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 ...
About 3,000 German farms have been given the green light to re-open, out of a total 4,700 that were closed due to a toxic feed scare, a regional agriculture ministry said Sunday. “There are now only 1,470 farms barred from deliveries out of the about 4,400″ in the region, Lower Saxony’s agriculture ministry said in a statement. Data has been collected in cooperation with agricultural officials to allow for a “solid... [more]
Pressure is growing on Portugal from Germany, France and other euro zone countries to seek financial help from the EU and IMF to stop the bloc’s debt crisis from spreading, a senior euro zone source said on Sunday. Some preliminary discussions on the possibility of Portugal asking for help if its financing costs on markets become too high have taken place since July, the source said. No formal talks on aid have started yet, a number... [more]
European feed suppliers are to meet with the European Commission in Brussels on Monday morning following the discovery of contaminated animal feeds in Germany. The European Commission wants to keep the production and distribution of fatty acids for industrial use and for use in animal feeds more separate from one another. European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy John Dalli said on Sunday that the EU needed to take action given... [more]
Germany’s agriculture minister is vowing tough legal action against those responsible for contaminating livestock feed with dioxin-laced fat. Ilse Aigner told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag the case needs to be thoroughly investigated, adding what appears to be “criminal energy coupled with alarming unscrupulousness” needs a severe response. She was quoted as saying “the judiciary has to clamp down hard here.” German... [more]
The swine flu virus H1N1 has established itself in Germany and is part of the current flu season, prompting medics to advise people at risk to get vaccinated. At least four people from Germany have died in the last week, Bernhard Ruf, a Leipzig-based infection scientist, told Focus magazine at the weekend. He said the virus was ‘fit and young’, and that those who had been vaccinated against it last year, or had been sick with it and... [more]
Thawing snow and ice, combined with rain over the weekend left many towns in Germany under water, with preparations being made across the country for flooding. An estimated 60 percent of the historic Rhineland town of Zell on the Mosel River was flooded on Saturday, with fire services standing by with boats over the weekend. A spokesman said, “The situation is stable, our headquarters is manned and we have two boat teams ready.” And... [more]
Germany and France want Portugal to accept an international bailout as soon as possible in order to prevent its debt crisis spreading to other countries, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Without citing its sources, the magazine said government experts from both European heavyweights were concerned Lisbon will soon not be able to finance its debt at reasonable rates, after its borrowing costs rose at the end of last year. Berlin... [more]
Bavaria’s conservatives, the Christian Social Union, announced on Tuesday a push to end the perks given to European Union officials, arguing they are no longer needed to attract workers. Markus Ferber, the party’s leader in the European Union (EU) parliament, told daily Die Welt that he would call for a “radical overhaul” to the pay and privileges given to some 50,000 EU officials during an upcoming party meeting in the Bavarian... [more]
German politicians of all stripes have called for a tougher line against religious intolerance after 21 Coptic Christians were murdered in Egypt, while Copts in Germany warned on Monday they also feared violent attacks. Bishop Anba Damian, head of the Coptic Church in Germany, told Bild am Sonntag newspaper that he had asked the government for special protection out of fear his church’s followers would be targeted. “Before Christmas,... [more]
The debt crisis has strengthened Germany’s hand in Europe, but Chancellor Angela Merkel will have a tough time convincing voters that leadership might also mean digging deep for additional aid. “So far, people do not see the costs that might be associated with what politicians have agreed to, namely some nation states underwriting the debt of others,” Barclays Capital economist Thorsten Polleit told AFP. “It is an... [more]
