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 ...
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday threw its weight behind an existing probe by European Union authorities into whether rival Google Inc. is abusing its dominant position in the online search market to thwart competition. Microsoft’s General Counsel Brad Smith said the company is filing its own complaint against Google with the European Commission, citing concern over “a broadening pattern of conduct aimed at stopping anyone else from... [more]
Google has said the Chinese government is interfering with its email services in China, making it difficult for users to gain access to its Gmail programme. Google said its engineers have determined there are no technical problems with the email service or its main website. “There is no technical issue on our side; we have checked extensively. This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail,”... [more]
An error on a Google map suggests that Emden harbour in western Germany has been annexed by the Netherlands. Emden is close to the German-Dutch border, which runs roughly along the middle of an estuary separating the two countries. The border as drawn on Google Maps, however, shows the harbour water as an appendix of the Dutch area. Emden residents complained when they spotted the error, after which the city contacted Google. City spokesman... [more]
EU antitrust regulators are keeping tabs on a new media subscription service by Apple Inc. because of concerns voiced by publishers, a European Commission spokeswoman said on Friday. An official investigation appears unlikely, however, as commissioners believe rivalry in the field is increasing, according to their comments to EU legislators. Apple on Tuesday rolled out a subscription service for magazines, newspapers, videos and music which... [more]
Google Inc and Facebook Inc, plus others, have held low level takeover talks with Twitter that give the Internet sensation a value as high as $10 billion (6 billion pounds), the Wall Street Journal reported. In December, Twitter raised $200 million in financing in a deal that valued it at $3.7 billion. The company, which allows users to broadcast 140-character messages to groups of followers, had 175 million users as of September. The Wall... [more]
Google on Wednesday provided a glimpse at tablet computer software crafted to dethrone the iPad and courted developers key to the success of Apple gadgets. Google showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet that won raves at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month. “Honeycomb is tailored for the new generation of tablet-sized computers,” Google... [more]
Google Inc. is getting closer to releasing a version of the Android software meant for tablet computers, one that will include a fresh look and updated Web browser and keyboard. The online search leader said Wednesday that it released a preview version of the software development kit for Honeycomb, also known as Android 3.0. It’s for developers to test out their applications on the software and learn about its new capabilities. In... [more]
Nvidia really did come out of CES 2011 smelling like roses. Not only did the Santa-Clara based chip maker announce details of Project Denver, which aims to get its ARM-based chips inside PCs – a move that has seen its share price rocket – its Tegra 2 chips featured in many of the high profile device launches. And now it has posted details of its Tegra Zone – a platform that will highlight the Android apps that make the... [more]
Google has appointed Rajan Anandan, previously managing director of Microsoft’s India unit, as head of its India operations effective immediately. Anandan will take over from Shailesh Rao, Google said in a statement. Rao, who was earlier handling dual roles — one as India operations head and the other as managing director of media and platform sales for Japan and Asia-Pacific, will now handle the latter role full-time, the company... [more]
Google is trying to get media backing for a new Google-operated digital newsstand for users of devices that run its Android software, hoping to muscle in on Apple’s own version, The Wall Street Journal said. Google has already approached several publishers, including Time Warner Inc.’s Time Inc. unit, Condé Nast and Hearst Corp., according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks, these sources said, Google has told... [more]
