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 ...
End of the year sales are still going strong, and in this environment it’s difficult to imagine not being able to find an excellent deal on the necessities. But sales end and economic trends change, and sometimes even minor shifts can spell big price hikes. It’s inevitable that as the new year creeps closer, we begin to muse about what’s to come in the next 12 months. So dealnews is taking a look at what price adjustments... [more]
Prince Philip may have missed the royal family’s traditional Christmas celebrations, but he will be home in time to ring in the New Year. The 90-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II was released from Papworth Hospital in Cambridge early today after spending four nights there to undergo treatment for a blocked coronary artery. Philip was seen smiling and waving to bystanders as he was driven away from the hospital to begin the... [more]
ARGENTINE President Cristina Kirchner has thanked her Latin American peers for their support in her first public appearance since she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “I am going to continue working with the greatest commitment,” she said as she met the country’s governors at her presidential palace today, one day after her spokesman announced that she would have surgery next week. She said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez,... [more]
ARGENTINA’S President Cristina Kirchner has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will undergo surgery on January 4, her spokesman says. Ms Kirchner, who was sworn in for a second four-year term earlier this month, was found to have cancer “on the right lobe of the thyroid gland” during a routine medical examination on December 22, said spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro yesterday (today AEDT). “The illness has been contained,”... [more]
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pushed ahead with his far-reaching plan for political reform on Wednesday, outlining the time frame for his proposals to go before parliament. A draft law to reinstate direct elections for regional governors and to have half the MPs in the lower house, the State Duma, elected directly rather than by means of party lists should be introduced to the State Duma by February 15, the Kremlin said. Another bill,... [more]
Britain’s Prince Philip left the hospital Tuesday, after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery. Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s 90-year-old husband, spent four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. He was taken to Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, on Friday after complaining of chest pains. It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known... [more]
Close to 60,000 homes across Sweden remained without power on Tuesday morning and rail passengers were still stranded in the north in the wake of storm “Dagmar”, which tore through the country over the Christmas holiday weekend. Around 60,000 customers from utility providers Fortum, Eon, Vattenfall, and Härjeån had to make due without electricity overnight into Tuesday. Eon doesn’t expect to have power restored to customers in... [more]
ONE of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes erupted today, spewing clouds of ash and panicking villagers but no evacuation has been ordered so far, a government vulcanologist said. The first eruption of Mount Lokon was at 3.07am local time (06.07 AEDT, 19.07 Monday GMT), followed by two more bursts within minutes, Farid Bina said from a monitoring post near the volcano on Sulawesi island. “The eruption was heard as far as five kilometres... [more]
NEW Hampshire Right to Life is suing the Obama administration for access to records about a decision to fund Planned Parenthood in violation of state rules, a move that comes amid efforts by some state officials to get rid of virtually all federal funding to The Granite State. The organization filed suit Thursday after complaining that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was ignoring its Freedom of Information Act request for... [more]
A second hole has been found in a stricken Russian fishing boat in Antarctic waters, but rescuers said they were making good progress with repairs and the vessel should be seaworthy by Wednesday. The Sparta, with a crew of 32, has been stranded near the Antarctic ice shelf since it was holed 11 days ago and heavy ice in the area prevented nearby vessels offering immediate assistance. Pumps and fuel dropped from a New Zealand Air Force Hercules... [more]
