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 ...
LOREDANA Jolie, who still claims to be one of Tiger Woods’ girlfriends, has big plans for 2011, the New York Post reported. Beyond cashing in on her self-appointed title as Mistress No. 15 with a tell-all, “The Real Diary of Loredana Jolie,” the former Playboy model plans to open a full-facility spa on New York’s Upper East Side, charmingly called Tigress. “She’s finishing cosmetology classes,” a... [more]
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp says that David Beckham wants to move to White Hart Lane, as he prepares to step up his bid for the former Manchester United star. Redknapp had confirmed his interest in Beckham on Friday and, speaking after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Fulham, he said the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder is ready to return to the Premier League on loan until the Major League Soccer season resumes in March. Beckham, 35, had... [more]
The final of the annual Sauna World Championships in Finland has ended in tragedy with the death of a Russian contestant. Vladimir Ladyzhensky was rushed to hopsital along with his Finnish rival, Timo Kaukonen, after both collapsed during the competition. The pair both had severe burns on their bodies after enduring heat above 110 degrees Celcius (230 degrees Fahrenheit). A spokesman for the event confirmed the cirumstances of Mr Ladyzhensky’s... [more]
Twelve of the Netherlands 37 professional football clubs are in such poor financial state that they have been put under the supervision of the Dutch football association, RTL news reports. The problems are due not only to the wages bill but the economic crisis, RTL said, quoting a KNVB report which will be published on Wednesday. The KNVB has divided the clubs into three categories: those under formal KNVB supervision, those where the finances... [more]
French football bosses have banned all 23 players involved in the country’s World Cup disaster from playing in the friendly against Norway next month. The French Football Federation took the decision on the advice of new coach Laurent Blanc. The country’s World Cup campaign lurched from one disaster to another in South Africa. On the pitch, the 2006 losing finalists failed to progress from the group stages after being unable... [more]
Espen Fadnes from Molde won this year’s World Base Race, and became ”The world fastest flying human being”. He used 18.68 seconds on the flight from the top of 1066m Gridsetskolen mountain. Fadnes competed with 27 men and five women from various countries around the world, using nothing but gravity, dressed in a wing suit, trying to perform the perfect aerodynamic flight from mountaiun top to sea level. It is the third... [more]
A Dutch rose grower has been commissioned to supply over 10,000 white roses for the wedding of football player Wesley Sneijder and tv personality Yolanthe Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen in Italy. Sjaak Koene told the Telegraaf newspaper a lorry carrying the Avalanche roses has already left for Italy where the couple will marry on Saturday. ‘We can’t say how many roses we’ve sent but it is more than 10,000,’ he told... [more]
Champions of Europe and now champions of the world, Spain captured football’s Holy Grail for the first time with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands thanks to Andres Iniesta’s 116th-minute strike at Soccer City. The solitary goal came with penalties looming as substitutes Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas combined to play in Iniesta and the little Barcelona midfielder drove emphatically across Maarten Stekelenburg and into the far... [more]
Sixteen million Dutch people think they know how the Orange team will beat Spain on Sunday. Here are a few tips to help national coach Bert van Marwijk in these hectic times. 1. The Swiss method The Swiss showed us how to beat Spain in the first group match. A combination of massive defence, time wasting and (forcing) a bit of luck resulted in a 1-0 victory. Days after the defeat AD reported: “Spain still doesn’t know how to deal with... [more]
Cries of despair were likely heard across Germany on Tuesday after a “psychic” octopus called Paul tipped Spain to beat Germany in the football World Cup semi-final. The eight-legged oracle, who has successfully predicted the outcomes of all five of Germany’s games in South Africa, carefully weighed up the two teams before plumping for Spain, prompting anguished groans from the assembled media scrum. Carried live... [more]
