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 ...
Weeks of wrangling over a bailout for profligate Greece brutally exposed core divergences between Germany and France, raising serious questions over whether the traditional motor of closer EU integration has run out of gas. While French President Nicolas Sarkozy swiftly pledged to save Greece from the humiliation of a default, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dragged her feet and only agreed to back a salvage package when the euro zone was... [more]
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet agreed Monday on a bill to give Greece euro22.4 billion ($29.6 billion) over three years as part of a wider bailout, as the German government realized that letting Greecego bankrupt could send the euro into a tailspin and hurt Germany’s own economy. Merkel said the money would not only help Greece, which has been battered by the bond markets, but would help the “stabilization of the... [more]
A German official says Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet has approved legislation to provide Greece with billions in aid as part of an EU bailout plan. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement was to be made later Monday, told The Associated Press the Cabinet approved the plan but gave no further details. Germany’s contribution was to be euro8.4 billion ($11.14 billion) for the first... [more]
In the night before May Day, clashes between police and leftist demonstrators in Hamburg left 14 people injured. In Berlin, however, the feared violence did not materialize. Friday night’s violence in Hamburg was centred around the city’s Schanzenviertelneighborhood, where according to police some 150 left-wing demonstrators set fires in a street outside a youth centre, threw bottles and stones at police, and damaged a... [more]
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to meet over the weekend with private German bank directors to encourage them to contribute to a Greek financial rescue plan, a press report said on Friday. Schäuble has planned telephone conferences with bosses from the main German banks, probably on Sunday, once a deal has been negotiated by Greek officials, the International Monetary Fund and European Union representatives, dailyHandelsblatt... [more]
As pressure mounted on Germany to tackle Greece’s spiralling debt crisis, US President Barack Obama called Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday night and later issued a pointed statement saying both leaders agreed on the need for “resolute action.” In a clear indication of growing US concern, Obama broke away from events in Ohio, where he has been addressing economic hardships facing Americans, to call Merkel about... [more]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that talks betweenGreece, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on a bailout package for Athens must be speed up. “It is perfectly clear that the negotiations with the Greek government, theEuropean Commission and the IMF need to be accelerated,” she told reporters after talks with visiting IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. “We hope they can be... [more]
Germany could have its contribution to a financial aid package for Greece approved by the end of next week if Athenssuccessfully finalizes the talks about new austerity measures by this weekend, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday. The comments came as markets continued to react violently to the uncertainty over the growing debt crisis in Greece. “The stability of the euro is at stake. And we’re determined... [more]
The financial crisis engulfing Greece and Portugal — and fears it could spread to other eurozone countries — overshadowed an expected meeting Wednesday between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the International Monetary Fund and theEuropean Central Bank. Worried markets are looking to Merkel, IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn and ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet and others to send a positive signal,... [more]
Russian prosecutors have not yet received information from Dresden, Germany, on corrupt practices at the high-tech corporation Hewlett-Packard, the Russian prosecutor general said on Wednesday. Hewlett-Packard’s executives are suspected of paying about $10.9 million in bribes approximately seven years ago to win a multi-million dollar contract. The company sold computer equipment through a German subsidiary to the Prosecutor General’s... [more]
