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 ...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ordered his ministers to stay in France on holiday to avoid diplomatic gaffes after scandals over hospitality from authoritarian North African leaders. Sarkozy bowed to criticism from rivals after embarrassing revelations that his prime minister and foreign minister accepted free holiday flights in Egypt and Tunisia, shortly before popular uprisings in both countries. “From now on, members... [more]
Fabio Capello hopes to see a glimpse of a brighter future for England when his side face Denmark in Wednesday’s friendly in Copenhagen. After England’s dispiriting 2010 campaign came to an appropriately downbeat conclusion with a 2-1 defeat against France at Wembley, Capello desperately needs a positive performance ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales in March. Capello’s stock remains low after his team’s... [more]
Italian prosecutors were set to request that Premier Silvio Berlusconi stand trial over accusations he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then used his influence to try to cover it up. The prosecutors will file their request in Milan on Wednesday. A judge must then decide whether to accept the prosecutors’ request and indict the 74-year-old leader or dismiss it. The prosecutors might request a single trial on both accusations... [more]
Two years after Washington vowed to “reset” ties with Russia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes to Munich Saturday to launch a landmark nuclear pact between the former Cold War foes. The new START nuclear arms reduction treaty will officially come into force when Clinton and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov exchange ratification documents at a security conference in the German city. US Vice President Joe Biden used... [more]
Teen pop star Justin Bieber is showing off his rapping skills on a new collaboration with reggae artist Sean Kingston. The Baby hitmaker has teamed up with the Beautiful Girls singer on the song Won’t Stop, from Kingston’s new mixtape King of Kingz. But Bieber fans will hear a different style of music from what they are used to from the 17 year old as he demonstrates his skills on the mic, reports MTV.com. He raps, “Yeah... [more]
Actress Tamera Mowry is spending wisely as she plans her wedding to fiance Adam Housley after realising how expensive a big ceremony can be. The former Sister, Sister star will exchange vows with Fox News correspondent Housley on 15 May – and the 32-year-old bride-to-be insists it won’t be an over-the-top celebration. She reveals she’s sacrificed her dream of walking down the aisle in a pricey Vera Wang creation, opting... [more]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton will exchange the instruments of ratification for the New START arms reduction treaty on Saturday. The ceremony, after which the pact will formally enter into force, will be held in Munich, where the two top diplomats are attending a security conference. The new deal, replacing START 1, which expired in December 2009, was signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev... [more]
David Cameron will today signal a tougher Government stance towards groups which promote Islamist extremism. The Prime Minister will say that the doctrine of multi-culturalism has failed during a speech in which he calls for “muscular liberalism” in defence of Western values. He will also blame the radicalisation of Muslim youths and the phenomenon of home-grown terrorism on a “hands-off tolerance” from the authorities. Ministers... [more]
Sarah Palin said Friday that America is dangerously out of step with the values of former President Ronald Reagan, and warned that runaway spending and a ballooning bureaucracy in Washington had put the nation on a “road to ruin.” The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee delivered a stinging critique of Washington during a speech honoring Reagan’s legacy, part of the national celebration marking the centennial of... [more]
Computer hackers repeatedly entered the network of the company that runs the Nasdaq stock market in the past year, but the trading platform was not compromised, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The report cited people familiar with the matter as saying law enforcement investigators were considering a range of motives for the hacking, from financial gain to theft of trade secrets to a national security threat to damage the important... [more]
