Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. The corporation - once a Web powerhouse but now agonizing over a range of options to revive flagging growth - on Tuesday said it appointed former Rovi Corp CEO and International Business Machines Corp veteran Alfred Amoroso and ex-eBay COO Maynard Webb as independent directors. Yahoo's board has come under fire from investors impatient with the company's persistent inability to effect a turnaround, and frustrated with the apparent indecisiveness of stakeholders over ...
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has vowed to fight an "anti-business culture" in Britain, warning that a row overexecutive pay and bonuses threatens the country's fragile economic recovery. "Let me say something about the row over bonuses and pay," Osborne said in a speech to the Federation of Small Businesses. "Of course rewards for failure are unacceptable -- and those who believe in the free market are the first to say so. But a strong, free market economy must be built on rewards for success." The Labour Party has heaped pressure on the ruling coalition to curb excessive pay for top executives, using a House of Commons debate to demand the return ...
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 ...
Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday amid worries about weak Christmas sales in the United States and Europe and a warning by Japan’s central bank about possible risks from the European debt crisis. Tokyo lost 0.5 percent to 8,440.56 while China’s benchmark Shanghai index dropped nearly 1.1 percent to 2,166.21. Seoul, Taipei, Singapore and Jakarta declined. Hong Kong and Sydney were closed. In Europe, France’s CAC... [more]
Petroplus, Europe’s largest independent oil refiner, said on Tuesday that lenders had frozen about $1 billion in uncommitted credit lines which it said was “critical” to the company’s operations. “The company intends to continue negotiations with the banks for a prompt restoration of the credit lines, and is evaluating additional strategic options to maintain operations in its European refining and marketing... [more]
Taylor Lautner got quite the Christmas surprise when a magazine cover did the rounds on Twitter on Boxing Day, splashed with the headline: ‘Out & proud.’ The fake cover fooled plenty of people. A hoaxer created a People magazine cover for the January 7, 2012 edition with a picture of Taylor and the caption: “Tired of rumors, the Twilight star opens up about his decision to finally come out.” It also quotes Taylor... [more]
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is ready for dialogue with the Russian protest movement to ensure that presidential polls are fair, according to his old ally and ex-finance minister Alexei Kudrin. Kudrin told the Vedomosti daily that he met Putin — who has announced plans to swap jobs with President Dmitry Medvedev after the March 4 polls — on the eve of Saturday’s mass rally in Moscow. “From my conversation with Putin,... [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]
Most Germans do not want President Christian Wulff to resign despite the continuing scandal over his business dealings, although roughly half have lost confidence in the head of state, according to a new poll. While 50 percent believe that Wulff used his public position to help friends and 48 percent have little or no confidence in him, 73 percent do not think he should resign, according to the poll conducted for the Bild newspaper. A... [more]
Ten years after the introduction of the euro, and in the midst of its biggest crisis to date, the AFP’s Celine Le Prioux says there are many reasons Europe’s biggest economy has benefited from the single currency. Chancellor Angela Merkel has made no bones about the advantages for Germany of the euro, which went into circulation as banknotes and coins on January 1, 2002, and whose future she has been grimly racing to shore up. “As... [more]
Serbia’s folk diva Svetlana Raznatovic on Monday denied charges of violent behavior she and another defendant are facing for allegedly insulting and beating up the manager of a football club. Raznatovic claimed at a court hearing that it was she who was insulted. “He (the manager) even wanted to attack me,” she told the court. “I have never caused any incidents.” The hearing was briefly interrupted when the... [more]
The same problems that plagued “La Vie en Rose,” starring Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf, exist in “The Iron Lady,” a biopic about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep as the former British prime minister. While both films feature strong performances from strong actresses playing strong, real-life women, the scripts are weakened by going strictly by the numbers. Sure, Streep reliably nails her impression of Thatcher... [more]
Spain’s economy shrank in the last quarter and faces a bleak outlook for the coming months, its new economy minister said on Monday, heightening fears of a fresh recession. Luis de Guindos dampened already gloomy expectations for the economy as the new conservative government got to work on its programme of tough spending cuts. “This quarter the Spanish economy will surely see a downturn and we will return to negative growth,”... [more]
