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 ...
Markets pushed Greece’s risk premium to a euro lifetime high on Tuesday amid growing doubts over the country’s capacity to resolve its debt crisis and fresh scepticism about a European Union-International Monetary Fund aid mechanism. “The crisis is far from over,” said Diego Iscaro, economist at IHS Global Insight. “The economy is still contracting, the structural reforms will still need to be implemented,... [more]
French carmaker Renault and Germany’s Daimler announced a groundbreaking partnership to exchange capital and share know-how in building small cars. Renault is acquiring 1.55 percent of Daimler, and Daimler 3.1 percent of Renault. French automaker Renault, Japan’s Nissan and Germany’s Daimler AG will form a partnership to exchange capital, develop cars and share expertise, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. As... [more]
Total has been placed under formal investigation in an eight-year-old case over suspected bribery relating to the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme during Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, it said. A French criminal probe into the affair was closed in 2007, and the prosecutor’s office last year recommended dismissing the case against Total’s chief executive and other current and former employees. But a new investigating... [more]
French carmaker Renault convened a meeting of its board of directors on Tuesday to discuss a partnership with Germany’s Daimler, French Industry Minister Christian Estrosi said. The meeting will “decide on a new partnership with Daimler”, the minister told a news conference in Paris. Renault and Daimler have reached a deal to take three percent stakes in each other and work together to develop small cars and engines,... [more]
A Paris judge has filed preliminary bribery charges against French oil giant Total SA in a corruption case linked to its role in the scandal-ridden U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq. Total also faces preliminary charges of complicity and influence peddling in the case, according to details in the company’s annualfinancial report that it put online Friday. Investigators suspect that millions of dollars were used as under-the-table... [more]
The Greek-EU debt crisis is taking a new twist with the expected arrival here on Wednesday of experts from the International Monetary Fund amid uncertainty over the status of a vague EU-IMF safety net. Greek sources say the IMF mission is merely to offer advice on managing its crippled budget, but there is deep unease in financial markets about the outlook. Greece, a member of the eurozone, has revealed that it is planning a huge operation... [more]
Senegal marked 50 years of independence Sunday by asserting its sovereignty with an announcement it was taking back French military bases, a symbolic move to be cemented after talks with its former colonial ruler. A colourful two-hour parade in Dakar on Sunday included a French contingent marching behind an officer bearing France’s flag to the rhythms of the Royal Armed Forces of Morocco brass band. Several other countries, including... [more]
Today is Thursday, April 1, the 91st day of 2010. There are 274 days left in the year. This is April Fools’ Day. Today’s Highlight in History: On April 1, 1960, the first true weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral. (TIROS stood for “Television Infrared Observation Satellite.”) On this date: In 1853, Cincinnati, Ohio, established a fire department made up of paid city employees. In 1918, the Royal... [more]
The Western European Union, set up in 1954 to combat the threat posed by the Soviet Union, has been dissolved. The announcement was made by Spain, holder of the union’s current presidency, on Wednesday. The day before, the United Kingdom announced its intention to leave the union. The WEU was one of the earliest attempts to bring about a practical European cooperation. The ten founding member states – Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy,... [more]
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble called for greater integration among European Union member states eventually leading to an “economic government” following the Greek debt-crisis. In the wake of the EU’s conflicted response to Greece’s precarious fiscal situation that has pressured the euro, Schäuble said Europe must develop a political counterpart to monetary union. “We need better instruments to enforce the stability... [more]
