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 ...
Police in Brazil said Friday they had freed a 45-year-old woman who had been locked in a house for 20 years with no communication with the outside world. Police in the state of Parana said the woman was locked in the home by her partner, a 60-year-old man, in the city of Mariluz, 550 kilometers (340 miles) from the state capital Curitiba. Following a complaint by social workers, police arrived at the house to find it closed but heard the... [more]
The UN and EU stand accused of “cowardice” for claiming to tackle human rights abuses in places like China through soft diplomacy, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Monday. Highlighting its claim, the report on global human rights violations was issued in Brussels the same day the European Union hosted controversial Uzbek President Islam Karimov amid protests. The New York-based NGO’s executive director Kenneth... [more]
The head of Brazil’s Supreme Court has said that convicted fugitive Cesare Battisti may be extradited if he is found to be in the country illegally, in a reversal from the Lula government’s position. “If the Supreme Court decides that is not within the terms of the (bilateral extradition treaty), he will have to be extradited,” said Judge Cezar Peluso told reporters about the Italian former leftwing militant’s... [more]
Brazilian army helicopters have reached residents who have been cut off from help for five days because of recent flooding. One team managed to rescue five people in the morning as clearer weather allowed the aircraft to navigate more safely around the craggy terrain north of Rio de Janiero. The death toll from the flooding and subsequent mudslides stands at 665 but is still rising and 120 people are reported missing. Hundreds of people... [more]
Survivors of mudslides that killed more than 500 people are growing frustrated, saying Brazil’s government has fallen short in rescuing victims still stranded on remote hillsides and finding the bodies of the dead. On the fourth night since torrential rains sent avalanches of mud and boulders smashing through communities in the lush mountains outside Rio de Janeiro, many people were still begging officials for aid late Friday. Many... [more]
At least 356 people have died and dozens are missing after floods and landslides swept through mountain towns in southeastern Brazil. Many homes were washed away as torrents of water and mud rushed down hillsides. The Serrana mountain region, north of Rio, has seen a month’s rain in a month. Worst hit is the town of Teresopolis, 40 miles north of Rio, where reports say at least 152 people have died in 24 hours. Images from the town,... [more]
Argentina forward Lionel Messi was named World Player of the Year on Monday, beating Barcelona team mates Andres Iniesta and Xavi to win the award for the second time in a row. more to follow…. Share this: {lang: 'en-US'} function open_win(url,id) { var win = window.open(url, 'popup','width=600,height=300,status=0,toolbar=0'); var tpopup = setInterval(function() { if(win.closed) { reload_to(); } },... [more]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes his campaign for greater global food price and currency stability to Washington this week when he seeks Barack Obama’s support for France’s goals as head of the Group of 20 powers. Soaring food prices and riots in places such as Algeria offer Sarkozy ammunition to press for more coordination between G20 governments to combat wild swings in vital commodity prices as well as exchange rates... [more]
Dilma Rousseff became Brazil’s first female president on Saturday and promised to build on an unprecedented run of economic success achieved by her popular predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Thousands of admirers braved a driving rain and cheered as Rousseff rode to her inauguration in a 1953 Rolls Royce flanked by an all-female security detail. The former guerrilla, who evolved over time into a pragmatic civil servant,... [more]
The Netherlands came from behind to break Brazilian hearts and take a huge step towards a third FIFA World Cup™ final appearance. Trailing at half-time to Robinho’s early goal in Port Elizabeth, Bert van Marwijk’s men drew level through Felipe Melo’s own goal before Wesley Sneijder headed the winner with 22 minutes remaining. Brazil ended the game a man short after Felipe Melo’s dismissal as, like in Germany four... [more]
