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 ...
President Nicolas Sarkozy went on primetime TV Sunday to unveil plans for new taxes he hopes will fix France’s ailing economy and boost his credibility ahead of polls he is tipped to lose to a Socialist. The right-winger has not confirmed he will stand for re-election, but he gave his strongest hint yet he will be a candidate in the election that opinion polls predict will be won by François Hollande. “I have a rendezvous with... [more]
German Economy Minister Philipp Rösler backed beefed-up EU monitoring of Greece on Monday, after Athens dismissed calls for it to give up control over its budget. Rösler, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor, told the daily Bild that the European Union should step in to ensure that Greece toes the line of budget austerity as it struggles to emerge from a crippling debt crisis. “We need more leadership and monitoring in implementing... [more]
The street slang spoken by young people in Germany’s big cities is so defined that one language expert is arguing for it to be recognised as a dialect. Linguistics professor Heike Wiese says “Kiezdeutsch” which roughly translates as “neighbourhood German”, is a mutated, fluid form of high German spoken by urban young people across the country. Incorporating many foreign words, the slang also simplifies German grammar, but is... [more]
The proposed merger of Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext — which now looks almost certain to fail — is not vital for the German company’s survival, say analysts and industry experts. According to NYSE Euronext chief executive Duncan Niederauer, there is only a “glimmer of hope” that the tie-up, which would create the world’s largest market operator, will be approved by European competition authorities. EU... [more]
A delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Iran to discuss the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program, the Iranian media reported on Sunday. Iran’s Envoy to the IAEA Ali Ashgar Soltanieh said last week that a delegation of the UN nuclear watchdog would visit Iran on January 29-31 “to negotiate and discuss issues raised by the IAEA.” The IAEA delegation is led by Herman Nackaerts who is in charge... [more]
Huge crowds lined the streets to greet Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she hit the campaign trail Sunday ahead of by-elections seen as a key test of the regime’s commitment to reform. Thousands flocked to hear the Nobel Peace Prize winner speak in the coastal district of Dawei, as she made her first political trip outside Yangon since declaring she would stand for office in the April 1 polls. “If we move in the... [more]
The head of the International Monetary Fund says that some countries that use the euro have the flexibility to boost growth to help shore up the eurozone economy. Christine Lagarde says the eurozone should develop a “clear simple firewall” to contain the contagion of the debt crisis and restore trust. In addition, she says that the 17 countries that use the currency should continue tying their economies closer together over... [more]
Europeans are making progress to overcome the euro zone crisis but need to do more to boost their financial firewall, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Saturday, adding that the IMF is also ready to help. “There is work under way. There is progress as we see it,” Lagarde told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum. “But it is critical that the euro zone members actually... [more]
Passengers were stranded at Spanish airports Saturday after airline Spanair abruptly went bust, cancelling all its flights at short notice. “Faced with the lack of financial visibility for the coming months, the company has decided to cease its operations as a measure of caution and safety,” Spanair said in a statement on Friday evening. Its last scheduled flight landed on Friday night, leaving rivals such as Iberia, Vueling... [more]
Leading in opinion polls three months ahead of France’s presidential election, Socialist candidate François Hollande unveiled a manifesto on Thursday focused on new spending and scrapping tax breaks. Vowing to reverse the legacy of right-wing President Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande promised €20 billion ($26 billion) in new spending by 2017, the creation of 60,000 new teaching jobs and 150,000 new jobs for young workers. He promised... [more]
