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 ...
Michael Douglas has praised the judge overseeing his son’s court case for handing Cameron a five-year prison sentence – calling the punishment “adequate”. The 31 year old faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to one count of methamphetamine possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of cocaine in January. Douglas, along with... [more]
Angered by a controversial Arizona immigration law, tens of thousands of protesters — including 50,000 alone in Los Angeles — rallied in cities nationwide demanding President Barack Obama tackle immigration reform immediately. “I want to thank the governor of Arizona because she’s awakened a sleeping giant,” said labor organizer John Delgado who attended a rally in New York where authorities estimated 6,500 gathered. From... [more]
A veteran sheriff’s deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert — a violent episode that comes amid a heated national debate over immigration. State and federal law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and scores of officers in pursuit of the suspects after the deputy was... [more]
Peter Lopez, one of the attorneys for the late Michael Jackson and husband of Dukes of Hazzard star Catherine Bach, was found dead in his home in Encino Friday in an apparent suicide by gunshot. LAPD told media outlets Friday afternoon: “We’re still in the early stages of the investigation, but what we gather is it’s an apparent suicide.” Lopez was a parter at the prestigious Century City entertainment lawfim of Kleinberg... [more]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the Mideast peace process will get back on track next week, though not the U.S.-brokered direct talks involving Israeli and Palestinians that the Obama administration wants to see. George Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy to the Mideast, will mediate the discussions when he travels to the region. His visit will follow a weekend meeting of Arab League diplomats. For now, it’s indirect... [more]
Swiss justice officials on Friday rejected an attempt by Roman Polanski’s U.S. lawyers to unseal secret testimony by his original prosecutor in Los Angeles and submit that in the director’s fight against extradition to the United States. Switzerland works on the assumption that the extradition request from the U.S. is based on correct statements and the secret testimony wouldn’t change that, Justice Ministry spokesman... [more]
Pop star Shakira has promised to help fight a new Arizona immigration law that makes it a crime to be in the state illegally. The Colombian-born singer and Unicef ambassador says the law goes against American ideals. Shakira, best known for her hit singles She Wolf, Hips Don’t Lie and Whenever, Wherever, said: “I came here to lend my voice and offer my support to the Latino community and to express my public opposition on this... [more]
Roman Polanski’s lawyers asked a judge Thursday to unseal secret testimony by the original prosecutor in the director’s 33-year-old sex case to help Swiss authorities decide his extradition case. In a strongly worded motion stressing the urgency of their request, attorneys Chad Hummel and Bart Dalton said they need to submit the testimony of retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson to Swiss authorities who are pondering... [more]
A federal judge has dismissed a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by language software maker Rosetta Stone Inc against Google Inc. The ruling has broad implications for trademark ownership in the digital age, and Rosetta has vowed to keep pursuing the case. In a suit first filed in 2009, Rosetta claimed Google profits by allowing rivals that pirate its technology to buy the top “sponsored link” ad on search results pages. Consumers... [more]
As pressure mounted on Germany to tackle Greece’s spiralling debt crisis, US President Barack Obama called Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday night and later issued a pointed statement saying both leaders agreed on the need for “resolute action.” In a clear indication of growing US concern, Obama broke away from events in Ohio, where he has been addressing economic hardships facing Americans, to call Merkel about... [more]
