednesday with the head of a group of private bank creditors to resume talks on cutting nearly a third of the country’s massive debt, a finance ministry source said. The talks with Charles Dallara, head of the Institute of International Finance, are aimed at writing off about 100 billion euros ($128 billion) in Greek sovereign debt held by private sector financial institutions. Last Friday, the talks... [more]
Greece will consider legislation forcing private creditors to take losses on their holdings, if it fails to reach agreement in critical negotiations scheduled to resume on Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said. In an interview with The New York Times published on Wednesday, Papademos said that if Greece did not receive 100 percent participation in a program in which bondholders would voluntarily write down $130 billion of... [more]
Bankrupt Swedish car company Saab is auctioning off the rare, collectable and classic cars on display in the Saab museum, as no buyer for the entire collection has been found. While the list of cars, with their pictures and details, is available to bidders online, only a select few will be permitted to take a closer look at the actual vehicles. Peter Bäckström, the museum’s head, said that he will only allow the doors to be opened... [more]
The latest unemployment figures are due to be released – amid increasingly bleak predictions of widespread redundancies. Analysts expect the data will show another rise from last month’s figure of 2.6 million, while suggesting the jobless total will peak at 2.9 million next year. They believe the figure will not fall below 2.5 million until 2016 at the earliest. Smaller firms will look to shed staff in the first three months... [more]
The World Bank warned Wednesday of a possible slump in global economic growth and urged developing countries to prepare for shocks that could be more severe than the 2008 crisis. The bank cut its growth forecast for developing countries this year to 5.4 percent from 6.2 percent and for developed countries to 1.4 percent from 2.7 percent. For the 17 countries that use the euro currency, it forecast a contraction, cutting their growth outlook... [more]
China’s economy is showing signs of slowing, with foreigninvestment falling for the second straight month in December and home prices dropping in most cities, according to the government. The latest indicators came a day after data showed the economyexpanded 9.2 percent last year, narrowing from 10.4 percent in 2010, as global turbulence and efforts to tame high inflation put the brakes on growth. The world’s second-largest... [more]
