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 ...
Italy’s ENAC civil aviation authority fined Irish carrier Ryanair 3 million euros (2.1 million pounds) for failing to help passengers stranded by Icelandic ash, and Britain and Ireland braced for more potential flight disruption. In a statement on Saturday, ENAC cited 178 cases in which Ryanair failed to meet its obligation to assist passengers between April 17 and 22, when airlines cancelled hundreds of flights across Europe as the... [more]
The EU will allocate $51 million in the period until 2013 towards legal and health care reforms in Kyrgyzstan, head of the French delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) said on Saturday. The situation in Kyrgyzstan, where a bloody uprising led to the overthrow of the government in early April, worsened on Thursday when administrative buildings in three southern regions –... [more]
David Cameron has held a meeting with the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, his first with a foreign leader since becoming UK prime minister. Both leaders agreed they wanted to “further strengthen” relations between their countries. The talks were held at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence. President Karzai stopped over in the UK on his way back from Washington, where he discussed issues with US President Barack... [more]
The German consumer protection minister is strongly criticizing Google after the U.S. internet giant acknowledged a privacy breach. Ilse Aigner’s ministry said in a statement Saturday the recent “alarming incident” shows that Google still lacks an understanding of the need for privacy. The statement said “sccording to the information available to us so far, Google has for years penetratedprivate networks, apparently... [more]
Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who angered Muslims by portraying the Prophet Mohammad as a dog, has suffered a failed arson attack on his house, but was not home when it happened, the artist and police said Saturday. Vilks told Reuters that people smashed windows at his house in the small town of Nynashamnsvage in southwest Sweden and tried to light petrol that they threw inside. But the attack resulted only in small damage in the kitchen and... [more]
The Thai army has designated a neighbourhood in central Bangkok as a “live firing zone” – as the British Embassy warns of “intense violence” in two areas. Soldiers have closed off roads leading to the Ratchaprarop area and pinned Thai and English-language notices on wire saying, “Live Firing Zone” and “Restricted Area. No Entry”. The signs indicate that soldiers may shoot protesters if... [more]
Improving relations between Greece and Turkey could lead to arms reduction in both countries, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview published Saturday as he wrapped up an Athens visit. “The development of relations between Greece and Turkey will boost the climate of trust and stability (and) ultimately the natural consequence could be arms reduction,” Erdogan told Greek newspaper Ta Nea. Calls to reduce... [more]
Salma Hayek has abandoned her dreams of space travel with Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic team – because she’s too concerned for her safety as a mother. The actress insists she’s “not much” of a risk-taker since she welcomed daughter Valentina in September 2007, with her husband, French fashion executive Francois-Henri Pinault. And she’s given up many dangerous thrill-seeking adventures –... [more]
Model Claudia Schiffer and her British film director husband Matthew Vaughn have announced the safe arrival of their third child. The couple did not say what they plan to name their second daughter, who was born on Friday. The German supermodel and Vaughn, who recently directed the action film Kick-Ass, already have a son Caspar, seven, and a daughter Clementine, five. A statement from the couple said: “Claudia Schiffer and Matthew... [more]
There is a risk of UK airspace closures from Sunday because of continuing volcanic activity in Iceland, the Department for Transport said. Disruption could last until Tuesday and could affect some of Britain’s busiest airports in the South East, the Government warned. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said passenger safety is the Government’s top priority. Ministers agreed that, from today, five-day ash prediction charts should... [more]
