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 ...
Egypt is braced for more violence this morning on what is being called the “Day of Departure”. Thousands of protesters are expected on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria, calling for Egypt’s beleaguered president Hosni Mubarak to stand down immediately. The president of 30 years says he will remain in control until September, when he will not stand for re-election. However, the New York Times reports that US officials... [more]
ZIMBABWE’S state-run radio has accused the Prime Minister of trying to spark anti-government uprisings similar to those seen in Tunisia and Egypt, as an independent doctors’ group said recent political violence has left at least three people hospitalised. The group said that several supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party have been treated for “grave injuries” this week. The stone-throwing and... [more]
U.S. officials said on Thursday they were discussing with Egyptians different scenarios for a transition of power, including one in which President Hosni Mubarak leaves office immediately. “That’s one scenario,” said a senior Obama administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “There are a number of scenarios, but (it is) wrong to suggest we have discussed only one with the Egyptians.” The New... [more]
Egypt’s vice-president has said he is trying to introduce government reforms but clashes between pro and anti-President Mubarak demonstrators need to stop. Omar Suleiman said the violence had led to about one million tourists leaving the country in the past nine days and this had cost Egypt at least $1bn in lost revenue. He said he has been discussing reforms with opposition groups but only has around 200 days to make “so many... [more]
The White House said Wednesday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has a chance to show the world “exactly who he is” by bringing desperately needed change to his country now. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also decried bloody violence happening in Cairo, where pro-government forces clashed with protesters a day after Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September. That wasn’t good enough for the protesters,... [more]
Fighting has broken out between supporters of the president and anti-Mubarak protesters as they hurl rocks at each other and wield iron bars in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. The stand-off between the 20,000-strong group of Mubarak supporters and the anti-Mubarak protesters descended into violence after they met at central Tahrir Square. Both sets of groups, numbering about 40,000 people in total, have been fighting intensely, injuring dozens. In... [more]
The stand-off between the 20,000-strong group of Mubarak supporters and the anti-Mubarak protesters descended into violence after they met at central Tahrir Square. Both sets of groups, numbering about 40,000 people in total, have been fighting intensely, throwing rocks at each other and lashing out with metal bars, injuring dozens. In one area the violence was temporarily diffused when a young man stood between the two groups and called... [more]
President Hosni Mubarak defied a quarter-million protesters demanding he step down immediately, announcing Tuesday he would serve out the last months of his term and “die on Egyptian soil.” He promised not to seek re-election, but that did not calm public fury as clashes erupted between his opponents and supporters. The protesters, whose numbers multiplied more than tenfold in a single day Tuesday for their biggest rally yet,... [more]
Protesters in Egypt are continuing their call for President Hosni Mubarak to stand down immediately. Egypt’s president of 30 years announced last night he would quit at the next election in September following days of mass demonstrations against his rule. Although the decision was greeted with jubilation, many protesters are calling for Mr Mubarak to leave now and have vowed to continue their demonstrations. President Obama said he... [more]
Looters have done severe damage to Dutch archaeological digs in Egypt, says Maarten Raven, Egyptologist at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities. He was due to visit one of the digs this week, but was forced to cancel his trip due to the massive political upheaval in Egypt. The disrupted digs are in Saqqara, not far from Cairo, where the Dutch museum has been overseeing an archaeological project since 1975. The site, where people were... [more]
