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 ...
Today is Saturday, July 31, the 212th day of 2010. There are 153 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 31, 1910, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, whose wife, Cora, had disappeared from their London home, was arrested along with his mistress, Ethel Le Neve (posing as Crippen’s son), aboard the steamship SS Montrose upon its arrival in Quebec, Canada. (Crippen was later convicted by a British court of murdering... [more]
Today is Friday, July 30, the 211th day of 2010. There are 154 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 30, 1945, during World War II, the Portland class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered components for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine; only 316 out of some 1,200 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters. On this date: In 1792,... [more]
Kate Hudson and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy are house-hunting together. The ‘Fool’s Gold’ actress and the British rock star are looking for a property in New York after dating for just four months. The couple have been inseparable since meeting at the Coachella Festival in California earlier this year and believe the time is right to set up home. A source told The Sun newspaper: “They’re very loved-up, they just... [more]
Today is Thursday, July 29, the 210th day of 2010. There are 155 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 29, 1981, Britain’s Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. (However, the couple divorced in 1996.) On this date: In 1030, the patron saint of Norway, King Olaf II, was killed in battle. In 1588, the English attacked the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines,... [more]
Today is Wednesday, July 28, the 209th day of 2010. There are 156 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 28, 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people. On this date: In 1540, King Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed, the same day Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. In 1609, the English ship Sea Venture,... [more]
Today is Monday, July 26, the 207th day of 2010. There are 158 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. On this date: In 1775, Benjamin Franklin became America’s first Postmaster-General. In 1788, New York became the 11th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte... [more]
Today is Sunday, July 25, the 206th day of 2010. There are 159 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 25, 1960, a Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, N.C. that had been the scene of a sit-in protest against its whites-only lunch counter dropped its segregation policy as it served three of its black employees at the counter. On this date: In 1866, Ulysses S. Grant was named General of the Army of the United... [more]
Today is Saturday, July 24, the 205th day of 2010. There are 160 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 24th, 1959, during a visit to Moscow, Vice President Richard Nixon engaged in his famous “Kitchen Debate” with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. On this date: In 1783, Latin American revolutionary Simon Bolivar (see-MOHN’ boh-LEE’-vahr) was born in Caracas. In 1847, Mormon leader Brigham Young... [more]
Today is Friday, July 23, the 204th day of 2010. There are 161 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 23, 1885, Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, died in Mount McGregor, N.Y. at age 63. On this date: In 1892, Emperor Haile Selassie (HY’-lee suh-LAH’-see) of Ethiopia was born. In 1914, Austria-Hungary issued a list of demands to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Franz... [more]
Today is Thursday, July 22, the 203rd day of 2010. There are 162 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On July 22, 1934, bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, where he had just seen the Clark Gable movie “Manhattan Melodrama.” On this date: In 1587, an English colony fated to vanish under mysterious circumstances was established on Roanoke... [more]
