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 ...
Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal has admitted he made mistakes in the case of Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami during an emergency debate on Thursday. Ms Bahrami was unexpectedly executed a week ago after being sentenced to death for possession of drugs on 5 January. He promised he would learn the lessons from “this terrible and sad incident”, after receiving severe criticism in parliament. Democrats D66, the Labour Party and... [more]
Murder victim Meredith Kercher’s mother has described a new television film on the woman convicted of killing her daughter as “shocking” Arline Kercher spoke out as a trailer and graphic stills were released by the makers of controversial American film, Amanda Knox: Murder On Trial In Italy. The film sees Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere play American exchange student Amanda Knox, who was convicted of Meredith’s murder... [more]
Egypt is braced for more violence this morning on what is being called the “Day of Departure”. Thousands of protesters are expected on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, calling for Egypt’s beleaguered president Hosni Mubarak to stand down immediately. The president of 30 years says he will remain in control until September, when he will not stand for re-election. However, the New York Times reports that US officials... [more]
U.S. officials said on Thursday they were discussing with Egyptians different scenarios for a transition of power, including one in which President Hosni Mubarak leaves office immediately. “That’s one scenario,” said a senior Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There are a number of scenarios, but (it is) wrong to suggest we have discussed only one with the Egyptians.” The New... [more]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday won some brief respite from raging sex scandals when parliament rejected a request from prosecutors to search his accountant’s offices. The vote was carried by 315 votes in favour to 298 against — a far higher majority than the beleaguered Berlusconi has enjoyed recently, after scraping through a no-confidence vote in parliament in December last year. The victory is a largely... [more]
Egypt’s vice-president has said he is trying to introduce government reforms but clashes between pro and anti-President Mubarak demonstrators need to stop. Omar Suleiman said the violence had led to about one million tourists leaving the country in the past nine days and this had cost Egypt at least $1bn in lost revenue. He said he has been discussing reforms with opposition groups but only has around 200 days to make “so many... [more]
An Italian parliamentary committee dealt a blow to embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday by blocking a tax measure his Northern League allies have laid down as a condition for staying in government. The 30-member panel, which had to rule on measures to give more tax and spending powers to local governments, was split evenly, creating a stalemate with the potential to break the centre-right coalition and open the way to early... [more]
The trial of MP Geert Wilders on discrimination and inciting hatred charges may be delayed, Nos television reports on Thursday. A lawyer representing groups who forced the prosecution department to take legal action against Wilders has gone to the appeal court to fight the department’s call for Wilders’ acquittal. The original court case against Wilders collapsed last year after a number of irregularities involving the judges, which... [more]
The leaders of Germany and Spain, Europe’s strongest economy and one of its weakest, will attempt to send a united message in support of the troubled eurozone in talks here Thursday. The Madrid meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero comes on the eve of a European summit in Brussels to discuss how to bail out crisis-torn member states. Berlin wants to broaden the... [more]
Australia’s biggest cyclone in a century shattered entire towns after pummelling the coast and churning across the country Thursday, terrifying locals but remarkably causing no fatalities. Exhausted residents emerged to check the damage after Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit land at around midnight, packing winds of up to 290 kilometres (180 miles) per hour, in a region still reeling from record floods. Officials and locals said 90... [more]
