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 ...
British Prime Minister David Cameron Thursday warned the European Union that it could be “left behind” by emerging economies unless it reformed its business policies. “It is clear that there is a growing urgency and need for action to secure long term sustainable growth in Europe,” the British leader said in a pamphlet released Thursday. “We need to take collective action to unleash the forces of enterprise... [more]
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday called for more flexible exchange rate policies at a Group of 20 meeting in China, saying it was crucial to global monetary system reform. Geithner did not explicitly single out China in his remarks at a G20 seminar on international monetary reform attended by ministers and central bankers, but hinted that Beijing needed to loosen its grip on the yuan. He said that to better manage sweeping... [more]
A 13-year-old Russian boy found a message in a bottle on a beach and was reunited with its German author, who wrote the note 24 years ago, tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Wednesday. Daniil Korotkikh found the beer bottle earlier this month when walking on the beach near Kaliningrad and his father translated the note inside, which was dated September 7, 1987, the paper said. “When I was walking along, I spotted a bottle in the... [more]
Labour leader Ed Miliband said on Wednesday he is to marry his partner Justine Thornton at a ceremony in May. “Justine and I are both very much looking forward to our wedding on May 27th,” Miliband wrote on Twitter. The MP for Doncaster North — who beat his older brother David to be elected Labour Party leader in September 2010 — told the Doncaster Free Press he would marry Thornton, an environmental lawyer, at a... [more]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called Hollywood star George Clooney as one of his defence witnesses when he goes on trial next month accused of sleeping with an under-aged prostitute. Berlusconi is accused of having sex with Moroccan night-club dancer Karima el Mahroug, known by her stage name Ruby, when she was 17, below the legal age for prostitution in Italy. In the trial, which begins on April 6, prosecutors accuse Berlusconi... [more]
Saab Automobile was forced to halt production at its factory in Trollhättan in western Sweden on Tuesday due to problems paying certain suppliers. At least one frustrated supplier stopped delivering components to the Swedish automaker, bringing production to a standstill on Tuesday, according to several sources. But the company refused to elaborate on the alleged payment problems or a stoppage on the assembly line. “We have 800 suppliers... [more]
Defence Minister Grete Faremo visited the Norwegian Air Force F-16 squadron which is participating in the Libya operations, at its base on Crete, in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Faremo landed in Crete just before midnight, to inspect and inspire the Norwegian contingent, which numbers well above 100, incuding the ground crew and support personnel. - I am very satisfied by the way in which they have carried out their mission so... [more]
Hamburg port authorities prepared on Wednesday for the arrival of Japanese ships contaminated with radiation, a media report said. Port and customs officials are working together with the Interior Ministry to create an emergency plan for processing radioactive freight, daily Financial Times Deutschland reported. Customs will likely inspect the ships, a spokesperson told the paper. “But we have the advantage that many ships usually pass... [more]
Lessons can be drawn from the failed Libyan evacuation mission, said Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He and ministers Uri Rosenthal (Foreign Affairs) and Hans Hillen (Defence) take responsibility for failures in the execution of the operation and “actions will be taken,” he said. The government Tuesday debated mistakes made in the February mission that resulted in the arrest and 12 day detainment of three Dutch soldiers by supporters of Libyan... [more]
The government is investigating how a fake bomb hidden in a wedding cake box was allowed on a UPS cargo flight from London to Turkey, the country’s transport ministry said. A 26-year-old man was arrested last week after the box, which contained wires, a timer and a detonator, was delivered to a UPS office in north London two weeks ago, according to Britain’s ITV News. “The government is aware of this incident and takes... [more]
