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 ...
Specialist prison officers wearing riot gear have been sent to an open prison in the south of England after inmates went on the rampage and started fires. The riot, at HMP Ford near Arundel, West Sussex, began at around midnight. It involved around 40 prisoners who smashed furniture and windows, activating fire alarms, before setting several buildings alight. Staff were forced to retreat and riot police and specialist prison officers were... [more]
Two homes were swept to sea in a major earth slide in the hamlet of Lyngseidet in Troms county on Friday afternoon. No one was injured in the slide, but more homes are threatened. Altogether 16-17 homes were therefore evacuated immediately. The slide was 30 metres wide and 100 metres long, and also swept several smaller outbuildings, a number of parked cars and boats into the fjord. It also destroyed the main highway. An older man escaped... [more]
Russia is starting to count the losses of the worst heatwave in its history, with economists warning the weather may cost the country up to 15 billion dollars and undercut a modest economic revival. While it may take months for the government to tally the damage caused, several economists said the disaster might cost Russia between 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent of this year’s gross domestic product (GDP), or roughly 7-15 billion dollars. Alexander... [more]
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao is travelling to the country’s northwest where landslides triggered by heavy rain have left over 80 people dead and more than 2,000 missing, state media said Sunday. More than 70 were injured in the landslides in a mainly Tibetan region of Gansu province late Saturday night, state television said. A total of 20,000 people living in Zhouqu county have been evacuated, the report said. Wen has left Beijing... [more]
The mother of 14-year-old Laura Dekker has dropped her objections to her daughter’s plan to sail the world alone. Writing to daily AD, the Dutch sailor girl’s mother Babs Müller states that her daughter should be given the opportunity to realise “her dream” of becoming the youngest girl ever to sail solo around the world. It is not immediately clear why Ms Müller changed her mind, after she wrote to another daily... [more]
The International Polar Year Oslo Science Conference 2010 with more than 2 000 polar researchers from nearly 70 countries participating during the week’s presentations, closed Saturday. - This has been the largest polar science conference ever – a powerful demonstration of knowledge. We have been pleased and honoured to host you, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in his closing speech: - Think about it: For centuries the... [more]
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will succeed former UK prime minister Gordon Brown as co-chair of a U.N. group looking at ways to raise funds to help poor nations to combat climate. In February, Brown, the then British prime minister, was named by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to co-chair the group of 19 leading experts with Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi. Stoltenberg, head of Norway’s Labour Party, has been among members... [more]
The Oslo Climate and Forest Conference 2010 will take place at Holmenkollen Park Hotel in Oslo, Norway on Thursday May 27th. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg will host the event. The purpose of the conference is to establish an interim partnership arrangement for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). This partnership would aim to ensure rapid implementation of a global coordinated effort... [more]
Norwegian aviation authorities said they were closing air space in northern Norway from 2pm on Friday, because new clouds of ash were moving in from an Icelandic volcano. Airline Widerøe said it was forced to cancel around 20 flights. Norway’s Luftfartstilsynet was putting “restrictions” on air space over Andøya, Narvik, Bardufoss, Stokmarknes, Evenes and Tromsø. Airports serving those areas would be closed from 2pm until at... [more]
The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, is on an official visit to Norway from 19 to 21 May. Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim will host the visit. The purpose of the visit is to continue the dialogue on how Norway can contribute to development in Bolivia. The management of gas resources and the rights of indigenous peoples are key topics. The climate negotiations and the run-up to the UN conference in... [more]
