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 ...
The world’s first glimpse of Kate Middleton at her wedding to Prince William on Friday could be under an umbrella after forecasters said it may rain and even thunder on the big day. But the grim prediction failed to dissuade devoted fans of Britain’s royal family who have already begun camping out in front of Westminster Abbey for Britain’s biggest wedding in 30 years. As final preparations were under way on Tuesday, British... [more]
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday talked up nuclear power as the “safest” form of energy on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl amid fears linked to the disaster in Japan. “We are absolutely convinced that nuclear energy is the future for the whole world,” Berlusconi said after a summit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. “Nuclear energy is still the safest,” he told reporters. His... [more]
Turkey wants to help turn the war-ravaged Balkans into a region of cooperation with a joint future in the European Union and NATO, Turkish president said Tuesday, as part of his country’s increased involvement in the region where it has historic influence. “It is our desire to have the whole region united under a wider umbrella of the European Union and NATO,” Abdullah Gul said after talks with Serbia’s President... [more]
Britain and the United States plan to step up military pressure on Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday, as the Libyan leader’s army engaged in fierce clashes with rebels in the bloody siege of Misrata. More than a month of air strikes in a British and French-led NATO mission to protect Libyan civilians have failed to dislodge Gaddafi or bring big gains for anti-government rebels who hold much of east Libya, raising fears of a lingering stalemate. British... [more]
Germany top industry body launched an unusually frank attack on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government on Tuesday, openly calling it directionless and demanding it pick up the ball on much-needed changes such as tax reform. Hans Heinrich Driftmann, president of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union and their beleaguered coalition... [more]
Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow has shocked her fans by attacking her late German grandmother for being “mean as hell” and full of hate. Speaking to talk show host Chelsea Handler, the 38-year-old US actress let rip after discovering they both had grannies hailing from Germany. “Mine was a c**t,” Paltrow said during the interview, with the profanity beeped out. “She just hated my guts, basically, and she tried to poison... [more]
Peaches Geldof has shot down rumours she is set to revive the music show which was hosted by her late mother Paula Yates in the 1980s. amously left the rocker in the mid-1990s after falling in love with INXS star Michael Hutchence, who she had previously interviewed on rock TV programme The Tube. Peaches was recently rumoured to be taking on presenting duties for a new version of the show, but she insists the reports are false. In a post... [more]
More than 200 farmers brought two cows to Tokyo where they shouted and punched the air Tuesday in a protest to demand compensation for products contaminated by radiation spewing from Japan’s crippled nuclear plant. The farmers from northeastern Japan wore green bandanas and held signs saying “Nuclear disaster is human disaster” and “Stop nuclear energy” outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the... [more]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy meets Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Tuesday with potential revisions to the Schengen open-borders treaty topping the agenda amid a festering row over immigration. Paris has accused Rome of abusing the Schengen pact by issuing temporary residence permits and travel documents to migrants fleeing North Africa in the knowledge that many among the French-speaking Tunisians want to go to France. France... [more]
In his most revealing and explosive interview to date, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has revealed to TIMES NOW’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami that he is being offered a swap deal if he hands over the exclusive details of Swiss banks and their secret account holders list. In his first ever disclosure he explained the delay in the publication of the Swiss bank secrets, when asked how long the people of India would have to wait for... [more]
