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 ...
Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday declared the 20-kilometre (12-mile) evacuation area around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant a legal no-entry zone. The move, due to come into effect at midnight local time (1500 GMT), came after police found more than 60 families still living inside the zone around the plant that was hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami. The plant, where reactor cooling systems were knocked out, has... [more]
American internet giant Google has been intercepting private information in the Netherlands via people’s insecure wireless networks, says the Dutch Data Protection Authority (CBP). Google has destroyed the information: the company was threatened with damages imposed on a daily basis in case of non-compliance. The privacy watchdog says Google vehicles, which were taking photographs of Dutch streets for its Street View service, collected... [more]
Volkswagen unveiled a new “bolder, more dynamic and masculine” model of its iconic Beetle this week – the third generation of the classic German car of which more than 20 million have been sold. The 2012 Beetle “breaks free of the geometry of the previous model” and aims to be more sporty and macho, the Wolfsburg-based carmaker said in a statement released on Monday evening. “The Beetle is now characterised by a clean, self-confident... [more]
The second edition of Mobile Convention Amsterdam kicked off Thursday, welcoming nearly 800 industry professionals from Northern Europe to the Beurs van Berlage. The one-day convention explores the possibilities, challenges and lessons learned in mobile marketing. The event boasts an impressive line-up of speakers addressing brand marketing, media and publishing, business and implementation. Major mobile players scheduled to present include... [more]
Readings Monday from robots that entered two crippled buildings at Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear plant for the first time in more than a month revealed a harsh environment still too radioactive for workers to enter. Nuclear officials said the radiation data for Unit 1 and Unit 3 at the tsunami-flooded Fukushima Dai-ichi plant — collected by U.S.-made robots that look like drafting lamps on treads — do not alter plans for stabilizing... [more]
The maker of BlackBerry devices said Sunday it has been told that possible new restrictions proposed by Emirati authorities on the popular gadgets would apply to other smartphones too. The Gulf federation’s telecommunications regulator has outlined plans to limit access to the Blackberry Enterprise Server system, which provides the most secure form of communication on the devices. It is used by many international companies and government... [more]
The operator of the crippled nuclear power plant leaking radiation in northern Japan announced a plan Sunday to bring the crisis under control within six to nine months. Tokyo Electric Power Co. chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata told a news conference that the company had come up with a phased road map for ending the crisis and allowing residents evacuated from the area around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant to return home. Officials... [more]
The company that runs Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant has been ordered to pay compensation to people forced to leave their homes because of leaking radiation. Individual households affected by the disaster will receive up to £7,300 ($12,000) when payments begin on April 28. The Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO has set aside £370m ($600m) for the initial payouts but more compensation is expected. Industry analysts say TEPCO... [more]
Electricity prices will rise only slightly under the government’s plan to hasten the shift to renewable energy, Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen has said in an effort to bolster his case for green power. Daily Passauer Neue Presse reported Wednesday that Röttgen had told a gathering of conservative MPs that the price per kilowatt-hour would rise only by about 0.1 to 0.9 cents over the next decade under the government’s plan. The... [more]
A website enabling teenagers to post insults and racist comments about their peers has prompted an outcry in Germany after 20 youths beat another teen senseless over remarks made on its forums. “Michelle is one of the biggest whores in the school”; “Elizabeth is a slut and bad in bed”; “Carola in class nine is screwing her biology teacher” — these are a selection of comments on the site where users... [more]
