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 ...
A Norwegian lawmaker has nominated WikiLeaks for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, saying Wednesday that its disclosures of classified documents promote world peace by holding governments accountable for their actions. The Norwegian Nobel Committee keeps candidates secret for 50 years, but those with nomination rights sometimes make their picks known. Snorre Valen, a 26-year-old legislator from Norway’s Socialist Left Party, told The Associated... [more]
US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed ratification documents for a new START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, in a showpiece moment for his “reset” of ties with the Kremlin. Obama signed the documents in the Oval Office surrounded by key senators and top national security and military officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. The new Strategic Arms Reduction... [more]
Fighting has broken out between supporters of the president and anti-Mubarak protesters as they hurl rocks at each other and wield iron bars in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The stand-off between the 20,000-strong group of Mubarak supporters and the anti-Mubarak protesters descended into violence after they met at central Tahrir Square. Both sets of groups, numbering about 40,000 people in total, have been fighting intensely, injuring dozens. In... [more]
Adam Sandler’s ceremony to unveil his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was hi-jacked – by his daughters. The comedy actor was accompanied by daughters Sunny and Sadie, who interrupted him repeatedly to say “I love you daddy.” “I love you too,” Sandler responded. “You guys are my buddies. I love you more than anything in the world.” His star is the 2431st star on the Walk of Fame. Sandler,... [more]
Ruby “the heart stealer,” the young Moroccan who sparked an investigation into Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a minor, announced Wednesday she is about to get married. Eighteen-year old Ruby, real name Karima El Mahroug, told a local edition of the Repubblica daily that she is set to get hitched to fiance Luca Rizzo, a 41-year old manager of a disco, in a town hall wedding in three weeks time. Once... [more]
Spain’s government, unions and business leaders signed a “grand social pact” Wednesday on sweeping reforms to revive the economy and cut a sky-high jobless rate. The deal is critical to Spain’s campaign to convince the markets that it can push through difficult labour reforms so as to speed up the economy, cut spending, and finance the debt. Lurking in the minds of investors is the fear that Spain may fall into the... [more]
Justin Bieber is bringing “Bieber fever” to Britain with the premiere of his new film. The 16-year-old pop idol will meet and greet fans on the red carpet at London’s O2 Cineworld on Wednesday February 16, before the 3D screening of his life story. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never tells the inspiring true story of how Justin went from being a street performer in the small town of Stratford, Ontario to a global superstar culminating... [more]
Javier Bardem has confirmed that he has been in talks with Sam Mendes about appearing in Bond 23. The Oscar-nominated Spanish star said he is considering playing James Bond’s (Daniel Craig) nemesis in the forthcoming instalment, directed by Sam, and that it would be a tough role to turn down. “They’re changing the whole thing, the whole dynamic – I’d be playing Bond’s nemesis, yes, but it’s not that... [more]
Thai “Yellow Shirts” vowed to intensify protests in Bangkok after a high-profile nationalist activist was jailed for eight years in Cambodia, in a case that has raised border tensions. The group issued an ultimatum threatening to step up their rally in the capital after Veera Somkwamkid — a former leader of the Yellow movement — and his secretary were sentenced by a Cambodian court on Tuesday. “The Thai government... [more]
Prices on private homes rose by an average 4.3 per cent from December till January. In January 2011 home prices were 7.6 per cent higher than in the same month last year. Prices on bungalows increased by 6 per cent from December till January, while duplex housing rose by 4.4 per cent. Prices on apartments rose by 3.7 per cent in the same period. Share this: {lang: 'en-US'} function open_win(url,id) { var... [more]
