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 Chinese Internet gaming tycoon has confirmed he is in talks to buy British football club Liverpool, Chinese media reported Wednesday. Zhu Jun, chairman of Nasdaq-listed online game company The9 Limited, said the negotiations to buy Liverpool were “ongoing”, but added that the outcome was hard to predict, the Beijing Times reported. Officials at Shanghai-based The9 said they could not immediately confirm the comments when contacted... [more]
The England boss has revealed the 30 men he will take to a training camp in Austria. This first selection will then be trimmed down to 23 players at the end of the month in time for the start of the tournament on June 11. On Monday the Italian revealed he had teamed up with an online gambling company to create the “Capello Index”. But after a meeting between him and senior Football Association staff this morning, it was decided... [more]
Retired boxing champ Mike Tyson has been left “totally broke” after years of excessive spending and lives pay cheque to pay cheque to cover his monthly expenses. The sporting icon’s legacy has been marred by a series of alcohol and drug-related arrests throughout the years and his wild lifestyle away from the ring led to him filing for bankruptcy in 2003. He was inspired to turn his life around after landing a role playing... [more]
The Norwegian city of Tromsø, in cooperation with the Norwegian Chess Federation has made its official bid to be host city for the 2014 Chess Olympiad. It also includes a bid for the 2013 World Cup. One of the world’s largest sporting events, the Olympiad hosts 1400 participants from 150 nations in a team competition spanning two weeks. The Chess Olympiad is a biennal tournament to determine the best five-player open and women’s... [more]
Tens of thousands of runners including Princess Beatrice and an assortment of celebrities are set to take on the London Marathon. More than 36,000 athletes will pound 26.2 miles through the streets of the capital to earn their marathon medals and raise money for countless charities. Beatrice, 21, is aiming to become the first royal to complete the route as she joins a “human caterpillar” of 34 runners. The team will be strung... [more]
Palestinian Murad Obeidi used to crawl on his hands and knees through a dark tunnel under an Israeli wall on missions fraught with danger — retrieving footballs. The controversial barrier, which Israel says prevents deadly attacks, snakes through his north Jerusalem neighbourhood, swallowing balls kicked over the eight-metre-high (26-foot-high) cement wall. The 21-year-old Obeidi and his friends used to tunnel under the wall to retrieve... [more]
Tiger Woods added two more tournaments Wednesday to a schedule that is not much different from previous years except for the timing. Woods entered The Players Championship and the AT&T National, which benefits his foundation. It was the second straight week that Woods made an early commitment to a PGA Tour event, allowing for more time to promote his appearance. For years, the world’s No. 1 player waited until the last few... [more]
Former boxing champ Edwin Valerocommitted suicide in his jail cell on Monday just hours after he was arrested in his wife’s killing, police said. The former lightweight champion used his own clothes to hang himself from a bar in his cell early Monday, Venezuelan Federal Police ChiefWilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero was found by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state.... [more]
Former WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero was detained on suspicion of killing his wife on Sunday, police said. Venezuelan Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores said Valero was arrested after police found the body of his 20-year-old wife in a hotel in the city of Valencia. Valero left the hotel room around dawn on Sunday and allegedly told the hotel’s security personnel that he had killed Jennifer Viera, Flores said. Flores... [more]
Norway’s Tor Hushovd, riding for Cervelo, captured second place in the Paris-Roubaix race on Sunday, beating Spain’s Juan Antonio Flecha of Team Sky in a sprint to the finihing line. Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won. - Cancellara is unbeatable in his present form. I am very satisfied to place second in one of the world’s toughest races, considering all the problems I have had, said Hushovd (32). Share this:... [more]
