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 ...
U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday to let the value of China’s currency rise and sought cooperation in dealing with nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran Obama, speaking at a news conference with Hu, touted the mutual benefits of the U.S.-China partnership after the two countries unveiled $45 billion (28 billion pounds) in export deals that seemed to be aimed at papering over deep rifts... [more]
Hong Kong said Wednesday it was “striving” to pass legislation to comply with UN sanctions against Iran, after 20 shipping firms in the city were accused of being linked to Tehran’s weapons buildup. Last week, the US Treasury Department slapped sanctions on 24 shipping companies, including four in Britain’s Isle of Man, accused of being fronts for Iranian businesses involved in Iran’s missile programmes. The... [more]
A grenade found in a parcel sent to the Croatian embassy in Berlin was sent as a warning to the Croatian and Serbian presidents who advocate good ties between the former foes, the Balkan nation’s media reported Tuesday. “This little grenade is a warning to (Croatian president) Ivo Josipovic and (Serbian president) Boris Tadic” the influential Vecernji List daily said, quoting a threatening letter that allegedly accompanied... [more]
The head of Brazil’s Supreme Court has said that convicted fugitive Cesare Battisti may be extradited if he is found to be in the country illegally, in a reversal from the Lula government’s position. “If the Supreme Court decides that is not within the terms of the (bilateral extradition treaty), he will have to be extradited,” said Judge Cezar Peluso told reporters about the Italian former leftwing militant’s... [more]
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday flew to the United States for a state visit buffeted before he even lands by senior U.S. senators demanding tough action against China for “manipulating” its currency. Hu said earlier this week he would not accept U.S. arguments the yuan was undervalued. The latest sparring over the currency underlines tensions over trade that will likely dominate Wednesday’s summit in Washington between... [more]
Iran’s president says not even 100,000 U.N. Security Council resolutions will stop his country’s nuclear ambitions. The semiofficial Fars news agency says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the remarks during a meeting with a group of journalists Tuesday in Tehran. Iran has hardened its position on its nuclear program ahead of Jan. 21-22 talks with world powers in Istanbul, Turkey. Tehran says it will refuse to talk about its right to... [more]
The Netherlands has stopped its opposition to the expansion of a European emergency fund to bail out countries which get into financial trouble on condition countries get their finances in order. The financial stability fund can borrow up to €440bn and is central to the €750bn eurozone bail-out system. But in order to maintain a good credit rating, it can actually only lend countries around €250bn. Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager... [more]
US Republican Sarah Palin has defended her reference to ‘blood libel’ after using the term to condemn criticism linking her fiery rhetoric to the Arizona shootings. She used the term in a video posted on her Facebook page in which she accused her critics of being irresponsible in rushing to blame the shooting rampage on vitriolic campaigning. Jared Lee Loughner has been charged with the attack in Tucson, which left six people... [more]
Chairman Alexander Rinnooy Kan of the Kennis- en Innovatie Agenda (KIA, the Dutch Knowledge and Innovation Agenda) says it’s ‘worrisome’ that the cabinet led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte has not made any additional investments in education, research and innovation. Mr Rinnooy Kan’s remarks were prompted by a KIA report published today. Before, part of the country’s natural gas revenues were invested in research... [more]
Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner on Tuesday urged state officials to implement a federal action plan that aims to prevent future food contamination ahead of special government summit on the dioxin animal feed scandal. “I expect that the states will stand behind this plan and do their part to increase quality and monitoring, and improve inspection practices,” Aigner told dailyHamburger Abendblatt. The minister said she was confident... [more]
