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 leading credit ratings agency says the debt crisis enveloping Greece could spread to affect the banking systems of the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Moody’s Investor Service says that although banks in some countries were not heavily affected by the financial crisis, they could be hurt if the fiscal crisis intensifies outside of Greece. The agency said in a report: “The potential contagion of sovereign risks to banking... [more]
Greece’s only hope of avoiding bankruptcy is to take money from a joint EU and International Monetary Fund rescue package, the finance minister said Thursday during a heatedParliamentary debate overshadowed by the deaths of three people during protests against spending cuts. Greece has to impose harsh austerity measures, including slashing salaries and pensions and increasing taxes, in order to get money from the three-year package,... [more]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the Greekdebt crisis had put the fate of the Europe Union and Germany’s role within the bloc on the line. “The future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe is at stake,” Merkel said in parliament in a debate on Berlin’s unpopular decision to lend €22.4 billion ($29.1 billion) in taxpayers’ money to Greece. Merkel defended the aid package... [more]
The German Chancellor and the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned of financial contagion unless a eurozone debt crisis is stopped in Greece. Angela Merkel, whose government has been accused of delaying its approval of a bailout package, said the crisis marked a turning point for the European Union. “The future of Europe and the future of Germany within Europe is at stake,” Mrs Merkel said. Her comments... [more]
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]
The Europe-IMF bailout package for Greece will allow Athens to avoid borrowing on the markets for 18 months, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told Le Monde daily on Monday. “I convinced the Europeans that this massive effort was needed so that Greece would not have to turn to the markets for 18 months,” said the managing director of the International Monetary Fund. European finance ministers on Sunday launched a 110-billion-euro... [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]
Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou prepares to announce the latest austerity measures to cut Greece’s public deficit and trigger the release of up to 45 billion euros of loans this year from the International Monetary Fund and the other 15 countries in the eurozone. Greece could receive another 65 billion euros over the next two years. In return for receiving emergency loans of 110 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund... [more]
The Netherlands’ share of the €110bn rescue package for Greece worked out by the EU and IMF will amount to around €5.5bn, ‘possibly a little less’, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told reporters on Sunday. Eurozone members and the IMF finalised the three-year bail-out package to rescue Greece’s struggling economy at the weekend. The EU will provide €80bn in funding. De Jager said it was vital that Greece... [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]
